It’s not often Clutter Geeks is called into a home that has a willing owner that will allow us to showcase what we accomplish. This wonderful Philadelphia area home owner was so ready for a change she allowed us to document the before and after of several rooms. So let’s get started in the kitchen!
Like many older homes, each room in this house is small, and unfortunately the kitchen wasn’t built to house today’s appliances so everything has been retrofitted. A full size washer and dryer, fridge, stove, sink, and even the water heater takes up space in a kitchen that is barely 12×12, along with two doorways. The first thing we did was remove the over-sized dining hutch that was located along the only open wall. The hutch wasn’t functional and actually encouraged the owner to pile more belongings on top of it since there is so little space in the kitchen. One of the things we love to do as professional organizers is create space that can be used for enjoyment rather than reminding a client of something that needs to be cleaned all the time.
Everybody needs one small area where all not easily categorized, miscellaneous items can congregate. Yes, even the most organized professional organizer has a junk drawer. Even with the best of intentions you may start off by neatly separating the match boxes from the rubber bands but after a week you are most likely to lose the overview of your junk drawer because it has become a catch all place for just about everything. You can master this stubborn drawer with a few simple moves.
Are you notorious for your “mom’s purse,” where food, tissue, painkillers, band aids and any other essential survival tool are readily available, no matter when and where in the world they are needed? This is good news for everybody who is traveling with you. You, on the other hand, have a permanent indentation on your skin above your shoulder from carrying life’s essentials with you at all times and get anxious when your cell phone rings incessantly in the bottom of the black hole that is your purse and you cannot get to it. Or maybe your wallet has every receipt you’ve received since 1978? It does not have to be this way. Purge your purse and wallet and literally lighten up.
The gift you just got was nice, but the cute little gift bag it came in was even better. Chances are, your collection of gift bags that you just didn’t have the heart to toss out is getting out of control and you need to regroup and reorganize.
Despite your best efforts to control clutter, the stack of magazines that you have not read yet, the keys, the cell phones and everything else that has become essential in your every day life does exactly what you try so hard to avoid: it clutters your space. Here are a few ideas for spaces around your home that can hide the clutter and help you organize.
