March 14 • 2019 31
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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.

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