Home organizing, room by room

Each block below covers one kind of space. If several rooms need attention, start with Whole home.

Tell Janice about your spaceThe first step is a free 20-minute call.

Kitchens and pantries

What goes wrong: Duplicates bought because the first was out of sight, and a counter that collects whatever has no home.

The work: Everything comes out. Expired food goes, duplicates are combined, and what remains is grouped by how you cook, with daily items where your hand reaches first.

How long: A pantry, one half day. A full kitchen, a full day, sometimes two.

The result: Shelves you can see the back of, and no more duplicate purchases.

Pantry

A pantry after sorting, with the back of every shelf visible.

Closets

What goes wrong: Two seasons on one rod, pieces kept because they were expensive, and nothing to wear.

The work: Each piece is a keep, a donate, a tailor, or a sell; fifteen years in the garment industry inform the tailoring calls. Then hanging by type and a place for the laundry basket.

How long: A reach-in closet, a half day. A walk-in, a full day.

The result: A closet where everything you own is visible and fits.

Closet

A closet partway through sorting, before the rehang.

Garages

What goes wrong: The room with no rules becomes the room everything goes to.

The work: Contents come out onto the driveway in zones, and only what earns the space goes back, on shelving if it helps. One car load of donations leaves each session.

How long: Two full days for most two-car garages.

The result: A car in the garage and labeled bins you can read from the door.

Garage projects are booked October through May. A closed garage in summer is too hot for safe, careful work, so none are scheduled June through September.

Garage

A garage in October, zoned and labeled, with room for the car.

Home offices and desks

What goes wrong: Paper, mostly: mail opened and set down, cords without a device, a chair that holds coats.

The work: Paper is sorted into keep, act on, and discard, with one place for mail to land. Supplies stay within reach; everything else leaves the room.

How long: A half day for a desk and its drawers. A full day with file boxes.

The result: A desk you can work at tonight, and files that hold up in tax season.

Desk

A desk after the session: one tray for mail, one drawer for supplies.

Playrooms and kids' spaces

What goes wrong: Everything in one large bin, so nothing gets played with and everything gets dumped.

The work: Toys are sorted by type at child height, with picture labels for children who don't read yet. Outgrown items go to donation or one keepsake bin.

How long: A half day to a full day.

The result: A cleanup a child can do alone in a few minutes.

Playroom

Low bins with picture labels in a finished playroom.

Whole home

What goes wrong: No clear place to start, so nothing starts, or the project began in the garage and stalled.

The work: Janice walks the house with you and writes a plan: rooms in the order that gives the most relief first, on a schedule that suits your budget.

How long: Three sessions to a dozen, with a range given in the plan.

The result: A system in every room, and a written plan for any not yet reached.

Plan

A whole-home plan, in the order that brings the most relief first.

Move-in setup and editing down before a move have their own page. Moving

What isn't offered

Organized by Janice isn't a cleaning service, a junk hauler, or a moving company, though Janice works alongside all three. Offices and commercial spaces are outside the scope, and large items and e-waste aren't hauled.

Where clutter has begun to affect safety or health, Janice may recommend someone trained in chronic disorganization, and will say so early.

Tell Janice about your space

The form takes two minutes. Janice replies within one business day.

Tell Janice about your spaceSee how it worksThe first step is a free 20-minute call.