If you’ve seen my bio, you know I’m a reformed packrat/messy person. Non-judgement is a pillar in the organizing community, and I’ve always felt that having been in that place and having gone through the same struggles as my clients have made me a better organizer. And I’m here to tell you that even a pro can let things get, well, messy.
For example, let’s rewind to this past summer. It was…not typical. It had its awesome parts, as summer does, but some not-so-awesome things were going on.
In addition to all of our normal responsibilities (you know - work, food, laundry, driving to and from daily football practice, trying to make sure our kids didn’t spend the ENTIRE summer glued to their devices), we decided to work on some long overdue home renovations. I cannot tell you how excited I was to update our primary bathroom which had not been updated SINCE THE 1970s. But, then I was quickly reminded of two things: First, when it comes to making house decisions, I suffer from serious analysis paralysis. (Can you relate?) And, second (and very, very importantly) renovations suck.
In addition to the fact that things never go to plan, for us, everything turned out to be more expensive than we originally budgeted for, and there were serious supply chain issues. Renovations started in May. It was supposed to be done by July. In addition to the bathroom, we also relocated our closet and added built-ins in my office. So the guest room was now serving as our bedroom and closet! The dining room was now my office and bathroom storage. And I managed… for a few weeks. Then I started to slowly lose my mind.
Seriously though, it became more and more difficult to live in limbo. Luckily, we were able to still enjoy some family time and an awesome vacation. All of our bathroom bins were labeled so I was able to find what we needed for our trip. And having an organized kitchen meant we were able to easily maintain having family meals together. Fast forward to September. Renovations weren’t done and my kids had just started middle and high school. All the while, I’m trying to support a family member who is dealing with cancer and a lot of complications.
So, while we were able to maintain some normalcy, file folding clothes? Out the window. We lived out of clothes baskets until the closet was ready, but even then it was all I could manage to shove the clothes in the drawers.
I was in survival mode. With all of the unexpected responsibilities, I could not do any more than what was required. My home was in the worst shape it had ever been and that was only adding to my stress. And you know what? I’m not embarrassed about it. In fact, instead, I focused on the most important things (the people I love) and was looking forward to the day I could get all of these new spaces (and the old ones that had been wrecked) organized again. I have had so much fun putting some new systems in place and am ready to tackle some other spaces that could use some updating.
All of this to say, whether it’s due to a home renovation or just being messy, there’s no shame in being disorganized. The calm, ease, and freedom that organization brings make things so much better!
Want to see photographic proof of the chaos and new systems? Follow @ingoodorderllc on Instagram and/or Facebook. And if you’re ready to trade the chaos for calm but are overwhelmed by the thought of tackling it yourself, reach out here. We’ve been there and are ready to help!
