hello everyone
and welcome to another episode of Selling Greenville
your favorite real estate podcast here in Greenville
South Carolina I'm your host as always
Stan McCune Realtor right here in Greenville
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all of that
today we have a special guest Stephanie Worinkeng
who is a professional organizer
and owner of a time to organize
and
we're gonna be talking about a lot of stuff related to
decluttering staging
organizing
all sorts of stuff that that directly impact people
when they're moving when they're not moving
when they're just living in a in a home
whatever the case may be selling
buying all of those good things
and so I'm really looking forward to discussing
all of this with Stephanie
so Stephanie welcome to the show
thanks so much Stan
I'm excited to be here absolutely
so I'm just going to just
just kick just let you describe however you want
tell us about your business and what it is that you do
great
my business is where I come in
and I help people regain their time
their space through organization
and staging kind of plays a part
it's just
part of the wheelhouse of what that looks like
and so helping you come into your space
and it could be anything from a garage
an attic a bedroom
a closet a kitchen
the whole house
and so looking at the space and saying
what works best for you as the client
yup
how can I come in and arrange things
in a way that works
for the amount of people that are using the space
arrange things so that you can find what you have
and know what you have when you need it
and so that's the basis of organization
and that can look different
there's no one size fits all to organization
because everybody is different
and so what might work for me in my household
and the people in my house
may not work for somebody else
because we have different brains
and so my job is to ask the questions and see okay
what's your end goal for your space
what's bothering you the most and how can we fix it
and so
that would be the main focus and the goal
to work with the client
to work with their habits and what their needs are
so that they can maintain long term
and that applies to like you said
just living in the space
or it could be prepping for a move
it could be unpacking
and setting up your new house after a move
and so that's what that looks like yeah
so you said that you know
you have to tailor that to different people's
personalities lifestyles
etcetera etcetera
but are there some like
general principles that apply across the board
there sure are and a lot of what I will do is
I will come in and walk through your space
and talk through what's your end goal first
and it might be okay there's drop zones in my kitchen
I always have paper here
that's that's a good example and so I would ask okay
well what tends to come in
where's the hang up
and you know why it always lands in that drop zone
where paper is
and so part of that is usually it's
it's the countertop right next to the door
it's where I go to look for stuff
but it's always a mount
cause I don't know where it can go long term
and so it's talking through okay
for that one
it might be kind of a two step process where okay
main goal is I don't want it to end up on my counter
I hate it on my counter great
let's look for a nearby wall
and some wall mounted cubby
and one per adult in the household
like this is Mom's cubby this is Dad's cubby
and then there might be one for the kids
and so looking at that
where you're able to then have a temporary situation
where it comes off the countertop
goes into those cubby's on the wall when they get full
or maybe at the end of the week
that's then going through and calling through
this is trash this is my long term storage and
you know a file box for each kid in
you know the top of their bedroom closet
or the top of my craft closet
whatever that looks like
and so coming up with a system to avoid
you know the
the part that is the the pain point
so are are you anti junk drawer
I have a junk drawer it is an organized junk drawer
though
it's not junky so it's not junky
it is it's pretty organized
but it's when people think of a junk drawer
it's kind of like pens and pencils
and tape and Scissors and
you know
maybe the quick grab papers that you need right away
but you clear off your countertop really fast
and so my process would be
if you know there's things you reach for all the time
create a home in that space
where you go to grab it right away
so it might be utilizing
some containers within that junk drawer
and hey
this is where Scissors go
this is where tape goes this is pens
pencils and glue and then there is one section off
area for mom to put papers
I just did this with a client this week
they had some great drawer storage in their island
right by their art station
or their their kitchen table
which was the art station
so we set up 2 deep drawers on that island for the art
for the kids and then the top drawer was Mom's drawer
cause she hated the stuff accumulating
at the bottom of the island
so you know there's
there's the habit of she comes in
and drops the papers at the bottom of the island
and so we just work through okay
real quick as it's in your hand
throw out whatever is trash
and then whatever is left that can stick on the island
but by the end of the night
reset it into that spot in the drawer
and then there was her personal stationery
and her personal pins
and then we had the luxury of a secondary drawer
that was the general family junk drawer
of the Scissors the pens and pencils
I think there were some
just general tools to grab
you know like a tape measure
everybody needs a tape measure
yep
those kind of things so
working around those habits
and not reinventing the wheel
because it takes at least
21 days or more to form a new habit
and so if you can work around what you already do
you're then able to maintain it long term
and it feels more natural
and yeah absolutely
and I mean it are
are you coaching your clients on how to maintain
this decluttered organized environment
like what what does that look like
yeah so if we're working on how you already do it
then there's so we can
then we can set up a system
there we go
for the homes for things that you're keeping
and then I'll recommend either
depending on how often you use that space
so a junk drawer is pretty often
at the end of the day
as you're putting in the new things
kind of resetting it
so if you see something out of place
put it back into place we also have I
I would love for that to happen in my household
we it'd be nice
I've bought something like 20 Scissors the past year
because there are elves or
something in my household that keeps taking Scissors
and I will find them outside rusted out
sure I will find them in the garage wasting away
and so anyway I just keep buying more and more
Scissors because they're not being reset
sure I mean
that is the challenge with working every
with everybody in the household
you know there's certain people
who are more on board with the process
and certain people who are less on board
and so that's right that's a part of life
and that gets into like a family reset
that gets into mom and dad resetting
I'm one of 5 children growing up
I was homeschooled all the way through
I was the neat freak of the family
and one of it's funny you mentioned Scissors
I have 5 pairs of Scissors that live in my house now
because we never had Scissors growing up
and so I discovered oh wow
I'm an adult now and I can buy my own Scissors
there you go
Scissors and tape so there's a spot for it
we reset it
you know everybody is a little different
I'll admit
I'm probably because that's my natural tendency
I'm more focused on let's reset and put things away
so my kids have been trained from the very beginning
that that's where things go
yeah and
you know with working with them over time
it's been a process
but they're pretty great about helping to reset
and so one of the things we put in place
for maintaining systems
this is after the sorting process
this is after creating a home for everything
but setting the timer for 15 minutes
we called it the 15 minute warning growing up
but we attached that to a fun thing at the end
like a reward
and so growing up at the end of the school day
five kids being homeschooled
we would set the timer for 15 minutes
and you had to put your books away
and make sure your bed was made
if you hadn't already done it
things like that the little general chores
that were doable in 15 minutes
and then everybody as a family was doing it
so it didn't feel like one person was just stuck
doing all the work and mom went through and monitored
and checked everything and we'll do that
I'll do that with my kids
and it just tends to work
cause you don't feel like you're doing it by yourself
sure and so that would be a good maintenance
kind of system set up
and then we would do where the reward was
we did tea time so my mom would read us
like a chapter out of a fun book
like Laura Ingles Wilder and we would have a fun snack
so we attached it to the fun snack and then there was
you know if you didn't do your chores
you wouldn't get TV time and that was a big deal
so things like that
it doesn't have to look exactly like that
but that it might be I'm gonna reset myself
and then I'll get my afternoon cup of coffee
cause I love my afternoon cup of coffee
so working that into your life or it might be
you know something you do at night
you do a little 10 minute reset before
you enjoy your cup of tea
or you watch your show you know
whatever that looks like yeah
but to answer answer your point
I want to circle back a little bit to the general
just the basics of going through and organizing
while we are working around habits of everybody
so that can look a little different
there is a process to organizing
and that will look like
going into the zone what's the end goal
okay I want my counter top clear
and then there's a sorting process
there's grouping like items with like
and then there is figuring out what are duplicates
that can go away
you're better able to make more decisions
more informed decisions if you know where all of
what is all in your category
there we go and so you group like with like
and then you decide what you're gonna keep
what you're gonna give away
what you're gonna throw away
and what will go into another room or zone
based on how you use it and so
that's a very good general processing for organizing
and getting a place reset
once we go through dividing those categories up
you're able to then go OK
is it is it trash is it donation
if it's donatable
if you would go to a thrift store and use it
or buy it from a thrift store great
it's donatable
if you wouldn't touch it cause it's broken
cause it you know
it smells or ripped or stained or whatever
that's trash
and so that's a good process in looking at that
the things that you're keeping
that's where you figure out how do I use it
how often do I use it
and then where is that space that it's gonna go
I like to think about putting things away based on a
B and C storage so if you think of a kitchen cabinet
it usually have like an upper kitchen cabinet
it usually has 3 shelves
and so the lower shelf is your a storage
the middle shelf is your B storage
the top self shelf is c storage
and it might be that a storage are
you know water glasses by the sink
cause you're getting at those multiple times a day
c storage is kind of okay
those are my you know to go cups for water
that's maybe once a day a couple times a week
see storage might be
I need to pull out a stool cause I'm short personally
I need to pull out a stool to grab that
so that might be you know
in in top shelf storage is Christmas
dishes you know those kind of things so and
and that's how you
can kind of look at anything around your house
around your garage how often do I use it
make that the most accessible
things that you use together
put them away together
maybe they're not on the same shelf
but they're at least in the same zone
and so that's kind of a good
general rule of thumb of how to think through okay
I've got this you know
full area that I wanna tackle
how do I even begin sure
so so throw away items that go to another room or zone
okay there you go yeah
that's helpful so
what are some of the issues you run into
and could be any any sorts of issues but
but when you're assessing a home
when you're trying to help people through this
what what are some of those issues that you run into
sure
I think there are things like
being able to
figure out
so 1 1 issue is processing through
when you're dealing with somebody
working through grief
maybe it's the loss of a loved one
and you're trying to figure out
going through things
it's definitely
working through the emotions of things like that
that has definitely been a challenge over the years
and so it's that process of working through
sometimes it's feel free to tell me your stories
sometimes
it may not even be through the loss of a loved one
but it might be you know
just oh this triggered a memory
that I didn't even think I would have
when I was sorting through socks
but it might be oh OK
well tell me about that story
and sometimes
even the client being able to listen to the story
or be able to get the story out of their system
and let me listen to it
that has been something that's really helpful
and that just goes with the process of it or
you know often times I'll tell them if they you know
maybe maybe
your budget doesn't allow for me to come through
and do your whole house with you
but you might have you know
a buddy somebody
a good friend
or a family member who's really good at organizing
and it might be that they go through it with you
and they're almost like a body double
and so they can listen to the stories and you can say
okay that was great
we're gonna move on now and let it go
another prop thing
challenge that I have seen is you'll often do
there's a lot of the easy sorting right
you know obvious trash can obviously go into the
in the trash bag right away
I know that
this definitely stays in the zone that I'm using
but usually without fail anytime you jump out a
dump out a junk drawer or a dresser drawer
whatever whatever the case may be
it might it might be you know
a toy bin or something
you can make those quick decisions
and then you're left with a pile of
I don't know what to do but I can't throw it away right
and so that's where a lot of people get stuck
yep and that happens to be one of my favorite
parts of the project because somehow
god wired me with a brain that can look at that and go
okay let's work through some questions
and so that might look like
what is keeping you from being able to donate it
or trash it tell me why
justify to me why it has to take up your valuable space
space is a commodity just like anything else
just like time just like money
absolutely what justifies you keeping that
why can't you get rid of it
and so based on that reason
then we go okay
well let's think backwards to how you will use it
when you need to find this thing
where's the first place that you think of
where you would go to look for it
and it might be something incredibly random
like this was in a toy bin
but it actually is used by the back door
cause it's an outside toy
you know or it
it's always outside okay
well let's store this in the garage or let's store this
you know
wherever that might be rather than in the toy room
I'm just picking on yeah
yeah yeah
for sure
but that would definitely
be something that I see as a challenge
in looking at with
with clients is what do you do with that last little
I like to call it the wiggly
bigglies of stuff that's just left
and so what
justify to yourself
how you would use that and why you can't get rid of it
sure
yeah I it I mean yeah
I can see that being a challenge
I I've
we've a few times in our household
we've done like a purging
decluttering kind of thing and
most recently so we were living at our
home that we lived in prior to where we are now
it was it was a
it was several hundred square feet
larger than where we are
but then we also had a humongous
actually
several humongous unfinished storage spaces as well
and so
even though we're in a pretty big house right now
it's about thirty
two hundred square feet with a 600 square foot garage
we had to to purge pretty like quite a bit
it was just like every space was a little bit smaller
closets were smaller
cause we moved from a newer house to an older house
my office you know
where I am right now as I'm recording this is smaller
like substantially smaller
our basement is smaller
like literally we have less storage and
and I had to really make some some hard decisions
there going through stuff
cause it was like man
we accrued a lot of stuff
when we just had basically
more storage than 4 people would ever need at our
at our old house and
it's it some of those decisions were just like ugh
I I don't really wanna get rid of this
but I've not even looked at this in five years like why
why am I behold right
why am I gonna be held hostage by something right
I'm not even interacted with in five years
I'm only interacting with it now because I'm moving
you know right right
that's usually a good easy to get
it's easy to get it's easy to get kind of fixated on
on the item and not really think through sure
like why am I holding on to this item
sure
and that's something I'd love to piggyback on is that
that's definitely a challenge I find with clients
you know
and that's where I would just say focus on okay
if you're gonna keep it it's a good item great
I've got several people that I've worked with
and they have excellent taste
and so they're very nice you know
an item's worth a lot of money
you know some like in closets for example
you've got clothing that's a really good example
because everybody's got clothing
what a blessing
we live in such a culture where for so long
we were told we need more stuff to be happy
and so now we're dealing with kind of that aftermath of
well we have stuff
but then we're so overwhelmed by stuff
and so if your end goal is to be able to enjoy life
to know what you have to find it when you need it
when you're so overwhelmed
and you can't even find things
that's a good indicator of okay
well let me re look at this
let me see where you know
I might have even even if you do have the storage space
if you don't interact with it
like you said for a couple of years
or you don't use it on the regular basis
is it even worth hanging on to
how easy is it to replace
what's the reality of you know
I often say if you haven't used it in a year
if it's clothing
and you haven't used it in two winters or two summers
that's a really good indicator of hmm
I don't think it needs to be taking up my valuable
real estate of space absolutely yeah
and it doesn't that was the big one for me when we
when we moved
was I had to get rid of a lot of clothing
because I had just kept accruing and accruing
and I was like well
I've got space sure
and then I found
there were some things that I just hadn't
worn in forever sure sure
some of them I didn't even fit anymore
yep and there you go
that's a good one
since we're on clothing and they don't even fit
there's sometimes especially
you know a mom who has gone through having babies
and so there's always that goal of
you know getting back to the certain size or you know
anybody I wanna get back to that certain size
these are my goals and so
there's nothing wrong with having a few pieces of goal
clothing that you really love
but in looking at that maybe a whole wardrobe
there's something to be said about
when I get to the point of wherever I wanna be
what won't
I want to reward myself with a new fun wardrobe
and so that's a good indicator of at that point
I'll probably rebuy things anyway that I love
so looking at it as would I wear it now
do I love it if I were that size
would I wear it now that's a good indicator
will I wear it when I'm even at that point
you know or is it like a 10 year old item
that I probably wouldn't even wear
if I fit into it sure
so and then setting yourself up for
it's great to have a few gold pieces
but that not be the focus
what should only keep your favorites
what should people do with their wedding dresses
oh that's a good one
I've had debates with my wife over this one
that's why that's why I asked
it honestly Stan
it kind of depends on the client
I've known some people
and they have just resold it because they're going
I'm never gonna wear that again and it's in pictures
and is it worth saving it for 18 years
for your daughter to possibly marry
or get married in it
will she even want to you know
fit it so or whatever more than likely no
so those are good questions to ask
I like the aspect of
if it's something where it's sentimentally
and you just have to have pieces of it
I like creative ways of
maybe it's cutting it up and having it made into
you know a christening dress for your baby or
you know maybe a few handkerchiefs for different people
out of parts of that dress to
you know carry around a bouquet for
you know your daughter
your granddaughter who whoever it might be
but thinking through so
you're not storing the whole huge box that most people
when I've come across these boxes
they're in the top of a closet
they're kind of musty and not as much fun and you know
it takes up a lot of space
now I I won't
I'm not out to just make people get rid of stuff
I'm out to help them think through how valuable is this
am I really gonna use it is it really worth it
and there are some memory things
I mean I do have my wedding dress
it's not preserved I cleaned it real well
it's hanging in the back of a closet
more so for me because personally
growing up the granddaughters
in my family we went over to my grandma's house
and we played dress up in her wedding dress
and so I have fond memories of playing dress up there
and so it's not really
necessarily even preserved for using in the long run
for my daughter to wear for her wedding
it's more as I have my daughter
as I have her friends come over
we have tons of little girl cousins in our family
it's more to be able to enjoy and be played with
and used and so
that's where I justify
the space that it takes to take up
you know my wedding dress in the back of my closet
for some people
they're able to let it go great
go ahead if you can resell it
and kind of get some money back for it
awesome use it towards a fun experience
but it
it's good to think through
what are some alternative ways of using that dress
for special you know
special occasions
rather than maybe saving the whole entire dress
cause sure likely the
the percentages of the daughter
even wanting to wear it are pretty slim
yeah yeah interesting
I hope that answers the question
it does yeah absolutely
yeah I mean
I have no agenda with these questions
I just wanna hear I just wanna hear your answers
oh one
one big one that comes to mind
this is sort of off of something like a wedding dress
I've been coming
I've been coming across this a lot lately with clients
and it's what do you do with all these cool t shirts
that hold a lot of memory for a lot of people
a lot of people have a lot of t shirts
it's an easy thing to buy when you're traveling
it's you know
from sports or whatever that looks like
my favorite thing that I have found
across the board to do with t shirts
is to put them aside and when you accumulate enough
there's
there's people on Etsy
there's people that will make a T-shirt quilt
you can send them off and have one made
you could get crafty and make one yourself
I actually made one when I got married and my
I helped my older sister make one when she got married
and we took t shirts from us growing up
our husband's
t shirts I think I got my husband's
the shirt he was wearing on our first date
he'd worn out the elbows in it
but it was like that's what I remember him in
and it's actually in the very center of
my T-shirt quilt that I have
that's fun and
it's just really fun
because it's a fun way of using those t shirts
but it's in it's made into a new thing
that my kids can pull out the quilt
and use it and we cuddle underneath it
and it was a fun thing to make
in preparation for getting married
and stuff so that's just like
you don't have to do it if you're getting married
it could be for anything
it could be maybe at the end of
the high school career of your kid
you take those t shirts from
you know over their school years
and you give them a school T-shirt quilt
but that's a fun way to use something like t shirts
that a lot of people can accumulate
and yeah now the thing that I would say and this
this goes across the board too is we have containers
right
the definition of a container is to contain something
and so there's a limit implied with a container
and so give yourself a set container
whether it's one you know
one box
and if the t shirts won't fit into that container
for the long term
t shirts quilt at the end of 18 years
you need to make some choices between that
so it's not overflowing or going into
you know another container
sure
so that would be something that I would say
to be careful
I'm not against keeping things for the memories
or whatever but there has to
be a way or a strategy for you to enjoy them
rather than
them sitting in a cardboard box in the attic
where you don't even touch it
absolutely so that would be something that I would say
coming up with some kind of way to enjoy it
so so for for search engine optimization purposes
I need to mention Marie Kondo in here hahaha
what what are your thoughts
I I I in full disclosure
I heard about her and her method
whatever it is for the first time
I don't know it was several years ago
I've never read any of her stuff
but I know people that have been impacted by
by her philosophy so do you use any of that
do you agree or disagree with any of her method
so here is what I will say
I agree with some points I disagree with others
and the way that I will describe this
we've got Marie Kondo we've got the home edit
we've got lots of different shows like that
organization shows
there's there's the
the gal who does the clutterbug scenario
and I love it because what has happened is
when I started this business
when I was I was 18 I was out of high school
and I started this business
and I did all kinds of networking
speed networking
networking groups and half of my elevator speech
30 minutes of my 60
30 seconds of my 60 second elevator speech
I would have to spend what is an organizer
you're right
what do we even do yup
and now because of the shows
because of the
the methodology
a lot of people now are more familiar with a stage
or with an organizer absolutely
and so that has been a huge point of the exposure
that it's given to hey
you know maybe we don't want to be overwhelmed
and ruled by our things maybe we want to think about
the what
what our homes look like what our spaces look like
and so I love that aspect of
you know all these shows of Marie Condo
I a lot of what I have seen from how she does thing
it's more towards the end of the aesthetics
making sure things look pretty in the end
and I don't agree with that necessarily
I would be more on thinking through
what are your habits
how do you use it in your space
does it even fit in your space
and I wouldn't go for how things look
because it may look neater to store your t shirts
folded the certain way that she does
and fan from the top so you can pull them out that way
that works great for me
cause I'm very visual and I love the color
system
but that might not work for somebody who is going in
to fold their t shirts
they may not fold their clothes
I've I've had clients like they don't fold clothes
folding clothes is the worst thing to them
they're never gonna do it
so I roll my t shirts and most of my clothes are hung
but yeah like t shirts I just roll them sure
so that's a habit difference right
I actually personally hate hanging things on hangers
for my own clothes I don't have very much
I have like this much hanging space
no that's probably a exaggeration
like this much hanging space is more accurate
for those listening
she has about 2 feet of hanging hanging spaces
what she depicted with her hands
there we go there we go there we go
so about 2 feet of hanging space wide
that is a decision that I've made but I can see it
I know what I have most of my stuff is folded
but I happen to really enjoy folding clothes
but not everybody's gonna love to do that
so that would be my main difference in looking at
you know Marie Condo's
methodology is less of a focus on aesthetics and
and more of a focus on because
on the functionality for that person
for what their needs are
same thing like the home edit a lot of now
now recently they've done a shift
they've done like a different show
which was awesome
they actually did kind of like the
the Complete Home makeover
and it was so cool
cause they would take this whole house
they have the resources they took a warehouse
laid out the whole house by room
so you could see everything
and help the people reset it
that was a recent show that I saw that they did
some of their earlier ones
they were more focused on it
it was great'cause it was organizing
it was helping people
I felt like they had a lot of focus on using product
and that was where I ran into a lot of people
bringing up oh
I want a house like the home edit or something
and it was so focused on product
and not necessarily what worked for the client
because obviously the home edit
I think they were sponsored by
you know a a product store we won't name names
but I think they were sponsored by that
and so something that I've run into to be organized
you don't have to have all these matching bands
you don't have to have
things that are perfectly set out
in the Instagram worthy thing
that's a type of organizing that gets a lot into my
like micro organizing
and really having set containers and things
for certain pro
certain items but that takes a lot of upkeep
which a lot of people
aren't prepared to do on the regular
so then the system falls apart
even though you've
invested in all these beautiful containers yeah
so a lot of it is that sorting and purging first
figuring out what you're using
and putting those things away into the storage space
and so you utilizing containers
but I mean you could use cardboard boxes to organize
and it would be organized
it just might not look you know
Instagram worthy right with beautiful
clear containers with all the matching labels
so yeah
that's something that I have found just over time
really working with the client
what are your habits what will you use
what are the people using the system
what does that look like
rather than just going for aesthetics
so this is a oh
that that was all a great answer by the way
I don't wanna change gears too quickly
but I do I do have a
a question that's been kind of burning
sure for me here so okay
in the
in the investor in the real estate investor world
storage units are very very
a very popular investment right now and
and the the thinking behind that is that
housing affordability is is deteriorating
the average first time home buyer is 38 years old
and so when people are buying their first home
it's gonna typically be smaller than
than what they really need
and so they
they're going to need these storage units
in order to be able to
to store away some of the things that they
that they have
because their home is not going to have
a garage and adequate closet storage and
and all of that that's that's the theory I've
I've heard that and I mean
you know
we can already see storage units are a huge business
even without factoring and all of that
so it start bring this all back to what you do
in organization
what do you what
what is your feeling towards storage units
and is there an appropriate time for them
or should there be an appropriate time for them
sure I
I think storage units can be a really great tool
for temporary solutions
I would not use a storage unit long term
because I was talking earlier about ABC storage
that can apply to I've
I've used that in the illustration of
you know a kitchen cabinet for example
but that could be your whole house
so for example usually
you're in your kitchen for multiple times a day
you're
you're eating at least three meals usually snacks
you're in your bedroom at least one time a day
cause you're sleeping there
and then your living room and your
you know your garage those kind of things you're
you're in the those rooms
depending on like
how many times you're active in there okay
so you've got ABC storage
and then if you look at something as far as storage
for things that you're keeping as a storage unit
which is off site that's gonna be a CC storage
cause to access anything from there
you have to get into your car
you know
if you don't have a truck that can haul things
and they're bigger things
you have to you know
figure out a way to transport whatever it is
and so I only like those for a temporary solution
where maybe you're in between houses
but you have a game plan for a house coming up
or maybe you're doing a remodel
of course
you're gonna need a storage solution that way sure yeah
but as far as long term just having it to keep it
I would strongly I I don't like them for that purpose
because what you're doing is throwing
away money on things that you're not accessing
regularly at least in my experience
and what I've seen and how people use them
for like long term extra storage
that is something I would put a goal of okay
if it's full to the brim
and usually it is full to the brim
it's not organized where you can access things easily
so right it also becomes something where
you've got all these steps
against you
to go and use whatever is in that storage unit
you have to pack up and go there
you have to go out of your house and go get it
you have to deal with the clutter
often times if you're trying to even find anything
you have to shift things
out to access things and then before you leave
you have to pull it all back in
and so
I would if you're gonna do a storage unit
I would have an end date in sight
so that you're not throwing away money
because if you just use it as extra storage you're
you're just you're
you're paying money to store your stuff
that you're not using
more than likely
sure every single month what if what if yours
it's a what if you're a serial killer
and needed a place to put the bodies
I think you've got different problems at that haha
oh okay alright
well
that was a personal question
I'll just move on from that one
haha what how do you respond to people by the way FBI
I'm joking
how how do you respond to people when they say
I don't have enough storage
I need I need a storage unit or I
I need you know a a my shed to to put stuff in
sure you know from the house
like how do you respond to that
so this is again going back to the philosophy of
do you know what you have
can you find it when you need it
often times when I hear I don't have enough storage
my closets aren't big enough
you know my
my spaces aren't big enough
I think in some cases that can be true
like if you're
in a New York apartment or something of that
that's a whole other level where yes OK
space is tight
but you look at people who live in a New York apartment
and they're used to
they live with a lot less things more than likely right
they're not they may have storage somewhere else
but usually they've condensed down to instead of
you know a six person place setting
they have two sets of place setting
you know for example
two sets of dishes
whatever cause they're not having people over
they're going out and doing things right
they may not even have a kitchen
in a New York apartment for example
they may eat out all the time or something
you know whatever those those may be
so when I hear I don't have enough storage
usually what I'm thinking in my head is
I think you have too much stuff
and so I would look at it as you can't unless
unless you're like
on track to do a whole big remodel on a bigger house
or whatever and you see that
I would encourage people to look at
rather than your storage
whatever it may be being a limit
like a downer and I just don't have enough
look at it as okay this is what I have to work with
how can we make the items that we have fit in here
so I can use it and find it when I need it
and so
a lot of my approach would be to encourage the client
well let's look at everything that you have
let's pull it out let's group like with like
let's figure out what are really important to keep
and let's figure out what can be let go
what can be donated what can be trashed
and often times usually when we do that sorting process
people always get rid of stuff even
even some hoarding situations I've worked with
we've gotten rid of stuff
and so if you look at your space as your container
and that's your limit of what will actually fit
work with what you have
and approach it from a standpoint of
plenty rather than a standpoint of scarcity
if you can turn that mindset around into
this is what I have how can I work with it instead of
oh I don't have this and I don't have that
I think just your your whole persona
you tend to be more thankful and go okay
how can we make this work
and the approach that I would have is kind of like
you've already gotten rid of trash
donation as much as possible
so you're looking with what you've got left and you go
OK well
what are the most important things
are there things here that repeat the same
are there one use items
or can they function as multiple use items
okay and you might need storage for
for example if you are a family with a lot of kids
and there's a lot of clothing that needs to happen
you might need some storage
but I would limit that into okay
I can fit you know
6 bins of clothing in my garage
that's it I can't keep more of that excess clothing
than the six bins and I'm talking like a lot of kids
my sister has seven children and so she has a lot
so I realized you you know
sometimes you really do need more space
but you might not
it might not be affordable to upgrade to a larger home
sure and so in that case just look at
can you be creative
like if you don't have a pantry in your house okay
you might need to dedicate a few kitchen cabinets
and that is your pantry and carve out space
and that might be less disposable containers
less Tupperware less drinking glasses
less mugs and so if you can downsize in each category
that does actually free up some space
and then you can distribute that into other areas
so that you can allow for a little bit more
it might be you don't have a
you know again
a pantry but you have
you have a open wall space okay
so put a bookshelf there with some containers
and that can be your quick grab pantry
stuff that is in cute containers
so you have to keep it neat
that helps you stay on top of it
and then you've got two other cabinets
that are your secondary storage
that also means buying less
so that might all concept budgeting
that might help you with just
using what you actually have
because you're limited on space
and so the short answer to all of that long way around
bunny rabbit trails everywhere would be
maybe look at it from a point of
this is what I have how can I work with it
it it's helpful for me
cause it helps me set limits
given the space that I have to work with yeah
absolutely
that would be the thing and I would in general
unless you know
you're doing like
a renovation or a temporary move situation
I would not have a long term
off site storage situation going on
I would try and get out of that as soon as possible
and just use whatever you have
and it might be
instead of spending thousands of dollars on an offsite
storage thing
you might invest in a shed
if it's really important to you to have
on site storage but at least it's on your property
instead of going somewhere yeah
that's not so great for whoever's investing in storage
you know property
but since this is what I'm here to talk about
that's what I'm gonna end up saying
well I
the reality is unless you can
go around and organize 300 million American households
I think that
there's still gonna be plenty of demand
for storage units sure
sure and if the projections are correct that you know
that people are gonna have to be buying smaller
first homes
because of affordability I I do think that that sure
the for better or for worse
the storage unit business seem the
the model does seem sound for the time being
sure it is it's gonna happen
I feel like that's the way
with how we have built up in our culture
with where we are now there's you know
you've got people from the Great Depression
you've got the baby boomers
and it was kind of like we had so little
so hang on to everything so that you don't lose out
and then you've got we had so little
so how can we get so much more to be happy
but then we're discovering
but then we're so overwhelmed by the amount of stuff
and we're not actually using a good portion of it
and so yeah
my personal point would be
be very careful and have an end date for your storage
absolutely
if you're gonna do a storage unit so besides like
and and we're gonna I'm gonna wrap this up here
with a couple of more questions
so besides like sentimental items
besides like clothing that you're just hanging on to
are there things that
when it comes to the decluttering stuff
are there things that people tend other things beyond
beyond those that people tend to hang on to
that you see often that
that's like a hard thing for them to purge hmm
paper's really tough paper
paper paper's really hard for a lot of people
simply because it there's often
what do I even do with it
how much do I even need to keep sure
and there's this paralysis that sets in
and so often you know
and depending on what your
what your life looks like
have you donated to things
often times
you get a lot of paper that comes in the mail
it depends on your profession too
and what you do and so
the biggest thing that I would say with paper is
you're not alone
but the reality of the world that we are living is
is we're moving towards a lot of things are online now
a lot of information
rather than keeping for example
like warranties and instruction manuals
you can look that up online now
and so so often I'll come across manuals and things and
really to be honest with ourselves
how often do we even look back to them
we don't we look it up on online yeah
and so
if you could apply it to that kind of thing for paper
I think that would help a lot of people
be able to let go of things
thinking through just general points of
can I find this information online
pretty quickly
can I find maybe an instruction video
is this you know like bank statements
bank information a lot of that is online
so usually like having a bank statement is not needed
now there are really important papers obviously
that you want to keep but
if you can form a system for the really
important things and have a place for them to go
rather than your kitchen counter
that allows you to have the freedom
from looking at paper
what if something important is in here
right and so a lot of the time
I'll recommend to clients to have a fireproof lockbox
and that's where your Social Security goes
your marriage
you know your marriage license
your you know kids voter registration card
yeah yeah
all of those really important things
car titles anything related to you know
you owning your house like the the mortgage papers
whatever that is
often times they're they're moving towards online
however you know
you're gonna have those important papers
my husband's an immigrant
so we have immigration papers
his proof of becoming an American citizen
those kind of things
and so if you can have those things set up where
you know where they are
and you can grab them that takes off a huge burden
where you're not worried about throwing out something
important yeah
same thing for
maybe they don't need to go in that lock box fireproof
situation however
maybe they go into you know
a a small set
this is like a two filing cabinet or two file
boxes
where one is home
one is business if you have your own business
for example or maybe work related
or maybe if even it's one file drawer
and it's like you've got you know
medical for family members
you've got home related you've got
you know I
I don't I don't know what the categories would be
for the particular person
but those are things that I often see
so if you've got those important things
that you need to refer back to
you've got a home for them
yep and then that way when you're bringing your mail in
I often say we all get junk mail
so pull that junk mail in one hand and keep the
keeps in the other hand
toss that junk mail into the trash
so it doesn't even end up landing on your counter
or in your drop zone and then that way
you're only dealing with the things that are important
sure
one last thing since we're on paper
this may have been different than what you wanted
but
a lot of the times
kid papers are huge and we wanna hang on to them
something I have found that is so helpful is having
again like maybe a wall mounted cubby
where quickly those school papers can go into
and you look at them
at the end of the week when it starts to get full
that's your key to go through it
and then you have a file box for each kid
I've done this for my kids and there is a grade
throughout their their school year
there's like memories
there's baby and it's a file and what you can do is
go ahead and put everything that you know
you wanna keep the special things into that file
at the end of the year
reset it cause there's always gonna be those ooh
let's keep two of these 100 right
graded papers instead of 10 bazillion of them because
oh they got a 100
I should hang on to that but if you have 55 of them
you know it's
it's okay if you just keep five
because the end goal being
it's all contained in one file box
and at the end of your kids high school career
like grade school high school whatever
you can hand them in that box
they can look at it and you guys can enjoy it
or the kid can go
oh I don't really need to keep these you know
or mom can keep them at her house
whatever that that might be
everybody's got different goals
you know but if you've got one box
where you can look in your free time
and enjoy those memories
it's way better than five huge tubs of papers
which I have seen of the kid
little things that come home and all those papers
and it's overwhelming and you do not enjoy it
and becomes such a burden
and something that's terrible
rather than being able to enjoy those fun memories
and things yeah
for sure yeah
that that makes sense
paper being a hard thing for people
paper's a tough one for me
obviously in my line of work
real estate actually has very strict rules about that
we have to keep our records for several years
there's all sorts of things
but everything can be digitized
and so that's what I try to do personally
I try to digitize just as much as I can
I try to get as many statements and whatnot
you know via email versus snail mail right
and that
that keeps me sane because I handle sure
like 98% of the paperwork in my household
sure
and that's in addition to 100% of my work paperwork
sure sure
and I can get buried like right
like I'm actually buried right now
and it's just it's not stuff that's like
that is like super actionable
it's just stuff that needs to be
I need to to figure out a place for it
and to make sure I'm keeping what I need to keep
and acting on what I need to act
and then getting rid of what I can get rid of
but that can sometimes be a tricky
a tricky decision even for me right
and that's just an example of
it's specific to the client right
I'm not a realtor
so I don't need to keep all of this paperwork
you are and so
that's something that will just need to take up space
somewhere or you decide to do the digitizing option
as well so
you know it's just everybody's different
and so you look at well
what are your limitations
what are your requirements for you
and what you need to do you know
from a legal standpoint all of those kind of things yep
so and
and and we might end on this
we'll kind of see where this goes but
so we had talked about off air
that sometimes you run into clients that are
that are concerned you know
about judge you know
you coming in with judgment about their home
you know maybe it's a very cluttered home
maybe it's a hoarder home whatever
what do you what do you say to them
what what is your response if someone is just like
I don't
I'm scared to have an organizer in my home because I
because my home is a mess
first I say don't worry
I'm a professional kind of thing
and I think that that's funny
cause I mentioned earlier on
I started this business out of high school
and it's just been something that it's not
there's not a school for this
it's kind of a Learned talent over time
learning with different people
and so the first thing I would say is
you know please be comfortable
with me
don't worry
I'm not coming in to attack you and make you feel awful
and oh my gosh
how are there dirty dishes in your sink
I have dirty dishes in my sink okay
I I think I've got dirty dishes in my sink right now
I I don't know
you know so
there's a difference between real life
and then wanting to you know
be able to have it maintained
and so sure
I respect people a lot for bringing me in because it is
I'm coming into your personal space
and I don't take that for granted
I wanna honor privacy and I wanna respect you
and I think it's very admirable to have somebody where
it's like this is not in my wheelhouse
I don't know what I'm doing
so I need somebody to help me
who does this and has the brain for it
and so I respect people a lot for bringing me in
I want them to know they like
please don't feel like I'm just over here
judging you and thinking you're a terrible person
because usually I'm really just looking at ooh
this is a fun puzzle for me
because how can I make this work for you
yeah how can I make this feel happy
how can I help you meet your
goals and accomplish what you want
so you can enjoy your space for sure
and take back and not feel overwhelmed every day
you know and so that would be just please feel
don't be afraid of me
I'm not gonna bite you and so and
and it's just like it's a high honor because I mean
I told you you know
sometimes within 30 minutes of being in your house
I'm in the underwear drawer
and I'm like sorting things
you know and I'm not gonna do that for everybody
it's the express permission yes
you can go in there hey you know please do
so but just
just being being comfortable
and I value that
and I respect the person for bringing in help
so how long
I this is a question
I just thought of when you were talking about that like
sure how long does it take for you
like if if someone does hire you like what
how long how much time are you spending with them
helping them to declutter organize all of that
it really depends on the client
because there's a lot of factors
that go into organizing a space
and it depends
are you wanting help with just your master closet
do you want help with the whole house
do you want help over time with things
what are most people asking for generally
most people it's usually a closet or a kitchen okay
those are kind of the highest
and those happen to be my favorite things to do too
definitely closets closets are my favorite but just
you know helping to go through I
I have some clients that I help
and we do resets throughout time
because you can set up a system
but your needs change over time
you know your kids grow
your wardrobe might change due to a job change
and how formal you need to be
those kind of things
and so I'll come in and do a little three hour reset
I have one client I go you know
maybe every couple months and we just reset their house
and a lot of the systems we put into place
they're there
and they're working and they're able to maintain
but sometimes they just need a Stephanie Day
I've got a client they say yeah
they need a Stephanie Day
it kind of like people that just
that have a cleaner come every few months to
deep clean yeah
but it's putting things away
often it's like right before the cleaner comes
so that we reset so
the cleaner can do their job'cause they're not
picking things up and putting them in weird places
yup
and so just helping to reset
having that bottle body double
I'm usually the one who people can do it
but it's that focus and staying on task
and how do I accomplish it at the end
and so
as far as a project goes I typically work in like a
a 6 hour package of organizing time
cause I found that's usually
a good way to touch on at least one project
so but it depends on how much stuff there is
how quickly the client can make decisions
some people are super quick decision makers
and we can go go go go
go some people take a long time
and there's a lot of stories
and there's nothing wrong with that
but it does take a long time
so I would typically I mean
like a a regular medium sized kitchen if you're
you know reworking it typically around six to 10 hours
if there's a walk in pantry
that's a little bit more timing
usually like one person in a closet
around six hours can happen
but if it's like a you know
a master closet with two people
that could be more like 12 hours
because depending on how much
if I'm there from start to finish kind of thing
now if the client tries on things
and sorts through in between
when I'm there
that can obviously take less time that I'm there
but it I'd generally say hey
let's just start with you know
six hours and then we'll see where we land
and usually we can move on
and sometimes it will go so much quicker
and then we'll start on a different project
but I'm usually pretty good on looking at an area
and saying let's start here
we go from start to finish
and then we can branch out
and start to do something else
but what that does is
when you can get those quick wins
and you start to see the visual progress
you've got almost like a
a positive snowball effect where you start to see oh
this makes sense oh
I see the process and then clients are able
this is the cool thing they're able to say oh
this is how it works okay
I can start to do this
or my favorite is where you start with
say
in the kitchen and you've arranged that junk drawer
and then as you come across other pairs of Scissors
throughout the house in weird spots
you know where those Scissors go
and you have a place for them
and so I just
I love the process and I love working with people and
and helping them figure out what works for them and be
it's just
the coolest part is seeing somebody get excited
and they go I know where this is
this is amazing
one final thing that has been really funny
I have found is
often times like cleaning out a pantry or something
people usually have like reusable bags
and they always seem to end up in the pantry
which would make sense that's where food is
but if you think about the usage of reusable bags
if you were to keep
them in a cooler in the back of your car
usually when you need those reusable bags
it's when you're at the store
and you want to load them up to take them back home
and so if they're in your car
you're able to use them for the purpose that they are
intended for
and you have them and you don't have to worry about
remembering to pull them out
before you go grocery shopping
sure
cause what if you ended up with a canceled appointment
and you have an extra hour
and you're right by the store
then you can go if you have a cooler
you can throw the cold stuff in there
and that buys you more time
so you can accomplish that
while you're already out and about
because you kind of thought ahead a little bit
and changed around where you were storing it
based on your needs and how you would use it
for sure yeah
I've I've run into that myself where it's like ah
I need to make a quick little run to the grocery store
sure you know
you have to pay extra for the bags
and a lot of these stores now and
and you know
and I don't have anything to store myself
so yeah
the funny little thing
but so I had a client text me and she was like
I had it and it worked this was amazing
and it just made my day cause it's like
the little things that you can tweak and
and kind of do and and then it works
and it starts to flow and you start to the
just the mental load being taken off
from thinking ahead a little bit
and kind of working with what you're already doing
I just love that feeling that it ends up giving people
and that makes me really happy
absolutely well
we've gone for about an hour
which is for whatever reason is like my
whenever I do these interviews it
they always go like exactly an hour
and it doesn't matter how much
I try to make it not take that long
or whatever they just do
but Stephanie you've been great
thank you so much
you know for
for sharing all of that and
I hope you get some some business out of this
do you wanna tell the listeners where
or the watchers whatever
where they can find you and
and of course
your information will be in the show notes as well
great thank you Stan
this has been really fun I've really enjoyed it too
yes
my business is a time to organize
my website is a time the No. 2 organized.com
and you can check out my
my process before and afters there
there's links to Facebook and Instagram
just
where you can follow along and see the updated work
and then
my phone number feel free
to give me a call shoot me a text 864-884-5417
and that'll be in the show notes
don't you don't be in the show notes
don't pull over your car and write it down
you can just look it up
that may have been a shameless just drop of information
but there you go
that's great
you did say how can you get in contact with me
I did so there you go
I did absolutely
yeah
but thank you so much
I really appreciate the opportunity
yeah absolutely
thank you all for listening
that was Stephanie Worinkeng with a time to organize
please reach out to her if you have any decluttering
organization staging needs
anything like that
she is by the way I'll
I'll just say you know
with regard to the the judgment
the concern about being judged
Stephanie is one of the nicest people you will meet
she will not judge you so
so you don't need to worry about that
but thank you guys for watching and listening
please leave a rating review comment
any of those things I would appreciate it
and my contact information
and Stephanie's contact information
is in the show notes
if you need to reach out to either of us
for your real estate buying or decluttering staging
organizing needs
that's where you can go to find it
so please do that thank you
guys for listening
and we will talk again next time!