The increase of television reality shows about organizing is great to help motivate people to get organized! Seeing examples may inspire you to make similar changes in your own life. But, a 30-minute made-for-TV segment can often leave the viewer with the impression that a professional organizer comes into a home, waves a magic wand, and suddenly everything is easy, tidy, and perfect!

So, what is it actually like to work with a professional organizer in real life? Every organizer has a slightly different process and how they work with their clients. This is what you can expect when working with Modified with Melissa!

Working with a Professional Organizer- Step One- Determine

The first step to working with a professional organizer always starts with a phone consultation. Having someone you’ve never met in your home can be awkward. Even though I am completely non-judgmental, many clients are embarrassed or ashamed about their homes. Chatting on the phone first can serve as an ice-breaker, and relieves some of that anxiety before moving on to the next step. Usually, this conversation is about 30-minutes.

This is also an important opportunity for me to hear about your project and determine if I’m the best fit! Working with an organizer is a very personal experience. It’s important that our personalities are compatible, and that I have the best skills for the project at hand. Special situations may require an organizer with different expertise. In that case, I can provide you with a recommendation.

Working with a Professional Organizer- Step Two- Design

After we’ve determined we are a good fit to work together, I will determine the needs of the project and I design our plan of action moving forward.

Just like how no two clients are the same, no two organizing plans are the same. Based on our conversation, I determine where we will start, where we will work on first, and the logistics of sorting, storing and discarding. I’ll also start formulating a plan on how we will store items at the end. This design can always be tweaked and should be adjusted as we move along in the organizing process.

Working with a Professional Organizer- Step Three: Deploy

Once the initial design is made for the project, we move into sorting, purging, and repurposing! While we might be excited to jump straight ahead and start putting items in those cute baskets, first we need to look at what is in the home.

There is no need to organize things we aren’t keeping, so first, we sort into keeps and discard. These are things that aren’t needed, broken, unliked, etc. Once we are left with just the items we are keeping, we can store things away in their nice organized systems! Any boxes or bins that we found while sorting can be repurposed into storage or dividers. Or, I’ll shop for you for containers that will fit your space and your items.

Usually, this step of the organizing process takes several sessions! A small closet might be completed in an afternoon, but a whole house or a larger room might require me to make visits a few times!

Working with a Professional Organizer- Throughout the Process:

As mentioned above, working with a professional organizer is a very personal experience. Throughout the process, I have 5 main goals when working with a client:

1. Comfort- to make sure they don’t feel judged
2. Compassion- I will respect your emotional response and help you navigating overwhelm
3. Consistency- keeping you on track and helping you actually get your organizing project finished
4. Colorful- sometimes, things just get way to serious. I help lighten the mood when things get to be too much, and ensure we have fun in the organizing process!
5. Can-do- I help keep you motivated throughout the project.

If you want to talk more about what it’s like to work with a professional organizer like me, or determine if we would be a good fit to work together, please- send me a message!