The Transition Catalyst

     My interest in professional organizing for other people came during a career moment when I professionally worked in libraries and museums.  Friends and family began asking me for help organizing and decorating their homes.  Transition was driving their need for my help, and usually, the transitions were mentally and emotionally draining.  My first two “clients” were having to move due to divorces.  As with many divorces, the physical homes showed scars from the conflicts of the people inside.  Unfinished attempts at landscaping, catch-all porches, unfinished décor, worn and ragged furniture or neglect dominated homes where the families were coming apart.  The home bore another symptom of the core problem.  It took someone who had not lived in the house to carry the emotional and mental energy to see the solutions and carry through with fixing things, and I became that person.

     The first house had been on the market for six months with no movement, and from the moment I pulled into the driveway, the reasons were squarely obvious.  The porch held a myriad of pots with plants in some phase of decay, dingy, musty chair cushions, and basic neglect.  The yard showed signs of half complete landscaping projects and random yard ornaments in various states of disrepair.  On the inside, there were unhung curtains draped over furniture, closets bursting at the seams with stuff, and nicknacks covering every flat surface available.  After three solid days of working to create curb appeal, complete inside décor including hanging drapes, and decluttering and staging with the client’s own furniture and art, her house sold in 30 days with no price adjustment. 

     The second house showed years of neglect and family stress.  When I pulled up to this home, the front shrubs had grown up hiding all the front windows and completely covering a lovely brick home.  Inside, the fog of economic and mental depression hung over every room.  Furniture in need of replacing years ago dominated every setting.  But, with no real budget for anything, we started with the obvious:  trimming those shrubs to let some light inside and a good solid cleaning.  From there, we shifted furniture, rearranged artwork, and staged each room with the best we could pull together.  In the end, the house sold in seven days.

     I mention these two examples because these came to me before professional organizing was a thing, but I knew something changed in me after working with these clients.  First, I love working to improve an environment-particularly a home. Second, I pulled the load off these ladies, so the stress of gathering the mental and emotional energy to work in places that drained them for so many years, and third, I discovered a natural talent for analyzing a space, making focused decisions on improvements, and learning how to implement a vision.  After these projects, I continued to do side jobs for years and mostly just to help someone out with a life transition that threw their homes into chaos.  It wasn’t until the COVID shutdown that I considered professional organizing as an actual career path.  I only took on one client at a time but

kept pretty consistent bookings.  I learned so much from each and every client and feel blessed to call some of them friends to this day.  So, if you need help either in person or via video consulting, please reach out.  Don’t let a life transition keep you trapped in an environment that doesn’t serve you.  Let’s see what we can create in the upcoming year.