Get Organized, Already!

By Fran

WestportNow Consumer Correspondent
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Lets see if IҒve got this right. You decided to get a jump on spring cleaning one balmy day a few weeks ago. Closets unearthed, file drawers emptied, winter clothes removed from drawers and piled on furniture pending the dry clean-versus-donate decision.
Definitely needs organizing. WestportNow.com photo

Then it got cold and you got busy and now youre left with ҅ unkempt piles, disorganized closets, and an office full of paperwork in which you cant find a thing.

How do I know this?  LetҒs just say I know it too well.

Which is how Ive also come to know the value of a top-notch professional organizer. 

Even if one thinks of oneself as a fairly organized person, thereҒs something to be said for the tricks, techniques and systems these never-say-die crackerjacks come armed with.  And even more to be said for having someone stand by your side until it all gets DONE.

Here are a few professional organizers I know who regularly travel to Westport. Since prices sometimes vary per job, not all were willing to quote hourly rates for this column.

Make sure you call first to discuss the job, hourly rate, and whether they charge for travel time (most do not.)

First, my own NUMBER ONE personal favorite:

Under Control
Marcia Sloman
Ossining, New York. 
914-923-1057, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). If there is any intelligence to the organization of my office its due to Marcia, with whom I have worked repeatedly.  (DonҒt ask her to blow my cover; professional organizers are highly protective of their clients anonymity.) With a loyal following in Connecticut (and no charge for travel time) Marcia is a bright and soft-spoken optimist who has figured out everything from how to re-ink my favorite 20-year-old adding machine to designing complicated ticker/filing systems.  She specializes in offices, space organizing, paper management, time management and goal setting. A very worthwhile $90/hr.

Here are a few I also know and can personally recommend:

Get Organized With Carolann Slayton LLC
Carolann Slayton
Northford
203-484-7780, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Take a look at her Web site and youҒll know youre dealing with a real pro.  Coach and professional organizer specializing in clutter control for homes and professional offices, filing systems, records management, kitchen and space organizing, and event and meeting planning,.

Dianne M. Fullarton,
Organizational Consultant
Darien
203-655-4796
If youҒve got a big job that feels insurmountable for emotional reasons for example, involving an estate or relocation ֖ you wont find a kinder heart to guide you through it.  But at the same time sheҒs an experienced professional who gets the job done. Diannes specialties are residential downsizing and moving.  She comes equipped with hankies.

Anita & Company
Anita Taylor
Fairfield
259-9649, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), www.anitaylor.com.  Stand back: Anita TaylorҒs got energy and personality to spare.  Shell whip your place into shape so fast you wonҒt know what hit you. Friends of mine who have used her to reorganize their professional offices swear by her. Specialties are residential, home-based businesses, legal and small offices.  A mentor for new organizers, Anita is also a speaker and teacher at the Entrepreneurial Center on time management, organization, and networking.

Or else give any of these a call:

Strategize, Organize, Simplify LLC
Cara M. Brook
Stamford
203-348-4SOS, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Specializes in residential and small business moves, filing systems, paper and clutter management.  $60/hr.

All Together Organizing
Janet Sherwood
Fairfield
336-6406, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), www.JanetSherwood.com. Specializes in home and office, mail processing, paper management, garages/basements, kitchen, bedroom, closets
$75/hr.

neatness counts!ӔBeth Holland
Stamford
203-912-8851, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), www.neatnesscounts.com. Specializes in closet and kitchen design and organizing, home offices, moving/relocations, and space designing to make homes as functional, attractive and calming as possible.Ӕ Prices start at $85/hr.

Organized Living
Jo Ann Sheldon
Norwalk
203-866-6882, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), www.organizedliving.com
Specializes in residential, home office, small business. Emphasis on management of paper, personal funds, time and life. Shes a past president of the Connecticut chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers (www.napo.net)
so this is no organizing neophyte. $90/hr. and up.

DTS Organizing Solutions
Margot Bassick
Fairfield
259-4195, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Specializes in home offices, paper management and filing systems, procedures manuals and space organizing.

Sort It Out
Myrna Baye
Stamford
203-325-1142, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Specializes in closet, space and kitchen organizing, home offices, paper management, and working with seniors.

Organization 101
Margaret Burke
Stratford
203-767-2582, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Specializes in closet and estate organizing, filing systems, garages/attics/basement, residential.

A Helping Hand Organizing
Katherine Castillo
Norwalk
847-3899, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Specializes in ғthe chronically disorganized, closet organizing, estate organizing, filing systems, garages/attics/basements/kitchen organizing, moving/relocations, and paper management..

Organizing with Final Touches, LLC
Lila Davis/Irma Robinson
Stratford
203-377-5399, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Specializes in closet organizing, garages/attics/tag sales, offices, residential, moves/relocation, wardrobe coordinating.