What’s YOUR Revelation?

One of our greatest obstacles is overcoming the suspicion that Professional Organizers are shysters who have figured out a way to get paid from making you throw out all your stuff. Not true. Our focus is not on throwing everything out. The fact is, our focus is on what you are KEEPING and how much, and why, and where it’s all going to go. How do we get the best results? It does NOT come from us telling you what you MUST do, but from creating an environment, where you make your OWN revelations. We do this every day, but in this post, I want to share one of our most beautiful examples.

I have a delightful client that I have been working with for years. Let’s call her Judy.  We have organized every room in Judy’s home several times over and her office in the city.  She often asks me, “Am I hopeless?” While organizing still does not come naturally to her, there is hope for Judy and here’s why.

If you treat all your clutter the same way, you are going to arrive at the same destination: nowhere. As I have often said, when you find yourself asking WHERE something should go, turn it around and ask yourself WHY you are keeping something, because you can save the same item for different reasons.

Earlier this year we were going through Judy’s blanket chest and we came across two beautiful tapestries, that belonged to her mother. We knew these were keepers, but we wanted to get clear on exactly WHY they were being kept. We asked the same questions we always do. Shall we keep this with “décor,” items that you may eventually want to display? Or, are these tapestries not your style and you are keeping them purely for sentimental reasons? If so, they stay hidden with “keepsakes.”

When asked these questions, Judy came up with these answers. Yes, these were items that she kept for sentimental reasons, but they were a lot more. She liked the way they looked AND they fit in with her chosen décor. Given that revelation, SHE made the decision to have these tapestries made into beautiful pillows, the very ones you see in the photograph above.

Our questions + YOUR answers = best solutions.

What holds us back is clutter from the past and clutter for the future.  While we want to honor the past and learn from the past, it is important not to be weighed down by it. Getting these tapestries out of the box, is a way to honor the past, while enjoying the present. Enjoying the present is the source of all happiness.

Remember, if you are keeping something for purely sentimental reasons, it’s OK if it goes into hiding, but if you enjoy the way it looks and it represents a part of who you ARE, then by all means, find a way to bring it out of hiding, the way Judy did. Don’t ask where? Ask WHY?

Perhaps YOU have had kept some questionable items and have not arrived at a revelation about their appropriate destination, without being asked the right question. Perhaps you came up with the right question yourself. Either way, we’d LOVE to hear about it!