Professional organizers

[Gardenarian]

My house has just become a disaster area since my foot surgery, and I'm thinking of hiring a professional organizer - not only to give me a kick-start on getting things back into place, but to help me make my house more low maintenance and to help dd and dh with their hoarding tendencies.

Has anyone done this? They have a free consultation and I'm going to have that tomorrow.

[Float On]

When I had my broken ankle I broke down and hired the cleaning girl from church. She did a wonderful deep clean for me and helped me organize a few things that had gotten out of hand.
I think it's a wonderful gift to yourself to be able to do that. Make a master list of everything you'd like to happen and go over that in the consultation and the organizer will let you know what they can or can't get done in the time allotted.

[Gardenarian]

Thanks Float On, I hadn't even thought of making a list - that's how disorganized I am right now!
DH thinks it's a waste, but I just can't seem to muster up the energy to tackle all this.
I like thinking of it as a gift to myself!

[awakenedsoul]

I think it's a great idea. A friend of mine was a professional organizer. He was excellent. Hope it helps!

[Selah]

Go for it! I am in the process of doing the same with a woman I've asked to help me deal with various baffling bits of Israeli bureaucracy. She knows all the ins and out of both self employment tax law here, which I need to know for my own small business, and the Ministry of Education here, for whom I work. A godsend indeed!

[Squirrel]

Thanks Float On, I hadn't even thought of making a list - that's how disorganized I am right now!
DH thinks it's a waste, but I just can't seem to muster up the energy to tackle all this.
I like thinking of it as a gift to myself!

Of course your husband thinks it's a waste, you said it yourself he's a hoarder so he cannot imagine the good it will do to finally be able to have your surroundings finally organized. You should definitely splurge and go for the expense.

[razz]

Gardenarian, I am putting my farm on the market and the real estate agent hired a stager for one hour of consultation. We walked through the house noting everything that needed to be tidied, cleaned up or removed to declutter and show my place off for the online visual images. I followed her around and made pages of notes of everything she said.

I could not believe how much difference having an objective viewpoint with positive suggestions made. I cleared out a loveseat and suddenly the living room was more spacious. She suggested tall lamps for the bedroom suite and suddenly, it was gorgeous. I used the living room lamps with new shades and bought different lamps for the living room. Simple steps made a huge difference!

Just painting everything in my favourite neutral colour gave the house a real lift.

I know you are talking to an organizer not a stager but that professional and objective input if implemented can make a huge difference in how you approach the effort of decluttering and organizing.

Just a caution though. I am told that there are some who are very aggressive and negative about your home and what is feasible for your family to do vs some that work with a great deal of common sense that your family will agree with. Is the organizer someone who has been well recommended to you?

[Gardenarian]

Hi razz -
I've heard of people who had a stager come in, and then decided to keep their house! I can totally see how that happens.

This organizer got lots of really great reviews on Yelp, but after speaking to her on the phone I feel that she NOT is the person for me. She did seem negative, and a little bit distracted. She had me on speaker phone and was typing at the same time, which might not have bothered me too much, but I couldn't hear anything she was saying and had to go into my whole "I have hearing problems..." spiel. I'm still determined to do this, but I want to find someone who I click with.

My dh's attitude: "This house needs too much work, let's just sell it." As though another house wouldn't need cleaning and maintenance!
I'm not denying that moving is a fantastic way to clear out crap...but geez, every house has problems.
In addition to the house cleaning getting away from me, we're having an electrical problem, need to replace part of our rotted deck, and put in new flooring in the walk-our basement. (The carpet got destroyed by water damage.) Nothing a few days of work and some professional help can't take care of.

I'm calling #2 on my list today!

[awakenedsoul]

I knew a real estate agent that would tell people, "Just clean it." She said that they wanted to move because of the clutter and mess. Once they cleaned the house really well, they wanted to stay! I thought that was funny. I feel terrible when my house is dirty, and wonderful when it's clean. I laughed at what your husband said. The chores will always be there...I'm trying to learn to enjoy them and do a little each day.

[mschrisgo2]

Just curious Gardenarian, did you hire an organizer? how's it working out?

[Gardenarian]

I have interviewed someone else who I really likes, but right now I'm all wrapped up in plans and packing - Europe in 3 days!