What do you expect from a home organizer?

amother

Mon, Nov 04 2019, 2:00 pm

if you hired someone to come organize a room or your house what did you expect her to accomplish? she should organize for you as a one time deal? she should rearrange things so you can be more organize? she should inspire you to be a more organized person? she should sell you 100 bins so your closets can look nice (when it's still organized)?

I love to organize and considering doing this as a hobby/side job but I want to hear from a consumer perspective what's expected should you hire someone.

zaq

Mon, Nov 04 2019, 2:21 pm

Being more of an organizer than organizee I’m not the best person to ask, but in general I would expect an organizer to give me the tools, meaning know-how, to organize and stay that way. Giving someone 100 bins is useless if they have no clue as to how to declutter or where things should go. Some organizers do have a maintenance plan where they come back every so often, but most people don’t want to keep paying for this kind of service.

For “inspiration” I go to shul and listen to a sermon. I don’t look for inspiration but I would look for a person with imagination who has good spatial reasoning and can come up with storage ideas that I lack the imagination to see. Someone who can work with materials I already have and davka won’t require me to buy 100 colorful matching bins.

People with hoarding tendencies need someone sympathetic but persuasive who can get them to release their death grip on their junk, but not ruthlessly decide that everything is junk and throw away precious mementos.

amother

Ruby

Mon, Nov 04 2019, 2:29 pm

I hired a personal organizer twice.

This is her website: https://balaganbegone.com/

Anyway, her biggest thing is not having too much stuff. Her goal is to make it that there isn't too much stuff in the house and everything has its place. I got rid of TONS of stuff. Garbage bags worth. She was careful not to encourage me to get rid of anything I would miss. One of her things is that if you didn't touch it for a year, then get rid of it. She's also really into the environment and so she donates and recycles as much as she can.

She is really not into buying organizational devices. She tries to use whatever already exists. She did add a few small boxes to my closet. She also folded everything up really nicely in my closet so that it could look beautiful, but that's not really her thing. She really taught me a new way to live and that is the most valuable part. (Not to hoard.)

Also, an amazing thing she does is that she actually takes your stuff and donates it for you. This way, it doesn't sit and sit. It gets done right away. I loved that! She also added her own boxes when absolutely necessary and gave me an accordion file. I found it so helpful that I didn't have to go out and buy anything and that this was included in the price.

I hope this helps you!

amother

Ivory

Mon, Nov 04 2019, 2:29 pm

I just hired an organizer.

I wanted to go through my kids stuff with them and I do it fairly regularly but I just find it so draining, feel so worn out and irritable and we never totally finish and stuff just gets stashed away for another time so she sat there with my kids going through their stuff with them. she didn't finish yet because she only came for an hour but I was thrilled as were my kids!

Once that gets finished we will figure out a plan going forward since I think our playgroup could use some updating as my kids have gotten older.

for other things I would want a very simple plan that I as a non- organized person can maintain. I personally would like it also to look aesthetically pleasing but not everyone cares about that.

for me a big part is that the person has to not be judgemental! It can be very embarressing. we are inviting you in to our "messy" literally.

amother

Mon, Nov 04 2019, 3:00 pm

so I hear you ladies on the not wanting to buy a hundred bins but otoh, certain things need bins, like keeping toys separated.
I think that bins for each scissor and roll or tape and one for pens and another for pencils is so much but I agree it does give the draw an organized look and feel. so I ask you, say you do have bins, do you actually put the pen you used back in the designated bin or does it get messed up shortly after (as it would in my house, even with my being very organized)?

amother

cornflower

Mon, Nov 04 2019, 3:26 pm

amother [ Ruby ] wrote:

How much does she charge?

ra_mom

Mon, Nov 04 2019, 3:53 pm

Different people will need different things. From what I've seen, be ready to:

Work together with client on sorting donate vs trash vs keep and teach client how to keep up the system and not stuff closets again. (When something new comes in, something old has to be removed.)
Suggest organzing paraphernalia for client to buy in time for next appt.
Or purchase the organizing stuff for client at extra fee.
Set up the keep items and teach client how to maintain the organization.
Pack up client for move on your own. Unpack at new home on your own.

zaq

Mon, Nov 04 2019, 5:24 pm

amother [ Ivory ] wrote:

Ruby- did you get rid of all your old pictures, school report cards, papers... there's so many things that if you get rid of them they are gone foreever, it's not a shirt that you can just buy another one...

These can be scanned to a computer. Old report cards? Really? Do you really need ALL yours or your kids’? Maybe the latest one to prove grade completion until they earn a diploma. By the time your dc gets her Ph.D. her preschool report card and her fourth grade essay on Simon Bolivar will be irrelevant, even if she did get an A+ and a “gevaldig!” sticker. So will her preschool, elementary and HS diplomas.

Most of us have crummy pix, usually in duplicate, that have no value because they’re blurry or no longer meaningful, like a barely visible photo of the seal in the zoo that you visited in Grade 5, which is mostly a pic of your left thumb. Unless you married the seal, why do you even want that pic? And do you REALLY need seven wallet size copies of your yearbook picture? You meant to give them to your aunts and uncles, but graduation was eight years ago, and the pic will be meaningless if you give it to them now. Give them something current.

amother

Tue, Nov 05 2019, 9:36 am

zaq wrote:

while I think exactly the way you do, I've come to realize that most people are more sentimental than I am and they do want to keep all these things.
is it possible to organize so many keepsakes if one wants to maintain order and is possibly limited in space?
also, for those that have hired organizers, say you were organizing your existing bins, did she wash them out for you? use them dirty? did she tell you to wash them out?

amother

Papaya

Tue, Nov 05 2019, 9:49 am

I have good organizational skills, I just don't have time or patience to organize as often as I should. So if I had the extra cash to hire an organizer I would just need her to do the work for me. It would also be helpful if she had a broad range of knowledge regarding various options for storage and organizing supplies, so I don't have to research and figure out the best options for my needs.

amother

Orange

Tue, Nov 05 2019, 9:53 am

my pet peeve with organizers is the amount of $$$ that they make you spend on bins and other stuff aside for paying for the service, of course.

These fancy bins combine to cost over thousand of dollars, on top of the fee you're paying for the service.

I wish there'd be more organizers that can work with a limited budget.

Like the series in the Ami - those containers are hell expensive. I don't know who can afford them on top of paying for an organizer.

amother

Tue, Nov 05 2019, 10:05 am

amother [ Orange ] wrote:

yes!! this is what I think. I'm super organized. I love to organized and feel so energized after and I want to share that with people. I don't have a method, it just comes naturally but I'm sure every person likes and wants their house organized differently. I hardly have any bins. I don't enjoy pushing underwear and stuff into containers. I don't enjoy having to wash them out every couple of months. I don't want to spend money on that. OTOH, I feel like that's what people want. they like the look (which I agree is nice) and they like the thought that it would help them stay organized, as if it does the work for itself.
I feel like if you're not taking the time to put each item in the right bin every single time then what's the use of bins and the cost and maintenance they require? but that's just me...
I want to know if others think this way too or people do want all those bins and don't mind the cons.

ra_mom

Tue, Nov 05 2019, 10:12 am

amother [ Orange ] wrote:

Those beautiful white ones are from Ikea and not so expensive.

amother

Orange

Tue, Nov 05 2019, 10:21 am

ra_mom wrote:

Those beautiful white ones are from Ikea and not so expensive.

I think they're $4 a piece and true, that's from the more reasonably priced containers used.
But multiply that by 10.

Add 15 oxo containers at a minimum of 10-12 dollars a piece, then those cutlery organizers, more plastic bins for plastic goods and just organizing the kitchen can be be upwards of 2-400

pizza4

Tue, Nov 05 2019, 12:03 pm

I use little baskets in drawers from the dollar store, the short blue ones. They work great, it makes it easier to have an organized drawer. I use them in my junk drawer in the kitchen, in my drawers for socks and stuff, and for my kids on a shelf in their closet for their things.
I think they come in packs of 2 or 3 for a dollar.
In general I don't think bins are the most important thing to have an organized place.

ra_mom

Tue, Nov 05 2019, 12:15 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I would hire you for help! Advertise in a way that lets people know that you're budget friendly and organize with what they have.
Organize the right way! Work with what you have and learn to utilize dollar store organizing paraphernalia where necessary. Budget friendly!
Or however you'll word it.