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Pro Organizing Tips: How to Organize Your Home
Life is messy! We get it. But that doesn’t mean we have to let the mess win. We’ve brought in the professionals for this one. Mother and daughter team of Done and Done are professional organizers with a mission. And they have the pro-organizing tips you need to solve your organization problems once and for all.
They’ve been helping their clients solve their clutter problems for over ten years and they’re here to help us! No matter the size of your home or the amount of clutter you have to tackle Ann and Kate will guide and coach you to success.
They’ve developed a proven system that used to only be available for their in-person clients. But now they share their step-by-step guide and proven coaching in their online course.
But first, they share some of their very best pro-organizing tips with us.
This blog post contains affiliate links.
Visit our blog post (shown above) all about how to organize your closets in creative, practical ways.
Best Pro Organizing Tips
J & J: If you had one pro-organizing tip to give people before they begin organizing their homes, what would it be?
A & K: Give yourself enough time. This is not a fast process, and the more properly you do it the first time, the longer the results will last.
J & J: We love the part in the course that says, “Wear it all day or get rid of it!” This is genius. We immediately were able to get rid of many pieces based on this simple yet powerful concept.
An Interview with Done & Done: Pro Organizing Tips
Julie & Jodie: How did you all get started in the field of organizing? From where does your passion originate?
Ann & Kate: Our home was very organized and a friend of ours who is a designer was trying to help a client of his with her belongings. He said he would pay us to come help her, and the rest is history!
Kate was basically born this way. She has a very organized mind and is happier when there is order.
Ann was not born this way but lived in London for 10 years and learned that when you have smaller closets, smaller kitchens, and less storage space in general, it works to only have exactly what you need, use and love.
Professional Organizing Life
J & J: Tell us some background of your company.
A & K: We started 10 years ago with the job for the designer we mentioned and doubled our business every year for the first 6 years of business. Since then, we have grown at a steady rate and now have 11 employees who are all mothers, most over 50.
J & J: What is your favorite part of what you do?
A & K: While we love beautifully organized spaces, for us our work is not just organizing for organizing sake. We believe that an organized home allows people to have more time to do the things they love.
While we love working one on one with our clients, we wanted to be able to take what we have learned and help more people so we launched our course, Love Your Home Again.
J & J: What is the toughest part of helping your clients?
A & K: There is a very small segment of the population who have an impossible time letting go. It’s sad and hard because they don’t like the way they live, but they are unable to change.
How to Stay Organized Over Time
J & J: Be honest, do you follow your own pro organizing tips in your own homes?
A & K: Absolutely, but we will say we have each other to keep us on track.
J & J: How exactly do you stay on track?
- We do a full house clean out twice a year which only takes a few hours each because we keep on top of it.
- We have different areas in our homes that we are more relaxed about: Kate tries to be relaxed with her kids’ toys and the messes they make.
- Ann is more relaxed when it comes to having more books than an organizer might want her to have.
- But we actually LIVE in our homes, so we want them to be pleasant for us and our families.
J & J: What’s your number one rule of thumb to staying organized?
A & K: Watch the front door! You cannot stay organized if you keep bringing more and more into your home.
Home Therapy
J & J: As professional organizers, do you feel a bit like house/life therapists as well?
We do! We always say that we are the perfect combo of therapists, cleaners, moving men, and organizers. Going through your home and deciding what to keep, what to get rid of, and what to donate is an emotional process a lot of the time. We guide our clients and readers through that. We try to make everything as fun as possible, and we laugh a lot to keep it light!
J & J: We actually feel that in your course and love it about your entire approach to staying organized. It doesn’t have to be drudgery. Y’all make it fun.
Jodie and I have several organizing blog posts we’ve written over the years. Every time we redo a room a big portion of the restyle entails organizing. It comes with the territory. Some perfect examples are:
Jodie’s boys’ homework stations,
and their office organization.
Top Organizing Tips from Done & Done
J & J: Could you give us and our readers your top organizing tips?
A & K: Absolutely! Here you go:
Pro Organizing Tip #1
Give yourself enough time. We have a formula for this in our course but starting a project and not being able to finish it is so frustrating. Blocking out the right amount of time for any project is crucial for success.
Pro Organizing Tip #2
Pull Everything Out from Where It Lives. Even if this seems like you are making more of a mess or extra work for yourself, you cannot make decisions about items when they are in the same place they’ve always been.
Visit our most popular post, “How to Maintain Best Pantry Organization” here.
Pro Organizing Tip #3
Sort Like with Like – when you have all your things divided into specific categories and can see what you really have (and how many of it!) you can make better choices. The more defined your categories are the better – don’t just to “sweaters” do “black sweaters” or even better “black cashmere sweaters”.
Pro Organizing Tip #4
The first pass should be absolute yes’s that you are keeping. Second pass is absolute no’s. And the maybe’s should stay until the end These are the best items for “Wear it all day or give it away or “use it all day” if it’s something the kitchen or your desk or your makeup
Pro Organizing Tip #5
Put things back in a way that makes sense for your life the way you live today. You may want to think you go out every day in high heels, but you actually love jeans, t shirts, and sneakers. Make those more accessible and put the high heels up out of the way so you can get them when you need them.
Pro Organizing Tip #6
If color coding doesn’t resonate with you, don’t do it. We love the way color coding looks in photos, we do not always love how it works in real life. For some people it is especially hard because it’s difficult to maintain the perfection of it. It just puts more pressure on them. Having an organized home is about efficiency more than beauty (at least in our books).
Love Your Home Again Online Course
Here is what some of their past students are saying about Done & Done’s online organizing course:
— I just finished your course, and it has changed my life! I was also telling all my friends about Wear It All Day or Give It Away and a bunch of them were like “that’s so smart! so much more focused that ‘does it bring you joy?'”
— This course works! I purchased it and did my entire house in about a week. I am really pleased with this program.
— I’ve just purchased the Love your Home Again course and am loving it so far. Your irreverent humor is hilarious, and guess what? Turns out humor is more motivating than long earnest discussions of how to decide what to keep and laborious processes for wading through all the stuff. Thanks for taking the seriousness out of this!
— Every time I tackle one of these projects, I feel so energized! I’m so happy I discovered you guys first before I became overwhelmed by all the organizing advice out there. Thanks again!
— I follow the checklist for the hall closet and I feel like a new person! It seems so obvious, but I never really asked myself how many pairs of nice gloves will I need?
Be sure to visit our other BELOVED pantry organization post to get plenty of advice, ideas, and resources to create your most organized pantry.
The Design Twins’ Take on this Amazing Course
The pro organizing tips in this course are so good this is the last ORGANIZING COURSE you will ever take.
Yes, we’ve already read many organizing books, attempted several methods of organizing, and won and lost plenty of battles. But this course, My Friends, will help you win the war.
It’s not made of gimmicks or quick fixes. It full of sage advice. It’s practical. It’s simple…not easy, but simple. And it’s delivered in a way that makes you feel capable. Ann and Kate have a gentle yet wise voice that resonates and makes you believe in the process. They hold your hand and even from afar, you feel they are rooting for you.
I love this quote from their introduction:
“Decluttering requires a good mind, a strong body and a gentle heart to sort through what has already been acquired. Though judgments and decisions ultimately have to be made, this is not the time to beat yourself up about wasted money and clothes that no longer fit. It is time for an honest assessment of how you live now.”
If you want and need to declutter let Ann & Kate be your guides.
We couldn’t recommend this course more highly.
Are you ready to change how you live and appreciate your home? Sign up now for their ONLINE COURSE HERE.
We can’t wait to hear the difference it makes.
Happy Organizing!
This are excellent tips to get started!!! I like the idea of taking everything out; I know I try to work around that, but then it doesn’t work . Thank you so much @wistfulmay.