What do professional organizers do for you?

[Anonymous]

My house in completely disorganized. We moved here 2 years ago and at the time I had an infant, so our packing was haphazard, as was our unpacking. There's a ton of stuff that doesn't have a place in my home. I'm desperate to get it all together, but I'm really bad at organizing. Would a professional organizer help? What do they do -- and how much do they cost?

[Anonymous]

A friend of mine is a professional organizer and she is great at what she does. I have seen her take homes with 25 years of hoarded stuff and create a zen like space.

[Anonymous]

13:31 - NP here. Name/number/site please!

[Anonymous]

This is OP again. How about any book recommendations regarding organizing the home?

[Anonymous]

i used to be a professional organizer. if you've had two years with disorganization, a book is not going to help- you need a professional. the way i did it, I would come in for a consult, assess the space and get a general idea of what you want out of it. i liked to allow people to have particular zones that didn't have to be crazy neat, so that they would not just fail the whole house once i was gone. a good organizer will assess your lifestyle and find something truly workable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i used to be a professional organizer. if you've had two years with disorganization, a book is not going to help- you need a professional. the way i did it, I would come in for a consult, assess the space and get a general idea of what you want out of it. i liked to allow people to have particular zones that didn't have to be crazy neat, so that they would not just fail the whole house once i was gone. a good organizer will assess your lifestyle and find something truly workable.

This is OP. In truth, I have about 37 years of disorganization... :p

How long would it typically take you to get a space turned around -- and what is the typical charge?

[Anonymous]

I've used Space Matters http://www.myspacematters.com/ and were very pleased with them. I don't remember what I paid but it wasn't exactly cheap but it was worth it for what we needed.

We had a hurried move and as a result there were tons of boxes in our basement that had been there for two years - unopened. I had good storage there but I needed to go through everything and do some major purging and then getting the stuff on a shelf. Space Matters sent two ladies over and they worked with us for 4 hours straight - and I mean worked. We did that twice. We designated one area to put things they would take away for donation, one area for trash and another area for Freecycle (I had my laptop with me and posted it right then and there). It was nice having people who had no emotional investment in the 'stuff' to help me purge/let go/get rid of stuff that really added nothing to my life. It was incredibly freeing and they assuaged whatever guilt I may have been feeling. I wouldn't have been able to get rid of half the stuff I did if I'd been alone listening to my mother's voice echo in my head ('You can't get rid of that! It belonged to Great-Aunt Delma!).

We went through every box and anything that went on a shelf was labelled. They took the stuff for charity with them, brought their own trash bags and were honest when telling me that no one would want that old tchocke. During the second visit, we had some extra time so my DH and one of the ladies tacked the shed. It was GREAT!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've used Space Matters http://www.myspacematters.com/ and were very pleased with them. I don't remember what I paid but it wasn't exactly cheap but it was worth it for what we needed.

We had a hurried move and as a result there were tons of boxes in our basement that had been there for two years - unopened. I had good storage there but I needed to go through everything and do some major purging and then getting the stuff on a shelf. Space Matters sent two ladies over and they worked with us for 4 hours straight - and I mean worked. We did that twice. We designated one area to put things they would take away for donation, one area for trash and another area for Freecycle (I had my laptop with me and posted it right then and there). It was nice having people who had no emotional investment in the 'stuff' to help me purge/let go/get rid of stuff that really added nothing to my life. It was incredibly freeing and they assuaged whatever guilt I may have been feeling. I wouldn't have been able to get rid of half the stuff I did if I'd been alone listening to my mother's voice echo in my head ('You can't get rid of that! It belonged to Great-Aunt Delma!).

We went through every box and anything that went on a shelf was labelled. They took the stuff for charity with them, brought their own trash bags and were honest when telling me that no one would want that old tchocke. During the second visit, we had some extra time so my DH and one of the ladies tacked the shed. It was GREAT!

OP again. Thanks for the feedback pp.

Once you got the space organized, were you able to maintain the organization? (I'm not a very organized person, but I'm hoping that having someone else set me up with a routine that I need to maintain will be easier than setting up my own routine.)

Also, regarding the purge: Is this something that a few good friends could help you with, or do you think you needed a professional for that?

[Anonymous]

There's also:

http://www.clutterdiet.com/

Never done it, but maybe it would work for you? I think you can try it free for a week.

[Anonymous]

Google Kacy Paide, The Inspired Office. I went to a seminar and implemented some of her ideas immediately - she's local and amazing. Very personable but results oriented and she will create systems that work for you. Don't be put off by the office - she works with most clients on their homes and home offices.