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Welcome to The Apartment Adviser, a monthly discussion of apartment living. Columnist Barbara Burtoff takes your questions and comments.

For this live online discussion, Barbara will host special guest Donna Smallin, a home organizer who knows all the tricks for keeping your apartment free from clutter.

Barbara and Donna will try to alternate between answering your organizing and landlord-tenant questions.

Barbara has lived in apartments for close to 40 years -- part of the time as a renter, the rest as an owner. She also has served as a condominium board member.

Barbara writes a column every other week, aimed at apartment dwellers. She covers consumer, coping and safety issues.

Before becoming The Apartment Adviser, she worked for The Boston Herald American for 10 years. She then wrote a syndicated column, "Coping," a combination of consumer and human behavior features that appeared in U.S. and Canadian papers. In the 1990s, she worked in the administration of rental properties.

The transcript follows.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

Barbara Burtoff: Good afternoon, folks. I have a special guest with me today, Donna Smallin. She is the author of “Organizing Plain & Simple: A Ready Reference Guide with Hundreds of Solutions,” Storey Books, 2002, $16.95. Between 2 and 3 p.m. today, we’ll be taking your organizing questions. De-cluttering is her life! Even as a child, she says, she was organizing – dolls and their clothes,, stuffed animal collections and the bedrooms of her playmates. I might sneak in a tenant-landlord question here and there. Then from 3 to 3:30 p.m., it will be apartment advice exclusively. Let’s get on to the first question.

Adelphi, Md.: My husband and I are currently paying about $1,000/month rent for a very nice one bedroom apartment. We are currently on a month-to-month lease, and we need more space. We are considering moving into a slightly larger (and more expensive) apartment in the same complex, or buying a condo. The problem is that our rent went up $60/mo. this past year, but we're only planning to live in this area for another 2.5-3 years. Do you recommend buying a condo or just moving to a larger apartment?

Barbara Burtoff: Dear Adelphi: If you are certain that you are leaving this area in 2 1/2 years, don't buy a condo unless you are planning to keep it as a rental property after you are gone. In buying, you'll rack up settlement charges, Realtor's commission and if there's a mortgage involved, more charges, an incredible amount of paperwork and mostly interest in payments for 2 1/2 years, though that will probably be a tax deduction. Tell me, why, do you need a larger apartment? Is your family expanding? If not, you've come to the right show. Organizing specialist Donna Smallin is my guest today and she has several suggestions for making your current apartment seem bigger. Okay, Donna, many of us chatting want to hear this -- not just Adelphi.

Donna Smallin: My question to you is "Do you realy need more space...or could you do with less stuff?" It's easy to accumulate excess stuff. If you don't really need it or use it or love it anymore, it's just taking up valuable space. Get a few boxes and garbage bags and go through your apartment, room by room, drawer by drawer, shelf by shelf looking for things that are just taking up space. You may find things that are perfectly good that you could donate or sell. And you may find some junk! Throw out the junk. When in doubt about whether you should keep or toss something, ask yourself: What's the worst possible thing that could happen if I just got rid of this? If you unclutter now, you'll be that much further ahead of the game when you do get ready to move. There's no point in paying to move stuff you really don't need it, is there?

McLean, Va.:
I just moved. All of my stuff is in boxes. My father is extremely ill and I spend all of my time either at the hospital or at work. I've been living out of boxes for three weeks now.

Is there an "organizer" I can hire to put my stuff away? Just put all my clothes in the closet, arrange my knick-knacks, etc. No moving furniture or anything, just putting things away when they don't even have a place yet.

Thanks.

Donna Smallin: McLean, I'm sorry to hear about your father's illness. You certainly do have your share of stresses at the moment. But you will be happy to learn that there are professional organizers in your area who can help you out. Go to www.napo.net for a free referral.

Arlington, VA: HI Barbara and Donna-
What perfect timing for a de-clutter theme: I'm preparing to move to a new apartment next month after living in my current place for 3+ years -- needless to say there is a lot of accumulated "junk" that I need to sort through. I have started with the "keep" "give away" and "throw away" strategy - it's working okay so far. Any other suggestions on decluttering before a move, and also how to prevent my new place from turning into a clutter haven? Thanks!

Donna Smallin: Dear Arlington, you are off to a great start! Keep it up. My advice for when you get to your new place is don't rush out and buy new things right away. Settle in and see what you really need. If you accumulated a lot of stuff in just 3 years, you may want to curb impulse buys. You'll end up with less stuff...and more money in your pocket!

Barbara Burtoff: Donna: I have an organizing question for you, too. Last week, I was at a dinner party. A guest made the point that she and her husband saved their pennies by shopping in bulk at one of the clubs, a warehouse facility. So they buy 100 of this, 24 of that, 6 of something else. They live in a one-bedroom unit with maybe three or four closets, about 888-sq. ft. I couldn't resist asking where she stored the bulk purchases. She said she makes vertical use of her walls. Lots and lots of shelving units. Can you say more about this, Donna? Thanks.

Donna Smallin: Barbara, your fellow guests have found the key to organizing in small spaces: think vertical. If you have closets with only one shelf, but some or lots of space above it, there's the organizing space you've been looking for. Adding shelves to closets and pantries is cheap and easy. There are also ways to add shelf space in your kitchen cabinets using racks that attach to the underneath side of existing shelves, turntables, and other nifty organizing solutions. Some people who buy in bulk also use the space under their beds for storage. If necessary, you can buy bed risers that raise the bed about 6 inches so that you can store some sizable boxes under there. Look for these bed risers at specialty organizing stores. They're not very expensive at all.

Alexandria, Va.: Thank you for having a chat on my favorite topic. Someday I will be (more) organized, and I love reading helpful ideas. I wanted to share two ideas of mine about decluttering.

1. E-bay. In about the last six months, my husband and I have cleared around $800 -- with stuff that was just taking up space. These included vintage cameras, books, Magic school bus videos (you'd be surprised how much they bring), and collectible... dishes. There is some bother involved in photographing the things, a very minimal bother in listing them. And for me there is entertainment value in the whole process.

2. Be careful if your storage idea is TOO good. I put a nice, tall basket near the front door for umbrellas, soccer balls, winter gloves, bike helmets, etc. It became too easy to drop "stuff" in it, and many things ended up there that shouldn't have. Long story short, the basket has worn out and I have at least for now put a colorful plastic crate there. Not a great decorating statement, but sturdy and I can see through the holes.

Donna Smallin: Dear Alexandria, you bring up a good point. For many people, getting something in return for your "junk" helps in the letting go process. I, too, recently netted about $800 by selling off some things prior to my last move. As an apartment dweller, you can't have a yard or garage sale, but you can sell items separately. I recommend selling books to used book stores (I once made $75 that way) and also selling clothing and household furnishings on consignment where the store gets a percentage of the sale price and you get a percentage.

Columbia Heights, DC: Hello,
I live in a 2 bedroom apartment in the city with my fiancee. We're pretty organized and both threw away a lot of stuff when we moved it together. Our stuff just barely fits in our place, perfectly!
Now, we're getting married, and getting worried about the huge quantity of toasters, tchotchkes, crystal vases, clocks, and other stuff that's either useless/ugly, or we already have. Is there a tactful way to head off getting all these gifts? Can we ask for "donations to the Sierra Club" in lieu of a gift? What do we say to Aunt-so-and-so when she proffers a crystal knick-knack she thinks is absolutely precious but I'd rather not display?

Donna Smallin: Hello Columbia Heights. I love your idea for sending donations to your favorite charity! It's true that many people today have all the stuff they need. If you really don't want any gifts at all (including cash gifts), you should make that perfectly clear to your guests. You could tell them that the best gift they could give to you is their presence at your wedding. Best wishes!

Barbara Burtoff: Chatters, here's a question that's come in for the Apartment Adviser: My wife and I plan to have a baby in the next year or so, but think we should probably find a new apartment before doing so. We have enjoyed our current apartment, but it is very small and has thin walls that don't do a good job of blocking noise between apartments. It wouldn't be fair to inflict a crying baby on our neighbors at all hours of the night, and we need a little more space.

What should we look for in a new apartment that will be "baby friendly". Are there apartments in the District or Montgomery County that you recommend?

Families seem to head for garden apartments, especially those offering acivities and amenities for children. I'm asking chatters with children to make recommendations either today or to my e-mail address because you're not the only one with this in mind. I will devote more space to this at another time.

Bethesda, Md: Donna--what's your method for dealing with all the paper that comes into a home? I know there's the "handle it once" school of thought, but I can't always drop everything and pay a bill or file something. I do throw most of the junk mail away right at the mailbox, before it even gets in.

Donna Smallin: Dear Bethesda, about that junk mail...isn't it annoying? I don't even open it up anymore. I figure that if I want something, I will go out and shop for it. I also toss all the inserts that come with my statements (unless they are important notices)and those newsletters that come with my utility bills. I don't agree with the rule of handling paper only once. Like you say, you don't have time to stop what you're doing to pay bills. What is important is that you have a place to put those bills so that when you are ready to pay them, they are all in one place. The same goes for reading material and things that have to be filed. Use a multi-tiered inbox (properly labeled!) to sort your mail into categories like "Bills to Pay", "To File", "To Read" or "Urgent To Do". Or set up places where you can take these things upon receipt.

Prince Georges' County, Md.: Looking for an apartment that accept pets.

Barbara Burtoff: Dear Prince Georges' County: Thanks for writing. My next Saturday column, October 5, will, in part, be on the subject of pets. Okay, chatters, if you live in a pet-friendly building or know of one, please share the name of the apartment complex, address and tel. no. If you're reading this transcript after we go off the air today, please send it to my e-mail address: BBapartmentlife@aol.com. I'd like to be ale to share a list of 15 or 20 buildings in nearby MD, VA and DC. Donna, while we're on this subject, can you say a few words about neatness when it comes to having a pet, particuarly in a small apartment. Where's the best place for the litter box, food and water bowls, etc.? Do you suggest a mini-vac to keep the cat hairs at a minimum. Any special advice about dogs in apartments?

Donna Smallin: Barbara, I lived with four cats and a dog in one of my last apartments so I understand the challenges. I always keep food bowls and water bowls in the kitchen, but never the cat litter box! In one apartment, there was just enough room behind a door of one room that worked very well. The door was always slightly closed but there was still room to open it wide enough to enter. I usually end up putting the litter box in the bathroom. I do recommend those litter carpets that help prevent tracking since the cat litter ends up everywhere otherwise and, if it gets ground into a hardwood floor, it can do some damage. For pet hair, I have discovered a pretty neat trick. I do use a hand vacuum but for quick clean-ups, I will moisten my hand and just run across a fabric surface and the hair balls up. It works even better if you wear a fabric glove moistened with water. One final piece of advice about renting with pets. I never had trouble finding great apartment even with all of my pets because I would give prospective landlords a little resume about my pets which included references. I did have to pay extra security at one place but was never turned down.

Barbara Burtoff: Chatters, I just got this question from Washington, DC: Are your application fees refundable? Usually, these fees are not refundable. They cover the cost of the credit bureau report. A landlord or management company will check out your credit rating with one or two of the three credit reporting bureaus. They pay a fee for that each time and an annual membership dues, too, from what I've been told. However, right now, with many apartment vacancies, some landlords or management companies are absorbing the costs of getting the credit reports -- so no charge to the prospective tenant. Look through the display ads in the Saturday "Apartment Living" section of The Washington Post and you may find an ad or two or more that says "No Application Fee."

New Babies/Puppies in Apartments: Regardless of where you live, if you have
a new baby or puppy (which do their fair
share of crying at night) I would suggest
getting to know your neighbors and letting
them know about the situation BEFORE
they are banging on your door at 3 a.m. I
have been on both sides of this. People
tend to be a lot more patient and forgiving
if they know you and like you! It also
helps if you can develop a neighborly
enough relationship that they get a
chance to see your little darling at his/her
best occasionally.

Barbara Burtoff: Donna, please share this remark with our audience.

Donna Smallin: On the issue of pets, a member of our audience has shared some advice about new babies/puppies in apartments. Thank you for sharing.

Laundry, Laundry Everywhere!: This is such a silly question, but I could really use your advice! My huband and I live in a fairly reasonably-sized apartment, but our W/D is in a closet rather than a laundry room. So when we fold clothes, we carry them to the couch or the bed and do our folding there. Our problem is socks. Half of them never seem to get sorted and we now have a chair that is covered with a pile of socks! It's terrible. I tried implementing a strategy where we pinned our dirty socks together before they went in the laundry basket, but it just never happened. (It wasn't just my husband: I never followed up either.) Is there a way to eliminate our sock clutter, or are we doomed to decorate in hosiery?!

Donna Smallin: I’m going to offer up a couple of simple solutions. First, would it be possible to set up a small folding table just outside the W/D closet doors? Maybe there’s a place nearby where you could store it (folded) and pull it out when you need it. Second, if the problem is the actual matching of socks, you could buy a set of colored laundry markers to mark the toes of matching socks with Xs, Os, #s or other symbols as a visual aid for matching. Third, could it be that you own too many socks? If half of them “never seem to get sorted,” my guess is that you are only sorting the ones you wear on a regular basis. If that’s the case, consider getting rid of those unsorted socks. If they are in good condition, you can donate them to a charitable organization. If not, throw them out. While you’re at it, go through your sock drawers and pull out any other socks you don’t wear. This will make it easier to find socks every day and put them away when you do sort them.

first apartment, no furniture: Not quite a clutter question but in the vein of maximizing space and value.

I'm about to move into my own apartment and I have no furniture.

Considering my limited funds, what pieces of furniture should I view as a long-term purchase, and where would IKEA suffice?

Donna Smallin: It's funny you should ask! I just moved into a new place that has room for a kitchen table and a dining room table, but alas, I can't afford either right now. So I'm having fun just shopping. It's giving me a chance to find out what I really like and want. One thing I will say is that I don't think furniture is forever. I might love what I end up buying, but will I love it 10 years from now? In my experience, probably not. You may be living in a completely different space or even (like me!) a completely different part of the country. My advice is to take some time to shop around and then buy what you love. That, by the way, is really what uncluttering and organizing is all about - surrounding yourself with things you love and use.

Washington, DC: Some words of advice for those who are uncluttering. Four years ago I moved into a smaller place. I thought this was the perfect time to toss a lot of stuff. Well, I got a little out of hand and regret to this day throwing out lots of things I thought I'd never use again. Think before tossing. It can be an expensive lesson.

Donna Smallin: Dear Washington - I sympathize. To be perfectly, I, too, have thrown out things only to find out that I needed or wanted them later. But most of the stuff I've thrown out, I've never even thought about again, much less needed or wanted. As I mentioned earlier to a member of our discussion, ask yourself: What is the worst possible thing that could happen if I get rid of this? Chances are, you could get it again pretty easily, even cheaply or you could borrow it from a friend or rent one. If, however, it is something truly one-of-kind and useful to boot, you may want to hold onto it.

Arlington, VA: Once I get my apartment uncluttered (which is what I'm working towards), where do I throw everything away? That is, I have a lot of old furniture that I'd love to donate or get rid of somehow- any suggestions?

Donna Smallin: Good question! I would call The Salvation Army or Goodwill in your area and see if they will pick up what you don't want. They often will and that's the easiest way. Good luck with your uncluttering!

California: What about CDs, audio tapes, DVD's and videotapes?

Donna Smallin: I store most of my media (except audio tapes) on shelves like books with the spines out and organize by category or alphabetize or both. I have seen organizers that hang on the wall which are neat space-saving idea. They hold about 100 CDs or DVDs and actually look nice on the wall if your decor is modern. Here's what I suggest NOT to do. Avoid buying any CD/DVD organizer with fixed slots because you can't keep them organized in any particular order; e.g., alphabetically or by category of music or movie. Audio tapes are a pain. If anyone knows of a really good way to organize audio tapes, please "speak" up!

Barbara Burtoff: Donna, you've gotten some tough questions and come up with superb answers. Thanks so much for being with us today. I have about 30 minutes more but don't want to say "goodbye" until we've chatted a bit more. Can you say a few words to readers about your "one in/one out rule." I remember hearing the same advice a few years ago. A friend moved from a huge home in Potomac, MD to a trim townhouse in Dupont Circle and "One in/one out" became their code for sanity.

Donna Smallin: Barbara and everyone, here's the rule: For every one thing you bring in the door, send one thing out. If you buy on replacement only; e.g., your toaster burns out and you buy a new one and get rid of the old one, you're following the rule. But try this: next time you want to buy something new, think about what one thing in your home you can send packing. It doesn't have to be an exact match (e.g. a book for a book) but if you follow this rule, you should be able to maintain the majority of your valuable space... and your sanity!

Barbara Burtoff: Donna, when my column appeared, September 7, with your organizing tips, I heard from readers that they were especially glad to have the address to write to (post card or letter) when they wanted to request that their name be removed from mailing lists for catalogs, credit card offers and all the miscellaneous other offers: Direct Marketing Association, Mail Preference Service, PO Box 9008, Farmington, NY 11735-9008. You made the point that if it is a catalog you like and purchase from, it will continue to come in the mail. Do you want to add anything more about junk mail?

Donna Smallin: Barbara, the only other thing I will say about junk mail is that it IS junk. Toss it. If you have piles of it that you've been meaning to look at, just throw it all out! No need to be scared...you know you'll get more. :-)

Barbara Burtoff: Donna, could you talk now about magazines. They are so-o-o very difficult to throw away. Some of them, especially those with recipes, I consider permanently useful references.

Donna Smallin: Barbara, I know that it's hard to throw out magazines. If you want to keep magazines as a reference, buy yourself some magazine organizers (acrylic stand up type) that will allow you to store magazines upright. Consider keeping only one year at a time in your "current" storage area and filing older issues in an "archive" storage area. You can buy cardboard filing boxes that stack very nicely.

Los Angeles: My issue is filing. Now, I have a couple of cardboard filing boxes sitting in the bedroom with all my pertinent papers. I don't know that I want to invest into a traditional filing cabinet that will be tough to carry come moving time. But cardboard boxes aren't attractive. Any suggestions for something in between?

Donna Smallin: I love a challenging question, especially when there is no one right answer. I saw a really neat filing system incorporated into a trunk that was fitted with rods inserted lengthwise to hold files. If you have a trunk at the foot of your bed, you might want to consider this idea. When it comes time to move, you can pull out your files and put them in your cardboard boxes. You might also consider a rolling filing cart that you could wheel in and out of a closet or corner when you need it. But I do want to make one point about "important papers." Like everything else, we tend to hold on to more than we need. Go through your files and see if there's anything you really don't need like old insurance policies that are no longer in effect or utility bills (no need to save them at all unless they are a tax-deductible expense). If you're in doubt about what you need to save for the IRS, refer to IRS publication 552, "Recordkeeping for Individuals," at www.irs.gov/.

Barbara Burtoff: Thank you, Donna. This was fun. Perhaps you can join me again one day next year. You had so many de-cluttering tips to share. Everyone with us today benefitted. And, of course, there are lots more bits of information in your book. Chatters, what makes her book so special is that she contacted more than 50 other professionals in the organizing field across the US and shares advice from them as well -- properly crediting them, of course. It's not just about apartment advice: Organizing Your Family, Moving, Organizing Your Estate, Organizing a Home Office, etc. Before signing off, chatters, just a reminder that if you have the name, address and tel. no. of an apartment complex that's child-friendly, pet-friendly or both, please let me hear from you ASAP at my e-mail address: BBapartmentlife@aol.com. One Saturday soon, I'll compile and share this information.

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