Our client is a mother of three young children. She is involved with her children’s activities and the responsibility of a large family home. Her house is very well maintained and is decorated beautifully. All seems to be in order with the exception of a tiny little secret. In her basement is a ‘guest bedroom’ that is not actually used for guest but to store all her ‘stuff’.
Project
The mystery room was safely locked away so no one could access it.
She had successfully maintained her house effectively and decorated with detailed care but the mystery room had become a thorn in her side. It was the one area where she could not ‘conquer the clutter’. She called Downshifting – Professional Organizing Solutions with three goals in mind (1) to help her overcome the hurdle that was this anomaly in her house (2) regain the use of the room for visiting guests and (3) help her create a dedicated craft area that her daughter desperately wanted.
She had successfully maintained her house effectively and decorated with detailed care but the mystery room had become a thorn in her side. It was the one area where she could not ‘conquer the clutter’. She called Downshifting – Professional Organizing Solutions with three goals in mind (1) to help her overcome the hurdle that was this anomaly in her house (2) regain the use of the room for visiting guests and (3) help her create a dedicated craft area that her daughter desperately wanted.
Strategy
After an initial needs assessment and discussion as to what the ‘dream room’ would look like, we got down to 
business and began to de-clutter and purge the stuff. We emptied the room of all its contents. Set out ‘dispose of’, ‘donate’, ‘keep’ and ‘find a new home’ sorting boxes. All donations, recycling and disposable items were taken out of the house and disposed or distributed to charitable organization. Downshifting- Professional Organizing Solutions – provides this disposal service at not extra charge.
business and began to de-clutter and purge the stuff. We emptied the room of all its contents. Set out ‘dispose of’, ‘donate’, ‘keep’ and ‘find a new home’ sorting boxes. All donations, recycling and disposable items were taken out of the house and disposed or distributed to charitable organization. Once the area was cleared only those items that needed to be in the room were replaced. All other items found a permanent home elsewhere. In addition to reclaiming the guest bedroom we collaborated with our client to complete a small project – creating a dedicated craft area. Once again, Downshifting provided suggestions as to the most effective use for the space, container solutions and room configurations. The client then purchased containers and completed that part of the project on her own.
Results
The ‘mystery room’ was redesign for its original purpose. With the small monetary windfall that she received from her returned items, she purchased lovely bedding set that finished off the guest bedroom. In this case, there was both a collaborative and a personal coaching component to this project as we helped the client finish the craft area. It is important to note that our client was capable of organizing her house by herself (as was evident in the rest of the house) but with the added coaching, encouragement, suggestions and physical help from our organizing professional, she was able to complete the dream projects: inviting guest bedroom and functional craft area.
Margarita Ibbott is a travel and lifestyle blogger. She blogs about travel in Canada, the United States and Europe giving practical advice through restaurant, hotel and attraction reviews. She writes for DownshiftingPRO.com and other online media outlets.