Adina’s Apartment Challenge:

Adina’s apartment challenges are all too common for our city dwelling Moms- too much stuff, too little space, and too many (competing) purposes for that space. After all, in NYC, many professional Moms live in spaces easily described as office/bedroom/storage/playroom/workspace.

By her own admission, Adina also had a small problem with throwing things away (read: she NEVER did it). She knew that was going to have to change, and had the right attitude going in, but definitely needed some encouraging words and helpful strategies along the way.

Our Joint Strategy

Make space (even if that seems like magic!) Adina, 3 months pregnant, was feeling completely overwhelmed. “If I barely have space in this apartment now, how is there room for a baby?” Adina works from home, in her “office” with no door separating it from the living room. In a multi-purpose space like hers, it’s hard to separate work stuff from everyday clutter. She’s also very passionate about her hobbies including sewing, knitting, drawing, reading, etc. We went through her space, closet by closet (and her Soho apartment has a LOT of closet space), and ultimately found room for all her hobbies, creating some much needed space for the “baby basics” such as a crib, clothing, diapers 🙂

Purge, repeat, purge, repeat. We took our time sorting through her stuff, room by room, closet by closet. Slowly but surely, Adina realized there actually were things that could be thrown away, and once she got started, she even decided to get rid of some furniture to make room for the baby! Adina truly grew during our work together!

As Adina Says

Kelly was more important to the smooth arrival of my daughter than my obstetrician! I work in the Crafts industry and my apartment is filled with knitting and sewing supplies. Creating organizational systems required small lessons in fabric designs and knitting tools which Kelly willingly learned. Kelly calmly dealt with my “shenanigans” (her word) and reordered my entire life.

As a seasoned nanny and school teacher she knew better than I did what I would need for my new baby and what could be put away for a while –including sussing which pre-maternity clothes would fit soonest after her birth and storing them with easy access. I am the first to admit the job was beyond enormous and Kelly tackled it with tireless humor, enthusiasm and sensibility –all while dealing with a hormonal wreck in the throes of her first trimester. Kelly is worth her weight in gold. She rocks!

Before and After Pics:

Get Started Organizing Today Or read another multi-use challenge solved…