THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, September 3, 1995              TAG: 9509010107
SECTION: HOME                     PAGE: G2   EDITION: FINAL 
COLUMN: AROUND THE HOUSE 
SOURCE: MARY FLACHSENHAAR 
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   60 lines

AUTUMN IS THE SEASON FOR TACKLING DISORDER

IF SUMMER IS for R&R, then September is for getting ship-shape. A catalog called Solutions, Your Resource for a Clean and Organized Home, offers products that can solve tough storage problems.

Like the dresser-drawer addition, called a perfect order organizer, that creates 32 compartments for socks, belts and undergarments. The natural-wood letter and key caddy that hangs from a wall, reducing counter-top clutter. A collapsible lingerie-drying rack that includes six drying lines that can be attached to a bathroom or shower wall. The shoe cubbie that holds up to 30 pairs. The hanging nest that can store 20 baseball caps without crushing one brim.

To order the catalog that provides new hope for pack rats, call (800) 342-9988. DIGGING OUT THE DESK

One corner of the house may need immediate attention, with the homework season fast-approaching. If you can't see your child's desk for all the camp photos, comic books and bug collections that are piled atop, it's time to shovel out and shape up.

Children need an organized and comfortable place of their own for doing homework, according to Kathy Parrott, Virginia cooperative extension housing specialist at Virginia Tech. It needn't be large, she says, but it must have:

Comfortable seating;

A flat writing surface;

Good lighting, including a reading lamp about 15 to 18 inches from the work space and background lighting from an overhead fixture or other table lamps;

Storage for pens, pencils, paper, reference books;

Space where ongoing projects can be stored.

Every parent knows what the study area should not have, but for those whose brains have been fried by too much summer sun, Parrott adds this reminder in her press release: no TV in the study zone. TOP 10 COLLECTIBLES

Buyers, be aware! The Top 10 collectibles of 1995, according to Country Home magazine, are:

Basketry;

Christmas ornaments;

Painted furniture;

Small structures, such as birdhouses, dollhouses and architectural models;

Decoys;

Old West memorabilia;

Early advertising, such as signs, boxes, tins, trade cards and posters that still bear a trade name or slogan;

Garden fixtures, such as antique outdoor furniture and ornaments in terra cotta, wood, stone, marble, iron and other metals;

Quilts;

Toy trains. by CNB