My dirty little secret.

The story of how one professional organizer braved the clutter at the bottom of her closet and found treasure.

Written Jun 12, 2008, read 572 times since then.

Ladies and gentleman I am a professional organizer, but do not let this title mislead you. I receive comments all the time from clients that resonate in my head for days "Wow, your house must be so perfect!” I literally laugh out loud (well I snicker when they say it and then laugh later in the car) because that is not the case. That is just simply not real life and the word "perfect" only appears in my vocabulary when speaking about my children.

I've decided to share with you my dirty little secret. There is a corner of my home that I really don't covet, that I'm actually pretty embarrassed about – the floor of my closet. It's a mystery to me, how I can keep a clean, organized home, but then refuse to address the complete disarray of shoes on the floor of my otherwise clean closet. So what is the cause of this shoe problem? No, I do not have some sort of shoe fetish if that is what you are thinking. The cause of the shoe problem is the set of double doors that I can close every morning after I scrounge around on the floor looking for a pair of shoes to wear. Yes, out of site out of mind. I do not have to look at the mess so I do not care about the mess. Great news for me? Not really. We will get back to that.

If left to their own devises most people will create clutter. It speaks to an attitude long held that managing the minutia of life is not important or interesting. We simply save all the detritus we collect, regardless of its urgency or lack of, until the dinner guests arrive and then cram it into the desk drawer or behind the closet door. When you have a home office situation this creates work-work things going on top of play-work things and chaos ensues.

Case Study: I had clients that lived in a large beautiful bungalow home. With 4 children and home based careers these were busy people and their home showed it. The husband’s office was right off the main entry of the house and every square inch was covered with papers, books, electronics, furniture, hair elastics, ballet shoes, a dog bowl, camping equipment, unfolded laundry…you get the idea. The wife had her office space in a corner of what was also the kid’s playroom. Her desktop and drawers were overflowing with paper, magic markers, computer programs, diapers and dinner plates. In between these two rooms was a closet that could be accessed by both offices. Imagine an earthquake at Staples where a girl scout troop selling cookies had met its untimely demise.

After the initial shock of the situation wore off I asked them how in the world this had happened and they admitted that initially when friends would come over they would madly shove the “stuff” into the rooms and close the doors, but later they would never address the bow and arrow that had ended up on top of the business proposal and they never were able to find the bill from a vendor which became stuck to the bottom of an old baby bottle. Eventually they stopped panicking when the doorbell rang and kicking the clutter into the rooms was second nature.

Take a picture of your workspace and you will be amazed at what you see through the camera’s eye. I do this when I start all of my organizing jobs and my clients are always shocked to see their workspace this way. Swing open those closet doors. Start going through the stacks and bags of your life and see what you find. There may be something good in those piles: money, a note from a client that you have been meaning to touch base with, an unopened love letter.

So what does this have to do with my closet? Well I got down on my belly yesterday and pulled out all of my shoes to take an inventory of summer shoes and I found seven pairs of flip flops and my black belt with the great silver buckle that I have been looking for for months and thought aliens had stolen in the night. Seven pairs of flip flops??!! To some that would seem an inordinate amount of flip flops - that is not the point.

The point is that even “Professional Organizers” such as me have a small corner of doom. I however do not let it get beyond my closet’s double doors and neither should you. The key to any successful business, relationship and household is control over the closet, corner or pile of of doom.

**it is also helpful to have shoeracks and hooks for belts installed in your closet to avoid problems like those mentioned above**

Learn more about the author, Elizabeth Lee.

Comment on this article

Posted by Erin Pierce, Seattle, Washington | Jun 14, 2008

And she's not making this up folks! I've seen her closets :-D

Speaking of shoe racks... this site has some fabulous ideas: Not Martha's shoe rack idea

Off to clean my closets!

erin pierce — design / develop / interact
Posted by Judy Dunn, Renton, Washington | Jun 14, 2008

Wow, Elizabeth. I can only look at this from a marketer's standpoint. You have shown us how good you are at what you do with stories. With your self-deprecating humor, you have shown empathy and communicated that even a "professional organizer" is not perfect.

And you have identified our pain, with a case study filled with fascinating details. We can picture the mess.

Like Erin, I am motivated because I have a bedroom closet that fits your description perfectly.

I cringe at the thought, but I may also have to take a photo of our office as it looks at this very minute. If that doesn't get me going, I don't know what will.

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Posted by Elizabeth Lee, Seattle, Washington | Jun 14, 2008

Judy. I cannot thank you enough for your kind words about my first Biznik article. Let me just tell you that this baby was edited and re-edited and then edited some more before I finally hit the send button and wished I hadn't. To know that you gained even a morsel of information or even enjoyment makes me feel great.

Professional organizers are met with all sorts of different and difficult challenges when we walk through a client's door. My aim with this article was to "humanize" what I do as a professional organizer and to include my own foibles as the best example of how the tools work.

Elizabeth...organizing you and your stuff
Posted by Amy Woidtke (woid-key), Greater Seattle, Washington | Jun 15, 2008

I have a dirty secret too. With the business starting up and the mass of responsibility that entails, my "love nest" is not so lovely. It's messy with piles of papers, as I figure out the flow of being an ECOprenuer, and with a busy housemate too, the dishes have been known to pile up for a day or two in our sink, while they wait for our breathing room to attend to them.

I just realized the sad state of my own love nest within this past week and found it ironic. I mean, it looks really nice when it's cleaned up so the design is set in place for my nesting...it just needs cleaning and organizing maintenance on a more regular basis.

We all get busy and things get pushed aside. It's nice to at least have all your "design bones" and organizing systems in place so that when you do get that breather, it's easier to put things where they go and you can sit down to enjoy your organized and very cozy love nest!

Definitely we all are human with busy schedules and foibles. So here I am, confessing mine too - and perhaps that somehow helps to feel ok about confessing their humanness too!

Well written Elizabeth!

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Posted by Joe Hage, Seattle, Washington | Jun 15, 2008

Dear Biznik readers,

If you aren't messy, make a mess just so Elizabeth can come over and clean it. She organizes with humor and good cheer.

She organized my home AND my office (the former for a few hours, the latter for a few days).

Both a pleasure, both worth her reasonable fee.

........ 676 ........
Posted by Leila Anasazi, Seattle, Washington | Jun 15, 2008

Oh my, yes. The shove-it-in-the-other-room approach to getting ready for visitors--I know it (and the consequences) too well!

My worst is, the "I'll get back to cleaning up this later" problem. By the time Later arrives, it takes me all day to clean up the multitude of messes.

But I am going to try taking a picture like you suggest, Elizabeth--for a new perspective. I think it my help me see someway clear of the clutter. I have a huge P.O.D. in the driveway to tackle this summer. And right next to it is a 20' moving truck. I vow to have all of it organized (or jettisoned) by October 10th.

Leaf springs: Custom Vintage Classic Hot Rod
Posted by Jen Vondenbrink, Foxboro, Massachusetts | Jun 17, 2008

Hi Elizabeth. I love the idea of taking a picture of a space before you clean or organize it. That is brilliant. If I am doing an organization project I have taken pictures in the past, but they were just reference points. You know at the end of the project...here you were now here you are.

But I never really thought about taking a picture and then using it as a coaching tool. I just love it. Thanks!

Jen

Life's really simple. We overcomplicate it.
Posted by Banu Sekendur, Seattle, Washington | Jun 17, 2008

I totally agree with "Out of sight, out of mind" Elizabeth. I've found great summer shoes under my bed recently that I had totally forgotten about. Another additional benefit to cleaning out your closet is selling things you are not likely to use anymore at a consignment store. I am picking up a check for $170 next month! Yaaay!

There is also a therapeutic feel to getting rid of clutter. It';s tellng the universe that you're making room and ready for goodness to come into your life. Yes, like a $170 check! :)))
Posted by Mary Boisselle, Issaquah, Washington | Jun 17, 2008

Hi Elizabeth,

Great article. Yes, it's no secret. Professional Organizers are HUMAN. Just like my clients, life happens all around me. The one thing both Elizabeth and I have that many of our clients don't have initially is the process of how-to and the systems or homes for what we are keeping. I can generally get through stuff/purge/put in its home in about 30 minutes. Everyone has this ability. I hear this all the time. "I'm too overwhelmed and I don't know where to start". When you hear that, that's a call for help and it's time to call Elizabeth or myself.

The picture idea is great. I wish more of my clients would allow me to do this.

Great first article Elizabeth, keep them coming!

Mary :>)

Live at your Best, I do the Rest!
Posted by Danielle Williams, Portland, Oregon | Jun 18, 2008

Thank you for making me feel like I am human and not some freak with hoardings disease. I have never taken much time to organize my things (Tooooo busy) with 10 kids and a business that is not very smart. I just lived in shame. You as an organizer have shown me that perfect is in the eyes of the beholder and NO one is perfect.

Thank EB I needed that :)

PS I still want you to come to Portland when my house if done and ORGANIZE IT!!!

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Posted by Nic Soto, Chicago, Illinois | Aug 07, 2008

How we all can relate to this, I too have had some challenges in the past in the organization area, many will appreciate this post!