What Organizers Mean When They Say This

Hey ya’ll! 

I wanted to pop in to talk about some of the language that you hear so often with professional organizers, including myself- regardless of the type of organizer.

It can be an organizer that is working with luxury, high-end clientele, an organizer that is trained under the Marie Kondo method, an organizer that has a specialty working with chronically disorganized clients, etc. 

Regardless of the type of organizer that you are thinking about investing with, we are usually using a lot of the same or similar language when helping you streamline your home.

“We are going to help you optimize your time and space in your home.”

“We are going to help you create functional, beautiful home organizing systems that allow you to thrive.”

I noticed there are many questions from our audiences wanting to gain more clarity around what exactly does it mean when we say we’re going to create a functional home organizing system.

What exactly does it mean when we say we are going to help streamline your home?

Also, I wanted to give you all some tangible, real-life examples of how I specifically come into your home and create a functional home organizing system, and the actions needed to make your home flow in a practical way. The goal is to implement systems that allow you to optimize your time, maximize your time, and maximize the space in your home.

Let’s dive in!

When we say, “we’re going to help you create a functional home organizing system…” this is what we mean…

The thought process is that we are going to come into your home and create systems that are going to be easy for you to use and easy for you to maintain.

They’re kind of like thoughtless (i.e. foolproof) organization systems.

We don’t want you to have to think too hard on how to maintain the system. 

We want you to be able to thrive once we leave your home.

Once we establish those systems for you, we want them to work for you.

We want them to be very functional for you and your family.

Here’s an example of how I created a functional system for my clients:

Recently, we finished a project where we were organizing a closet for a little one. She is seven years old and her closet needed some help. She could not access her top shelf in her closet as it was way too high for her. Granted, her mom did put in a step ladder for her to be able to step up and get the things that she needed, but it wasn’t the most functional or safe system.

For the revamp, she needed to easily access items in her closet in a functional and safe way.

For her space, this is what we did.

1. We built a lower level so that she no longer needed that step stool. That way she could access and see what she had hanging on the rod right in front of her- right at eye level.
2. The clothes on the top rack are off season or clothes she needs to grow in to.
3. We added in the proper products to clear her floors. 

It’s now easy for her to use, easy for her to maintain, and it’s thoughtless organization. She no longer has to think too hard about how she’s going to get something from the top shelf. This is an example of creating a functional system.

When you hear organizers Saying, “we’re going to help you streamline your home.

“We’re going to make it flow.”

“It’s going to be intuitive.”

What we mean is that we’re going to come in, listen to your daily routine, and we’re going to observe how you move throughout your home.

We will see inconsistencies and will note where we notice a breakdown of structure or breakdown of positive habits. From there, we create a way to streamline that routine.

For example, let’s say you love to cook (first off, right on, because ya girl can’t stand to be in the kitchen longer than 20 minutes! haha).

But, what I see is that it’s a hassle for you to access the spices. It’s a hassle for you to get to the  pots and pans. You’re constantly looking for lids that fit different tupperware, pots, and pans, for example. What I’m going to do is plan out the kitchen. I’m going to move things in a way that is going to be easier for you to access and use and be easier for you to put things back when you’re done using them. I’m going to add in products if necessary, to make it seamless to store pots and pans in a way that is going to feel streamlined and make it more efficient to navigate in your kitchen.

The third thing that you hear so often with professional organizers, again, regardless of the type of organizer coming into your home is this…

“I’m going to help you maximize your time or maximize your space.” 

I want to drill down on the time piece because it’s so imperative that you have a home environment that allows you to maximize your time and feel the most productive in.

For example, a former client of mine had very active children. They participated in all kinds of sports, after school activities, etc. It was very important for her children to be in and out, be able to grab a book bag, grab their sports bag, grab their snacks, get in the car, and go.

As I observed, I noticed that they would try to leave the house, but was always caught in a cycle of what I call reruns!

The littles would get in the car, but in 2 minutes come running back into the house. Now play this scene back over and over for the net 20 minutes (hence the name reruns)

It was always something…

“Oh, I need my shoes!”

“Oh, I need my cleats!”

“Oh, I need a snack!”

It was too much back and forth.

And as you know, this is not the best way to optimize your time, right? 

Now you’re late for practice.

Now you’re frustrated.

Now you’re behind schedule.

When you hire an organizer to come to help maximize your time, space, etc. the organizer is going to ask you about your routine, ask you about your lifestyle, and take notes on what systems are in place and how they can refine it.

For this particular family, I was able to create a sports zone for them, which was long overdue.

Once the littles were done with their sports bags, they would make sure they packed it up with the necessary items in there and put it in a cubby.

When they were ready to go, they knew it was already packed. Granted, this is a habit adjustment, but with proper habit shifts the new system would help the family optimize their time.

That’s what it is all about- making things efficient for everyone in the family.

Hopefully, these three examples give you more insight into what it actually means when an organizer says they’re going to create functional home systems. Our goal is to help maximize your time and to help you streamline your home.

Let’s start making your home life easier because life is hard enough!