Saturday Special on Monday: Professional Organizers

Yes, I know it's Monday....and I had this written and ready to go on FRIDAY....but I neglected to hit the magic button that would make it post while we were away on Saturday.

And so I bring you last week's Saturday Special...on Monday...with apologies.  Look for my regular Monday post tomorrow.

In the world of organizing, there are these wonderful creatures called professional organizers. They come to your house and consult with you about how to clear your clutter and live a more organized life. They offer classes and strategies and, I suspect, live in glass houses where there would only ever be a mess if someone threw a stone.

Needless to say (if you've been reading these posts), I'm not one of them. Throw a stone in my house and it's likely to end up on a pile of papers. But I'm working on it. And hey, my large rectangular spaces are looking good.

I took an online class on professional organizing once. It was interesting, but it made me squirm. Nowhere in it was there a word about following my style or my default habits. And as someone who's spent a great deal of her adult life trying to transform myself into a Type A organizer, I know the old tricks don't work for me.

But I know there are good eggs out there. Professional organizers like Julie Morgenstern and some of my HGTV favorites who don't have a leave-no-clutter standing rule at the expense of their clients' better judgment and favorite things. Organizers who send out newsletters and motivational emails and  sticky notepads with "Today I Will Do One Thing" imprinted on them. Organizers like my friend Cindy Bernstein at Aim 4 Order.

Okay, so Cindy and I have never met face-to-face, but we've chatted via email enough for me to know that if I were going to bite the bullet and hire a personal organizer, Cindy would be the first one I'd call. In the meantime, I subscribe to her e-newsletter and read all of her great ideas there and on Facebook. I especially like the fact that she suggests good homes for things I'm ready to say good-bye to...

...but more on the L of STYLE (Let it go!) next week.