The clutter-cutter

Home/office organizer Aura Wolfe helps clients decide what to keep and where to keep it

By RUTH BELOFF
Aura Wolfe521 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Aura Wolfe521
(photo credit: Courtesy)
The expression “a place for everything and everything in its place” may be an old adage for some, but for Aura Wolfe, it is her stock in trade. The proprietor of Amazing Space, the entrepreneur makes it her business to help people streamline their homes or offices and, in the process, clear the clutter of their mind-sets as well.
For Wolfe, this is a skill that comes naturally. As a former event-planner and organizer, her innate ability to arrange and follow through has always stood her in good stead. Now, as a professional home/office organizer, she takes on any space, large or small, and makes it workable and enjoyable.
Armed with a focused mind and a keen eye, Wolfe cuts through the chaos of piled-up papers and possessions and presents the client with a finished product that is neat, orderly and accessible. Be it a kitchen, an office, a bedroom or a closet, the process is the same.
According to the Amazing Space proprietor, the clients appreciate this service because on their own, they find the disorder and disarray so daunting that they cannot make any headway. What to keep? What to throw out? Where to start? How to arrange things? For many of her clients, she says, these tasks seem so overwhelming that every time they walk into the room and look at the mess, all they want to do is run the other way.
And that’s where she comes in. Working with the client, she goes through several stages to achieve the desired result.
First, Wolfe removes anything from the space that does not belong there and finds an appropriate alternative place for it. Spare suitcases and extra packages of toilet paper and paper towels in the home office? Out! They are relegated to cabinets or upper shelves elsewhere in the home.
“The office is a place to work, it’s not a mahsan [storage room],” says the native New Yorker. “So it must look and feel like a workplace.”
Once cleared of extraneous objects, the space already looks roomier and airier.
Next, she separates items into categories. If it’s a bedroom, a kitchen, an office or a closet, it’s the same principle: Like goes with like; items are not randomly stacked or scattered hither and yon.
Then comes the most essential phase, which may be the most challenging for the client: deciding what to keep and what to discard. This is crucial if the clutter is to be controlled, Wolfe asserts. Looking at the items or papers as sensitively-yet-objectively as possible, she sifts through every item with the client, and together they categorize each one as “keep,” “throw out,” “give away” or “try to sell.” This is a cathartic experience, says Wolfe, and she often sees the client becoming freer and more relaxed before her eyes.
“Not only does the space become liberated, but so does the person,” she says.
In the final step, she uses a variety of folders, boxes and/or containers to organize the items that will remain in the room or closet and sets them up in a neatly arranged and easily accessible fashion.
When the clean-up is complete, open floor space, cleared surfaces, neat shelves and itemized papers and possessions create a tremendous sense of order and achievement.
Wolfe makes a point of doing it all in one fell swoop. First of all, she explains, seeing the space being transformed from overwhelming to orderly is extremely gratifying for the client.
Second, at that stage, leaving certain tasks in the hands of the clients to complete on their own is asking for trouble, as the tendency to leave it for tomorrow is what was responsible for the clutter build-up in the first place, she says.
But in the process, she also gives her clients important tips on how to keep up their pristine premises so that after a while, it becomes second nature for them to maintain the well-managed space.
On her website, testimonials from grateful clients attest that she has helped them see their way clear to leading a more structured and more satisfying lifestyle.
With such an innate ability and so many people who could benefit from such a service, how can Wolfe help but clean up? •