by Mary Colarik

Home organization and corralling household items while purging clutter has been brewing as a hot topic for over 30 years, exploding the last 20 with countless books and specialty magazines touting the best way to organize your home and use closet install businesses.

Then two reality TV shows on Netflix, ‘Tidying Up With Marie Kondo,’ (who became a global sensation with her organizing books and idea of keeping only clothing and possessions that “sparked joy”) and the Emmy nominated show, ‘Get Organized with the Home Edit,’ (featuring Clea and Joanna who co-authored a series of books on organizing, staying organized and guiding people in how to make the systems work) hit the screen. 

 This interest in having a business solely devoted to storage and organization for homes began in a small store in North Dallas in 1978. Friends Garrett Boone and Kip Tindell and an investor, John Mullen opened the Container Store, now a retail giant, with products entirely dedicated to storage and organization. Originally, the two entrepreneurs did not know if their odd assortment of plastic bins and Swedish-made wire drawers would draw enough customers to their store to purchase their line of products. Forty-five years later their concept is still viable with 100 locations across the country. Professional organizers and DIYers are happy to explore the gigantic Container Stores for the perfect storage bins, drawer inserts and shelving units. 

 Plenty of people are motivated to organize their homes after reading books and magazines on the topic, then heading to container stores to purchase crates and baskets. However, many prefer hiring a professional organizer to tidy up those bedrooms, closets, bathrooms, pantries and garages. 

 

The last few years I have been feeling overwhelmed by the tiny, funky closets with limited storage in my small, Ole Hanson home. For several months I had been intrigued by a van with bold, colorful lettering depicting home organization parked in a driveway in the Pier Bowl neighborhood of San Clemente, and having been assigned an article on home organizing, I was motivated to contact the owner of the van.

Alissa Boukal is the owner of Eight Days Home Organization and recently authored the book, “Real Spaces: DIY Home Organization for Real Life.” After college she started a Personal Assistant business in Omaha, which eventually evolved into helping people organize their living spaces. She found that organizing her client’s closets and rooms was her favorite thing to do, and soon realized that lots of people had a need for this type of service. She and her staff revamped the personal assistant business into a home organization business, keeping the name Eight Days Home Organization for continuity. 

Boukal then began researching areas of the country where people are most likely to hire professional organizers and most willing to pay; it can be pricey depending on how much a home needs a reorganization overhaul. It turns out San Diego came up as a top city to hire organizers. Boukal and a member of her organizing team decided to check out the area, thinking that if it was viable she would expand the business to Southern California. She fully intended to stay only for a short time to set up franchises, and then return to Omaha to her newly purchased home to continue running her business from her hometown. But once she rented a place in San Clemente giving her a prime location to build her business contacts in San Diego and Orange Counties, she decided two things … one, she would not franchise her business, and two, she would make San Clemente her home.

In researching home organizing techniques, I have discovered most professionals in this field have their own perspective on what works best. Boukal has a unique twist. She and her team pull up to a home filled with everything necessary to organize a client’s cupboards, bedrooms, kitchens, garages and pantries. Her associates work in teams of two or four depending on the size of the project. They are efficient and quick. Some projects can be completed in 20-30 minutes, allowing the team to completely organize several spaces in the home in four-hour blocks. 

When writing her book, Boukal contacted over 20 organizing professionals from 25 different cities across the country for organizing guidelines for real life solutions. Their quick tips are scattered throughout the book in each section. The book is divided into easy-to-read sections room by room. The process is outlined the same for each room and space: the approach, quick projects, eight steps, checklists to empty, sort, declutter, organize, re-home and maintain.

Another service Eight Days Home Organization offers is packing and unpacking people who are moving to a new home. This process usually takes one-two days depending on the size of the dwelling. Alissa says she is, “team you” working specifically with what will work best with each client.  

Four years ago, I contacted the NEAT Method, a company I had seen promoted by a wardrobe influencer on Instagram that was having them organize her kitchen pantry. The lack of a pantry and a much smaller kitchen from downsizing frequently had me on the verge of tears, especially since I enjoy baking and cooking. Hiring these organizers brought me so much peace, as the old saying, “can’t see the forest for the trees,” was affecting my ability to rearrange the space. 

Founded by Ashley Murphy and Marissa Hagmeyer in San Francisco in 2010. there are now 100 franchises in North America with organizers who “meticulously plan, purchase, and implement storage solutions.” Additionally, the NEAT Method has its own line of products sold at Crate and Barrel stores and available on their website. All the owners and organizers are trained through its training program ‘U-NEAT-versity’ to be consistent with the company’s goals and mission. Across the board the professional organizers’ goal for their clients is eliminating stress and creating tranquility out of chaos, thus giving people more time to focus on family, work, hobbies and other activities. 

The company also has a book, “NEAT Method Organizing Recipe Book” with 70 projects outlined like recipes with ‘ingredient’ lists clearly featuring step by step directions to transform spaces in the home. Organizing is truly a unique skill set which is why so many need extra help from a professional. NEAT Method’s biggest strength is “uncovering what is and isn’t working in a client space and creating customized solutions that will make their lives easier and homes function better.”