For many families in America, life is busy. Working full-time, raising children and managing a home, leave people overwhelmed. Thus was the case with a family asking for our help in Williamsburg, a small town about 30 minutes outside of Iowa City. Parents Jeremy and JoAnn, and daughters Lana, Laura, Larisa and Leah, were unhappy with the state of their home. Not only was it not functioning, but it was also dirty and disheveled.
Contacted by Jeremy’s mother, our team of SOS organizers came for a consultation. What we found was an overwhelmed mother with housework that had begun to bury her. We assembled a plan of attack. Put together a team, set some dates and prepared for an organizing overhaul.
The pictures detail what followed:
We began in the basement. Designated as the girl’s toy room, the basement needed some renovation. Past flooding had destroyed the carpet, but overall the large, open space was optimal for creating a play room.
We began by putting in some utility shelving, found at a local home improvement store. We then sorted toys by type and designated “homes” for them in plastic containers. Able to help, some of the older girls had fun grouping the toys together, discarding broken ones and separating some for donation.
Projects for the near future included deciding on carpeting, cleaning the overall space and moving all extra toys on the main level and upstairs down to the basement.
Getting rid of toys that were no longer age appropriate for the kids allowed us to make space and contain clutter. Seeing the floor for the first time, JoAnn and girls were excited and eager to do more.
The ledge already built-in to the basement allowed for great sorting space along with easily accessible shelving. The height of the ledge also made it kid friendly and easy to use.
With spaces reserved for certain items and routines put into place we were ready to move upstairs. The basement, while not completely finished, had been clutter-controlled.
Bedroom #1. We began by removing all excess toys from the first bedroom and taking them downstairs. We decided that instead of having a ton of toys in the bedrooms, the girls would be able to choose a select few and keep them in their allocated space. After a while, they could swap out old toys for new toys, but would have to keep the amount contained.
Storage containers including baskets, tubs and shelves were organized according to what toys the girls chose to begin with.
One of JoAnn’s biggest concerns was the girl’s clothing. It posed several problems…
- Since all the girls were close in age, sizes were easily confused and misplaced.
- In an effort to curb spending and be economical, the older girl’s clothing was handed down to her younger sister. When the items no longer fit one child, but were not yet appropriate for the next child in line, they tended to cause clutter issues.
- Seasonal clothes took up too much space and JoAnn didn’t feel she had the time or discipline to organize them in containers.
- The girls’ often liked to change their clothes, regardless of whether they were dirty or clean, leading to a major laundry issue.
- Any containers that had been organized, often got shuffled through when the girls played dress-up.
We then began sorting… and sorting, and sorting. Able to make quick decisions, JoAnn was a master at choosing what went where and what was to keep and what was to go. In no time, we had the girl’s clothes organized to their specific rooms and had prepared seasonal and extra sized clothing for storage.
We labeled the containers and into the closet they went. Out of sight, JoAnn hoped the girls would stay out of the containers. To make sure that the tubs got left alone, we decided to make the girl’s dress up items easily accessible. We separated costumes, put them with the seasonal items downstairs and kept out the plethora of princess dresses, dance leotards, glass slippers, costume jewelry, tutu’s and crowns.
With a specific area in the closet, JoAnn hoped the girls would notice the dress up clothes more often and leave their regular clothes alone. Besides, who needs shorts and a t-shirt when you can wear a tutu and carry a wand? 
Next, we moved into the guest bedroom which was in serious disarray..
We began by picking up any excess toys and placing them in their designated spots in the basement. We then found places for the non-toy items, clothing and accessories. What we began to find was a repetition of certain types of items. Once we had created “homes” for these things, returning them to their place was an easy task; one kids and adults could do very quickly with little effort.
JoAnn and Jeremy wanted the guest room to function less as a play room and more as an actual bedroom. A beautiful room with tons of windows, it provided a great space for guest quarters. Almost every item on the floor was removed from the room completely to make things more orderly. The girls were given strict orders to stay out of the room unless instructed otherwise.
After just a little bit of time and effort the room sparkled.
The organization transformed the room from chaos to calm.
JoAnn said she would no longer be ashamed to take people to the guest room and looked forward to entertaining in the near future!
After several hours of tedious work, JoAnn and the SOS organizers completed their work for the day. Leaving instructions for JoAnn to pick-up more containers and shelving units, we thanked her for all of her hard work. We took away several bags of clothing for donation and consignment and loaded up to head back to Iowa City. We would return the next morning for Day 2.
