Spring 2025 is a time to remember! What will we remember about it? We believe we can choose what to remember and that is what The Art of Order will help to do – in a positive way.
Today is the anniversary of my Nana leaving this world and I have been thinking about her and the other wise seniors that I have been so lucky to know. Lately, I have felt concerned, and honestly worried with all of the recent changes and economic instability coming at us. Losing sleep, distractibility and frustration of rising prices everywhere and a general weariness of news broadcasts have been affecting us and a lot of other people. When I am feeling anxious about things I often think “What would Nana do?”
My Nana was my Dad’s mother – a delightful woman who taught music and a lot of other valuable lessons along the way. One of her main tips for us was “Put your energy into changing things that you CAN control. Situations that you CANNOT control are not worth your time and effort.”
So there is my answer and I am happy to say – I slept last night! One of the tenets of being in the service industry (and being a good parent and friend) is you have to take care of yourself or you are no good to anyone. Basic needs are sleep, healthy food, exercise and personal safety. I am very grateful to be able to work on these. Realizing this freed up my mind further to think about “How better can we help our clients?”
Instability has a terrible effect on our economic situation and affects the sale of most things all the way from houses to a cup of coffee. The value of preparedness and a conscious, cost effective and practical plan cannot be overstated in times like these. Avoiding panic and upsetting, expensive mistakes at the last minute is paramount! The Art of Order is very proud of our ability to work with people well before selling their home to maximize what they already own and find new homes for the things they no longer wish to have. We are committed to providing excellent home staging, downsizing and organizing services that people can afford and that are practical.
This process is a very emotional and exhausting one! Both Anne and I saw this first hand with our own parents, over a decade ago, when we decided to form a company that helped people through the entire process of downsizing, organizing, decluttering, donating, selling, planning, moving and finally settling in to a new place.
Creating Service Packages that include the valuable time needed with clients to work up a “Game Plan” which can include several “Phases” like:
-Sorting items to Keep, Repair, Give away, Sell, Donate or Throw out
-Organizing removal of unwanted items
-Tagging items that will be used for staging, go to the new place etc.
-Packing items to store for later use
-Decluttering
-Getting small repairs done
Bundling all of this within a Custom Timeline has helped many of our clients. They tell us that the stress of home preparation and moving to a smaller place has been eased with our assistance, guidance and hard work.
One of our memorable downsizing clients was a very practical and fun fellow who has the same name as me. He said at our consultation “All I need is a couple of people with a good plan to come over and Roll up their Sleeves!” We totally understood what he needed and he hired us to do the job. It encompassed all of our services (Downsize, Declutter, Packing, Disperse and Donate, Home Staging, Space Planning in the new place and Unpacking/Settling in) since he was also a caretaker to his lovely wife who was ill.
Anne and I will never forget his generosity and wit in his candidness about our work together and how big of a role our attitude plays in difficult situations. Anne and I are constantly inspired by our amazing clients and we share these helpful thoughts whenever we can. Another very sweet lady in Leaside told us – “What I really need is my friend to come over and give me a hand with all of this stuff!” Sadly, her friends were not available, so we were brought in for a short time, doing our best to be that helpful, friendly presence for her.
So, we all know that that this is an unprecedented time and it can be scary. Practicing acceptance of this and moving on to be better focussed on helping to ease peoples’s anxiety. Practical planning, seasoned services, useful resources and a helpful mindset are needed now more that ever. All of this done with respect and empathy is essential. So many times it is the little things that can make a difference and The Art of Order is here to help!
