A writer's desk before organizing.  Important mail and bills were in various places, stationary and stamps were buried behind stacks of project-related paperwork and in plastic horizontal sorters that were broken and caving in.  Projects piled up and left no desk area for actual work to take place.  Bills were often misplaced and paid late.  Piles of paper had to be dug through to find the next project, and everything had to be shifted around to find specific stationary.  This busy writer felt that she wasted a lot of time looking for things she needed.

The writer's desk after organizing.  The plastic sorters that were falling apart were discarded and desktop cubes with shelves were purchased to hold all writing supplies.  The bottom shelf of the unit was left empty to allow her to stash some current project-related materials there instead of piling it up in front.  The cube shelves became her 'correspondence area'.  Two vertical sorters already on the desk were given new jobs, one is now used for personal letters that need a response and the other is for bills to pay and business-related matters that are time-sensitive.  Old papers and projects were filed away or recycled if no longer needed.  Many of the piles previously on the desk were the writer's way of keeping track of projects that needed to be worked on.  A calender system was created on her computer to keep track of upcoming writing deadlines and events, which allowed her to keep necessary paperwork in file drawers instead of on her work surface.

An elderly woman's bathroom before organizing.  This particular client has mobility issues due to arthritis and Parkinson's and is unable to easily access the cabinets under the drawers.  She had a box full of make-up and facial products on the counter that she would rummage through each day to get what she needed.  The drawers were left open all the time because of limited counter space.  The drawers themselves also needed to be rummaged through to find what was needed.  There was a large decorative shelf taking up quite a bit of space on the counter being used to hold lipsticks and small bottles; it was very inefficient for this purpose.  The woman felt that it took more time than it should to wash her face and put on make-up.  She also knew that the unnecessary digging around contributed to extra soreness and tiredness.  She was so tired of looking at the "mess" that she didn't even want to go in there.  She needed to be organized in a way that took her limited mobility into consideration.

The elderly woman's bathroom after organizing.  All expired products and medications were removed from the bathroom.  Sliding baskets on rails were installed in the cabinets to allow easier access, some of the products from the counter-top were moved to the new sliding baskets since they would now be accessible.  Divider trays were put in the drawers and contents were organized.  A clear plastic make-up holder was purchased for the counter-top to hold brushes and other utensils.  Products used daily were left out on the counter for easiest access.  The decorative tray was put on a shelf on the other side of the bathroom.

Bedroom closet of a 'usually organized' busy father, before organizing.  A demanding job as an engineer and father of a two-year-old didn't allow this client time to keep organized.  He was overwhelmed and frustrated every time he tried to find something in the closet, especially because he is generally a very organized person.

Bedroom closet of a 'usually organized' busy father, after organizing.  For this project, I worked directly with the client.  We looked at every piece of clothing in the closet and donated anything that no longer fit or hadn't been worn in over a year.  I also organized dresser drawers in the bedroom and moved some clothing from the closet to drawers, which was his preference.  Because this client usually puts on shoes in the living room right before leaving the house, shoes were moved to a hall closet near the living room.  He uses space in the bedroom to workout, so a shelf in the bedroom closet was designated for his weights.  After organizing the rest of the bedroom, this client and his wife decided they would treat themselves to shopping for new clothes!