Any “junk room” resolutions? My name’s Courage and since 2012 I’ve operated a mind-blowingly unique personal business helping dozens of households as a Professional Organizer!

After a free (if you’re close enough) in-person consultation to evaluate the space and our potential working relationship, I use my reality-show-worthy talent to turn any junk room or storage space into an orderly beautiful living space again usually in a single day and help you create new effective organization systems along the way. I have more references than you can shake a dust-pan at!

For just the 2024 new year season, I’m re-offering my services to my people who need rescuing from the clutter and years of accidental hoarding. (No judgement, promise!) Below I have a VERY detailed breakdown where I explain my entire process and how my rates work. I’ve been doing this for a VERY long time and would love to hit the reset button on a literal area of you life! Thank you!

THE magic

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THE METHOD (a.m.s.c.o.)

My process over the years has developed into this:

• STEP 1 – ASSESS. I will assess the junk space and see how much it is trash, salvageable or of value. Then I’ll see what kind of organizing apparatuses, containers and structures we have to work with and then assess how much stuff we’re actually dealing with. This is also when I will give you an official estimate for how long the job will take; it’s actually spooky how good I am at this. This is also what will determine the cost of the job. (Note: If I feel the space may be too dangerous or risky to my health, I may turn down the job until I feel the space is one that I could safely work in.)
• STEP 2 – MAP. I will then draft some ideas for a basic floor plan that you may like based on what kind of functions you want the room to have. For example: Do you want a corner you can read in? Do you want a library of books that’s easily accessible? How much do you want on the walls, on the floor or in the way of walkways and windows, etc? (Notice: Very rarely will we know what a space’s full array of functions and accessibilities will be until I’ve categorized the majority of items in the room.)
• STEP 3 – SORT. This is where I shine. I will then go through all the items in your space (which I can do very quickly on my own) and categorize everything. Everything has a category all those categories are interrelated by use, priority and size. (Note: However, with this step, I usually give everyone the same warning: sometimes this step will make the room look much worse for a period of time (like piles of stuff everywhere) until this step and the next are completed.)
• STEP 4 – CLEAN. Once everything has been categorized, I will now be able to move major structures around into our basic floor plan and clean those structures, the floors and furniture to ready them for the final step! (Note: Most of the time, spaces will be so full that I will be unable to clear the items completely from the space while doing this but I’ve become very good at doing Step 3-5 all at the same time!)
• STEP 5 – ORGANIZE. This is the fun part! As the final step, I will take all your items as I have categorized them and use all your structures to find accessible, clever, out-the-way, easily found and/or well-stored places for all of them in the space. This is when you will see your space come to life (and my eye for aesthetics, balance and interior design!)

Organizing is really that simple (or not.) Once I know what all you want to keep, how it should be categorized, what structures you have and how I can cleverly consolidate space, create accessibility and establish flow in your area–I can tackle almost any disaster area and transform it into space that is unrecognizable.

THE DEVIL’S IN THE DETAILS

1. I usually do not throw anything away because even a small piece of paper with writing on it can be important. Unless it’s a soggy mess, I will keep all the random dry debris in a box that you can look through at the end and decide what to toss and what to keep.
2. On rare occasions, I’ve had some clients who’ve (often kindly) wanted to help. But believe it not, I’m actually much more effective on my own because my mind works so fast most people can’t keep up and/or I can’t communicate what I’m doing without mentioning ten things happening every minute. (Some people have described watching me as a highly efficient squirrel having a hyper-focused brain overload.)
   
   Also adorably, because of simple human nature, most clients are so emotionally attached to their things and don’t have the practice of a professional organizer that literally every item they pick up comes with a long-winded mentally-distracted story about it’s sentimental value and/or a “Should or shouldn’t I?” dilemma about some irrelevant task.. so it majorly slows down the job to the point of it not getting done.
   
   As mentioned before, very very little will actually be tossed in the debris box and you’ll be able to nostalgically look through everything on your own when I’m done! Just leave the hard stuff to the professional! But if you still feel like you really want/need to work with me, we can discuss how we [could] make it work!
3. What I’ve found to be true with almost every job is how I can only go so “deep” into how much gets organized to the highest level of detail. I’ve described it as “going down the rabbit hole”, where there will be a box, in a hidden compartment, in a shelf, in a cabinet, in a closet that’s a huge junky assortment of teeny tiny items. Often times this happens when I think I’m getting close to finishing a job and then “Surprise!” look what I found.
   
   I will always inform you when I come across or identify these areas but from my experience, not a single client has been unhappy with me not organizing absolutely every conceivable thing in the space. Often times, a box of paperwork at the beginning will remain a box of paperwork after 12 hours of work because it’s nothing but loose sheets of paper. The tragically funny thing about organizing is just when you think everything is so well organized, you can always be much more thorough!
4. This is one I don’t like talking about. When there’s so many overlapping piles of unknown strange items that are so randomly stacked, leaning against each other, holding up one another and hidden within each other… that as careful as I try to be, my human mind cannot see what’s coming when I pull something weird out of a pile. In rare cases, something random falls and breaks or gets smooshed. It’s usually always been something inconsequential like a picture frame or a glass. I’ve never upset a client with an event like this happening. I’m always very respectful of my client’s possessions, but please realize that I can’t control all the variables. Some spaces are just too overwhelming.
5. So far, I have been lucky enough (shockingly) to not have been faced with a job where there’s an infestation of bugs or vermin that’s a little too much for me. The occasional one once in a while is usually fine, it takes a lot to gross me out, but please consider if this may be a problem at the time of you reaching out to me!
6. Cats. Cats are not a deal breaker, on occasions I’ve been able to work in situations where there’s one cat, or a clean house/area with cats but I’m deathly allergic to cats. Regardless, I always heavily medicate and mask up before every job because of dust. And often no matter what, I’m a disgusting sweaty sneezy mess by the end of a job anyways. This is where the initial in-person consultation is also helpful. If it’s a dander-ridden cat den, I may have to back out. Often clients cleaning the floors/walls and airing out a space a whole day before me arriving can make a big difference!

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THE RATES

The jobs I take in this work have so many factors and can differ drastically from one job to the next. I’ve done everything from post-apocalyptic garages, to huge office spaces with multiple work spaces, backyard sheds, closets and even front yard gardens. Sometimes, a large space is a much easier job than a small space, other times a garage is easier to organize than an office, or visa versa. The devil really is in the details when it comes to organizing.

For this reason, the cost of my services can also vary a lot depending on the job we’re talking about. But generally speaking there are two options, pay by the hour or pay by the job depending on whether the job is large and imposing or detailed oriented. Roughly speaking, most jobs average to about $50-70 by the hour or $500 to $1000. However, we will always agree on how much a job will be (or roughly how long it will be) before I begin! Even if my rates sound intimidating, don’t worry, I will work with you, all depending on how many jobs I have at any given time.

NEED HELP?

If interested, I’d be more than happy to discuss the job and evaluate pictures for free but I STRONGLY prefer to evaluate the job in person (which is also free!) Just contact me using the form below and I’ll follow up with an initial response and a request for pictures (videos are best!) I look forward to working with you! PLENTY of references available.