Home Organizing

Sort: Keep, Sell, Donate, Trash

We’ll work together to evolve the space based on your challenges and needs. We’ll help you decide what to keep, sell, donate, and trash. As we go through your belongings, we’ll begin to understand how you live and work and how to set up the space so you can be as efficient and happy as possible. How long this takes depends on how involved you want to be, how fast you make decisions, how much “stuff” needs to be sorted, and how detailed you want to get.

Use Us a Little or A lot

You can use The Spruce Goose organizers as little or as much as you want. For example, if you’re really motivated and self directed, we can work with you for an initial period of hours, and then provide you with a strategic plan of action that you can complete on your own. Then we’ll come back for at least one follow-up session. In certain situations, you may not even have to be entirely present–we can make much progress if you can be available for questions as I or our team member(s) complete the work. It can also be efficient if you work beside us to get the work done. We’ll take the approach you’re most comfortable with, or use a combination of approaches.

Do Not Buy Products Without a Plan

As for products, we try not to begin with purchasing any. We’ve found that it often makes sense to tailor the products to the stuff you’re keeping, rather than trying to make your stuff work with the products you purchased. Therefore, it’s usually necessary to sort and organize first, using containers and storage solutions you may already have, even if it’s just temporary. Then, should it be necessary or desired, we will suggest purchasing specific items that solve your unique taste and spatial challenges. If you prefer that we do the shopping, or even shop with you, we’re certainly able to do that.

We Can Do Pinterest-Worthy, but Let’s Talk About That

If your budget allows, and you want to make your space “Pinterest” worthy (new, matching containers, decanting, and upscale labels, etc.) we’d love to accommodate you!  Please communicate with us what you envision, and we’ll discuss the pros and cons. We want you to be happy!

New Habits Take Time to Stick

Nobody wants to spend all that energy on organizing a space, only to have it slip back to a frustratingly dysfunctional condition. That’s why it may be important for you to request that we follow up with regular accountability or maintenance dates. It takes some time for new habits to stick. Knowing that we’ll return ensures that the organizing work stays a priority, homework will get done, and new systems will be used.

Organizing is Not Cleaning and Cleaning is Not Organizing

We are sometimes asked the question, “Is this the same as a regular cleaning service?” The answer is no, because cleaning service people typically lift up your clutter and clean underneath it, or they stack things in piles or shove things into drawers and cupboards so that you can’t find anything anymore. A good organizer helps you stay organized by: gently reviewing your habits, refining your systems to make them work better for you, and putting things back in their logical places. If you spend money on a regular cleaning service, which is often a good strategy, consider substituting a regular cleaning date for an organizing session to help maintain order.