Occasionally, my fantastic clients graciously volunteer to share the amazing transformation of the spaces we work on together.
Here is a peek of what a master bedroom looked like before Operation Organization by Heidi was called in for aid:
Several of the other rooms in the home had undergone some renovation / repainting, and clutter began to build in other rooms of the home as a result.
NOW, the room is a much more serene and relaxing space to unwind in:
The homeowner was delighted to be able to add a few decorative updates in the room like that beautiful mural and antique sofa after all the excess clutter was sorted and either relocated to another area of the home, or removed.
Here are a few more angles of the space:
And, a final side by side of the first few photos:
Here is a before / after of the attached master bath.
After it was clear, it got a fresh coat of paint and a a few additional decorative wall hangings.
Here is a fun and simple solution to keep your calendar and family schedule organized!
Color Code activities and events with POST-IT flags!
Even with all the electronic options available for calendars these days, it is still my personal preference to have an old fashioned paper planner.
{The one pictured here is a very basic ‘At a Glance‘ brand monthly day planner from my local Staples office supply store.}
I have always been a fan of color coding as it allows you to quickly and easily identify items or tasks. With just a glance, I can recognize who and what type of activities are scheduled.
I have experimented with simply using colored pens or highlighters in the past, but found that ink went through the thin pages of the planner which didn’t look very nice when you turned the page.
Also, in my work as a Professional Organizer, it occasionally happens that a client needs to re-schedule their appointment. You can’t erase pen and highlight. I LOVE how easy it is to simply pull up the post-it flag and re-attach it to another day! That feature is also super helpful for recurring tasks like a long term project or extra curricular activities for children – just keep moving those flags!
I have been using this system for about 3 months before sharing to make sure that I didn’t have a problem with flags falling off, but so far it has worked beautifully! I purchased all the supplies for this project at Staples in Peachtree City.
Disclaimer: I was not reimbursed for the use of or mention of these products. I’ve just had personal success with them and like to share what works well for me and my clients. All opinions are my own.
Occasionally, my fantastic clients graciously volunteer to share the amazing transformation of their spaces.
Here is a glimpse of what a home office / hobby space looked like before calling Operation Organization by Heidi for aid:
This room was originally designed as a formal dining room, but the homeowner decided since the family had ample dining space in their eat-in kitchen, this area would be better used as a space to store some of her favorite hobby supplies (scrapbook and sewing) as well as serve as a home base for her growing business as a 31 consultant. There was plenty of space for all her things – but no strategic plan for where things should belong when not in use. So, things began to pile up. And, since clutter is often magnetic, other random items in the home that did not have a defined place to be stowed also began to collect in there as well… After sorting through all the boxes and piles to make sure only hobby and business items remained in the space, I suggested re-arranging some existing shelving in the room and recommended purchasing a few additional bookcases to hold business supplies and inventory to house products she either ordered for customers or to place on display for regularly hosted ‘open houses’ . She also needed a dedicated place to process customer paper orders and incoming product which we placed on the top of a lower shelf. We moved the table to the middle of the room to allow a space for crafting &creating / displaying product / or processing paperwork:
There was still plenty of space for her personal craft supplies and a few personal items like magazines and books as well. Here are a few other before / after views:
~photos of client projects are only shared with written permission~
As a Professional Organizer, I am often asked if my own home is super organized, or if I have rigid expectations for my family. New acquaintances often assume that due to my chosen career, it must be the case that our home is always immaculately neat and tidy. Sometimes, they joke that they don’t want me to come over to their house because it probably won’t measure up to mine.
If you were able to get a sneak peek into our home on a random day, you’d likely observe that I am most definitely not what you’d call a ‘neat freak’….but, nor am I a slob or clutter bug, either.
My personal goal is to keep our home organized just ‘enough’ to promote an environment for our entire family to thrive in our current season of life.
While I do practice what I preach by having an assigned ‘home’ for all our belongings to be stowed, (read, A place for everything’ for more) not everything is ALWAYS in it’s proper place ALL the time. (It sure looks/feels nice when it is though – wink, wink!!)
I strive to set up reasonable expectations that allow for all of us to both respect one another in keeping a relatively tidy environment based on personal clutter thresholds, yet have the ability to also feel that our home is a haven to simply retreat from the world and kick back and relax as well. I want our home to be a place where maintaining just the right amount of order allows us to feel peaceful as well as productive, as well as a place where a little bit of mess is okay in order to allow some extra time and energy to just play.
So, how do you know if your home is organized ‘enough’?
The state of your space becomes a problem when it frequently impedes your ability to live a peaceful, low-stress life and/or inhibits your ability to achieve personal or professional excellence. It is also a problem when it begins to impede on other peoples ability to perform their personal best or live a low-stress, peaceful life when sharing a home or work space.
Every family member in your household will likely have varying clutter ‘thresholds’. Some folks don’t mind at all if they are surrounded by clutter, and it does not seem to impede in their ability to lead a happy and successful life. Others, however, feel visually assaulted and overwhelmed by clutter and do not have the ability to focus and function to their best ability when surrounded by clutter and chaos.
Some people would rather relax a bit before attempting to be productive or cleaning/tidying up after a busy or active day, others simply cannot physically relax until their environment is clean and tidy.
Some people are more task focused, others are more relationally focused. Neither are wrong (and we certainly need both traits to be productive as well as connect with one another!) – they are just different . We need to be mindful of where we might need to extend either a little more effort, or a little more grace toward achieving that ‘good enough’ state.
Whether you live in a shared space as a family in a home, or share space as room-mates or co-workers, it’s important to be mindful and respectful of others personal thresholds and thoughtfully consider how your habits may be impacting others. Work on developing a strategy that can allow for both tendencies to thrive.
If you find that you (or others) often feel generally over-whelmed by the build up of clutter/chaos, or stress is high due to constantly loosing or looking for things or there are rooms in your home that cannot be used or enjoyed as they were intended due to clutter/debris, it’s likely that you’re not quite organized enough.
On the flip side, maybe you might be striving to be ‘too organized’ if you’re often over-whelmed at feeling compelled to keep the environment at a certain orderly state or you’re consistently causing others around you to be stressed and unable to relax in your shared space due to always attempting to get them to maintain your un-realistic expectations.
You’ll know you’re organized just enough if you all recognize that life flows relatively smoothly and you can find things without too much effort if you need them. The rooms in a home that are organized ‘enough’ have a distinct purpose and you can use them as intended. If shared spaces and responsibilities promote both peace and flexibility in order to thrive and enjoy life together, then your home is likely organized enough for your individual family.
You’ll likely find that your standards and thresholds of desired order in your home will ebb and flow naturally in different seasons of life – especially life with babies and toddlers vs. life as a single person or an empty-nester!!
It is also not uncommon to occasionally have a lower threshold of tidy-ness for no particular reason other than feeling generally ragged or run-down due to an unexpected challenge that distinctly depletes your energy and you simply need some time to just rest in order to re-fuel your motivation/determination. If, however, you or a family member observes that is happening with high frequency, it might be a good idea to step back and evaluate if what is causing those re-curring feelings can be addressed in other pro-active ways. One final word: Make it your goal to organize for success, not just to impress.
In other words, try not to compare your personal organizational standards against anyone else. Choose your own standards based on your current season of life and what you and your individual family requires to achieve peace and success, rather than setting standards in order to ‘keep up’ or impress someone else. “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Your home is certainly the number one place where you want JOY to thrive!
Occasionally, my fantastic clients graciously agree to share the amazing transformation of their spaces.
Here is a glimpse of what her walk-in pantry looked like before calling Operation Organization by Heidi for aid:
Here is what it looks like now!
Before, there was not a specific place for utencils and supplies to be stowed, making it hard to find things when she needed them as well as difficult for others to help put things away after being used.
Now, only things that are used and loved on a regular basis remain in the space. Items are grouped together by type and can be found when needed and put back by anyone with ease.
Some dishes and cookbooks that were not being used as frequently as they were in the past were donated. A few other supplies/accessories needed for entertaining and food prep were re-located to other cupboards, and several out-dated food items were discarded.
All food items are now stored by type on these hanging racks that are on opposite and adjacent walls of the shelving:
Now, it’s much easier for this cooking enthusiast to see exactly what she has available for a favorite family meal, or what may need to be purchased when she wants to try out a new recipe!
Occasionally, my fantastic clients graciously agree to share the transformation of their spaces.
This client called on Operation Organization by Heidi for support in their guest bedroom:
The family was planning to host some out-of-town guests for an upcoming special occasion, but the guest room had become over-whelmed with clutter that had built up over time and had completely covered the entire room.
Now, the space is a lovely retreat to welcome and host special guests!
~photos of client projects are only shared with written permission~
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