There are some misconceptions about the role of a professional organizer that many are unaware of. The following are some truths I discovered in my own journey as a professional organizer. Some of these truths, may surprise you.

The Solution is Not Always in the Organizing Products

Years ago, when I first started my professional home organizing business, I spent hours at the Container Store trying to save to memory, every organizing product in the store. I wanted to be as prepared as possible and have product suggestions ready at hand. In my mind, the solution to most organizing problems, was all about finding the right organizing products and putting systems in place.

While this is not entirely untrue, I soon realized that in reality, the only supplies needed for the majority of organizing jobs I would be doing included: Garbage bags, some empty boxes, a black permanent marker, sticky notes and my trusty label maker.

That’s pretty much it.

There are exceptions to this rule of course. Some jobs do require specialty organizing products to be purchased prior to getting the job done. But for most jobs, once a project is near completion, we often find that we don’t need to do any shopping at all.  Because in the process of sorting and purging, we have emptied several containers.  We also often uncover multiple previously purchased organizing products that were once buried in the clutter.

It’s Not Always Good to Shop First

Once we have finished sorting and making decisions about what to keep, we do occasionally need to purchase a few organizing products; clear containers, maybe a tiered shelf or a Lazy Susan.  But more often than not, my clients have already purchased several products months before getting started. They do this with the good intention of getting the job done, but to their dismay, once the shopping is done, they lose their motivation to continue.

Does this sound familiar?

It is a common scenario.  In fact, by the time we are ready to start putting organizing products into place, we often end up with several extra products that we don’t use.  This ends up being wasted money spent. For this reason, I don’t recommend shopping prior to sorting and purging.

It’s Not Always Pretty

In the beginning, what I expected to be doing as a professional organizer on a day to day basis, is different than what I actually do most of the time. I imagined I would be organizing pantries and closets and making spaces beautiful.

Though I was not entirely wrong about these things, I do occasionally organize pantries and master closets. And I very much enjoy transforming a messy closet or pantry into an organized, efficient and beautiful space.

But the truth is, most of my jobs, are not so pretty.

On many days, I am in a storage room or garage and we are up to our ears in dust and the stuff of yesterday. Or, we are working with massive piles of paperwork that have taken over an office.  Other times, it’s a whole house that is in dire need of attention.  Often, we are simply decluttering a room that has gotten out of hand because there is too much stuff in to too small of a space. 

It’s Not Always Just About the Finding the Space