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Top Pet Peeves of Professional Organizers

Tips

These are the 10 things professional organizers really wish their clients knew!

The secrets of professional organizers!

The work of professional organizers may look like lots of pretty ‘after pictures’ after some ridiculous before photos. But to get to those pretty after photos, we see a lot of stuff. I mean a lot.  I get it. I’ll admit there’s spaces in my house I don’t want anyone to see. But there are some tried and true tips that really make a huge difference in keeping your home clean and organized. Here’s the biggest things that most professional organizers cringe when they see.

Secrets Professional Organizers Wish You Knew

1 Not respecting capacity limits

Yes, there should be a home for everything, but that home shouldn’t be cramped. My rule of thumb is that no container or basket is my house is more than 75% full. Not only does it make it easier to find what’s inside, it allows for a margin of error (aka – when you need to fill it just a little more). Hey, we’re not perfect 100% of the time 🙂 .

2 Keeping unwanted items

You know what items I’m talking about … the ‘what if someday my toaster breaks and I need a new one’ scenario. Just saying. There’s a common rule with clothing, if you haven’t worn it in 6 months, get rid of it. My rule for non clothing items: if you don’t use it in the last year, it needs to go (I’m accounting for seasonal items). And that’s pretty lenient. Oh and this includes gifts from relatives that you never use, the paintings that you’ll eventually get around to hanging on the wall, etc. If it’s been over a year, it’s out.

3 Holding on to something because it cost money

 Now one rebuttal I often hear when purging is “but it was SO expensive”.  I get it. I hate wasting money. Hate. An expensive dress that I only wore to one wedding 4 years ago. Extra suitcase sitting in storage that hasn’t been used in a decade. But let’s think of it a different way: how expensive it is to waste that storage/closet space with something you’re not using. That becomes a pretty expensive storage space.

Professional organizers spill all their secrets

4 Not putting things away

Ahhhhh. It’s like nails on a chalk board to me. Once you use something, put it in it’s home. Or at VERY minimum, have a junk drawer to get those items off the counter and tables. The better option is to simply put items away after you use them, but I’m giving you a little slack with the junk drawer. Your welcome.

5 Full refrigerator

I’m not talking about the inside. I’m talking about all those magnets, photos, art projects and mail that’s hanging all over the outside of the fridge. Get rid of it. No matter how clutter free the rest of the kitchen is, when the fridge is full of papers, the entire kitchen is a mess.

6 The messy entryway

First impressions are a real thing. And a messy entryway sets the tone for the rest of the house. Whether it’s baskets, hooks, cabinets, you name it. Find a way to get that clutter away. Remember, not everything needs to be stored at the entryway. Keep the essentials – coat, shoes, hat, key, sunglasses, bag. Move the rest to a more appropriate spot.

7 Entryway paper clutter

Speaking of the entry way, this seems to be the popular spot for paper clutter. Now I’m all for placing mail and paper documents near the entry way, but, there’s got to be a system. So next time when you grab the mail and need a place to stash it, it won’t have to go on the kitchen counter. It will go in the entry, via an organized process.

top pet peeves that professional organizers really want you to know!

8 First shopping then organizing

If I won the lottery, my first stop would be splurging at the Container Store. I’m a sucker for the latest organizing gadget as much as the next person. But and there’s a big BUT …. more organizing products don’t make a room more organized. Organizing makes a room more organized. Before rushing out to the store (or Amazon) to solve your clutter crisis, really evaluate your STUFF. So often, it’s more a matter of purging, grouping like items and finding a new place to store them that solves the problem. THEN if you do end up needing more baskets or bins, you’ll have a better grasp of what to purchase.

9 Not utilizing labels

So obviously I like labels. My master closet has almost a dozen of them. Joking aside, labels not only help you keep your system working, it’s hugely beneficial to others in your family that may not be as excited about organization as you are. Surprise surprise, Joe doesn’t share my enthusiasm for labeled baskets in our master closet. But he does know where things go.

10 Not finishing the laundry

We all have good intentions when we start the laundry, whether you’re the type who does laundry daily or has a weekly routine. But starting laundry and finishing laundry are very different things. Nothing screams ‘I’m disheveled and I can’t get my house organized’ like unfinished laundry.  Yep, it’s one of those unfortunate things that you don’t get credit for accomplishing (no one says wow your house looks so great and is free of half finished laundry), but everyone notices when it’s not finished. Finish your laundry. You’ll feel better.
These are the top 10 pet peevse that all professional organizers wish their clients knew! They're easy quick fixes that make a huge difference!

 

 

 

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Comments

  1. I totally agree with the way you organize. I am not holding on to something because it cost money and I will never use it. I have been using my Facebook group buy and sell group and I have sold so many things locally. So making some extra pocket money is actually a good thing. Great post.
    Maria

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