Over the course of a life well-lived, it's easy to acquire another set of dishes, to keep the suit you wore to your son's wedding and hang on to tons of other items.

For seniors, a bad back or sore knees can make dealing with all these possessions trickier, especially if illness or disability enters the picture.

For many older people, home organization can mean more than just storing stuff. At extremes, it can make the difference in whether a person can live independently.

Christina Ersig learned that during the final three years of her grandmother's life. As her grandmother was losing her strength, Ersig focused on helping her continue to live in her own home.

"You really have to get creative with their limitations," says Ersig, a former advertising account executive who became a professional organizer in Louisville, Ky., after her grandmother's death.

"You have to do everything you can to help them continue to live the life they love," she says of older people.

When her grandmother was using a walker, Ersig placed Tupperware dishes with matching lids on the lowest shelf near the microwave.

Her grandmother insisted on doing her own laundry and using liquid detergent, but the bottles were too heavy for her. So Ersig kept about two inches of detergent in a spare bottle her grandmother could handle.

Ersig's husband built a sturdy platform to raise her grandmother's favorite easy chair so she could get out of it more easily.

Safety first

Many concerns about older people's homes have to do with safety, says physical therapist Bernie Didio.

That means arranging furniture to keep walkways clear, eliminating throw rugs that could cause falls and ensuring good lighting, especially nightlights on the path to the bathroom.

The kitchen should be arranged for easy access to canned goods, glasses and cookware without a lot of reaching or bending, he says. Each home and each patient's condition will bring in unique considerations, he says. For instance, for people who have had a stroke and are paralyzed on one side, rearranging furniture can help them function using their good side.

A cardiac patient's big issue might be conserving energy. Going to a bathroom on the other side of the house from the den where he or she's watching TV, Didio says, might be too exhausting. That person could use a recliner and TV in a room closer to the bathroom.

Older people tend to have a lot of possessions they don't want to get rid of, adds Didio. That's not a problem as long as their stuff doesn't interfere with their daily functioning.

"People always ask me, 'So what do I have to get rid of?' " he says. "I tell them, 'You don't have to get rid of anything, but you might need to move it out of the way.' "

Family project

Professional organizers can charge $30 to $65 an hour. That can be too expensive for people on fixed incomes.

Instead of hiring outside help, suggests Didio, get the family together, sit down and come up with a room-by-room game plan. Remember it is essential to keep the older person involved in the decision-making, he says.

Determine which possessions are most important, which are necessary for daily life and which have the most sentimental value.

Ersig says many older people hang on to things no one else understands.

"They may have an old metal sausage grinder and say, 'I may still want to make my own sausage someday,' " she says.

Just box it up, record what box it's in and mark your calendar. If, in a year it hasn't been used, it might be time to donate it, she says.