Year: 2023

This Grover Beach Client was my first Kid-Client. I loved working with the almost-5-year-old big sister. She wanted to transform her long, narrow play closet into a space for play for both herself and her little brother (baby sister isn’t quite playing yet!). It was already a pretty fun spot but being a slightly odd shape, it was too cluttered to allow a lot of creativity. The Kid-Client’s willingness to let things go to create space for the things she loves most was impressive! We left the larger play stations in the closet, separating the space into three sections as if it was a house. All the smaller items were rehoused to just outside the two closet doors. Using a cubed shelving unit from another room, we designated a different spot for each type of toy. This system is child-friendly. Things are easily found, used, and returned. Because the toys are in obvious groups (dolls, doll clothes, trucks, etc) kids can keep it tidy even though they can’t read yet. I am actually not a huge fan of labelling things. I find it becomes a hindrance when you want to repurpose containers-often the label doesn’t get changed or even removed which just adds to more overwhelm when you are looking for an item. Also, having to take a quick peak into a container is a good way to keep in mind what items you have stored away. This helps you locate them when you need them and helps prevent buying something you already have down the road. 

This Arroyo Grande Client was very motivated to finally tackle her laundry/office/utility room. It had been the neglected dumping ground since they had moved in to the house 5 years prior. When I came in she had already decluttered most of the space herself. In her words: She was totally capable of doing the whole thing herself, it just made it happen so much quicker to have my extra set of hands and organizing expertise! In just a few hours we were able to organize the space! 

A huge improvement was actually achieved by ADDING stuff to the room. The Client wanted to relocate her 3 kids’ arts and crafts from the dining room where it had become a nuisance! I love making kids’ work zones easy. Let them spend time creating rather than setting up and cleaning up. If kids can get what they need in one move and then similarly put it away in one move, they are more likely to clean up after themselves. What do I mean by “one move”? In this space, I put all the crayons loose in one drawer of the plastic storage unit. The kids can open the drawer to use the crayons and easily toss them back in when it’s time to put them away. On the contrary, I often see “over organized” kid spaces. Crayons are in the original box, in a larger art box, in a drawer, in a closet. Who wants to deal with that?! No wonder kids groan when they have to clean up! 

My goal is always to make a space functional and easily maintainable. Homes are for living, after all!