Orderly Manor

Southern Living Magazine
February 2007

This professional organizer visits Greenville homes and offices to set things in order.

The coming of spring signals the time to put away winter woolens and get out our gardening tools ready for a new season of yard work. If reorganizing your closet or garage seems like a daunting task, you can relax. Support is at hand.

Setting things in order is an assignment for Adriel McIntyre, a professional organizer who helps people in Greenville control their clutter.

What Works for You?

Anyone can be organized, Adriel says, if they find a system that works for them. “Many people can’t maintain order because they try to do it the way others do,” she explains. “I ask ‘Where would you put that?’ or ‘How would you do this?’ That lets me know what kind of organizer they are, and I customize a system from there.”

For example, if you use your tools most often in the house, then find a place to keep them inside instead of in the backyard shed. If you like to pay your bills on the couch in front of the TV, set up a bill-paying station beside the couch.

One client did his filing in paper lunch bags, which he kept in a china cabinet. “He liked the bags because they were open, and he could look down and drop things in,” Adriel explains. “The lunch bags had to go, but we set up a filing system in the same area. We found file folders with closed sides, and that seemed to work for him.”

Eliminating excess can be the first step to controlling clutter. Like most organizers, Adriel suggests that if you haven’t worn it, used it, or thought about it in a year or more, you should probably get rid of it-whatever “it” may be.

Adriel’s objectivity helps clients come to their own conclusions about what has value and what can be tossed out or given away. “I ask leading questions,” she says. “If this object is really important to you, why is it in a box in the attic where you don’t ever see it?”

In the process, misplaced treasures resurface-missing passports, forgotten gift certificates and paychecks, even cash. “Things that are important get lost in a sea of things that aren’t,” Adriel says.

Movig motivates people to pare down. “Purge before you pack,” Adriel advises. “There’s no sense in relocating stuff you don’t want.” A proficiency for unpacking got Adriel into the organizing profession. A friend’s father who needed help organizing his new home was the first official client of Adriel’s business, Orderly Manor.

Applied Psychology

Adriel tries to understand why people become cluttered. Common reasons include major life changes such as birth, a new job, or illness.

Adriel helped Natasha Little organize several rooms in her home. “I’m a perfectionist, so I’ll put something off if I can’t do it perfectly,” says Natasha. “On my own, I was never able to finish. I’d get overwhelmed by the details. Adriel helped me stay on task.”

When her sister passed away, Natasha couldn’t face dealing with the bedroom full of memories. “I kept closing the door,” Natasha remembers. So she called Adriel. “She helped me see that a loved one is more than the sum of her stuff.”

Natasha’s sentiments reflect how good people feel once the job is done. “Clutter affects time, money, and stress,” says Adriel. “Getting rid of it enables people to feel relaxed, unburdened, freed. It’s a helping process.”

Sorting through her late mother’s treasures with Adriel McIntyre helped Roxanne Randolph deal with her emotions well as discover a wealth of family memorabilia.

Natasha Little’s bedroom is more comfortable since Adriel helped her tame the chaos in her closet.

The National Association of Professional Organizers lists dozens of members throughout our state. To find an organizer who can help you control your clutter, visit www.napo.net.

For a free phone consultation, call (864) 884-9686. For more information visit www.anorderlymanor.com.

Organize, Don’t Agonize debuts on Charter Cable’s channel 10 this month in the Upstate. Filmed as a pilot for a potential syndicated series, the segment follows Adriel as she declutters ad reorganizes the office of Gina Gossenreiter, an account manager for the Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce. Look for the segment on the channel’s electronic program listing.