I’ve talked about paper decluttering, electronics disposal, managing your collection of too many things, etc., but when it came to organizing my own kitchen utility pantry, I had to bring in the big guns and hire a professional organizer. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve stood in that utility pantry trying to make sense of what should go where, and in general have it just not look like a disaster area. The way I looked at it, whenever we have people over–I have three options – – because this pantry is the one of the first things people see as they come in through our mudroom and head to our kitchen. Option #1 would be to close the door, but I’m constantly needing things from that area. Option #2 was to just be embarrassed when people see my little confined hoarder area, and option #3 was the most intimidating – – just clean the damn thing.
I’ve tried option #3 so many times on my own. It always ends in the pantry being fairly organized, but because we’re frequently using items from there, especially during large family dinners and holidays–here’s what happens. Somebody takes out a one-hit-wonder appliance – – the rice cooker, the air fryer, a crockpot…each of those items have three pieces to them, so this results in a clutter situation back in the pantry as we’re cleaning up after the event. The electric end of the crockpot gets put back first, but it might take longer for the crock and the lid to make its way back there. Then if lunchboxes and other items get in the way, the other parts of the crockpot are just put back in ‘wherever’. Also, when we’re prepping to have people over, this room is where we stash the box or laundry basket full of the stuff we don’t know where to put. Proof of that is why are there cornhole bags as the first thing you trip on upon entering this room. All this is to say my way has not ever worked.
Recently that I learned that a friend of a friend helps people with organization and getting out from under clutter. I was fortunate to be able to work with Darla Lavigne, and look forward to doing so again!
I also want you to have access to other professional organizers who come recommended by people you might know, so I asked a local Facebook group called Wachu-Chat who their group members recommend. I’m including the contact info for three recommended organizers–none of whom I’ve personally hired. Please let me know your feedback on them, and because I’m sure I missed some top recommended professional organizers, let me know who else should be on my list!
Back to my utility pantry. Have you ever walked around your own house with someone who’s there for the first time – – and you’re horrified because it didn’t look that bad in your mind – – before someone else was looking at it? My house is very pretty. I’m also very busy. I’d say I’m somewhat of a generational pack rat, but really wanting to work through this because I work with so many people who are selling their parents’ home, and they just can’t get out of their own way because there’s so much stuff. I don’t want to do that to my kids because I see the toll it takes on them–they get sad AND mad. Downsizing is very emotional, and so many people put it off. I just decided to give myself a true reset now that I’m a mature adult, not ready to downsize or ‘break up housekeeping’ at a time when I just don’t need all of my historical clutter.
College textbooks are easy enough to get rid of at this point, but I found it without someone right behind me (the professional organizer), I can get distracted, lose interest, you name it.
I did not know what to expect when this friend of a friend, Darla, was scheduled to come to my house recently for the first time. This isn’t going to be a weekly thing, but I’ve decided it’s actually a good investment in my sanity (so I will have her back, for sure) – – because the visual distractions are very distracting. I took videos of the bottleneck locations in my house, and sent them to her–so that she could make a recommendation as to where we might start. The utility pantry made sense based on the fact that we needed to start somewhere, and she said I’m not going to leave you with a mess and we will need to choose an area that can be finished in the time we have today. That was encouraging to me because I didn’t actually believe that we could get this area looking good, yet she was pretty confident about this. I’m not going to detail her exact process, but she explained to me in the beginning that her process is the same, whether she’s cleaning a pantry or a garage or a basement or a home office. And that it always works.
She suggested I have some empty boxes, and plenty of counter space or tables available. We proceeded to completely empty the pantry, and although it seemed simple, she guided me through making the decisions on what to keep and what to donate…and whenever I was like this is dumb, I’m tired, why did I sign up for this – – she kept me on track, and promised that we were almost to the fun part.
Once the pantry was empty, my job was to decide which things went on the keep table and which things went on the donate table. It was easy at first, because I knew I was keeping all of my crock pots, but how many vases did I actually need to keep. She promised, and held to it, that she would not push me to get rid of things—the decisions were all mine. But things just began to become clearer. It did get exciting in a clean your pantry way. If you’re reading this, you know what I’m talking about. It’s encouraging to see things presented in a way that you actually want to live. While you’re also secretly wondering how long the organization will last.
I chose to do this first visit with Darla when my husband was away, because I didn’t think he’d like seeing the entire contents of the utility pantry all over the kitchen and dining room. The first few passes through the items were easy enough on the decisions; it got trickier as my sorting area got thinner. There were things that I wanted to want to keep, or little appliances that I did buy, so I hated to give away. My utility pantry is actually the last owner’s former home office, so there are filing drawers holding up the counters. Darla pointed out that I might want to use those drawers to put items in that looked very cluttered – – for instance, my collection of decorative sprinkles, cookie cutters, and pastry tools. They are all one category of items, and a very busy looking category it is.
She asked what was in the filing drawers – – and I actually couldn’t remember what was in some of them. She opened up a drawer and found a bunch of office supplies. We agreed that office supplies should be somewhere all together, which they currently weren’t, and if my utility pantry needs more storage space, maybe those office supplies could find a home somewhere else. This is a little thing, but it makes such a difference to have all the little cake and cookie decorating tools hidden from view. I know exactly where they are, but I don’t see them when I first look in the room. You’ll notice in my after photo, the utility items are along the left long side wall. I wanted the pretty items to be straight ahead, so that when I walked by the pantry, it’s attractive. Because a lot of of my kitchen items are the Thanksgiving and Easter type of things that are only used when we have a large sit-down crowd, Darla suggested those items all go on one shelf, the top one, so that when Thanksgiving visitors show up and say what can we do to help, the very easy answer is go in the pantry and bring everything from the top shelf. Genius!
Now, my pantry took two of us probably five hours. But it’s a big room that was loaded with a variety of unrelated items. When my daughter came by, she was quite impressed, but thought I had gotten rid of everything. What did you do with all your stuff? The truth is I actually only donated two boxes of pantry items to the recycle center. Heirloom dishes and glasses that were just sitting there collecting dust, are now wrapped and in the basement – – properly labeled by which grandma they came from–for the kids to decide. The specific dishes we use for Mother’s Day, and Christmas and Easter – – because that’s important to my mother to have my kids remember these specific grandma sets, are now easily accessible for my mother to get on her own before these holidays. Meaning, I don’t have to go down to the basement and bring up very heavy tubs of place settings. The combination of taking out things that absolutely did not belong in a utility pantry, donating a small amount of items to the recycle center, wrapping and packing items that I really should keep because they are heirlooms, but never use— all of these things broke the gridlock.
After a solid wiping down of all the shelving and countertop space, Darla and I surveyed the scene. We had a blank slate. She asked what was in the other filing drawers, and suggested I look through it because there was a confidential document shredding event at the recycle center in a week. This gave her three more drawers to work with.
As I was making the third and fourth pass at the decision table, full of decisions to be made, Darla started putting things back into the pantry – – suggesting I wait to look until she made a little more progress. She wanted my opinion on what was important to me. My first task was to bring her the things I most wanted to keep in the pantry – – utility items. When you have a lot of stuff, at least for me, I’ll frequently say I’ve seen that around here somewhere or I don’t even know if I still own that. This was true about a cooking wok that I’ve had since I was about 15. If you asked me if I still owned it, I wouldn’t be sure, but I might’ve seen it around here somewhere. It was in the sorting pile! I decided to keep it. Darla put it in a spot in the pantry next to my chopsticks and ramen bowls. It was a location that made sense, and it actually looks good there!
Speaking of pretty, alternating between bring me the one waffle maker you decided to keep, she’d say bring me something pretty. She wanted me to tell her what my unifying theme of the pretty area will be. I said I like blues and greens, chrome and wood. She came to know that I also enjoy creating charcuterie board displays, so that was sort of the theme she took with the pretty area.
Now everything has a place. Nothing is jammed in. Three weeks later, the family is noticing that the pantry is still clean and organized, with no additional effort. I sent Darla a photo of the dinner I made in the wok, I think the first since we’ve lived here – – 10 years. I’ve now used it three times. Also, I walked by the pantry and saw a gap on a shelf and thought to myself something is missing, and I realized I had used the wok the night before. So once it was clean, I knew exactly where it went.
It’s such a peaceful feeling to walk by a formerly identified disaster area, and know exactly where things are, and not be embarrassed for someone to see the space, not have to make excuses for it. In fact, I now leave the door wide open because it just looks like an extension of the kitchen.
Where is your disaster area? Don’t ask, which one? Ask for a home organizer as a gift, or just treat yourself. I’d love to see your before and after photos.
I’m so excited with how my pantry came out, my workshop will be next. I know what I need to do before she comes to help me with this space that currently serves too many purposes – – craft area, dollhouse, workspace and storage, art supplies, sewing, and my photo scanning project. And that’s not even to mention my son’s workbench that he uses to do bicycle repairs, snowboard adjustments, wood block carving, and t-shirt printing. I know Darla is not going to like this space having so many purposes, but I am up for the challenge!
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.
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
