I was messy as a kid. My closet was stuffed full, under my bed was a chaotic scene, my dresser drawers were crammed with clothes and random other things I’d shove in. My mom would help me sort through my room a few times a year, giant trash bag in tow…but she wasn’t really the best person to help.

My mom was a child of parents who came through the depression and World War II. They were fairly poor and kept everything because “You never know when you’ll need it again…and who knows if you’ll be able to afford it.” My home growing up, though it was kept very tidy, had every storage space stuffed full. Every cabinet and drawer was FULL. Top-to-bottom, front-to-back. My mom knew where everything was…but she was the only one.

When my mom died in 2018, my middle brother and I spent a week clearing things out for my dad. (My brother and I love a good project, even in the midst of massive grief.) We discovered things we had thought were long gone, but our mom had in fact…kept them.

Perm curling rods from when she used to perm our great grandmother’s hair (great grandma had passed in 2005), hockey buttons from when my three brothers had played, every Mother’s Day card…for some reason kept under placemats and napkins in a buffet. The most baffling thing? Circumcision rings from my older two brothers…kept with her jewelry?

I was already a few years into my career as a professional organizer at this time, so most of this wasn’t that surprising…but it did make me think that I truly had found my calling in life.

I love helping other people make sense out of the chaos of their clutter; no matter if they have to sort through a loved one’s items, or just wanted a more functional kitchen. I have come to realize that working with clients and their stuff was never going to be about just their things.

There is an intimacy in the things we keep and I want to make sure that it’s less about “tossing, keeping, donating” and more about the whole person I’m working with. Humans don’t exist in a vacuum and the vulnerability it takes to let someone into your home to help you is very real.

I tell people constantly that if I could do this for free, I would! Having someone work alongside you as you figure out how to make your space more functional makes the whole process easier! Having someone come into your home and sort things into categories for you, so you only have to make decisions on what to keep and where things go…makes it all so much easier in the end! It ends up giving you something back that you need more than anything: TIME.

I am a mother of two young kids, and I will tell you that my home is far from perfect. My husband and I have to hound our kids to pick up their own stuff…and are most often met with lots of attitude. But we work at it. We’re working on it. Bit by bit, we are trying to foster independence in our kids so they won’t feel like they’re floundering when they are out on their own. We want to all live in our house together, without spending all of our time picking up after other people. We want to enjoy our time together and not be overwhelmed by our own clutter!

If anything written here resonates with you, maybe it’s time to book an appointment with me. I can help.