The Dreaded 3 D's

What are the dreaded 3 D’s you ask? Our guest blogger, Amber, is back to tell us why a professional organizer is the best person to help!

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Although it is difficult to discuss there are three situations that immediately bring consideration for hiring a professional organizer.  Downsizing, divorce, and death. All of these words stir up some serious emotions and rightly so. Moving is such a stressful time to begin with but moving tied to a life altering event can be devastating, overwhelming and paralyzing.

Many of us find ourselves wanting to help family and friends during these times and that help might best be found in a professional organizer. The right professional can help you help your loved ones. When someone has been in the same house for many years the process of sorting through the treasures, we feel define all we have done and who we are is quite frankly mind-boggling. Tie this to the loss of the person who shared this with us and it can become impossible to even begin to sort into simple categories. Even if you are incredibly organized, this is a time your super powers could use a sidekick. 

As we discussed previously with children’s rooms anytime you are dealing with someone else’s belongings it is incredibly helpful to have someone who can help you separate the emotions.

Call the professional organizers at Chaos Organizing today for a consultation!

Moving

Amber is back again with some very insightful reasons on why a professional organizer is KEY to a successful and stress-free move!

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A move. Yes, just typing the word MOVE makes me shudder…you, too right?

Last June we were informed we were being transferred from Houston to Taiwan and that transfer was happening in July! YES, JULY!!

This required dividing all of our things into categories. Now mind you we are a typical family of four with many things to divide. We had things that would go into climate controlled storage for three years, things we would give to family, subdivided into piles according to which family member, things we would bring with us in our luggage, things that would come to us in Taiwan via airfreight three weeks after our arrival, things we would sell, things we would donate and last but not least trash anyone? Is your head spinning yet? Mine did for weeks.

I realized being super organized is hard because you tend to overthink the categories. We may have had a few more piles than the average person moving but a local move can also send your mind into overload.

Oftentimes this packing event happens while your house is simultaneously on the market with showings happening at a moment’s notice. This requires an additional level of organization as potential buyers are checking out all of your private areas like your closets. That’s right, buyers will be looking in your cabinets and closets! No more throwing things behind closed doors.

Looking for a way to calm this chaos? A professional organizer is the solution. These experts understand the challenges you face with a move and pending sale. A professional organizer can help you develop solutions to quickly sort, donate, and pack your belongings. They will also teach you tricks for getting your family out of the door efficiently leaving your property in model home status within a moment’s notice. Most importantly, they will do it in the most gentle and comforting way.

What is worse than packing? Unpacking. Put simply, moving is exhausting.

Moving into a new home presents its own challenges. Now you have a new place with new storage and a new flow. How are you going to use this new space? Consider how amazing it could be if you could have someone come in and help you create your most functional house from the very beginning. A professional organizer can do just that!

While you are overwhelmed and tired and charged with duties like getting your family settled into a new job, school, routine, a professional organizer can unpack your belongings and help you get the most use of your new space.

Sounds like a dream doesn’t it?

Nature Vs. Nurture

Welcome back, my fellow organizers! Last week, we introduced our guest blogger, Amber, who is taking us on a very organized journey. Today it’s all about the kids and why THEY need an organizer!

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Let’s discuss children’s bedrooms and playrooms.

How is it possible that the organization gene didn’t get passed on to at least one or all of our kids?  I have an eleven-year-old daughter. Despite the fact her mother and father both have way too many organization genes that gene somehow skipped right over her.  And when a child collector meets head to head with a minimalist parent sparks are sure to fly.

Stuffed animals are my sworn enemy. Most people see cute little animal toys. I see dust collectors, space invaders with eyes. So, I ask…How many stuffed animals should you allow your child to keep? How long should you keep these dust mite homes? I mean, try throwing away stuffed animals belonging to an eleven-year-old girl…you will likely have a better chance of getting your hands on the Declaration of Independence!

Like many other mothers, a small wave of anxiety comes over me every time I decide to grab a rake and go into my daughters’ room to clean. She loves little things, erasers, barbie shoes, pieces of paper, and slime, oh the slime, so much slime. I literally have a panic attack thinking about cleaning her room worried I will accidentally throw away the most important thing in her life.

This my friends are times when a professional organizer could come in to help me.

Someone to declutter and clean with my daughter. Someone more effective than her parents. An organizer can help find ways to store stuffed animals and all the little things while guiding her through the keep, donate, trash steps. Sometimes a simple suggestion to donate a toy to someone for next year’s Mardi Gras parade float is all it takes to get it out of your house.  

This is the gift I want to give my daughter. This gift will give her power over her space while teaching her the value in her space. The best part?? It is achieved with the help of a professional not her mother so the eye rolling would be cut at least 50%!

This is also a great gift for a teen. Mom is off their backs and they end up with a clean space to study and work all while feeling in control of the decisions being made leading to a better chance of the space staying organized.

WIN-WIN!

Too Organized to Hire a Professional?

Introducing one of new guest bloggers, Amber Windham! Like us, and probably most of you, she has a passion for all things organization but she also needs help sometimes! She is going to explain why professional organizers are must-haves for all your organizing needs!

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There was a time when it was hard to see as an organized person how I would ever need to spend money on a professional organizer. Majority of shows, blogs, and Instagram posts are aimed at helping people who feel overwhelmed with being unorganized. I am sure that is the first thing that comes to the minds of writers and television producers but the funny thing is, I imagine the majority of the people who follow these posts are people who love everything about organization and are actually quite good at doing it. In fact, they likely believe hiring a professional organizer to help them is unnecessary. Many people believe they should just be able to “get a handle on things”.

Since they know what to do, why is their situation so overwhelming?

Perhaps we should think of a professional organizer like a personal trainer. Most of us know what we need to do to get into shape or to lose weight. So why are we still paying for these services if we know what to do? The answer is quite simple. Sometimes even knowing what to do isn’t the key to being able to do it.

Over the next few weeks we will discuss how you can benefit from the help of a professional organizer, even if you consider yourself to be an organized person.

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Let’s say you love all things to do with organizing. Perhaps no one in the world loves a good before and after more than you do. You read blogs, posts, and watch shows having to do with organizing. You insist your family vacations at Disney World because it is the vacation that requires the most organization.  You are the person whose friends give you the massive eye roll when you tell them you have some unorganized room or area to tackle.

Organization is a fabulous skill and if you are organized you are viewed as having it all together. However, the truth is no one has it all together all the time.

Life happens.

Unfortunately, we feel a real sense of failure when we can’t get certain aspects of our lives organized and this can cause anxiety. I understand these feelings. I grew up in a house where the spices were in alphabetical order and everything had a place. In fact, my own home is run precisely the same way.

Shamefully I admit, to this day when I visit my parent’s home, I get a bit excited if I notice a dust bunny or a spice turned backwards because it validates that even my mother, my organization, cleaning idol, doesn’t have it together 100% percent of the time. In fact, I know of two areas where my Mom could really use some help…if only she would allow it.

You see, it doesn’t matter if you are a person who feels like you have life organized 90% of the time or the person that feels that way 5% of the time. Everyone can benefit from the help of a professional organizer at certain times.

We are going to tackle a few of these times and hotspot areas where you may find yourself situationally unorganized.

Stay tuned over the next few weeks as we go through many different organization techniques!

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Do you already know that you need a professional organizer in Baton Rouge? If so, drop us a line!

Summertime and the Weather's Fine!

Summertime and the weather’s fine!

I believe that’s the saying but I could be very wrong. LOL! In fact, when it comes to popular sayings I quite often butcher them! At any rate, I love the lazy days of summer when flip flops, swimsuits, and beach towels clutter the floor of my laundry room.

I’m sure many parents are screaming, lazy days of summer??!!! Who are you kidding? Between swim team practices, summer camps, vacations, and the onslaught of sleepover parties one could argue summer is not a lazy time!

Whether you believe summertime brings a level of chaos or calm it cannot be debated that the longer daylight hours allow us more time to enjoy the outdoors and this is a welcome reprieve from other seasons.

As organizers, we encounter many of the same items in a countless number of the homes we organize. The garage, for instance, is one area in particular where we organize much of the same stuff. We have come to refer to this specific collection of items typically stored in the garage as “Southern Staples”.

Southern Staples are items used frequently and are oftentimes used outside of your home. They are essential for backyard BBQ’s, crawfish boils, and fish fry’s, festivals, parades, and tailgates; therefore, they must be easy to pack and unpack from your vehicle as well as readily available to haul around your home for casual get togethers.

Our list of Southern Staples includes:

• Ice Chests

• Tables and Chairs (stadium seats, camp chairs, beach chairs, folding chairs)

• Tents

• Sunscreen and Insect Repellant

Creating a place in your home for these Southern Staples will make that packing and unpacking job less demanding.

You might even get your family involved in the process making attending and hosting events facile!

HAPPY SUMMER!