Rearranged by Arrangement: 3 Tips to Get (and stay) Organized

When we were house hunting 2 1/2 years ago I had a long list of “must-haves” for our forever home. We found our forever home, and one of my favorite features was the HUGE mudroom off the garage. When we looked at the house it was vacant and I initially thought it was the laundry room. But when we realized it was an amazing “extra” storage room, my mind (and interest board) had a thousand of ideas of what we could do with the space. Then we moved in.  

And life happened. 

It became an embarrassingly disorganized, dumping room that hosted a hodgepodge of stuff. Plus home to the dog’s food and water bowls. Meaning I couldn’t just close the door and hide it. I attempted to create a “command station” but the rest of the room was a cluttered mess. I could never find the time to organize the room, nor could I really wrap my head around what and how I wanted to use the space. 

arrangement interiors

That’s when I met Tyler, a mom of 2 and owner of Arrangement and her amazing skills to arrange and organize. Tyler stopped by for about 30 minutes to see the mudroom. She took a few measurements, asked me what I what I wanted for the room and some key functionality questions.

24 hours later I got an e-mail with suggested cabinets, baskets, and organizational systems. I loved that she narrowed down my options. All I had to do was say yes or no. Let’s be honest, I make enough decisions during the day and this was not one I wanted to make. 

My options were:

  1. No to all of them (and if I would have said no, she would have gone back to source more based on my opinions).
  2. Yes to one of them.

I said yes to one option and she continued on, designing a beautiful room that would be organized, pretty and functional.

We scheduled the install and it was like Christmas morning! When I stay install- it included the clearing out, hauling away, cleaning and organizing. I opted for her to shop as well as assemble (I can’t keep up with laundry, let alone assembling an IKEA cabinet and shopping for the right baskets). 

She arrived in the morning and I left for work. I came back on my lunch break and the room had been transformed. There were a few piles in the kitchen that she helped me go through and decide if I wanted to keep or donate/throw away. 

The best parts of my experience:

  1. The way she organized everything is SUPER easy for me to keep up with. I was also able to toss some other items because I realized when stuff was organized, I had more to toss! #somanyteatowels
  2. Tyler hauled everything away to Goodwill. I had a few pieces of furniture that didn’t fit into the new scheme. She took it away for me then mailed the donation receipt.(Bonus!). 

For a full-time (x2) working mom of two littles, Tyler’s service and expertise were much needed. It’s been a month, and yes, it is still as organized as it was when she left. AND, it has inspired me to dig deep and organize other trouble spots in our house. The top 3 tips/tricks I got and  plan to take with me as I attempt to organize the rest of the house:

  • Empty the entire space first so you can evaluate what you have. This includes current “storage” options. Try to start fresh and don’t force yourself to use current bins/cabinets that haven’t worked previously. You might be surprised at what works in the new space. I anticipated getting rid of one of our shelving units, but it fit in the space when we organized and we found a much better way to use the unit!
  • Group/categorize everything in the space BEFORE you try to organize (if you know you have additional towels in another room, grab them so you can really see what you have).
  • Don’t try to cram everything into one space or one basket. This is NOT a good idea if you are trying to keep organized for more than 2 days! I have a LOT more baskets in the mudroom now, but they are less cluttered. 

Arrangement offers interior organization services for all areas of the home (including the home AND the craft closet). Check her out online and on Instagram. Receive 10% off any project when you mention Atlanta Area Moms Blog!

This post is sponsored by Arrangement, but our opinions and experience are 100% genuinely our own!
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Lauren Race
I am 30-something Atlanta transplant from the midwest. Working full-time as a non-profit professional, I cherish the weekends with my crazy family of 5 including my hubby of 9 years and our 2 sons (6 and 3) and 1 daughter (20 months). I need my "me" time that consists of an early morning workout before work or a yoga class for a nice night-cap. I love trying a new restaurant, traveling, sports and always a nice glass of wine.