Organizing Gallery

Click on the home organizing projects below for full galleries.

Browse By Location

This client is the granddaughter of one of our all time favorite clients – I feel so honored and just love how the referrals are passed down through the generations.
We started working on the inside of the home a week before their baby was due, with the goal of coming back to organize the garage after the birth.
Our clients had ordered garage racks and we brought with us a ton of containers of all different sizes. They have a huge amount of halloween decorations and so we utilized the biggest boxes for those.
They wanted an overflow kitchen area for rarely used pots and pans, small appliances as well as for bulk items (Costco paper towel and toilet paper etc).
The clients had requested to be able to park one car in the garage (they have two but figured they could leave one on the drive).
After the racks had been built and positioned, we started organizing everything by type before we chose which containers to use. We love using The Container Store clear bins (they come in so many versatile sizes and when you bulk order, you get a GREAT deal!).
Once we had the bins situated on the shelves, we set about labeling everything.
As you can see, the amount of space we created by utilizing these shelving racks meant that not just one but 2 cars can now be parked in the garage and our clients were beyond thrilled.
This client had no idea how to organize this under the stairs closet but had started using it for their dog and cat supplies, food and accessories (as well as their luggage!)
What they really needed was some shelving but didn’t want to invest in a built-in closet system.  Our favorite stainless steel shelving racks that we use for our garage organizing, come in smaller sizes which were PERFECT for the space.
We minimized the footprint of the luggage by storing small suitcases inside of the larger ones.
We used S Hooks to hang the dog collars from the rail and organized the remaining items by type and containerized where necessary.  We specifically built the racks to accommodate the large dog food containers.
Voila, a pet accessory cupboard that was easy to access and close to the kitchen where they feed the animals.

This is one of our loyal and favorite repeat clients! We have worked on several areas of their home in the past, this time it was a few select areas that had grown unruly.

-The Master Closet.

-The daughter’s tiny closet in her room.

-The daughter’s spare closet in another space in the home.  

-The daughter’s bathroom.  

-The Medicine/Hallway Supply cupboard shared by the household.

The Master Closet:  Our client wanted an overhaul in her closet after purging a TON of clothes. During our supplies consultation (we ask a lot of questions regarding how the client uses the space, most worn type of clothing etc etc) we established a need for some new lidded fabric containers for items rarely used, a shoe rack, as well as some purse hangers that not only are better for your purse straps, but also look beautiful in any closet. Acrylic Purse Hangers – Luxe Bag Care Amazon

First we switched all the clothes to the hangers the client wanted (recycling the dry cleaner wire hangers) then organized by use, style and colors. We built the new shoe rack, and swapped old fabric containers for our lovely new ones, Fabric Lidded with Wooden Handles M Design

After labeling the containers with the wonderful magnetic labels we found at The Container Store, Magnetic Labels for Fabric Baskets TCS, we loaded up our cars with the purged items and took them all to a local donation center.

The Daughter’s Closet(s):  Our clients daughter has a tiny closet in her room & had resorted to using two other spaces in the home which was driving her crazy. She felt totally disorganized and finally waved the white flag. She said she resisted using our services (her Mom is a long term repeat client of ours) because she felt she should be able to do it herself. We often hear this and understand how this feels.  

We assessed the three spaces during our consultation with her and again, asked a lot of questions regarding her routine, her most used clothing style, and most importantly her frustrations and challenges. For her, it was feeling like her clothes and shoes were spread out in 3 different areas so visualizing her outfit was almost impossible.  

We really didn’t need many supplies and repurposed 95% of her existing items. We organized her closet in her room with items that she wears most of the time – jeans, sweats, t-shirts ,hoodies.  She works at home and rarely dresses up to go out.

We used the hall coat closet for ALL her shoes – all boxed by style and color for ease of use, as well as using the hanging storage cubbies for ALL her purses.

We used the big cupboard with the rolling rack (the least accessible area for her) for her dresses, formal pants, and ALL her tall boots.

She was utterly amazed at how fast we made the transformation (less than 3 hours for 3 people) and was so incredibly grateful.  We then spent less than an hour organizing her bathroom drawers and cabinets. 

Medicine/Hallway Supply:  These hallway cupboards were so oddly shaped (almost triangular) with lots of awkward spaces that it was a challenge to store and find much at all.

Our lovely clients had been using the space for overflow bathroom, medical and back up supplies but it was frustrating that they would not fit much or stay organized due to their tricky size.

We changed things up a little and purchased some acrylic adhesive wall organizers which we knew would be perfect for light weight, small dental accessories as well as medications and vitamins; in this skinny space it would allow us to double up and avoid wasted height. Acrylic Adhesive Wall organizers – M Design

We also purchased a lazy susan for the back stock vitamins, making it easier to see what you need with a quick spin to avoid buying what they already had (a common problem in many households).

We used large lidded fabric containers for bigger items that are rarely used (think heating pads, breathing treatment equipment and covid tests and masks).  This allowed us to utilize the up til now dead space by stacking the containers 3 high.

As you can see from the photos, the space has been fully utilized with each shelf holding like with like items for a logical and easy to use system for our clients.

Our client, and her daughter, were so happy!

This client was a move in unpack and organize back in 2018 when they bought this home. Their realtor, then and now, was the fabulous Donnie Bowen, Bowen Real Estate.
This time around we were tasked with prepping the home for listing which is one of our favorite things to do! We decluttered, helped the client purge and staged to sell a number of rooms in the home.
This was their big pantry which took less than 90 minutes to spruce up. It is such a great selling point for potential buyers and we wanted to focus on making it appealing.
We spent our time basically grouping items like with like and removing items that were not food related (ie. cleaning supplies which we relocated to the laundry room!) We used some of their existing containers to help keep snacks and easy to find. They were thrilled!
This is a lovely repeat client who asked us to come in and help organize her garage for her family of 9…. yes there are 7 children and EVERYONE has a bicycle!!!!
Her specific request was for a drop zone for kids shoes and back packs when they come in from school – as well as some solutions for bicycle storage.
We purchased our fave metal shelving with casters
(Wire Shelving Unit 6 Shelf The Home Depot) and set about clearing out items that were either trash or donations. We scheduled one of our favorite junk hauler for an afternoon pick up and loaded up our cars with donations.
We gave each child a shelf for their stuff, along with S hooks on the ends of the shelf for back packs and sports bags.
We sourced bicycle stands for the floor which the client ordered.
We rearranged the garage ceiling storage to accommodate some more holiday items that had not been put up.
One very happy client sent a family text to her husband and kids threatening them she would leave if they didn’t pick up after themselves after we had been!!!!!
During a quick trip out to OHIO I got to organize a lovely walk-in pantry that was driving my clients crazy. They have 4 children and felt like they were not utilizing the space well.
Firstly, we agreed to relocate the cook books (which were not being used at all and took up a huge amount of usable space).
Then we took a fun trip to The Container Store in Dublin. I had measured shelf height and depth to make sure we were maximizing the space and purchased some clear containers (making it easier for the family to see what was there) as well as some lazy susans for oils, vinegars and sauces/dressings etc.
After purging expired foods, I organized by type (snacks, pastas, Chips, Crackers, baking etc) and utilized the area where the cook books had been for spices.  This made it much easier for them to see what they had!
My clients were overjoyed with the results!

This client just needed a tidy and organize for her daughter’s playroom before their upcoming move!

Another repeat client for O&O (we LOVE and appreciate so many of our clients who continue to use us for their organizing needs year after year! This client is a realtor and had moved just before COVID and we had unpacked her home but her garage still had a ton of unopened boxes. She knew a lot of items were her “staging” pieces (as well as some household and garage specific items).
We purchased and built 5 metal shelving racks #Lowes, as well as a huge variety of #sterilite clear bins for organizing. This was a two day job for my team and I (working in the house in conjunction with the garage) and the look on our client’s face when she returned and saw the racks AND parked her car in the garage was priceless.
Everything was grouped by type – all cushions together, all tools together, all keepsake/memory items together. She was beyond thrilled. We even scheduled our haul away service #BigandSmallHaul to pick up all the trash and donations at the end of the job so she didn’t have to deal with the mountain of stuff! We are nothing less than thorough, and the client was thrilled!
This young family had just moved and had partially unpacked the kitchen but then waved the white flag! They have a toddler and both work from home and realized they needed some expert assistance.
We unpacked the remaining items, assessed the space and began with the drawers and cupboards. A big “must” for this client was to make the toddler cups and plates accessible to encourage their little one to be more independent. They had been placed in an upper cabinet so we immediately moved them down to a lower drawer.
We used a variety of organizing containers and drawer inserts, as well as decanting pantry items into the glass with bamboo lid containers.
The end result was a perfectly organized pantry with a logical and maintainable kitchen for the whole family to use.
This client has been utilizing our services since 2016 with multiple moves and knows the value of O&O’s services. This time, they had built a custom home right on the water (3rd floor patio had amazing ocean views  for our lunch breaks!!!!)
They designed a “back” kitchen as well as the main kitchen to allow multiple areas for activity when entertaining on a large scale. The back kitchen included the pantry and after spending many hours unpacking and sorting, we took a quick trip to #TheContainerStore and purchased some beautiful baskets and organizing solutions that fit our clients style. We discussed with husband and wife (both spend a lot of time cooking, prepping etc) exactly what their goal was for the two kitchens.
They were absolutely thrilled with the results – the hubby particularly loved his Grill Rubs in the big lazy susans as he is the BBQ king and LOVES his seasonings.
A lovely, elderly client just sold her home in a matter of days with a very short escrow, and had no time to really pack or purge properly. She used a moving company to “pack” her which turned out to be a disaster…they literally threw everything into boxes regardless of where the items belong. We found kitchen with keepsakes, food with bathroom stuff – basically everything you SHOULD NOT do during a packing job.
She needed help with her garage which had a bunch of boxes with no labels and no idea of what was in them. This home is a rental and the garage has no built in storage. We suggested metal shelving racks that she could always take with her to her next home.
We purchased 4 racks and multiple clear containers for organizing.
We pulled everything out of the garage and sorted by type. Like with like is always the goal and having the right containers and shelving helps immensely.
This particular client now has a much smaller kitchen than previously so she was desperate to bring a ton of items out of the kitchen that would not fit, and store them in a super accessible manner for easy access. She also has a young grandson who often comes and stays with her, and a lot of play and arts and craft items. It was important they were accessible for him.
Our client was thrilled with the end result – she said she kept going out to her garage and looking in amazement at what we had achieved in one day.

Quick little job of 4 hours for a repeat client who wanted some help in her kitchen. As part of the project we organized her junk drawers! It’s the little things that make you happy and our client loved being able to find everything in its logical place once we had finished.

We initially were referred by another happy client to assist her brother and his wife (Seth and Jessica) with their home in San Clemente. They both work full time from home and have a 3 year old so life is busy and a little chaotic. They didn’t really have any systems in place and the garage had become a dumping ground for all kinds of stuff, as well as unopened boxes from their move a couple of years ago. The husband was trying to use some of the space to work out in, but it was an all around challenge!
We utilized 2 of my favorite guys from Crystal Coast Moving Company for some extra “muscle” as well as my own team of 3. We pre-purchased 5 metal shelving units from Lowes along with 25 mixed sized clear containers from Target. After opening all the boxes, taking everything out of the garage and sorting by type, we put together the racks and started organizing like-with-like items (Memory/Keepsakes, Holiday decor, books, costumes, surf equipment, arts and crafts, beach and pool, outdoor toys etc.
Each rack had its own distinct use – outdoor, decor, tools, overflow etc.
We knew we needed to reserve plenty of room for Fabric and Costume making as our next job with this family was to tackle the sewing/costume/office.
This picture shows one very happy Hubby, revelling in his newly organized garage and loving the extra space for his workouts.
This job was a rather unique challenge and certainly made me think outside of the box for organizing solutions.
Our client is a costume designer, jewelry maker, model in her spare time, and her office/design room had ended up being a dumping zone for everything! She was totally overwhelmed and didn’t know where to begin – especially because she is a very visual person and was concerned if she couldn’t see something, she wouldn’t know if she still had it.
After pulling out EVERYTHING to sort, we agreed fabrics could be organized by type and color, placed in large clear lidded bins and labelled clearly then be moved to the garage and placed on a rolling metal shelving rack. Also groups of items like Wigs, Armor, Flowers, Leather Making could be stored this way too.
Once the bulk of the fabric and costumes were stored out of the room, we were left with the little but necessary items like tools, ribbon, trim, thread, snaps, buttons, needles, velcro, bias tape etc etc. We had spent a lot of time considering the best way to store these and purchased a lot of different containers and hanging solutions to best fit each category.
We utilized a lot of wall space that was not being used to hang up jewelry, tools, purses and props.
We staged the black cubby unit with not only the categorized items but also with examples of her amazing work including gorgeous headpieces, fun feathers and fabric. Beads and stones were stored in plastic lidded jars and labelled for easy access.
For the little closet that was piled high with boxes and you couldn’t see in…. we took the door off and purchased an elfa drawer system for projects that were current, as well as a Dungeons and Dragons drawer.
We used the top skinny drawer for needles, pins, scissors, tools so they were easy to locate!
We also bought a large clear shoe holder for the back of the office door and used it for wigs.
Our client was so thrilled with her new space – loving not only the organization but also the aesthetic.
We have been working with this client off & on since last year helping organize various areas of their new home. In this case their garage was being used for a ton of boxes that had not been unpacked from the last move, as well as a huge number of holiday decorations.
The client wanted to park two cars in the garage – both of which needed to be plugged in for charging.
We first assessed the layout – deciding to use two bays for the cars, one back bay for Holiday decor and rolling racks in between to hold all the necessary garage items (tools, car cleaning, memory boxes, office supplies, etc.) Once we had a plan, we set about removing everything, purging, sorting by type, hauling away trash and donations, and purchasing appropriate shelving units & containers.
The final result (after 2 long days) were two parked cars, a dedicated bay for holiday decor, shelving units all organized and labeled by type.  Needless to say our client was thrilled.
This client’s kitchen & pantry were enormous ~this job took 2 days!  We knew because of the size of the pantry there was going to be a lot of expired product; during the early days of the pandemic, like many of us, the client had purchased in bulk and as such, many items were pushed to the upper cabinets and back of the shelves. Out of sight, out of mind. We hauled away over 30 bags of expired foods, donated a ton to a local food pantry and set about grouping by type the remaining items.
To avoid this happening in the future, we purchased some containers for organizing and labels from the fabulous Talented Kitchen. All the baking items were decanted into containers and labeled. Icing and decorating had its very own section in two drawers, cans were separated into soups, beans, vegetables and each had its own shelf.
Small appliances were grouped together to make it easier for our clients to see them all.  Childrens cups and plates were moved from an upper cabinet to a lower drawer to encourage independence with the kids. Needless to say our clients were ecstatic to have their space Organized & Orderly.

You may recognize this garage from previous before & after pics. My client/friend/fabulous realtor Susan Piazza would be the first to tell you (and it’s true) that organizing is not her forte or her priority. She is too busy closing real estate deals all over Orange County! 

I have known Susan for years and after initially helping with her unpack and organizing into her lovely Trabuco Canyon home, we also set about “freeing” her from 4 storage units FULL of STUFF!

She is, and has always been, one of my biggest supporters and I LOVE working at her home. The menagerie of alpacas, chickens, a 60lb desert tortoise plus 2 dogs and a cat, fills my animal loving heart. Her yard is heaven on half an acre with so much always going in the beautiful garden.

This time around, the requirement was different …she didn’t just want me to “clean up and reorganize” the garage like normal. She decided that her hobby of refinishing antique furniture with chalk paint and glazes had gotten a little out of hand (ahem… it read borderline hoarding potential!!!) and instead of having a dozen cans of chalk paint in each room of the house, it was time she dedicated space in one area that she could go to when she had some spare time.

We discussed using the garage (which has the tendency to be a drop zone for many things work and home related) and decided that if we incorporated Peg Board on both sides of the walls, we could not only accommodate her Real Estate signs, but also tools and paint and painting accessories. 

Her Dad Bob, who is amazingly handy, offered to help with the peg board pick-up from Lowes and installation – we used 2 x 96″ wide pieces to give us as much hanging space as possible. I ordered multiple peg board accessories on Amazon; insider tip …beware, if you are thinking about peg boards for your garage, the spacing between holes is not standard, so make sure you measure it before you order the accessories!!!

I first set about removing all items from the garage, getting the space cleared, cleaning and vacuuming the floors, yes, we are THAT thorough. Then as Bob was installing the peg board and other wall hangers I had ordered, I had all the paints and paint related items gathered from around the house and other out buildings brought into the garage for sorting.

The next part was the really fun bit! Figuring out what should go where based on its regularity of use. One side of one board was household tools and repair items, the other side was entirely dedicated to painting. We had the luxury of an existing metal shelving unit which we used for the actual paint (sorted by type into containers) and Susan is in the process of looking for a workbench which will sit immediately under the peg board.

Her Real Estate work signs (and as you can see from the pictures, there are MANY) took some creative thinking, making each one easily accessible, as well as handling the weight of the heavier ones. Susan’s Dad was incredibly helpful, utilizing some wood that was just sitting in the garage, making me little shelves in between the struts, and attaching wire to two screws to help hold some of the signs in place.

I was able to use the peg board hooks for many of the signs, and literally took up the entire wall with signs, stands and attachments. It was all consolidated in one easily accessible space.

Susan was just thrilled with the result …She said she never imagined it would turn out like this …Music to my ears.

This job was for an existing client of ours who moved last year into a fully renovated new home. There were a lot of furniture pieces and miscellaneous items placed in the garage that no longer fit the style of the new home, as well as all of the regular items we store in our garages…. Kids bikes, surf boards, tools, keep sake/memory boxes.

Our client finally bit the bullet after months of thinking they would tackle the garage themselves and realizing that the job just kept getting bigger and more daunting.

Organized & Orderly arrived with a crew of 3 and set about removing EVERYTHING from the garage and putting it all on the driveway. This allowed us to go through items with our client, assessing what she wanted to keep versus items that were not being used and just stealing space. After 7 hours, everything she was keeping had a home, all neatly stored like-with-like. We created enough space for hubby to park his car that night (he was thrilled!) and although there are still some furniture items that she wants to try and sell, once they have gone, they will be able to park not 1 but 2 cars in the garage.

This client just moved into their new home and prior to organizing the garage, we had been unpacking and organizing the inside of the home.
The client desperately wanted to park her car in the garage and with all the miscellaneous items being stored on the garage floor she was totally overwhelmed and did not know where to begin.
With a crew of 2, we spent 5 hours finding homes for items both in the garage and in the house, as well as setting up areas by type of use in the garage. Now our client can not only park her car in the garage, but she knows exactly where to find everything she needs.

This busy mom was surprised beyond belief when her boyfriend gifted her a garage makeover for Mothers Day! We gave him a list of things we needed, including clear containers and a metal rolling shelving unit.

After 6.5 hours, we had pulled everything out, edited items no longer needed, organized by type and put it all back together with clearly zoned areas. All the beach and pool stuff together in one cupboard, all arts and crafts in another, sports equipment in another.

We also cleared out the two utility cabinets and made space in one for large, rarely used appliances that our client did not have room for in the kitchen.

Needless to say she was THRILLED!

Spent 3 full days packing up a client in Corona Del Mar with the help of my fab guys at Crystal Coast Moving Company and moved her to Covenant Hills in Ladera Ranch. The following 5 days we unpacked and organized her into her new home (which was larger than her previous home).
She has an extensive collection of high end/designer shoes and purses. In order to make it easier for her to find what she wanted, we took over a spare room and set it up just for these items. At some point she intends on building custom shelving etc but for now, we ordered racks and rails, built them and organized each item by type. We have ordered S hooks for hanging the purses but are currently waiting on them to be delivered.
She also asked us to overhaul her pantry and as you can see from the pics – we set about ordering a ton of items (her special request was bamboo and glass containers for all bakery and dry goods items). We custom ordered spice jars which we are also waiting for. Watch this space for a follow up!
This is a long standing client in Coto who we just moved in and unpacked over the last few months. She was able to purge hundreds of pieces during the packing up process but still had A LOT of sets remaining, and not enough room in the kitchen to store them. We sourced these great fabric storage pieces from Amazon and labeled each set by brand or color. The client was so happy to have them safely stored and clearly labeled. Professional Organizer FYI:  Garages are often a useful space to store overflow items that you are using less than 3/4 times a year.
This garage belongs to a long time client and friend, Susan Piazza Coldwell Banker. She has a very unique and beautiful home in Trabuco Canyon. Her garage has been used as a “dumping ground” (her words not mine!!!) for a long time and she was so fed up with not being able to walk through her garage without falling over stuff as well as knowing there were a lot of items in the garage that should either be relocated to the home, and a lot of items that needed to be donated or trashed.
As an incredibly busy realtor, Susan has long understood the benefits of outsourcing tasks that she doesn’t have the time to do. She called me in with white flag waving, and I set about the overhaul.
Prior to starting, we scheduled a haul away service (knowing full well that we were going to need one!)
I pulled EVERYTHING out of the garage and started sorting by type.  After a few hours and once it was all laid out for Susan to see, she spent about 20 minutes telling me what could stay, go, be donated etc. I was then able to logically place items back by type and use. It took me less than 6 hours and this garage went from being a clutter magnet to being fully functional again.
Check out one of her Alpacas keeping me company on my break!!! Her name is Jessie, and she & Susan were thrilled with the results.

This family decided to list their beautiful home in Tustin and their wonderful realtor Kurt Galitski, Coldwell Banker called on Organized & Orderly for assistance with getting the home list ready. Overall, the home was looking pretty good, but the master closet even though it was big, was being poorly utilized and seemed much smaller than it really was.  The number one goal was to get the shoe situation sorted out as the shoes were all over the floor, making it difficult to “see” the rest of the closet.  During our Listing Consultation, we discussed changing out the hangers for a more streamlined aesthetic and the client was totally on board! (Yay! Costco to the rescue with their fabulous slimline black velvet hangers).

I spent about 30 minutes moving shelves, adjusting them to give better storage potential, as well as utilizing rails that had been empty due to shelving locations.  I then organized the clothes by type (sleeveless, tees, long sleeve, workout wear, etc etc) and then by color and finally switched out the hangers. I also cleared off the shelves of items that did not belong, which allowed me to fold up wool and cashmere sweaters (better than hanging them) and reduce the number of hanging items.  We love the new look and the both the homeowner and the realtor were thrilled with the results.

Our lovely client (who was referred by a very happy previous client) was moving from Irvine to MV.  She works full time (from home) and just knew she didn’t have the time or the skills to unpack and organize her kitchen so asked O&O to come to the rescue.

As you can see, the job wasn’t that large and we had lots of lovely space to organize into, which made the job so much easier.  3 hours later = 1 absolutely elated client – she said it would have taken her weeks to do what we did AND it wouldn’t have been half as organized!  She wanted to leave the cupboard doors open so she could stare at her freshly organized cabinets all day!!!  We love what we do and we love our clients even more!

Thanks to Roxanne Ellison of The Bowen Team ReMAX for the referral to this lovely family. They had just moved and with two young children needed some help with unpacking and getting them organized into their beautiful new home.

In case you don’t know, unpacking and organizing is one of my favorite jobs… I get to ask a ton of questions about your lifestyle, your habits, your most used items, whether you are left or right handed (YEP…. it really matters) and then I get to organize your home in just the perfect way, maximizing your space and utilizing systems to best serve your individual needs.

My client said she was going to pour a glass of wine and just SIT in her closet in awe!  I LOVE IT!

By the way, in case you didn’t notice, we alternated the shoes, front to back, in order to maximize space, and in this instance (with a LARGE and FABULOUS shoe collection) we were able to get an extra pair on each shelf, which wouldn’t have been possible if both shoes had been placed forward facing.

It all comes from 13 years of helping our clients get Organized & Orderly!!!!

We unpacked, we purged, we relocated, we donated, and finally organized and made this space beautiful!  As part of a larger unpack job, the master closet was transformed in just a few hours!  Unpacking and setting up a client for an organized life… she hit the ground running and just LOVES her new space!

This closet transformation only took 1 hour, just a portion of a much larger job. In this ‘His & Her’ closet, we switched to all white hangers, as well as sorted each item by type and color!

These pics are for a client in Coto De Caza who was overwhelmed with too much stuff!!!  We were able to go through everything in the garage, purchase 3 large metal shelving units and lots of large clear sterilite containers, haul away a lot of donations, fill up 4 trash cans with trash…. = 1 very happy family!  We even gave the hubby back his garage parking space and relocated all the kids outdoor toys and bikes etc for easier access!

This job was done for an 11 year old girl in Coto De Caza whose father had called me at his wits end. His daughter couldn’t find clean laundry, identify what was dirty or clean, find schoolwork and important items, and just generally needed HELP!

It was important that I was able to work with her to understand how her schedule and her life, her habits and her goals affect her ability to keep her room clean, organized and implement a personalized system. Yes, all kids are kind of messy (at least mine are!!!) but if a good system is in place, it should be much easier to keep on top of the “mess”.

With Wednesdays being late start, I arrived at 7:30am to have an hour and a half with her before she had to leave for school.

Although I could continue to work after she had gone, it was important to go through all items while she was there so that SHE could decide what stays and what goes, trusting that I would honor her wishes.  

She has never had a Keepsake/Memory box and one of the biggest issues that she (and many other children) had, was that there were LOTS of items that she was attached to, but didn’t actually need to see or have in her immediate space. This space is what I call Prime Real Estate – it’s limited and therefore we should only use it for things that we need to use/touch often, or that we absolutely want to look at and enjoy.

She also had a gazillion stuffed toys and cuddly’s – all of which her Dad had tried to get her to part with, but she just wasn’t ready – and that’s OK!

The majority of her clothing was stuffed into drawers and while I agree that most kids struggle with hanging things up, there was SO much in the drawers that it made it impossible for her to put her clean stuff away (hence Dads frustration with the laundry situation!)

We agreed (after we had weeded out some items that no longer fit, or that she didn’t love) that we hang up jeans and hoodies, thus giving us more space in the drawers for other things.

We worked together through literally EVERYTHING in her room and made massive and very messy piles of keep and put back, memory items or keepsakes, items that needed to be relocated to other rooms in the house (think spare blankets and bedding or bathroom items). By the time she left to go to school, I knew exactly what was staying and what was going.

I immediately left to go and purchase her some containers – some large plastic sterilite totes for memory boxes (to be stored in the garage), some fun canvas totes that matched the color of her room, some matching hangers in her favorite shade of blue and some desk organizers.

2.5 hours later, I was finished. She now had defined space for her school work and electronics, her drawers were organized and still had available space, her closet (with matching hangers) was being utilized fully not just for hanging clothes but also her cuddly toys in big baskets that were still accessible but not stealing space all over her room.

Dad was thrilled and I was beyond happy when she texted me later that day to tell me how excited she was to come home to an organized room!

This client moved in 2017 and has never been able to park her car in her garage. Something I hear quite often with my clients. After 6 hours of organizing …voila! The transformation was incredible. We did remove a lot of items for donations and sale to make room but, now she is more organized than ever!

This job was for a client who owns a staging company. We have worked for her before, and after a recent move, her staging accessories were is complete disarray. She has 2 storage units, both full to the brim, and has been struggling for efficiency; going back and forth between both units trying to find what she was looking for has been costing her a ton of time!
We decided to break down each unit into two distinct areas:  one was for bedding, bathroom, cushions and plants, the other for artwork, home decor and kitchen. You can see from the results she can now find where everything is, as each item is in its proper place. The world is a stage, and this one is organized to a T!

This job was a 6 hour garage and laundry room organize in Lake Forest (this is the same client whose closets, bathroom and kitchen we organized last year).

The clients wanted us to group holiday decorations, keepsake items, arts and crafts etc together, rather than being scattered all over.  We didn’t need to purchase any containers as she already had enough, some of them half full.  

My assistant and I pulled out EVERYTHING, lined all the containers up in the garage with the lids off, and assessed which containers needed reorganizing (to make more available space) and then were able to add the loose items that had not been containerized.  We labeled EVERY container and then grouped them together in the same area of the garage for easier access.  All of the keepsake boxes were placed in the least convenient areas, as they are rarely opened.  We put all Christmas together, including the wrapping paper, gift bags, ribbon etc.  We also were able to make space on the closest rack to the back door, and gave the client a shelf for overflow from the house (think paper towel, excess cleaning supplies etc).

The laundry room is very oddly shaped with limited access to the cupboards under the sink, due to the washing machine jutting out a little and causing one of the doors to only partially open. The cupboards above the washer and dryer are a problem too… the client could only reach the bottom two shelves, the third one was empty and totally inaccessible.  

The client was storing all of her cleaning supplies on the counter top and the shelves inside the upper cupboards for laundry supplies and doggie towels and meds, as well as bathing and grooming items for the dogs (she bathes them in the laundry room sink, so wanted everything nearby!) plus a few other random items like lightbulbs and doggie poop bags!  Under the sink was a bunch of tile that the builder had left, which was taking up a lot of space at the back.  

We pulled EVERYTHING out (are you seeing a pattern here?  You can’t begin to organize without assessing EXACTLY what you have got and what is staying!) We relocated the tile to a spot in the newly organized garage, bought out the lightbulbs and containerized them with the other lightbulbs already out there.

We removed both of the top shelves in the upper cabinets, and raised the middle shelf up a notch.  Now the client can easily reach both shelves and we were able to use that space fully.

We decided to put dog cleaning and grooming under the sink, using a metal container for shampoos, conditioners, brushes and a hairdryer along with a container for dog towels.  We also put a container with re-useable mop heads in this space too, as they get used weekly.

In the upper cabinets we were able to containerize and stack dog meds, dog poop bags, plug ins and refills as well as a sewing box.  In going through the cleaning supplies on the counter, we removed any duplicates or overflow and took them out to the garage to put on a shelf on the rack nearest the back door.  The remainder of the cleaning supplies went up into the upper cabinet.

The client was beyond thrilled… she said she had never seen that counter space clear before, and she LOVED how easily accessible everything now is!

This lovely job is a realtor client of mine who’s garage had gotten under husbands skin so badly, she surprised him with a secret clean up and organize session with us! The client is allergic to dust, and rarely goes down into the garage, without sneezing up a storm!

There were a couple of special requests… Her two young daughters love to play and make SLIME, which (as all parents of young kids know) makes a yucky mess all over because it involves glue, paint, glitter, hand soap etc etc.  Her children are only allowed to play with it in in one corner of the garage, however the “mess” had spread all over and she ideally wanted to contain them to one corner, so that her husband could safely park his car in the garage without running over a bunch of slime!

The second request was to work on having the golf clubs and kids bikes and scooters more easily accessible.

The third request was to organize the keepsakes and memory boxes, label them and store them out of the way instead of on the ground as they rarely need to access them.

With that, my assistant and I set about making their garage Organized & Orderly.  

It took us 5.5 hours, a trip to target for containers but when the husband arrived home toward the end of the project, he was just thrilled to see his garage floor again!

Browse By Room

Making Extra Space in Irvine

This delightful job only took us 4 hours but our client was thrilled with the results!
Her closet was getting out of hand and her fiance is going to be moving in with her soon so she wanted to free up some space for his stuff.
We decided to relocate to a guest room closet some of the long hanging dresses and items that she rarely wears, and in return bring back some sweaters that she is starting to wear more often. She was keen to go through her clothing and shoes while we were there and said it felt SO GOOD to get rid of things that she doesn’t love or wear often.
We were able to organize her clothes by type and color and voila…Her fiance will now have a full side of closet space to himself and our client was SO excited with her fresh look closet!
We then went on to spend approximately 30 mins organizing the bathroom. The key to under sink storage is to utilize the upper space that is wasted. She had sent me a few photos of her challenges with a very small bathroom and we were able to purchase a slim drawer system that fit perfectly next to the down pipe under the sink. We defined which items she used daily (or at least weekly) and prioritized using the easily accessible spots for them, leaving the less often used items behind and more difficult to reach. We worked with her existing organizers in the drawers and she couldn’t have been any happier!
   

Mission Viejo Closet Transformation

A lovely couple reached out to us after their master walk-in closet was finished with a remodel. They had to move all of their items out of the closet and into two other rooms for the duration. Then there was a delay in the renovation and so they had been getting dressed and picking outfits from these two rooms for weeks – needless to say, everything was all jumbled up with no rhyme or reason. Our client was also adamant that she had too much stuff and really wanted a clean start along with the newly finished closet!
Whilst we had our client start purging items she no longer loved or wore, we set about grouping everything by type. Our client willingly gave up over a dozen bags of items (which we took for her to a charity donation center). Eventually, everything had a home, was grouped by type & color and our clients were beyond thrilled with the result.
Acrylic shelf dividers helped us so much with items like jeans and pants allowing us to stack pieces fairly high without fear of the pile tumbling over – and also allowed the client to choose an item lower down in the pile and remove it easily. They were thrilled with the results!

San Juan Capistrano Dream Closet Makeover

A few months back, our lovely clients moved into their gorgeous home in San Juan Capistrano and had us come in to unpack & set them up in their master closet. They knew they were going to be having the closet overhauled with California Closets, but it wasn’t going to happen for a while. Fast forward to October and we got the call saying the closet was finished and they were ready for us to work our magic.
First let me say, this may have been one of the most beautiful closet remodels I have ever seen, so aesthetically pleasing but also very well thought out based on our clients needs.
We spent 6 hours bringing everything back in and organizing it so it made perfect sense to the way they dress daily, keeping the most used items accessible and the least used items placed slightly higher, lower or out of the way. We set up their drawers using the same concept. The clients were overjoyed when they saw the end result!

San Juan Capistrano Garage

This job was for an existing client of ours who moved last year into a fully renovated new home.  There were a lot of furniture pieces and miscellaneous items placed in the garage that no longer fit the style of the new home, as well as all of the regular items we store in our garages…. Kids bikes, surf boards, tools, keep sake/memory boxes.

Our client finally bit the bullet after months of thinking they would tackle the garage themselves and realizing that the job just kept getting bigger and more daunting.

Organized & Orderly arrived with a crew of 3 and set about removing EVERYTHING from the garage and putting it all on the driveway. This allowed us to go through items with our client, assessing what she wanted to keep versus items that were not being used and just stealing space. After 7 hours, everything she was keeping had a home, all neatly stored like-with-like. We created enough space for hubby to park his car that night (he was thrilled!) and although there are still some furniture items that she wants to try and sell, once they have gone, they will be able to park not 1 but 2 cars in the garage.

NAPO Golden Circle 5 Years
Garde Robe Luxury Wardrobe Storage & Valet Service
Orange Country Realtors Affiliates
Coldwell Banker Concierge Proud Partner
Garde Robe Luxury Wardrobe Storage & Valet Service

Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.

A.A. Milne

The Zen of Organizing philosophy refers to the creation of a calm, peace-filled, and joyous environment.

Regina Leeds

Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.

William Morris

For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned.

Unknown

Clutter is a weight that has built on top of you so gradually, you don’t even realize anymore that it is holding you down.

Mary Johanson

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.

Aristotle

Myth: Organizing is a skill you have to be born with. Fact: Anyone can learn to become organized.

Unknown

Being organized is being in control.

Unknown

The secret of getting ahead is getting started.

Mark Twain

Less Stuff Means…less to clean, less to organize, less to store, less mess

Unknown