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UPDATE:
I've seen the article in the October 2006 issue of Psychology Today ! It's an interesting take on folks who are obsessively neat. And no, I'm NOT one of them! I do like order and neatness, but I'm not obsessed with perfection. My use of the term neat is meant to be more as in "neat ideas."
I was quoted in the sidebar "Get Neat Freakier". I was excited to see Judith Kohlberg: Author of Conquering Chronic Disorganization and ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life was also quoted in the article! I love her!
I was less happy to see that one of my answers to Carla's questions was taken a bit out of context and doesn't quite represent my advice accurately. For example, the sidebar starts out with this:
"Get rid of half your stuff says Ariane Benefit, professional organizer...."
For the record, I NEVER tell people to get rid of half their stuff.
I kinda cringed when I read that. What I said was that with some clients with extreme clutter we have had to get rid of half their stuff in order to get them organized. She asked if that was common and I said that many people could live without half their stuff and still be fine.
I feel like that's a big difference, what do you think? Do you think I was quoted accurately?
My website address www.neatandsimple.com was given as my blog address, but that's okay people can still find my blog.
They also published one of the many tips I gave which really works! If your drawers are overstuffed, one way to get back nearly half the space in your drawer is to roll your clothing instead of laying them flat in the drawers. This is one my clients FAVORITE tips. They go and do this to every drawer they have!
So I thought I'd share a before and after picture to show you how this works.
Here is a kids pants drawer where the pants are folded once and laid on top of each other: (Click images to see them larger)
Here is the AFTER shot. We folded each pair of pants one more time and lined them up vertically. We also sorted by pant length and color. Now Mom can see exactly what clothing her son has at a glance and it's super easy to put things away and get them out. This took less than 2 minutes to do! It worked out so well, we were able to put shirts in the drawer too! We freed up so much space that we combined 2 drawers into one, Mom could pick out an outfit by opening just one drawer, and we were able to take a lot of things out of the closet that didn't really need to be hung making her laundry chores easier!









Several other organizers on Monday also posted about their organizing process and what it's like to work with them! It must be in the air! (
Dwayne over at "Genuine Curiosity"

To help you get a better idea of what it's like to work with an organizer, I've written a 4 page article "What to Expect When Working with a Professional Organizer" in a very easy to read format including photos that gives you insights and tips on what to look for when interviewing an organizer. 


The blog post that introduced me to Kim was this wonderful essay on the irony of how complicated it can be to live simply. As a mom who homeschools 8 kids, she really knows what she's talking about!
You can have a quilt made in several sizes, a duvet cover, a crib quilt or pillow cases! You could even take what they make and hang it on a wall. 








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