What could be the mess the Organizer made? Allow me to explain.
People overbuy for many reasons and often end up with so much stuff they can’t see what they own. Other times, it’s a matter of not letting go. But whatever the reason, there’s usually a severe problem with space, although the problem lies in how much stuff we accumulate.
There is a need to fill every inch of space available. When there are available drawers in a spare room, they get filled with the most random collection of things because of open storage space.
What We Find
Too often, clients call us to organize a room in their home and insist there needs to be more storage space in the area they want to manage.
But upon assessing the project, almost invariably, we realize three things:
- inefficient use of the space
- the space contains unwanted things that have not left the home
- much of what the project space includes does not belong there
No wonder there is no space for what does belong in that area.
Once unwanted items are out of that area, and we allocate and organize what is to keep, the client marvels at all the space they have.
But then they turn around and see the mess in their living room. 😂
Okay, So This Is How It Happens
No one expects to end up with a mess in other areas of the house when they engage an organizer to work on their home. That’s for sure.
During the organizing process, what we remove from an area of the home accumulates somewhere else while we work on the project’s primary goal.
Once we organize the project area, whatever is out of that space will require some decisions – what stays, what goes, and the best place to allocate what remains.
Often, we need to repeat the organizing process in areas of the home the client did not contemplate in the project initially. If things removed from one space are to be kept but belong to another area of the house, we need to find the proper space for them wherever they should go.
But when there is no evident storage space for these items where they belong, we must discover or create such storage space. And for that, the whole process repeats itself (remove what does not belong in the other areas and what might be unwanted/unused).
It Always Works Out
As Organizers, we want to delight the client, take care of everything, and leave their home looking perfect. And we know it will all work out in the end. (Because it always does!)
In the meantime, invariably, it’ll get worse before it gets better. So, take a deep breath and play along. The mess the Organizer made will go away.
A Real Case Example
See this example. The first picture is the living area “before.” The second picture is the living room after organizing the first three bedrooms. It might seem as if the pictures are inverted, right? That’s the mess we made! But here’s the other thing: often, a home’s chaos seems contained and controlled. You might not see it, but the clutter monster lurks behind closet doors and inside drawers.
