Simplify Experts professional organizers handle a wide variety of situations. Decluttering and organizing, downsizing or upsizing homes, packing and/or unpacking a move, estate sale preparation, garages and garden sheds, businesses and home offices—you name it, and we’ve probably done it! To give you more insight into what our organizers do in a typical week, here are excerpts from our CRM. These entries are input by the organizers themselves, and all client names have been redacted. Keep in mind that these are mostly 3-hour sessions! We hope you’ll find it enlightening.
“Such a great day with 2 of us! We rocked through the whole kitchen and got the countertops cleared and made homes for everything so [client] can do the dishes and put them away. We moved the coffee station next to the fridge alongside the blender. Teas/coffees/accessories went in the drawers. Then all appliances went in the next drawer….We were such an efficient team that the kitchen took about 2.5 hours so for the last 25 minutes or so, I convinced [client] to let us at least get the recycling out of the garage so that there was more room. She consented to letting me do a recycling run….we helped break down boxes and I loaded my car with as many as I could fit.”
” [client] really was a trooper going through so much paper and office supplies in her office closet. It is so much safer—no longer the avalanche it was. 3 extra boxes of shredding. Bill to [client], as this is a Mother’s Day gift.”
“[client] cleaned the kitchen yesterday so she had more kitchen items for me to pack. I packed the last 2 boxes of pantry. Then I packed the master bathroom & guest bathroom. I took art off the family room wall & packed that. I packed all of [client]’s books & a box of toys. [client] was able to pack the rest of her books. I advised [client] to purchase some Medium & large boxes as they don’t have any, so we can pack the rest of the house. I took away 1 bag of trash.”
“Great day today. We had put aside photos and [client]’s art and went through it all and downsized. We fit it all into a box [client] already had and stowed it in the office closet. Then we downsized her fabric and some sewing supplies. We were able to use a smaller box for fabric and moved some items around so that more natural light comes in. Then we worked on [client]’s desk and file cabinet. Bottom drawer is done and mostly [client]’s stuff. We went through most of the files on the top and pulled out a bunch of shred. Next time we will need to go through and label and relabel as some files are labelled incorrectly. We also have some papers to file. Then the office will be done and we can move to the basement. The office seems so much more spacious and [client] is relieved. One bag for donation.”
“Lots to do in [client]’s office. She wanted to clear floor space and work on paperwork. We gathered files and papers to sort. I pre-sorted several baskets and bins and worked on piles and then [client] consolidated and filed and I created labels as needed. Several of her bins were collapsible so she will take them upstairs. We made a lot of floor space. A box of donation, a bag of trash and one of recycling, some shred, and a phone for Interconnection.
“We had to work hard to get through all the spaces in [client]’s room. 6 large bags of donate, a couple recycle and 2 trash. So much better.”
“[client] said she wanted to tackle the shed today since she has been pulling out Christmas decorations and is becoming overwhelmed with the disorganization in there. There are many labeled bins in there but upon opening a few, we discovered that they weren’t correctly labelled or were labelled “misc”. We went through rarely used kitchen items, properly labelled the bins and made them the most accessible bins since we will tackle the kitchen in January 2022. Then we consolidated all collectible items from her family, her photos/memorabilia, a few bins for her daughter [client], and outdoor equipment. We ended up with a few empty bins which [client] was thrilled about and she said she felt much better about going in the shed to get more decorations.”
“[client] was tired of the clutter & scooped everything that’s been out around her kitchen & family room into large tubs. We sorted through all 6 tubs & gave everything a home. Her daughter came home from school early so we sorted through her large stuffed animal collection for some to donate. I took away 5 bags to donation, 1 trash & 2 recycle.”
“Today we started in the kids’ rooms. We tidied up & pulled out clothing for donation. Next we organized a guest linen closet & tidied the guest area/playroom. Then we cleaned out the exercise room closet & organized all items w/ labels. Lastly, we organized the mud room, giving everything a home & lots of labeling.”
“Great session with [client]….we needed to work on the guest room. We cleaned out the closet and made room for the many Legos that were in the guest room. Then we cleared the sofa bed and desk. Next we worked on the nook at the bottom of her stairs where there have always been bins and bags and boxes. We got that cleared out and reorganized the nearby closet. The hallway is looking much better now. Next we thinned her built in bookcases in that area. A bag of trash, I fit a booster seat in her trash can, two bags of recycling, and at least twelves bags/bins/boxes of donation, plus a lamp and a couple of luggage pieces.”
“We worked 4.25 hours on this storage unit. We brought in 2 Costco racks, picked up 4 tubs at Target, and set up 2 clothing racks and a shoe rack that [client] had left for us. I took a large car full of recycling away when complete.”
“[client] did most of her homework and got the twins’ pictures out which was great in terms of reducing the volume. We started talking about how to proceed about the photo books. I have shown her some examples from Shutterfly so that she does have an idea. We decided to go child by child and started with [client]. Birth to end of college is what we are targeting. We have sorted the pictures into years and put into envelopes in case we find more of those years. If she can find the time and energy, she will start doing it for [client] and then she and I will be able to reduce the volume that will go into each page. I will bring my two photo books as an example to her as she is very visual.”
“I processed through all [client]’s papers throughout the home and garage and set her up with a file system; we finished an hour early and she was quite pleased.”
“We spent today working on the food items on the counters, floor & cabinets. I went through to check all expiration dates & threw out expired food. While I was cleaning out & organizing pantry items, I gave [client] some papers that were stacked high on the counter to go through. It was a productive day. There is a lot more counter space & she can actually access & use her Keurig, which has been buried for sometime. I threw away 5 bags of trash/food. 2 bags of recycle, took away 1 paper bag for the food bank, 1 of shred & 1 bag for donation.”
It typically takes a professional organizer 3 hours to accomplish what most people would need 9-12 hours to do. When you read about what can be done in a 3-hour session, it’s quite an eye-opener. If you’ve got a stalled project, need a reset, are overwhelmed, or just need support and guidance for your home organization, don’t hesitate to contact us. Our complimentary 1-hour in-home consultation is just a phone call or email away.