My experience with professional organizers
Some time ago I was given the opportunity to collaborate with Calma, a room organization business also based in Mallorca.
You see, as an interior designer (and just someone who is seeking to have a beautiful space) I am continually struggling with the day-to-day mess that is the norm in a home with children. I won’t even mention the unachievable minimalistic interiors that you see on instagram and plenty of design magazines.
But I am not only seeking to have a picture-perfect space. Life experience has shown (and there is research to back this up) that our environment deeply influences our mental processes, including our identity. Likewise, our space will reflect our mood and emotional state. It can be a vicious cycle that can quickly become a serious life problem. Not only I would like to fend away this cycle, I also would like to teach my children the difference it makes to be in an organized space, and how to make sure it stays like that day after day.
I like to think of myself as someone who can organize a space. I love the Home Edit series on Netflix. I own all their books. But when I set myself to organize my daughter’s room, I quickly realized I need to call the pros. The sheer amount of things this girl was already making me go through a terrible thought process: how did we take all these things from Germany? does she need 10 Enchantimals? How can she have so many toys but always feel bored? I needed someone else who had no emotional connection to the space or the stuff, because I was getting stuck on every-little-thing.
Calma Organizers are a team of two women (I would say SUPERWOMEN) that know very well the need to maximize small spaces, as they both come from the boating industry (talk about the need to have everything organized and edited to the max). They are also both moms, so they understand very well how children operate and what things they need to keep their space organized.
So they came over one morning, and within an hour, they had taken all the notes and measurements for their organization plan. After a few days, they sent me their plan with the budget for everything needed. This was like magic because I had a very difficult time figuring out what containers worked for what things, and for them it was like second nature. And then the day came. Between the two of them, they were finished in one morning. I can’t think of anyone doing this faster than them… Well, maybe Mary Poppins but I don’t think that would be a fair comparison. They were incredible, and you can see the results: it was night and day.
I did work with them about removing some furniture that wasn’t working anymore (like the giant IKEA bookshelf) and adding a desk for my daughter to do her crafts. It was so helpful to bounce with them the ideas for what could work or not.
Now comes the part that I find it the hardest to believe: it’s been months since the room organization was set up, and it is STILL organized in the same manner. Once my daughter could see a clear order and a space for each thing, it was a lot easier for her to remember to put things back. I do help her a bit with the clothes everyday as she still can’t reach the hangers, but now she feels she “owns” the way the room looks.
What a difference it has made: we find the clothes she wants to wear easily, and they toys she plays with most often are at hand, while those that are taking a rotation are on a closet sitting on a pretty box. The best outcome of all is that she now spends long periods of time in her bedroom, playing or coloring, or simply organizing and re-arranging her things.
Seeing the results has also given me the motivation to tackle the other rooms, and has defined what the goal looks like. It gives us a tangible visual of what we seek to achieve, and it puts at on the path of the “tidy space, organized mind” cycle.
So if you’re sitting on the fence on whether a home organizer is worth it or not, I would say, the peace of mind you’ll get with it will make it 100% worth the cost. And if you’re in the Mallorca area and what to hire these team of superwomen, here is the link to their contact. https://calmaorganisers.com
