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Writer's picturetriciahofacker

Destination Organization: Raleigh 2019

Another success trip for Organizing, this time in Raleigh, NC! After a very successful weekend in Atlanta, organizing makeup artist Jennifer Ivey's home, I was excited to plan my next weekend of organizing! (Check out that amazing work here!)


Meet Sarah Henger! Sarah and I have known each other since we were approximately 6 years old while we grew up in Casstown, Ohio. There are only a few other people aside from her who have been around to see every embarrassing moment of my life and yet she's still sticks around. Sarah (nickname = Squirrel) is brilliant, beautiful, and badass. She has moved over 20 times in her life, so when she finally bought her house in Raleigh, she knew she needed some help to settle in. Enter: Fourth Wall Organizing from April 19-21st. Even though Sarah is not an Artist by occupation (my main client base), she has powerful pipes that shock every karaoke bar she graces.

Sarah Henger
Raleigh Based Badass, Sarah Henger

Friday - Guest Bedroom, Laundry Room, Linen Closet

Bright and early in the morning, we set out a plan to declutter every room and closet in the house. I sorted through boxes and made piles for her to review. I was able to file fold all of her dresser drawers & organize her linen closet/laundry room while she addressed the piles. We decluttered EVERY. SPACE. which was so helpful to set us up for the next two days.


declutter toiletries
Decluttering bathroom back stock (and unearthing goggles). These things have been in this bin for a year or more.

guest closet before
Decluttering the guest bedroom closet

Guest Closet after
AFTER Guest Bedroom Closet

linen closet before
Decluttering the Linen Closet

linen closet after
AFTER Linen Closet. Cubes contain gift wrap, Extra Curtains and bedskirts, backstock not needed in the bathroom.

laundry room
Decluttering the Laundry Room

Laundry Room
AFTER Laundry Room and Utility Storage

Pantry door
Valuable Real Estate for Storage


Pantry door storage
AFTER Kitchen Pantry Storage Extended to free up shelf space. (Beets in jars on bottom rack are from our hometown)

guest bath before
Guest Bathroom - This Travel Toiletries storage makes it hard to find what you need


guest bath after
AFTER Guest Bathroom- Drawers empty for guest use

travel bin
Travel Bins- Each category gets a bag for easy access to find what you need!


Saturday - Master Bedroom, Closet & Bathroom

The goal of Saturday was to finish circle back to the decluttered rooms and assess long term storage plans. I asked Sarah questions about how she uses each space and her routine. Sarah is as low maintenance as you can get, so she needed simple systems that are easy to maintain. We made a choice to use linen baskets in her closet instead of open shelf storage so she wouldn't hate seeing her "messy" folds everyday. In her bathroom, we spent a total of $8 at the Dollar Tree to organize all of her products into one space. She kept buying more and more product because she couldn't find what she already had.

master closet before
BEFORE Master Closet

master Closet after
AFTER Master Closet - Also added two shoe racks and more hampers to make her laundry sorting easier

closet after
AFTER- Jeans & Hoodies in bins. Sarah has a system for her hanging clothes so we didn't do much (more hangers to be swapped out soon!)

dresser
BEFORE - Master Bedroom Dresser Drawer


tees
AFTER - Tee's ROYGBIV

folds
AFTER - File Folds save a SIGNIFICANT amount of space

toiletries storage
BEFORE Bathroom toiletries need to be implemented under the sink

master bath before
BEFORE Master Bathroom


bathroom after
AFTER Master Bathroom. All Hair Products and Styling Tools stored together for an easy visual inventory

bathroom after 2
AFTER- Master Bathroom. More items stored by category for easy visual inventory

drawer master before
BEFORE - Top Drawer in Master Bathroom

drawer bathroom after
AFTER Master Bathroom Top Drawer - Only the things she uses every day


Sunday - Garage, Coat Closet, Kitchen & Paperwork


I made the conscious choice of leaving the garage for the final day. First, I knew it would take a large portion of the day to accomplish, but also because it contained the most clutter and memories for Sarah. She has had about 5 different lives by her 30th birthday - all of these lives lived in boxes in her garage. She spent a couple hours sorting/making decisions with me, then went inside to file paperwork while I put it all together. After the garage was completed, I circled back to the Kitchen drawers to create a more functional space for her while she cooks.


garage
BEFORE - Garage

garage
BEFORE - Garage

Garage
AFTER- Garage. We moved her shelves to the far wall


garage after 2
AFTER - Garage

coat closet
BEFORE Coat Closet

coat closet
AFTER - Coat Closet. New Rule: When her shoe rack is full, Sarah has to take up all the shoes to her master closet.

BEFORE- Coat Closet

AFTER- Coat Closet. Bike gear, ready to go!

junk drawer
BEFORE- Junk Drawer

former junk drawer
AFTER- Junk Drawer becomes Food Prep drawer

Cooking Utensils
AFTER- Remove all the cooking utensils you don't use frequently.

utensil & quick grab
AFTER- Utensil & quick grab drawer

kitchen drawer
AFTER Towels & Oven mats

And Another Thing...

- Sarah found over $250 in cash and gift cards, 19 pairs of sunglasses (and counting), and perfumes she has been looking for for years. - We decluttered enough for her to have two completely empty drawers in her bedroom. - I purchased a simple file box and folders for her to begin filing her paperwork.

- I set up a mail system for her so she can keep things contained and manage all her important urgent mail.


cash found
Cash & Gift cards Found while decluttering

As I learned from Atlanta, one of the many benefits of me being there over the weekend was that I was able to tweak systems as we went. If something ended up being impractical for her, we had time to change things up and try something new.

If you are interested in having me out to organize for a weekend, even if you are out of the NYC Metro area, email fourthwallorganizing@gmail.com to set up a weekend! #destinationorganization


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