Organizing Success Story

 

I love success stories, so I thought I’d share this one with you.  I first started working with a client about 1 ½ years ago.  She initially contacted me several months after her father died to help dispose of his belongings.  We did not need 1 ½ years for that project, however, because our relationship developed into a trusting and productive one, we continued.

After we tackled her father’s belongings, we went on to other projects in the house.   The first was the living room.  When I initially went to her house, her living room was completely filled with her clothes – racks and rack of clothes that blocked getting to the dining room, kitchen,  bathroom, and 2 other bedrooms.  By following an “SPCA” (sort, purge, containerize, assign a home) process and after many sessions, we were able to go through all the clothing in the living room, as well as clothes throughout the rest of the house, and determine what should be kept and hung up in the walk-in closet in her late father’s room, what should be donated, and what could actually be discarded.  Then, we dismantled all the temporary racks that had been set up in the living room and recycled all the metal.  To this day, the living room is clear of clothing racks, and we can walk through that room to get to the other parts of the house.  In fact, we’ve gone through the walk-in closet again and purged more clothing.  Goodwill and The Women’s Opportunity Center have been the recipients of my client’s clothes. 

Please share some de-cluttering and organizing success stories you’ve had.  We’d love to hear them.  We’ll post more as well.

BB’s Clutter Solutions is located in Cherry Hill, NJ and serves New Jersey (north and south), Philadelphia and its Pennsylvania suburbs, and New York City.  Contact information: www.bb-clutter-solutions.com, info@bb-clutter-solutions.com, 856-912-0077.

Comments

[Sally Tomasco]

I have been a friend of Barbara Berman for over 30 years. My 95 year-old dad recently passed away after having lived his last five years in my house. Although I still feel his presence in nearly every room, there were two rooms where he parked most of the stuff he moved from his home years ago. Once Barb became a professional organizer, I had told her that some day I would be calling on her expertise to help me figure out what to do with my dad's belongings. Well, that time arrived this past Tuesday. I had a little trepidation about how I was going to cope with the process of looking through his things. but Barb took charge immediately and made the process not only productive but loads of fun with some good discoveries and laughs about my dad. It was not only a big organizing accomplishment in our 7.5 hour session, but it helped me immensely in the grief process. That was priceless! Barb has a big heart in addition to spot-on organizing skills. I couldn't have done any of it without her there guiding me and keeping me going. I loved her system and especially how quickly she moved me through the paces and didn't deviate from the goals we set. I loved the way she made suggestions for re-purposing and keeping like things together so you can more easily find things. Honestly, I got way more out of this one day than I ever imagined I would!