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Anita Roberson's laundry closet goes from chaotic to neat as a pin and ready for its close-up at the end of her home organization session. It has a place for everything.
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It gets worse before it gets better: Bowling and Roberson clean and sort the area under Roberson's kitchen sink.
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By KIM BAER
The laundry closet had become the bugaboo.
But first, let's be clear: Anita Roberson likes neat.
She likes clean and organized, too. She loves the shows on HGTV, especially the ones where crews swoop in and transform "befores" into "afters."
She wants her suburban Spotsylvania County home to be in HGTV "after" shape.
But Roberson also has a full-time job in Washington, where she's a very efficient administrative officer. She cares for her elderly mother and volunteers at her church. She has a husband and a 22-year-old son at home.
She keeps her house clean. But organization had taken a back seat.
And the laundry closet was a glaring example of the lapse.
"It gives me all sort of anxiety when I open that door," she said.
This year, Roberson was ready to change that.
Last month, she entered a contest for a free in-home consultation with a certified organizer.
She entered a contest sponsored by the Richmond chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers.
She didn't win. Someone from the Richmond area did. But Stafford County home organizer Sue Marie Bowling saw her entry and decided to take her on for a free initial visit.
Roberson had listed the laundry space as a No. 1 priority on her entry form. That's what Bowling decided they'd tackle.
Bowling arrived a few minutes early to their 9 a.m. consultation. She parked her red Toyota
She walked up to Roberson's cream-colored, two-story home in Lee's Hill subdivision.
Bowling is a tall, thin woman with bright blue eyes. She's introverted by nature, the kind of person who prefers to have her radio off while driving so she can enjoy the silence.
But when working with clients, she makes sure to be upbeat and energetic.
She exchanged friendly greetings with Anita Roberson; her mother, Ruth; and her son, Julian. Then it was time to get to work.
Bowling sat down with Roberson at her kitchen table and talked with her briefly about her organizing concerns and goals.
"The root of all organizat-ional weakness is " Bowling asked.
"For me, it's multitasking," Roberson replied.
Close, but not quite.
"Planning?" Roberson tried.
"Indecision," Bowling filled in. The laundry closet, she explained, had become a bunker of indecision.
Bowling shared the two necessary steps for getting organized: De-accumulate and designate.
"Every item has to earn its space," she said. "Forty percent of that stuff doesn't deserve to be there."
the clutter battle is on
To start, they would de-accumulate. Everything would come out.
Bowling would give Roberson three options for every item: Keep, Go, I Don't Know.
"It's all right," Bowling reassured. "Don't be afraid of the 'I don't know' pile."
Bowling would help Roberson figure out what to do with the "I don't knows."
After the discussion, it was time for action.
"My engines are revved, we've got to do this," Bowling said.
She pulled out a yellow hard hat and plopped it on her short, fluffy hair.
"We're coming in," she joked, heading for the closet.
Roberson's laundry closet is part of her kitchen. It's separated from that space by two folding doors.
There's room for her washer and dryer to sit side by side, but little additional wiggle room.
The space was crowded. Very crowded. Two vertical shelves were filled with baskets, which were filled with stuff. Hooks that lined two walls were also jam-packed.
The overall effect: impending avalanche.
dissecting the problem
Bowling pulled out items quickly and asked Roberson where she'd like each to go.
Distinct piles began to form. A Goodwill pile. A garage pile. A pile of cleaners and a pile of disposable paper products.
Roberson's baskets came out, too.
Bowling cracked jokes with Roberson along the way:
"This is what I call, and this is a technical term, a big clump," she said, pulling out a long black box.
"You've been looking for this everywhere," she said, holding up a pen with a pink fuzzy top.
"Every woman needs more shoulder pads, right?" she laughed, holding up two.
An unopened towel organizer box came out.
"I don't even remember when that arrived," Roberson said. It went to the Goodwill pile.
Same for a coppery-wirey-tchotchke-like item.
"I think I thought it was cute when I got it," Roberson explained.
new and improved
After about an hour, the laundry closet was completely empty. It was time to put stuff back in.
Bowling went out to her car, and came back armed with several white trays.
These would be the new bunkers.
"Contain and confine," Bowling said. "That's huge."
She also brought in white labels for the bunkers.
"I'm not compulsive. I'm not a perfectionist," Bowling joked. "I'm just very picky."
But she has mellowed some along the way, too.
She noticed that the lettering on one of her labels was a little crooked.
Years ago, she said, she wouldn't have used it.
Now, she let it go.
Roberson and Bowling began labeling and filling the new bunkers.
There was a bunker for laundry supplies, a "pockets" bunker (for items the laundry doer finds in pockets) and a "miscellaneous" bunker.
After about a half-hour, the space was an HGTV drool-worthy "after."
The labeled bunkers were lined up on the two shelves. A few items hung neatly from hooks.
Roberson's lavender scen-ted, purple- and cream-colored laundry products lined one shelf.
"My laundry products are color coordinated," she said. "I love that."
Their work wasn't quite done.
They moved some of the items that once lived in the laundry closet to a new home under the sink.
By 11 a.m., they were just about done.
Bowling held up one of Roberson's containers, which was now empty.
"This is a ," she asked Roberson.
"A clutter container?" Roberson filled in.
"She's so negative," Bowling said. "It's an empty bunker. We're doing good."
A few minutes later, Bowling held up another empty basket to show Roberson.
This time, she didn't ask her a question.
"This is called success."
Kim Baer: 540/368-5028
Email: kbaer@freelancestar.com
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You're not alone. Getting organized is one of the top five resolutions people make, according to a press release from the National Association of Professional Organizers. NAPO has tips for getting organized, and a listing of home organizers, on napo.net. Contact Sue Marie Bowling through her Web site, rx4order .com or at 540/659-3067. |
