Search

Guides 5

• Emptying a kitchen before a move

  A kitchen has to be empty before the boxes are packed, and food can't wait. Work the pantry, the spice rack and the drawers first, then decide what's worth selling, then pack the plates so they survive the trip.

• Clearing a house when you live out of town

  Clearing a house from another state is really a travel problem. A video walkthrough, a short list of things only you can handle, and local help booked ahead keep it to two trips instead of five.

• Going through a parent's paperwork

  A file cabinet is mostly junk mail and a few documents that are hard to replace. Pull the legal and financial papers first, keep the original order, and don't shred anything until you've seen the whole folder.

• Sorting holiday decorations after the season

  Holiday decorations come out once a year and go back in a hurry, which is how boxes fill up with dead light strings and three garlands nobody hangs. Sort the pile once, before it goes back on the shelf, and next December gets a lot shorter.

• Sorting tools in a garage or workshop

  Rusty hand tools, dead cordless drills, a bench vise and a half-full can of old paint each leave the garage a different way. Clear the floor first and sort by type before you decide what any of it is worth.