Peace of Mind Organizing

The power of working with a professional organizer

14 August 2023

I’m always amazed at how often I put off dealing with clutter in my own home. If I give it some focused attention, I’m able to declutter and organize pretty easily. But if I add a professional organizer to the mix and the process is supercharged!

Last week, I asked one of my employees, Lydia, to help me declutter and organize four spaces: one of my bathroom closets, my food-storage containers and two of my pantry cupboards. I am so glad I did.

My house is 115 years old and most of his not been renovated. If you are a lover of old houses, you’d probably really like my house. It has plenty of “character.” The bathroom closets are functional but not at all customized for storage. I reorganized my primary bathroom closet a few years ago (again) and I just let disorder creep in to the point where I could barely stand it any more. So I reached out for help. And I’m so glad I did.

In two hours, that closet went from this:

To this:

We emptied the contents of the closet, shelf by shelf, onto a folding table right outside the bathroom. I looked at each item, got rid of those that had aged out, sorted like things together and then put it all back together again. Lydia suggested that a three-tiered rolling cart would work well on the floor of the closet (genius!), so I repurposed the one I’d been using next to my washing machine. (In its place, I put a nightstand I’m no longer using, which stores my laundry supplies very nicely.) The cart is perfect for my purposes in the bathroom.

Moving items to the rolling cart not only made much better use of the floor space, it created space on the shelves. (That was helped a lot by my letting go of so much.) Lydia suggested we move the towels from the top shelf down a shelf (since we now had room) where they’re now within reach. We folded guest sets together and put them in the back of the shelf and the towels I use in the front. For 22 years, I have been storing towels on the top shelf, where it’s difficult for me to put them away and get them out. I struggled for 22 years. Why didn’t I consider moving them to a more accessible shelf?

I love it when I have organizers help me because it makes me really appreciate the value of working with an organizing professional. You set aside time to focus on the process. You make a financial commitment. And you get a fresh set of (expert) eyes on your situation. The five hours I spent with Lydia on Friday made a huge difference. I’m been smiling every time I use the refreshed spaces.

If you have spaces in your home that are getting on your nerves, I urge you to set aside some time to focus on decluttering and organizing them. If you have inclination and budget, you can supercharge the effort by hiring a professional to help! If you’re in St. Louis, shoot me an email. Or go to NAPO’s website to find an organizing professional near you!

Tagged with: bathrooms, declutter, decluttering, professional organizer, working with a professional organizer

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