7 Reasons You Might Need to Hire a Professional Organizer

When it comes to organizing your home and your possessions, it can be hard for anybody to know where to start and the best way to go about making your house work for you. With all the various stresses of life, like moving home and having children (or anything that requires deep forward planning with time), it can be hard to even find the time to begin the process of organizing your home.

Professional Organizers are a great option for people who need a little bit of extra help with the process of organizing their things. Whether those things be a reorganization of the interior of your home entirely or having assistance organizing stacks of important paperwork, professional organizers can make the process much easier.

Here are seven reasons you might want to hire a professional organizer, and some ideas of what they can do for you.

1. You Want To Declutter, But Don’t Know Where to Start

Without even getting into situational specifics, if you feel that you are having a hard time even starting the organization process, a simple and short meeting with a professional organizer can help you to plan out your moves and come up with ideas for decluttering efficiently. A professional organizer can still help with the process itself, but they’re available for advising on organization projects as well!

2. Reorganizing the Whole Home

When changing around the interior layout of your home, you should probably be thinking

decluttering, moving, new baby, paperwork, Professional Organizer

Upgrade Your Master Closet to a Great Built-in Closet System

When you decide to remodel or make updates to your home, you might prioritize the kitchen and bathrooms. I completely get it, we spend a lot of our time in those two spaces. But I am here to tell you that you should also consider upgrading your master closet to a good quality built in system, such as the one sold by The Container Store. I’ve just witnessed a client’s amazing master closet transformation, and it is clear just how much easier her day-to-day life will be. Don’t you deserve your day to be as easy as possible? Yes, you do.

The Problem With Wire Closet Systems

When you move into a new home, you might think the basic wire shelf and rod system is perfectly fine. And it might be, for a short while. Then stacks of your clothes will tip over, looking messy. You’ll find that your clothes are hard to reach making it difficult to find what you need and to put away laundry. Since your closet has no designated place for shoes or accessories such a purses, scarves, or belts – your shoes will be messy on the floor, and you’ll have to find alternate place for the other stuff. Your closet may not have a separate spot for long vs. short hanging clothes, the space is inefficient. The laundry hamper has nowhere to live. In addition, your closet is poorly lit.

Together, all these factors contribute to daily frustration and a cluttered mess – and no one needs that!

Our client had been frustrated with her closet for years before she reached out to The Container Store to inquire about their closet solutions. She was surprised when she got a phone call from one of Simplify Experts professional home organizers – Amy Nelson. She called me and said, wait – you guys do closets?

A Better Solution

Technically we don’t. But two our most senior home organizers, Amy Nelson and Alicia Lott are certified closet designers for The Container Store’s – The Contained Home program. This means that they can design the most efficient closet system for your space AND once it is installed, organize it beautifully!

Back to our client: Amy went to the client’s home, walked through the space with her and evaluated what closet system elements best fit the space. The client was able to touch and feel samples of door/drawer materials as well as select from several hardware options.

Once the client approved a detailed design plan, Amy Nelson placed the order and installation was scheduled. At last, the really fun part – placing all the clothing items in the new closet space.
The reveal was amazing!

The new closet design features a his and hers section with plenty of space for everything!

This custom closet uses every inch of available space – very well! No dead corners. No dusty, hard to reach shelves where items go missing.

Closets need good, easily accessible shelves. This new closet has many shelves, for clothes as well as shoes. Closets need drawers, not just for shorts and t-shirts but for jewelry, delicates, accessories, and handbags. The top drawers here have built in jewelry trays.

The LED lights are just the right color – not glaring white, not drearily dark. Just to the left of the long-hang area for dresses is a pull-out full-length mirror – it doesn’t take up any space!

Don’t settle for a wire shelf system in your closet. Make getting ready a joyful experience with a beautiful, well-planned custom closet from The Container Store. You won’t be sorry!

Photo by Artem Bali on Unsplash

Alicia Lott, Amy Nelson, closet, The Container Store

DIY Projects That Pack a Punch

Looking for your next big home improvement project? If you’re a fan of DIY projects, you know that sometimes it can be hard to come up with a project idea. Try these DIY home improvements and repairs to scratch the DIY itch and create something you can use for years and years to come.

Get Cookin’!

If you’re the chef in the family, perhaps the kitchen could use an upgrade. Make the food prep area more efficient and functional with rollouts to organize cabinet storage. Rollouts make wasted space accessible, which equates to an upgrade which is easy, inexpensive and satisfying. You install them by attaching to the existing shelving, simply mounting each rollout with four screws. Measure carefully, accounting for door space and hinges. Using a well-made drill makes this DIY project easy-peasy.

DIY, do it yourself project, erin reynolds, handyman, home improvement, yoga studio

How I Became a Professional Organizer – ALISON GRABICKI

When I think about the question: why I became a professional organizer, I think about how far back my passion for organizing goes. And I’ve concluded that it goes back, way back.

If organizing were a gene, it would have been one passed on to me by my mother. I have memories of watching her pack the family car for camping trips as a child. I would watch in awe as she placed each item like she was playing a real-life game of Tetris; and she was definitely winning. Her grasp on finances and time management were also something to be admired. Along with these lessons she demonstrated, and my natural propensity for creating calm and visually pleasing spaces, organizing just became part of who I am.

Alison Grabicki, becoming a professional organizer, home organizing

My Husband has GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome)

My husband has GAS. He knows it. I know it. The mailman and UPS delivery guy knows it.

I am not embarrassed to admit it; my husband has Gear Acquisition Syndrome – an affliction common among musicians. When I met him, he had a couple of electric guitars and an amp. He rarely played. After many years, he has rediscovered his passion for music, and now that there is a bit more room in the budget, well, he’s begun acquiring more and more gear.

He is an avid follower of YouTube shows like That Pedal Show and Guitar Paradiso. eBay and Craigslist have been consistent sources of hard-to-find gear. Weekend trips to Guitar Center are common.

GAS is a tongue in cheek name that describes

Compulsive Tool Acquisition Syndrome, CTAS, GAS, Gear Acquisition Syndrome, Guitar Center, Hobbies, SABLE, Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy

Four Super Easy Steps to Organize Your Medicine Cabinet

A medicine cabinet is a great place to stash away your personal care products in bathrooms low on storage. Since the contents are behind a closed door, it’s very easy to forget what is inside. Over time the medicine cabinet can become a cluttered mess of long forgotten and expired products. If you want to reclaim your medicine cabinet space, follow these four easy steps:

Clean it out

Take all the contents out of the medicine cabinet. Check the expiration dates on medicine bottles. Dispose of prescrition medicine safely, use this guide to locate a drop-off location. Supplements and over-the-counter medicine can go in the trash. Toss any products you don’t use or need. Carefully remove the glass shelves and wipe them down with glass cleaner.

Make the space work for you

Move the shelves around to suit your needs.

bathroom storage, declutter, decluttering, medicine cabinet

Wake up With More Energy Using These Six Tricks

Need more energy to start your day? Try these six tricks.

Don’t hit snooze

Set your alarm for the latest that you can get up and still be on time. Place the alarm clock across the room (out of arms reach) so you’ll have to get out of your bed to turn it off. This is particularly effective for teenagers who have trouble getting out of bed in the morning.

Open the shades

Let the light in. If it is a dark part of the year, turn on all the lights, and make it as bright as possible in your room.

closet organizing, morning routine, smoothie station

Storing your Hockey Gear in the Garage

NHL Hockey is coming to Seattle as soon as 2020! Seattle sports fans are already excited to have another team to support. Young kids and adults alike will be inspired to try hockey for themselves and that means hockey families will need to find a way to store all that hockey gear.

Where should all that hockey gear go?

Those who already play hockey know that the sport comes with a lot of bulky gear – it’s way more than sticks and skates. The pads, helmets, tape, pucks, jerseys and pants all need to go somewhere.

Garage Organizing, hockey, prostockhockey

Get Control of Your Personal Information – Know What to Shred

Personal information security is a hot topic these days. Between news of identity theft, mass data breaches and social media personal data security, the subject is front and center in our minds. We all want out personal information to be safe, whether it is our financial information, medical records, or social media data. Each year, we handle hundreds of documents that entail sensitive information, physical paper, our personal and financial paperwork.

It can be confusing to figure out what documents we need to keep, how long, and what documents we can dispose of, and how. Some individuals are so anxious about identity theft that they do not dispose of any paperwork at all! That results in massive paper piles, making it nearly impossible to find important documents when you need them. These piles can become an overwhelming burden. Paperwork clutter is a common problem, and very tedious and time consuming to tackle.

So, how can we protect our personal information (without getting buried in paper), at least the kind of personal information which commonly arrives in the mail? What to keep? How long? Why? We have some answers for you.

What Personal Information to Keep and How Long

Tax Returns: Keep copies of all your tax returns. Keep the back-up information and

paper clutter, personal information, shredding

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