no—my house isn’t perfect!
A comment I get a lot from people is, “You’re a professional organizer, so I bet your house is perfect all the time.”
My answer is always the same: “No, it’s not perfect, because human beings and one cute dog live there. No house can be perfect unless you don’t actually live there, or unless you have a lot of professional help and are rich.”
I was scrolling social media this morning and my friend and fellow professional organizer Hayli, of Mindful Tidying with Hayli in Plano, Texas, had a post that I felt like maybe I myself had written and possibly changed my name and my organizing business name….
Hayli of Mindful Tidying With Hayli in Plano, Texas says it even better than I can!
Hayli said it perfectly. This is the biggest gift that organizing has given our family—that, when we need to, we can get our house in order in a super short period of time. Gone are the days where you needed two days’ notice to have someone come in the front door. No more shoving huge piles of things into a closet and praying the door would shut. No more having to shut a bunch of doors and declare those rooms off limits.
One time, I had a client who came to my house to pick something up. Her husband comes in and says “Since you’ve been through every drawer in my house, I’m gonna go through every drawer in this house to see what it looks like.” I told him to feel free to go ahead!!!! I also totally understand that you would want to see how I live if I’ve spent time organizing your underwear drawer!!!
Our house definitely isn’t perfect. It takes maintenance to make any house function well, and a professional organizer’s house isn’t any different. A mudroom is always the best example to me. The entry spot in your house is always one that can attract some pure chaos. We are going in and out of the house multiple times a day. In the winter, this involves gross, slushy boots that need to dry. It might involve multiple pairs of shoes depending on what we’re doing. Our mudroom also happens to be our laundry room—so if laundry is happening, and there are clothes in baskets waiting to go back upstairs, this room can get out of control in a hurry.
But being organized means that with about 10 minutes of work, things can go back to normal.
I like to do a little bit of maintenance every day to keep things nice—but I’m not immune to things not being done daily. Things can pile up in my house like anyone’s house. I currently at this moment of typing this have two baskets of laundry that are sitting unattended in my closet that need to be taken care of. But tonight I plan to grab a glass of wine and take care of them. It will take me maybe 30 minutes to get my closet set for the next couple of weeks.
You know how you have those random regrets in life sometimes? A few years ago, before we got organized, our house was a disaster of chaos on every surface, like—really embarrassing. The absolutely delightful family we bought our house from happened to be next door at our neighbor’s, and she asked if she could come see what we had done with the house. I said, ummm—could you give me a few minutes? And I RUSHED home to see what I could hide or make semi-presentable to have her come in. And I remember being super embarrassed—because there was NO way I was going to be able to have her go upstairs, not one foot on those steps—because it was so bad. I think about that a lot—I am sure she was like, oh I didn’t know we sold our beautiful house to trash pandas, that’s unfortunate. Sometimes I think to myself, I need to say NEXT TIME YOU’RE VISITING THE NEIGHBORHOOD, ring my doorbell! I’ll be ready for you—no matter when you come over!!!
This is one of the biggest things that I’m grateful to organizing for. And which made it worth the time, energy and effort. And it’s one of the biggest gifts that I get to give my clients, too. Worth every second!
And now I have so many extra seconds that I can just….sit on the couch. Pass the remote—it’s time to watch Netflix.
Hi hi hi! I am Melissa, and I love my job—I’m a professional home organizer in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. I travel all around the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area (from end to end…and side to side) and beyond (like Iowa and Wisconsin!) clearing clutter from people’s homes. No matter where you’re starting—I can help you. We can declutter, organize, and give you systems to make sure you can keep it up once I’m gone.
Click HERE to schedule a complimentary consultation with me to talk about how you can feel peace and happiness and no stress in your home!