Peace in the Details – whether selling or living in your home – organization is bliss
As a Realtor, I’m always asking Tulsa home Sellers to de-clutter their home before putting it on the market – making their closet space appear spacious and getting rid of junk that makes their home look crowded. When selling your home, it is on display and you want to make your best first impression.
But what about the homes we LIVE in? Shouldn’t they be clean, neat, orderly and spacious too? Those of you who know me well are aware that I’m a neat freak and my husband collects and saves everything. During eight blissful years of marriage, we have butt heads more than once because he has stacks of stuff on almost every surface in the house.
My friend Kasandra (Kas) Pittman started a business called “Peace in the Details,” where professional organization is her primary service. I asked her to help me organize my closet and a few other areas of our home.
My walk-in closet. Yes, the paint color of this room is chili pepper red, and I’m not even going to begin to tell you THAT story. I couldn’t find anything in my closet, and my piles of clothes were beginning to tilt because they were so tall. Kas and I made one pass through to select the first batch of clothing that needed to be donated, and then I left her to do her magic. When I returned, she had my shirts in order of color and had hung everything from my piles. (You don’t know you have ten black Eddie Bauer t-shirts until your clothes are arranged in order of color.) This made it easier for me to make a second pass through to select additional clothes that needed to be donated. Kas asked me about a few things on the shelves – how often they were used, how accessible they needed to be, etc. Wow. I didn’t recognize my closet when she was done – enjoy before and after photos below.
Our dining room. We have this beautiful, old “standing desk” that was never appreciated because my husband had so much junk on top of it. And it was in the dining room – hardly the place for any type of desk. Kas moved the desk to the living room and filled that space with our sofa table, which was readily used to display some of our beautiful pottery. We cleared a shelf from our hutch to make room for all the items my husband had on these two surfaces, knowing that it was dangerous territory to “move his stuff.” I was extremely pleased with the results, as was my husband, Demetrius. He agreed that the functional change made more sense and was relieved that we had made a special place for his coveted belongings.
My office. I work from home and spent 80% of my waking hours in my home office. It’s the most beautiful room in our historic home with ten windows on three sides. I don’t care how big of a neat freak you are, it’s hard to keep a working office neat. When I get in a hurry, my pending files wind up in a huge pile instead of getting filed, and the items used often are scattered about. As we all know, precious time is wasted looking for items you need. I really couldn’t bear to be here for the office organization, so Kas spent some time before-hand asking me HARD questions about what I enjoyed most about my office, what I needed readily available and what I absolutely wouldn’t change.
After her consolidation and organization, I could clearly see “peace in the details” of my new home office.
My husband’s office. Demetrius is in the process of moving his home office from the first to second floor, which will allow us to transform his original office into a first-floor bedroom. It’s been a LONG process. What he HAD moved to his new office was so disorganized and the room was full. Even I couldn’t see the possible room to move his large desk in. Again, Kas consolidated and organized, labeling what would be returned to the new first-floor bedroom and our carriage house that is currently being remodeled. Demetrius was so complimentary of what she had done, because even he could now see that the end-result was possible.
How Kasandra won my husband over. My husband does not like his stuff touched. It is all precious and important to him, and he doesn’t want anyone moving or organizing anything. But, as Kas progressed through our home during the week, Demetrius seemed to observe that she RESPECTED his stuff. It was all still there – just in a different spot and consolidated. She left clear instructions for him as to where she had moved his things if it was not completely obvious. She earned his trust.
Maintenance. Kas offers a maintenance program that I fully intend to utilize. Once you’ve organized a space – and invested time and money doing so – it makes sense to maintain it versus a total re-haul a year later. Kas will be checking in with us to see if the closets and offices are not getting out of hand.
Peace in the Details – whether selling or living in your home – organization is bliss
Kas offers additional services through Peace in the Details which I will blog about later. Her web site is under construction, so I’ll revise this post and provide her web address when available. In the meantime, you can reach her at kas@peaceinthedetails.com or call/text 918-508-8573.
Honestly I watch home Sellers spiff their home up before they sell and wish they had done it long before so they could have enjoyed the improvements. Whether you are selling or LIVING in your home, you need to treat yourself to some organization that will truly bring you peace and help you enjoy your space. I don’t know about you, but I DESERVE some peace!
It’s a work in progress as most home projects are. Kas will return to organize our bathrooms and kitchen, so more to follow. Bottom line folks – do what YOU’RE good at. I’m good at real estate, and I suck at organization. Thankfully Kas will be here to help me and Demetrius organize our home and make it more peaceful and enjoyable for us.
I truly recommend Kasandra’s services, whether you are selling or LIVING in your home!
