No money? Get organized at St. Charles home show

There aren't a lot of new homes being built in this economy. And with tight budgets, even remodeling old homes can be difficult.

But that didn't stop area residents from packing Saturday's The Old House New House Home Show in St. Charles. Many got tips on how to improve their homes without a lot of cost.

Jennifer Prell is all about helping people meet one of the most New Year's resolutions as cheaply as possible - getting organized. Prell is the president of Paxem, Inc., a company that specializes in maximizing space.

Prell told an attentive audience during her streamlining workshop that being organized can add value to a home and make it easier to sell.

"If you're organized," Prell said, "people will say, 'Look how nice that looks. They must have taken care of this house. I think I'll buy this house.'"

Prell told the audience messes can rain down on a home like cats and dogs.

"How many people here own cats?" Prell asked the audience, who responded with confused laughter. "Cat people tend to be more disorganized. Sad, but true."

Dog lovers were not spared.

"How many people have dogs?" Prell asked next. This time, fewer audience members were willing to admit their pet preference.

"My dog people generally just have issues with paper."

By that she means the kind of paper that comes in the mail every day, particularly for people with an office space in their home. Prell offered a simple way of thinking to help deal with a paper problem.

"Files are your friend," she said. "The issue with paper is flow. If you don't have flow, you don't have chaos."

In other words, every piece of paper should have a destination that will eventually lead it to the trash or recycling bin at various speeds. Paper must have a priority level, Prell said.

"The desk is prime real estate, high-rent district," she said. "Ask yourself, is this paper paying you any money to sit on your desk? The rule for paper is get rid of the stuff you don't need; put the stuff you do need in one place."

Prell will repeat her workshop at noon Sunday during The Old House New House Home Show at Pheasant Run's Mega Center in St. Charles.