Did you read my previous story about how I hired a home organizer to help me tackle my kitchen pantry? I’m so excited with how the pantry came out, I knew the workshop would be next. I decided to treat myself to a second visit with Darla the organizer. I knew Darla would not like this space having so many purposes, but I was up for the challenge! And don’t miss the after photos below.
Knowing that Darla’s process is everything out and then you make intentional decisions and decide what goes back in, I was prepared for our second project. I found my two folding tables for sorting of keep vs. giveaway. I got my boxes ready for my giveaway commitments. And I knew that she would say I have books everywhere, because I have books everywhere, so I pulled those out of the area to be decluttered, to get ahead of her energetic arrival.
My workshop serves a few purposes and I learned on day one with Darla that no area should be dedicated to too many categories. Wait till she sees the workshop! The pantry was minimally overcrowded to start with–too many departments because I had some office supplies in one drawer, and cornhole bags were dumped in there. But the workshop, that’s next level. I had so many categories going on in there.
My workshop is located off of the mudroom, and has a door that can be closed for convenient hiding of clutter, so for the 10 years we’ve been here, it’s been a great place to quickly hide anything that needed to get out of the way due to someone coming to visit or when it was time to clean. Because there was hardly any sense of organization or what goes where, it just became a free-for-all. In addition to general clutter, the workshop had dedicated areas for my staging supplies, my dollhouse projects, all art supplies, craft supplies, wrapping paper and assorted supplies, as well as my son Adam’s bicycle/snowboard workbench and his crafts projects. And – – every unused picture frame and any framed pieces not currently hung up in the house. It’s also where we keep backup batteries, phone, chargers, and more.
Workshop decluttering day was a long day, and that’s with me getting a head start before she came. Why am I so motivated to do these projects? It’s because I have a crystal ball into the future – – I work with people all the time who are going through their parents houses after 30+ years of no one decluttering, and it’s an overwhelming task and those people end up either sad or mad at their parents, and I don’t want that. I also, from a “right now” perspective, like walking into a clean and organized room – – and I have too many disorganized areas of my house.
We used the mudroom as the holding area and it felt very similar to pantry day. As we were emptying the workshop, I saw things I knew could go, but I also saw a whole bunch of things like “OH NO, I’m going to have to sort through these things and make a lot of quick decisions.
To set the framework in place, I identified the categories of things that would stay in the workshop once it was organized. I do want a place to work on my dollhouses, I like having a specific area for gift wrapping and I want it to be easy for people to find things like extra phone chargers, batteries, and organized technology items. I also want to be able to do my photo scanning – – because we all know I am very excited about that project. I also wanted to maintain Adam’s bicycle/snowboarding workbench. Even though that sounds like several categories, that meant a lot of things had to go.
Adam had about eight boxes of tile. They took up a lot of space and were visually distracting. I also had a ton of arts and craft supplies for when Nixie and Elka come to visit from New Zealand. None of that stuff needed to be within an easy reach for daily access. I found a spot in the basement which I recognize is not necessarily working in the right direction, moving things down to the basement. However, some time in the future, let’s just say 30 years from now as the kids are going through the house – – someone is going to be able to make an easy decision and either Adam will take them with him or put them in the dumpster.
I had that space in the basement because I took advantage of the free paper shredding day at the recycle center. I had boxes upon boxes of old paperwork that I was saving forever just in case. I have now freed myself from anything 10+ years old. This found space in the basement became where the tile boxes are and I have made an area in the garage for crafts that we will do when Nixie and Elka are here, and after their visit, this collection will be minimized or donated. The actual painting supplies and frames have been moved to a space dedicated to Jay‘s painting, which I hope he takes up because he’s quite artistic.
Just like with the pantry organization project, having Darla just a few steps behind me sometimes required quick decisions, and it wasn’t always comfortable. Sometimes I would put things over to the side to decide later. But the whole day I kept thinking – – she is not leaving here until this room looks good, and I’m very excited for that!
Go ahead and contact Darla if you’re looking for the same type of results I was, and continue to be motivated by. Unlike many organizers who go in to a room and strictly organize it, Darla typically focuses on benefit-driven versus task-driven–meaning she doesn’t solely focus on organizing, but rather a calmer, healthier way to live. She always tries to create spaces that reduce stress and anxiety, restore calm and help people feel at peace in the place they live.
Did any of you hire Darla or any of the other organizers I mentioned in my previous pantry organization story? I will list them all here again, and will happily take your solid recommendation for anyone else I should add to this list of resources of home organizers in Central Massachusetts.
Room to Breathe
Darla Lavigne
508 317 7636
darla.roomtobreathe@gmail.com
Here are the Facebook-recommended professional organizers you might try. Ask around, check out their reviews, search them online. And share your before and after photos with me!
Order & Bliss
Patricia Ramos
774 360 0487
pat@orderblissnow.com
Contact
I Will Clean Your House
Brenna Nardin
Facebook
508 925 0258
iwillcleanyourhouse.ma@gmail.com
Dynamic Order
Alaina Yonkers
Facebook
518 763 5640
hello@dynamic-order.com
Contact
