March 14 • 2019 31
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I
t seems everyone wants to organize their
living space, but most of us don’
t know
exactly where to begin. If it’
s been one of
your goals, why not make 2019 the year you
look to the experts to help make it happen?
Trending organizing consultant and
best-selling author Marie Kondo — from
the Netflix series Tidying Up — says it
doesn’
t have to be a painful process to
purge and “keep only things in your home
that spark joy in your heart.
”
With some fool-proof tips for conscious
uncluttering, you can be well on your way
to success.
Local organizing consultant Donna
Wise, owner of Organize Wisely in West
Bloomfield, helps create stylized but highly
functional living spaces. “The biggest mis-
take people make is to confuse cleaning
with organizing,
” says Wise, a member
of Temple Israel. “Just tidying up a room
doesn’
t mean you’
ve created a sustainable,
organized system for your family, so the
mess is bound to reappear.
“Our goal is to eliminate daily stress and
aggravation by creating organizing solu-
tions you’
ll be able to maintain forever.
”
Professional organizer Andrea Wolf of
Organize Detroit in Huntington Woods
has turned around even the most colossal
messes for more than 13 years and says one
of the main solutions is organizing items so
they can be easily accessed by every mem-
ber of the family.
“I’
m a big believer in putting like items
in clear storage bins with labels to specify
the contents,
” Wolf says. “
Actions like these
reinforce good habits — like putting the
cereal or breakfast bars back into a bin
labeled “breakfast” in the pantry rather than
leaving a box on the counter.
”
Wise agrees. “Children take to these
kinds of systems with so much enthusi-
asm because they thrive on the structure
and love to take directions they can easily
SUSAN PECK
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
Start now to get
a jumpstart on
spring cleaning
and take control
of the clutter.
Get Organized!
arts&life
home
Organize your pantry so items are visible and easy to find.
before
after
before
after
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