I need professional help. Really.

January 2, 2007 5:36 PM

Can you recommend a home organizer in Toronto?

I have a 'gift certificate' from my mother that entitles me to hire someone to come in and help organize my house - helping me sort and toss and design better storage and whatever else. The 'gift certificate' though, is just a promise that she will pay for it if I find someone to do it.

Does anyone have any recommendations of services they've used? I've got the Professional Organizers of Canada weblink so I've got a list of all of them, but I'd like to know if anybody has used any of them in particular.

The ultimate goal would be for me to be able to have people over to my house without needing 3 days notice to clean up the mess first. As a side note, I really, really, really hate phones, so if there's a website I can reach them at, all the better.

posted by jacquilynne to home & garden (7 comments total)

I live in California, and don't know any of the Canadian organizers personally. But I can offer a bit of advice about selecting a professional organizer. (I'm one myself.)

No one organizer will be right for every person - there needs to be the right mesh of personalities. I try to put a lot of information on my web site, so people can get a feel for who I am. Some people may not like what they see - and that's fine, since we wouldn't be a match anyway. Other people for whom I AM a fit will be more likely to recognize that.

So definitely, check out the web sites of nearby organizers you found from the POC web site. The final column on the listing has the URL for those organizers with web sites.

Some thoughts on talking to (or e-mailing) an organizer
- You could explain your situation, and ask if the organizer thinks he/she could help you.
- You could ask the organizer about her/his favorite types of clients.
- You could ask for references.

As the organizer, when I first speak to (or write to) a potential client, I'm trying to get that person to tell me a reasonable amount about his/her concerns - so I can understand the situation, decide if it's a match, and come as prepared as possible to help. You'd also want to get the organizer to talk (or write) - to understand how he/she works, to listen for things that indicate whether or not there's a fit.

Does she seem to really listen and understand your situation? Does she know and use a range of different organizing solutions/techniques, so she can find one that works right for you? Does she make you feel at ease? Does it seem like it would be fun to work with her? Will she help you develop skills so you can KEEP your home organized, rather than just doing a one-time clean-up?

And that's a good goal; go for it! I'll be cheering for you, from afar.
posted by jeri at 10:23 PM on January 2, 2007 [1 favorite]

I haven't used Isolde at http://www.gettingittogetherorganizing.com/, but I host her website and she's always been a pleasure to deal with. :)
posted by perpetualstroll at 10:23 PM on January 2, 2007

Thanks, Jeri - that's useful information. I've been reading a few different websites and the ones that appeal to me most are the ones that seem to have a 'process' that goes beyond just 'I'll come in and clean up your house for you.' I know I'm going to need more than just a single shot of putting everything in its place - most of my stuff has a place, it just isn't ever actually there. I'll often do a massive clean up in advance of having guests come to stay, and then things will stay neat for a week or two after they leave, and then everything goes downhill with startling speed, and 3 weeks after they leave, it looks like a war zone again.

Perpetualstroll, her site is on my list of five culled from a list of about 10 that my mother culled from the huge list, so I'll keep her in mind.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:24 AM on January 3, 2007

Hellen Buttigieg hosts the show Neat on HGTV.ca. She also has her own business.

I've never used her services, but I like her end results and how she retrains her clients.
posted by deborah at 3:35 PM on January 3, 2007

Jacquilynne, if your stuff has a place but it isn't there, maybe that isn't the best place for it (too hard to get to, too far from where it's actually used, etc.). Hopefully your organizer will help you find some different solutions.
posted by jeri at 12:15 AM on January 4, 2007

I'm hopeful - but I'm not sure I want them to find a home for my extra oven rack that's quite as close to my living room couch as it's currently located!
posted by jacquilynne at 7:16 AM on January 4, 2007

I've marked perpetualstroll's as the best answer since Isolde at Getting It Together is, in fact, the organizor I'm using. We've done two rooms in my apartment so far, and I, honest to god, feel tension leave my shoulder muscles when I walk out of the messy half of the apartment and into those clean spaces. "Like a weight off your shoulders," it's not just a cliche.

I also met with Jen from Functional Spaces, and really liked her. I had to choose one or the other, though, and I ended up going with Isolde because she said some things at the first consultation that impressed me. Jen seems like she'd be really great, too, though.
posted by jacquilynne at 1:55 PM on February 23, 2007