Want To Organize Your Home? Make Lists!
By Bill Primavera
The Home Guru
Recently, in a weekly meeting of real estate agents at Coldwell Banker, Joe Monaco, probably the most motivating manager I’ve ever encountered, reminded us that the best way to increase business is to better manage our time. He suggested that we make lists of all of our responsibilities and long-term and immediate goals, organize them, and set time frames in which they are to be accomplished.
A smile crossed my mind as I thought of my wife Margaret who is constantly making lists: what she will cook for that holiday party and the groceries needed, how she will re-organize her closet, books she wants to read, the guest list for a fundraiser, and items to purchase on her next shopping trip. I tease her about it.
But here I sit contemplating all the chores that need to be done in a well-maintained home, especially when planning to sell it, which we will soon do. I went to my resident expert and asked her if she could organize a list of the tasks at hand, which seemed overwhelming to me taken as a whole.
This is the checklist she came up almost immediately, proving that list making to her comes easily after a lifetime of developing the habit. Feel free to adopt any of it that would help you organize your home, whether you’re staging it for sale or seeking to live a well-maintained home life, relatively free of defects and clutter.
Big Jobs (leave them to the professionals):
Roof – replace. Done
Plumbing – new faucets, new toilets and sinks. To do
Electrical – additional outlets for computers; new light switches. To do
Tree Care – removal of dead trees and limbs, spraying of hemlocks. To do
Exterior Painting – To do
Gutter and drain replacement – To do
Window replacement where needed – To do
Interior (to do ourselves and with handyman help):
Remove all wallpaper. Half done
Spackle and sand. Half done
Paint walls and ceilings – Office done. To do: two guest rooms, central hall
Floors – sand, stain and seal wood floors where needed. To do
Carpets – Clean, but don’t replace. To do
Tiles in bathroom – Replace those that are cracked, add new grout.
Kitchen:
Install granite countertops – To do
Professionally clean cabinets – To do
Replace appliances, preferably with brushed steel – To do
If not replaced, scrub out refrigerator, oven, microwave - Done
Deodorize dishwasher - Done
Replace old lighting fixture – To do
Living Room:
Replace draperies with lighter treatments – To do
Remove some furniture to open up space – Done
Replace worn area rugs – To do
Dining Room:
Refinish hardwood floors – To do
Remove sideboard – Done
Bedrooms
De-clutter - Done
Update all bedding – To do
Clean out and organize closets – Bill, do yours!
Bathrooms:
Replace sinks – To do
Replace counters – To do
Replace toilets - Done
General
Replace all chandelier light bulbs - Done
Replace old lampshades – To do
Get de-humidifier for basement – Margaret, we have a dry basement!
Clean all windows - Done
Outside:
Outline and mulch all gardens - Done
Plant flowering shrubs for spring – To do
Use Preen where weeds normally grow – To do
Spray Bobbex to keep deer away - Done
Re-seed bare areas of lawn – To do
Open pool – To do
Having listed everything above that should be done before we list our home, do you see the critical omission? There are no real schedules or timetables indicated, other than “done” or “to do.” With such an extensive list, it would be easy to avoid doing anything at all if a certain commitment isn’t made to scheduling each chore on the calendar.
This can be handled several ways. Let’s say that we intend to put the house on the market in about six months, with the hope of selling it within the next nine months (Should I mention that the expected time to sell a house in Westchester and Putnam, in today’s market, has expanded from six months to nine months?), I can re-juggle the list according to what is practical to do in each of those preparatory six months, starting from the logical point of a project. For instance, we have a guest room which had developed a ceiling leak before the roof was replaced two years ago. The plaster has bubbled beneath the wallpaper on the side wall, so it’s a natural progressive plan that I must first remove the wallpaper, next sand and patch the plaster, reseal the surface and then paint it. So, I’ll give the project a two-week time frame and check off each step along the way as I get to my deadline.
Or, I can give projects a “most important” to “least important” evaluation, going from numbers 1 to 10 and hitting the low numbers first, but with a designated deadline for each.
My foray into lists about household chores led me to a number of websites that will help you do it. One of these is www.lets-clean-up.com. This site helps remove this burden of listing chores because it remembers everything you tell it. It is based on the premise that it can be a bonding and learning experience for the whole family, each of whom takes responsibility for certain chores and, together, everything is accomplished. The family that cleans up together stays together.
Another smile crosses my mind as I remember my first household responsibility at age five. I’m sure I was too young to do it well, but watching my mother dust furniture, I asked if I could do it too. I had previously pleaded with her to let me try vacuuming the carpet, but I was so small and the
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