When to call a professional organizer

Every professional organizer knows that clutter can be indoors or out and that it can be hazardous to our health. When people see clutter, our anxiety goes up. Even if it makes us smile to see flowers growing up through a lawn chair that hasn’t moved in months or to see a bag proclaiming “I’m a keeper” in the middle of a hoard, we smile because we are relieved that our own clutter isn’t that bad. That feeling of relief fools us into thinking, “I don’t need a professional organizer! I can clean up this place up on my own!” So calling the professional organizer gets put on the back burner again.

Even people who can appreciate the creativity of the mind that thought of attaching an old rusty car rim to a tree and using it as a hose reel know that even creative re-use can look like clutter to the county code compliance officer or the neighborhood association. When Baltimore Professional Organizer Sue Romanic spotted the hairdryer in the powder room sink, the client said, “Oh! I cut the water off to that sink years ago, no one ever comes here anyway.” Organized! by Romanic® helped the client find another place to store the hairdryer so that she could let people into her home and not be afraid to let them use the powder room.

Organized! by Romanic® has at least half-a-dozen photos from different homes of hot water heaters that are way too close to piles of clutter. Not only is this a fire hazard, it is also a flood hazard: Most hot water heaters have a life span of 10 to 15 years. Professional Organizer Sue Romanic has had several clients whose hot water heaters ruptured, ruining all the stuff that was piled next to them.

If there are places in your home that can no longer be used for their intended purpose (e.g. Can you park at least one car in your multi-car garage? Are you using the guest shower as a closet?), then de-cluttering your home without the help of a professional organizer is like repairing your own car engine — unless you are a trained mechanic.

Whether hoarding is involved or not, Organized! by Romanic® is sensitive to the fact that by the time a client finds the courage to pick up their phone and invite a professional organizer into their home to go through their stuff with or for them, that the client has already been struggling for a long time, is probably very nervous, and is really tired of feeling bad about not being able to manage the clutter on their own. Organized! by Romanic® makes every effort to make the entire process of cleaning up the clutter as easy as possible on clients.