Stuffism 101

Dear friends,

Many of you know that I have added ORGANIZING to my services. But you don’t know why I’ve added this service. A few experiences conspired to send me on this path…

Recently, K scheduled an appointment with me to help her choose interior colors. When I arrived at her home, I learned that K and her family had recently returned from a two-year stint in Southeast Asia.

Their mid-century home was spacious, had good bones and a straightforward layout. However, there was a problem. The living room, dining room and hallway appeared as though the family had rushed in, dropped their belongings on the first available empty spot, and then promptly walked away.

Whimsical, hand-made artifacts from their travels were strewn all over the house with no particular order. The main hallway, though large, was impassable. Furniture and artifacts vied each other for space. Papers and household objects obscured the dining table. The living room, jammed with furnishings, lacked any sense of design. The result: a haphazard placement of furnishings that blocked movement through the spaces and rendered them unusable.

Taking this in, I proposed that we organize the spaces before considering colors. Fortunately, K was game.

Our efforts paid off. Just a few hours later, the once cluttered, confusing spaces had become airy and welcoming. I had placed each object in a convenient, logical spot. The artifacts were now beautifully displayed, the furniture placement visually balanced, and each room had more space. We could move through the rooms with ease.

After this transformation, I was ready to consider color. I could ‘see’ the rooms and reference the colors of the furnishings in them. We proceeded to choose some initial hues. When I left, K’s home was humming, and so were we.

K is one of many people I’ve helped with organizing. In fact, a few days after K’s consult, I helped a friend prepare for a move. Hours into the process she turned to me and said, “You are really good at this. You should add organizing to your services.”

Hmmm…She got me thinking… I had not fully appreciated how much pleasure I derive from helping people create a sense of order in their homes. I began researching the organizing field and found that more and more Americans are overwhelmed by owning too many personal belongings. Many deal with this problem by placing their overflow in self-storage units.

In fact, here in the U.S., the square footage covered by self-storage units has more than tripled since 2015. At roughly 2 billion square feet, the space occupied by storage facilities is more than three times the size of Manhattan!

Why spend precious dollars on storage units when you can lighten your load? You find winnowing your belongings more difficult than paying rent on additional storage space, right?

That’s where I come in. I can help you systematically glean your belongings so that you’re living with exactly what you need in your present life where you need it, when you need it.

Once I help you clear your clutter, your space may feel a bit stark. What’s missing? COLOR. And you know I can assist in that department.

Here’s to lightening your load and brightening your life!