Heloise helps you get house in order
By Jura Koncius
Washington Post
The widely syndicated columnist, who practices what she preaches in her own home in San Antonio, Texas, has a five-point plan to deal with the bloated homes many of us are left with now that the holidays have zoomed past. As you gaze around the house at the overflowing shopping bags, jammed fridge and crammed closets, it's time to dig out and regain control.
Heloise has a new book to inspire us without scolding. "Get Organized With Heloise" (Penguin; 182 pp., $10) is a no-nonsense guide to putting your house in order and then setting up systems for storage, shopping and home record-keeping. She even includes great tips for organizing a purse, a notorious jumble where many women waste time every day rummaging for pens and parking-lot tickets. Heloise, whose practical advice column is carried in about 500 newspapers, learned her organizing skills from her mother, the original Heloise, who started the original column in The Advertiser in 1959 and died in 1977.
"My mom taught me how to pack a suitcase and organize a pantry," says Heloise. "But like any creative person, she had her own stacks of things around that only she knew what was in them."
Over the years, Heloise has written books dealing with cleaning, spills and stains, kitchen tips and entertaining. In this, her 11th book, and the first devoted strictly to organizing, Heloise takes you room by room and tells you what to keep and what to toss — dried-out nail polish, old directories and frozen food that has become antique are on the toss list. OK, so not all of us are going to make boot trees by taping together paper-towel cardboard cores.
But the book offers practical hints for setting up a home office and clearing out a basement. There are even tips for keeping a pet organized, like consistently use a specially colored marker to note vet and grooming appointments on your calendar.
One of the most useful concepts is her five-point plan. "I have been writing about this for several years now," says Heloise, "and so many people have told me it's worked for them. Basically each day, you focus on one organizing task for either five minutes or you cull five things. She mentions tasks like bundling newspapers and magazines, rearranging a single bookshelf, putting away countertop clutter or sorting through a drawer.
We caught up with Heloise by phone at her Texas home and asked her about her new book, "Get Organized With Heloise."
Q. Heloise, you must be one of the most organized people on the planet.
A. I am an organized person, and I like things in order. It saves you time. It's not that I'm fastidious or controlling. But if you know where everything is and you manage to keep it there, then you can always find what you need. We've been in the same house for 23 years, and I've kept my measuring cups in the same place they've always been.
Q. Why did you write an organizing book?
A. Everybody needs help. There is so much information out there on setting up home-organizing systems , but I think it's too complicated and I don't think much of it applies to Real Life 101. I wanted my book to be simple and easy to read. I talked to people around the country about what they need help with. We all want a quick fix, but you have to make time to deal with your stuff. A lot of people have told me that they keep stuff because they have an emotional attachment to it.
Q. How do you begin?
A. Everybody has something that bugs them in their house. For some, it's the spice rack in the kitchen. They can never find the Greek seasoning. For others, it's their purse. You live out of that thing, and it's often overstuffed. Sometimes when I'm in a hotel, I put a towel on the bed and dump my whole purse out into it and then go through each thing in it and toss old receipts and things.
Q. What is your messiest room?
A. I think it is my office. I have this one pile on my desk that never goes away.
Q. How do you find time to organize?
A. I use my five minutes or five things rule. I do a little bit every day, I've gotten into the habit. I can also organize while on the phone. While I'm on hold, I can clean out my cosmetic drawer. This lip pencil is five years old: Toss. I don't think I will be wearing iridescent green eye shadow anymore: Toss. You can get a lot done in a small space of time. Some people tell me they use the three-minute commercial breaks on TV to straighten up. You can dust a bookcase, go through magazine stacks or vacuum a small piece of carpet.
Q. What spots in the house do your readers mention as needing organization?
A. What to do with kids' artworks is a frequent question. A good thing to do in the beginning of the year is to take everything off the fridge and go through it with your kids. Hold on to five they want to keep and put them in a safe place. The rest can be sent to Grandma or tossed. Another great idea someone had was to hold a kids' art show in the house and video each creation; then you can dispose of most of the pieces and just keep one or two, but you will always have a record of it.
