Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Pam Nudelman believes in a place for everything and everything in its place. One of those places is this antique hardware-store storage chest, where she files small items in her home. Each drawer is in alphabetical order.

Organizational relief is on the way for pack rats

By Shari Kaplan

Attention all perpetually paralyzed procrastinating pack rats--Pam Nudelman has built the better mouse trap.

A Los Gatos resident for 24 years, Nudelman is a decorator, professional organizer, school volunteer and author of The Secret Handbook for Perpetually Paralyzed Procrastinating Pack Rats Anonymous, which she shares with students in classes held through many local recreation departments and community centers, including the Los Gatos-Saratoga Department of Community Education and Recreation.

She and her husband also have four children ranging in age from eight to 16, a dog, a chicken coop and a multilevel home with expansive grounds. Her life requires a great deal of organizing, but keeping it together comes naturally to Nudelman. While growing up in the suburbs of Detroit, she had many opportunities to learn the tricks of the trades that now combine to form her home-based business called Panacea: Solutions for Creative Endeavors.

As a child, Nudelman spent much time in the basement of her family's home, where she learned about building, repairing and fixing things at her father's workbench and about sewing at her mom's sewing machine. In the attic, she and her sister "redecorated" by moving around old furniture and miscellaneous collectibles. Helping her father run his toy shop further encouraged Nudelman's organizational prowess.

"The best part of working there was unpacking boxes and putting all the toys away in an orderly fashion so they looked appealing.

Over the years, friends, family and coworkers often turned to Nudelman for help with tasks varying from filing loose papers and balancing checkbooks to selecting and hanging wallpaper. Panacea was born from these experiences.

"When naming my business, I needed a name that would incorporate the many areas of my expertise. Quite often, I found myself organizing offices and homes, setting up bookkeeping systems, balancing books or decorating with wallpaper, furniture or accessories," Nudelman explains.

"I wanted a business name that would encompass its sequential and complete nature. I remembered [Thomas] DeQuincey's quote: 'Here was a panacea...for all human woes; here was the secret of happiness.' "

One facet of Panacea are the Pack Rat classes--3 1/2-hour presentations that include Nudelman's handbook and in-home or in-office consultations. There are also ongoing "pack rat support group" meetings. Getting organized, she says, leads to peace of mind and better self-esteem.

One of Nudelman's simple tips entails separating incoming mail and kids' papers into five categories: items to be read, bills to pay, items to be filed away, projects to do and items for the round file (trash). Having five baskets, boxes or even separate sections of an accordion-type folder makes an easy filing system.

Other tips include stacking kids' shirts vertically in drawers so they are more visible and space-efficient, and arranging the pantry so that similar items such as boxed goods, canned goods and glass jars are grouped together.

When a family is large, Nudelman offers the "boot camp" method for teaching children responsibility. In the military, a whole troop is punished if one person doesn't perform adequately, due in part to social pressure this creates to stay in line and not make things difficult for one's peers.

Along with classes, Nudelman has given seminars and consultations on organizing at large and small companies. She also works with architects and homeowners in designing or improving homes or rooms to maximize the use of space.

For more information about Panacea, call 395-0552. For information on the pack rat classes call 354-8700, ext. 21.