C., 1 BEDROOM APARTMENT | WEST ROXBURY, MA

”I just told my therapist about how I had you come to my apartment and ‘organize the eff out of it,’ and how it has helped me be more productive in general. Before, I would have moments of being down and be so unmotivated to do anything because my apartment was so cluttered, but now that my apartment is organized, I am more motivated to even Swiffer— or do AND put away laundry in the same day— and that has helped me so much with my general anxiety and depression.”

  • Closet (before)

  • Closet (during)

  • Closet (during)

  • Closet (during)

  • Closet (after)

  • Closet (after)

  • Secondary Closet (after)

  • Dresser (before)

  • Dresser (after)

  • Nightstand (before)

  • Nightstand (after)

  • Hair + Makeup (after)

  • Bathroom (before)

  • Bathroom (after)

  • Living Room (after)

  • Bookshelf (after)

  • Medals

  • Drop Zone (after)

  • Kitchen (before)

  • Kitchen (after)

  • Pantry (after)

  • Under Sink (before)

  • Under Sink (after)

  • Wellness Corner (before)

  • Wellness Corner (after)

C. moved into a new space and had been holding onto things from 1-2 moves ago. She was overwhelmed, and had no idea what she had— or where it was. She gave me full rein to “do whatever I needed to do” to get her to a better place, where she felt calm walking into her front door.

Over 3 days, we touched every. single. item. in C.’s apartment to make sure she not only wanted it, but liked it and would use it. For things she didn’t want to keep, we donated whatever we could, and tossed the left.

C. was (physically) holding onto a lot of things due to guilt, and once we discussed that this wasn’t doing her any good, she was quick to recognize herself what was serving her— and what was not.

C.’s Stats:

  • Hours: 17

  • Days: 3

  • Bags to Goodwill: 15

  • Rooms/Spaces: 6 (Bedroom/Walk-In Closet/Closet, Bathroom, Linen Closet, Kitchen/Pantry/Under Sink, Coat Closet, Living Room)

  • General feelings around space before PA (1 debilitating anxiety >> 10 bliss): 2

  • General feelings around space after PA (1 debilitating anxiety >> 10 bliss): 10

What C. said about her space before PA:

  • Biggest issues: too much stuff

  • Eyesores she wishes didn’t exist: Closets

  • Projects she hasn’t been able to do: wall art, pictures + memories, medals

  • Words/phrases that come to mind about her space: daunting, messy, unattainable

  • Words/phrases she wants to come to mind about her space after working with PA: alignment, able to breathe, calm

What C said about her space after PA:

  • Words/phrases that come to mind about her space after working with PA: Breathable, Aligned– more than perfectly 

  • Most impactful thing we did together: Remove the junk, define what was worth keeping, and to give everything a home

  • Some things she learned during our time together: “I was holding on to a lot of useless items (well they had a use, but i wasn’t using them so they were useless to me) and they were just taking up unnecessary space in my life without any real value add other than cannibalizing my own space physically and mentally.”

  • Anything she feels she can tackle now, that she couldn’t before: “I am now more comfortable giving my home a deep clean as opposed to abrupt spot cleaning.”

  • Changes in daily life/routines thanks to PA: “Noticing the emotional and physical connection between harboring thoughts and items and how they take up unnecessary space.”

what we did:

BEDROOM, WALK-IN CLOSET, CLOSET

  • Day 1

    • Clothes, Shoes, Accessories

      • Touched every item of clothing (even socks!), shoes, + accessories and decided whether to keep, donate, or toss

      • Hung up as much as possible so C. could see everything

        • Grouped by kind of clothing, then ordered by color within

      • Moved sweaters + sweatshirts to smaller closet

      • Reduced drawer space from 2 sets of drawers to only 1

    • Skincare + makeup

      • Touched every piece of skincare + makeup and decided whether to keep or toss

      • Moved “backstock” to the bathroom

      • Made skincare area on nightstand only things used at night, before bed

    • Jewelry

      • Touched every piece of jewelry and decided whether to keep, donate, or toss

    • Strategized what systems to use in the closet + dresser

      • Closet

        • Hooks for bras

        • Move laundry hamper into closet

        • Baskets on shelf for bags, totes, pouches, swimsuits + cover-ups, winter items

        • Shoe rack on bottom for shoes

        • New hangers so all hangers are the same

      • Dresser

        • Move skincare + makeup to a utility cart next to large mirror

        • Less clutter so C. can see everything

    • Discussed ways to make this space feel more at home (*for an extra fee, C. hired me to help her with some basic interior design)

  • Day 2

    • Closet

      • Hung hooks

      • Moved laundry basket into closet

      • Put baskets on shelves

      • Put together shoe racks + added shoes

      • Put all clothes on new hangers and grouped/ordered properly

    • Dresser

      • Rearranged skincare + moved makeup to utility cart

      • Displayed perfumes

  • Day 3

    • Ensured systems were still working; adjust as needed

BATHROOM

  • Day 1

    • Touched every item in the bathroom and decided whether to keep, donate (if unopened), or toss

    • Grouped like items together

    • Strategized what systems to use

      • Pull out drawer for medicine

      • Bins for remaining items

      • Decant anything in a box for easier access, and knowing how much is left (contacts, lens wipes, etc.)

  • Day 2

    • Put items into new drawers + bins

    • Relocate backstock to linen closet

  • Day 3

    • Ensured systems were still working; adjust as needed

KITCHEN + PANTRY

  • Day 2

    • Touched all items in pantry to see if they were going to be eaten/used and make sure they were not expired

    • Grouped all items together + placed into pantry bins

    • Touched all items under the sink + kept only items that will actually be used

      • Placed items into storage systems for easy access

  • Day 3

    • Touched all items in cabinets, drawers, + on the countertop

    • Moved around cabinet items to have a better flow in the kitchen

    • Cleared up space in drawers, including THE junk drawer

    • Used drawer organizers to set zones for items

LINEN CLOSET

  • Day 2

    • Touched all towels/linens to make sure they matched– donated what didn’t

    • Placed backstock into bins

  • Day 3

    • Ensured systems were still working; adjust as needed

COAT CLOSET

  • Day 2

    • Touched all coats to ensure they were still liked– donated whatever was not going to be kept

    • Moved Swiffer (+ accessories) to top shelf

  • Day 3

    • Ensured systems were still working; adjust as needed

LIVING ROOM

  • Day 2

    • Discussed ways to make this space feel more at home (*for an extra fee, C. hired me to help her with some basic interior design)

  • Day 3

    • Put memories into memory boxes

    • Hung Boston Marathon medals into shadow boxes + brainstormed where to hang

    • Went through bookshelf and color-coded books


what we used:

Check out all the systems we used for C.’s space on Perfectly Aligned’s ShopMy!

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L., 1 BEDROOM CONDO | SOUTH BOSTON, MA