Thank you for all the great ideas - You know how it is when you keep looking at it and the problem seems bigger than it is.
I have been having MANY spots for all the stuff and when I emptied the dining room hutch it really depressed me as it was filled with everything. I need a central location so that I don't have too many of one thing all over the place. I have 4 staplers 2 large 2 small, envelopes out the door, dh's papers mmmm, lined paper > then I should have. etc.....
I was also embarrassed, my dear neighbor who speaks to everyone stopped by and the cat litter hadn't been changed, dog hair (from moving the furniture) was all over the floor and piles of stuff in one corner or two bc all the furniture is gone.
dh was very frustrated as he feels I am moving him "out of the house by asking him to put the items away- he has a small stack of newspapers that is growing in the front room, added 2 more tables (end) in the front room that don't match, keeps at least 10 books on the coffee table, and stores so many papers in the dining room along with financial binders that it just bogs the rooms down. I never throw any of his stuff away but he hates his stuff moved from the places that are out. So frustrating for me as I try to be patient. He told me he didn't want anything in his closet either. trying to be patient and not doing too well in it
