A Week in the Life of a Simplify Experts Organizer

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.”

home organizing, Professional Organizer

What Happens During A Simplify Experts Assessment?

If you’ve been reading our monthly newsletters, following us on social media, or checking out our website, you are probably familiar with Simplify Expert’s amazing offer of a complimentary consultation. Founder Denise Allan visits your home and spends about an hour meeting with you and assessing your organizing needs and goals.

I am a Simplify Experts employee, but I am also a homeowner with current decluttering needs! With one child launched, another off to university in the Fall, and only one teen left living at home, our family will be downsizing to a smaller home in a couple of months. Our current home has 10 years’ worth of accumulation. Going from a fairly large home to a medium-sized home means getting rid of significant pieces of furniture; toys, games, sports equipment, books, and clothes that our older kids no longer need; and all kinds of household items we no longer use.

The closing date for our new home was looming, and the listing date for our current home was moved up. We weren’t quite in “panic mode,” but we did need to speed up our process and get the house ready—fast!—for the video/photo pro, and then to list a few days after that. You’d think after four months of quarantine we would have already completely organized and decluttered the house (as well as learned a new language and kept a sourdough starter alive). Our home wasn’t particularly messy or disorganized, but once we started the process of going through everything, it felt and looked like a small tsunami had hit. My kids took everything out of their closets, shelves, and under-bed storage. My husband and I did the same with our offices, the storage room, rec room, and study. The hallways and larger rooms became depositories of everything and we could barely even walk through! Overwhelmed much?

Professional Organizer

The Don’ts of Decluttering and Organizing

There are endless articles out there sharing tips and hacks on how to declutter and organize your spaces. Of course you should start with a plan and a set of priorities. Yes, you should set aside a realistic of amount time and energy to undertake this project. If you can, enlist your partner and other family members to help. Those are just a few of the DO’s to organizing. What I’ve got here is a list, gleaned from our very own Simplify Experts organizers, of some excellent DON’Ts to decluttering and organizing.

Time Solutions

Do not try to do it all in one day.
Don’t establish unrealistic goals such as the entire house in one day or the whole garage in two hours.
Don’t expect things to go quickly; i.e. the disorganization did not happen in one day, so it won’t be fixed in one day.
Do not try to do an entire room, closet, or garage all at once. Divide the space into sections and get through each one before tackling the next.
Don’t underestimate the time it takes to sort through things, whether it’s paper piles, clothes, or toys.

Some of you have entered a new season of life with a child off to college. We had our oldest attend Western Washington University in Bellingham and then our younger go out of state to University of Colorado. Both had great college experiences with a few growing pains along the way. We visited them at school a few times a year. I typically visited more often on my own than with my spouse due to his work schedule. Now that they have both graduated, I’d like to share some of the highlights I gleaned through the years.

Scheduling my visits

I always tried to arrange visits around their schedules. We engaged in parents’ weekends the first year and then scheduled for alternate times in the future due to all the popular restaurants and local hotels being booked.
My comfort level was typically a good visit every six weeks. Sometimes I’d visit them; sometimes they’d come home.
I kept my out-of-state visits to 3 days and anticipated for a few hours of his time each day. If there was more, that was a bonus. I was content to read, go to a museum, or bike the area solo while he headed back to his campus life.

Bring a touch of home

I would bring a favorite or two from home, be it some freshly baked cookies, Confectionery Store (at University Village) gummy bears, or some new athletic socks and boxers. I’ve made lasagnas in Pyrex pans that would never return from Bellingham. I’ve brought Juanita’s Chips as my carry-on because evidently the corn chips are just not as good in Colorado.
I’d make notes on my phone about the latest news in the neighborhood and in the family, and I’d catch him up.

college students, parenting

How I Became a Professional Organizer – MARGIE FORTMAN

Becoming a professional organizer has been the smoothest, most enjoyable job introduction I have ever experienced, because what I do for clients is an extension of what I instinctively do elsewhere in my life everyday—organize and simplify!

I remember, as a child, organizing my books by height on the bookshelf and rearranging my bedroom furniture to reflect my changing tastes and needs as I grew older.

becoming a professional organizer, home organizing, margie fortman

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

Simplify Experts Receives Angie’s List Super Service Award 2016!

Simplify Experts 2016 Super Service Award

We are so proud to announce that for the third year in a row, Simplify Experts has earned the coveted Angie’s List Super Service Award. This award goes to the top 5% of service companies which service the local area marketplace. The winners must meet strict eligibility criteria including an “A” rating in overall grade, recent grade and review period grade. We are thrilled and excited to continue to provide excellent professional home organizing services to the Seattle area.

Simplify Experts is the most accredited professional organizing firm in the Pacific Northwest. In addition to other accreditations, Denise Allan is the only Master Trainer in Chronic Disorganization in the PNW.

Angie's List Super Service Award

How I Became a Professional Organizer AMY NELSON

I didn’t plan on becoming an organizer. I’m not a naturally organized person. Anyone who saw my room growing up or in college can attest to that! Educating and helping people have always been my passions. I graduated from WSU with a degree in Speech Therapy and Audiology. Out of college I worked for the Lake Washington School District and then Seattle Children’s Hospital in the Audiology Department. In 2005 when my son entered kindergarten I took some time off to volunteer and be a stay-at-home mom. In 2008 I was looking for a new career when Denise (a friend) asked if I would come work for her. She had a large project and needed some assistance. I started at Simplify with Denise the next week. Eight years later, a name change, lots of training, education and certifications, we are still together.
I had always enjoyed watching TV shows about organizing or reading magazine articles and seeing the transformations

Amy Nelson, Professional Organizer

How I Became a Professional Organizer ALICIA LOTT

Clients often ask me how and why I became a professional organizer. I get excited when I am asked this question because I truly love what I do. I have about six years of organizing experience under my belt and I have answered this question a lot. It boils down to three things: I love stuff. I love organizing other people’s stuff. I love helping people truly enjoy their homes by organizing their stuff.

My relationship with stuff is interesting. I spent my childhood accompanying my mom and grandmother to many garage sales, estate sales, antique stores and thrift stores all around King County. As a result, I have a lot knowledge about what collectibles have value, which ones don’t, what can sell in a consignment store, and what collections are on trend. I understand and appreciate the relationship clients have with their treasures. I also appreciate the value of a clutter free home. When clients are grappling with too much volume, my favorite question to ask is, “does this item need you?”

Alicia Lott, Professional Organizer

How I Became a Professional Organizer JESSICA SHEETS

“What is a professional organizer?” After two years with this wonderful company this is certainly a question I hear a lot. So, what do we do really? It is far more all encompassing than what might come to mind for most people. Not only do we clear the clutter, strategize then implement organizational systems, downsize, manage moves, and the list goes on, we are also cheerleaders, life coaches, helpers, friends, simplify experts and so much more! It takes a level of compassion, empathy, caring, and natural coordination to take on such a role. These are all qualities I noticed in myself and have nurtured through my short 25 years and ultimately what led me to this profession.

Even from a young age I craved the structure and simplicity that proper organization affords. Although sharing a room with my younger sister may have made it a bit challenging through the years, I always enjoyed the big weekend cleaning days where everyone was assigned a chore and we all worked as a household to reset our home to a cleaned, managed, and peaceful place. These memories, coupled with sincere appreciation for that inner peace have persisted on and led me to always pursue opportunities where I could help make a difference in people’s lives.

Jessica Sheets, Professional Organizer

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