Have you ever gone into someone’s home and just admired (maybe even resented) how clean and organized it is? Have you ever watched Marie Kondo’s show on Netflix or read her book, "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up” and wished she would just come over to your hot mess of a house and help YOU spark some joy for once? How about this: have you ever walked into The Container Store and started day-dreaming right there in the middle of Aisle Two about how clean and organized your house could finally be if only you could just get your proverbial stuff together? Well, if any of this sounds like you, just know you are not weird OR alone… because organization and spring cleaning are EXACTLY what my in-studio guest and lifelong friend, Jenna, and I are talking about on Episode 7 of Denise Petti: Real Talk with Big Red.
Hi there, friends, and happy May day to you all. Here we are on another gorgeous spring day in sunny South Jersey and I don’t know about you, but the pollen is KICKING my keester! Sniffling and snuffling and sneezing, with this constant tickle in my throat... I feel like a walking Dayquil commercial… and it doesn’t help, feeling all self-conscious due to COVID, ya can’t even make sick jokes anymore!
Walking through my kitchen to grab yet another Kleenex and there’s just this layer of green pollen powder on my countertops and all over the furniture. My car is coated in it. My dogs go outside and come back in with pollen on their noses and paws. It’s enough to drive a person crazy! As if Covid hasn’t already successfully driven us to madness?
It almost makes me want to unleash a firehose on any and all surfaces within a two mile radius of the house! But in order to adequately remove the pollen and dust and dander and dog hair from every square inch of my home, I first have to get over this nagging sense of overwhelm that seems to accompany even the smallest of tasks…. Ironically, spring cleaning actually MAKES a mess, doesn’t it?! I mean, taking off and laundering the slip covers, dusting off the blinds, dry-cleaning the draperies, rolling up the area rugs and dragging them outside to beat the dust out and disinfect in the sun…. Mopping the floors, sweeping the cobwebs off the porch, bleaching the tile grout and purging the closets… like do I even NEED a gym membership? I’m exhausted just talking about it.
Spring Cleaning… some people live for it. Others detest it. But as with most things in life that we prefer to avoid, there remains good reason to do it anyway. Not only does it help with the godforsaken allergies, cleaning and organizing is also proven to help with our mental and emotional health. But more on that later. For NOW, I’ve got THE expert here in the studio with me today to tell you and me and everyone listening just HOW to do it!
Jenna Tickner is here with us today… and she is a professional organizer and vacation home investor and trust me when I tell you, she is the QUEEN of CLEAN! She has been creating home efficiency systems and effective family command centers for years now with her proven organizational methods. I personally have hired Jenna to help me organize and systematize MY home and she is my go-to resource when I have buyers and sellers who need help organizing their homes. So please join me in welcoming my lifelong friend and guest, Jenna Tickner! Welcome Jenna!
So we’re talking about spring cleaning and organizing today…. First, let’s get your take on all this before we launch into the listeners’ questions.
Tell me, Jenna, HOW… perhaps more importantly WHY did you get into this business and what would you say ignited your passion for organizing?
I think getting into the business of organizing was the result of the perfect storm: my type A personality, mixed with my years of being a math teacher, and then throw in my years of being a stay-at-home mom. As a kid AND a teacher, I always LOVED the start of the school year...fresh new school supplies, organizing my folders, labelling the notebooks - some people know what I’m talking about (and I’m sure many cringe at the thought of this!). Well, when I stopped working to raise our children, I had a really hard time just being home all day with two babies - yes, I know my new “job” came with a huge responsibility, but I am a busybody who needs to be actively checking off tasks! When the kids were napping, I’d organize the pantry, linen closet, kitchen cabinets...you remember that movie “Sleeping with the Enemy” with Julia Roberts? The one where she lived with her crazy husband...that scene where she opens the kitchen cabinet and knows he was there because all of the cans were facing the “right” way? Well, my husband would come home from work each day to find that I’d organized yet another space in our house! I think the act of organizing spaces in our home became my way of keeping myself sane amongst the chaos that we all know comes along with the baby phase of parenting. Then, when the kids were toddlers and we entered the “playdate” phase, I’d organize my friends’ playrooms and pantries while the kids played. So I started with friends and then the word spread!
So we all know people who love to spring clean… and of course, we know plenty of people who hate it. What does it even mean when we say “spring cleaning?” I know some friends and family members of mine look forward to and LOVE to spring clean their homes. So let’s talk about what, exactly, spring cleaning is and where that expression even came from.
I think spring cleaning just goes hand in hand with coming out of “hibernation” all winter. We start shedding the hats, coats, and mittens. We might even have a dedicated closet for “off-season” clothes and coats. We open our windows to let the fresh air in. And then, maybe when we swap out the ski jacket for a windbreaker, we might say “hey, I really need a new one, let’s start a “donate” pile.
Now when it comes to organization… I, for one, have never been very good at it. In fact, I would go as far as to say I’m really pretty bad at it. It makes me think of life skills, or maybe the lack thereof. Seriously, if you didn’t grow up in an organized home and no one ever taught you how to be organized, how do you even learn?
I do think organization skills can be learned, but I also think some people are just born with them. I mean, I can remember as far back as being an elementary school kid and getting my first desk in my bedroom, how FUN it was to arrange all of my pencils and crayons! So I was definitely born this way. But then I think back to my years of teaching, and how many students struggled simply because their folder was a disaster, they could never find a pencil, their papers were a crumpled mess! I’ve had so many conversations with other teachers and parents over the years about the fact that Organization Skills 101 should be a prerequisite for every other class. It’s definitely a life skill that translates to success as an adult.
The “spark joy” element of Marie Kondo’s organizing method is a pretty famous and memorable aspect of her approach, but did you also know that Kondo also follows a set of her own rules?
According to Kondo’s website, her organizing model is called the KonMari method and there are six basic rules:
So as it pertains to systems and methods and ways to organize, Jenna, how and where do you come up with your ideas and how do you implement them and recommend your clients maintain them?
We all live our lives differently, so there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. I can show clients different ideas that have worked for our family and other clients, but ultimately I have to dive deep and do a thorough evaluation of the client’s space and how their ENTIRE family uses it. If a new “system” of organizing is to work, the whole family has to be involved. They all need to be TRAINED. It might sound crazy, but trust me! After I organize a space, and this is done along side the client, we walk through what it’s supposed to look like. For example, if I organize a mudroom and each family member now has their own hook and basket, we can’t assume that they will immediately just start using them - old habits die hard, right? I’ll have family members kind of act out what happens when they walk in the door. Maybe the husband used to walk in and kick off his shoes in a spot where everyone trips over them, then drops his keys and the mail wherever there happens to be an open space (which might be different every day). Well, now hubby has his own dedicated bin for shoes, his own hook for his coat, his very own spot to hang his keys and leave his sunglasses and wallet. Your daughter has her own hook, etc. Just like anything else that’s new, it will take practice before it becomes a habit.
Recorded call-in: Hey Big Red, my name is Keri and I have a question for you about organizing my home. My husband and I are interested in selling our home and upsizing to a bigger one, especially now in this awesome market, but to be brutally honest, I’m just so disorganized, I’m not even confident I’ll ever get it clean enough to even list it, not to mention show it! I know we will have to take listing photos and videos… I am so disorganized, between working and taking care of three kids…. Doing my bills and helping my kids’ with their school stuff, there are toys and clothes and dishes all over the place and piles of paper everywhere and shoes and socks and newspapers and junk mail.... Not to mention my husband’s junk in the basement and the garage and the shed… I feel like we need to hire a professional organizer, but I heard that can get pretty expensive… Especially since I feel like I would need to hire five different people to organize my finances, my schedule, my kids activities, my house, my laundry…. Does it never end? Honestly, how do people do it? How can I do it? Help me, Big Red!”
What a great question, Keri, thanks so much for that call.
So real quick, Jenna has shared with me some amazing home organization picks that she curated herself on Amazon. Jenna and I are both suckers for creating the perfect command center and we know these items are gonna help you de-clutter and organize your way to a cleaner, neater, more stress-free home.
In fact, with Jenna’s input, I was able to create a quick one stop shop where you can grab all the items we’ve mentioned on this episode (plus a few extra secret items you’re gonna wanna snag)
So, if you’re in need of a little spring refresh or can’t go another second with all those piles and piles of clutter...and you wanna spruce up your home office and the areas where the kids make the biggest messes, you should head on over to denisepetti.com/shop
And here’s the beautiful thing, when you purchase any of the products listed in my curated Amazon collection, not only will you help keep this show going, but you’ll also help others who are interested in all things real estate find the show too.
Again, all you need to do is go to denisepetti.com/shop
Now if you wanna make it even easier and you’re already on your phone, go ahead and open a new message and text us. That’s right, you can text Jenna and me directly and we’ll send you the link to her curated Amazon collection.
You can text BIGRED to 69696
That’s B-I-G-R-E-D to 69696
And now it’s time for our Market Analysis segment of the show… I mean, who doesn’t love statistics? It’s just so FUN to look at charts and graphs and surveys, isn’t it? Okay, well some of us think it is.
There are plenty of home organization statistics available that can help put things in perspective for you when it comes to your own home organization situation.
Home organization affects every single one of us. The link between home clutter and the harm it has on your health has also gotten more scrutiny in recent years from the medical community.
As such, it’s no wonder that many companies and corporations have realized that there’s an appetite from consumers for information about how we maintain our homes.
These studies, polls, and surveys reveal a lot of eye-opening home organization statistics that you can use to motivate and inspire you to restore order in your home.
In an article published by a company called Organized Interiors… Here are some of the more interesting home organization statistics that they compiled.
It’s estimated that only 20% of the things we own are actually used. (LexisNexis study)
97% of surveyed realtors believe homeowners covet closet space more than basement and attic storage space. (Braun Research survey)
It’s estimated we’ll each spend 3,680 hours in our lifetime searching for misplaced items. (The Daily Mail)
In the average home, getting rid of clutter would eliminate approximately 40% of housework. (Soap and Detergent Association study)
40% of Australians say they feel guilty, depressed, or anxious about their home clutter. (Australia Institute study)
Disorganization (not lack of space) causes 80% of household clutter. (Soap and Detergent Association study)
A international retailer’s survey found that 31% of its customers were more satisfied after clearing out their closets than they were after sex. (New York Times)
80% of our medical expenses are related to stress, which clutter contributes to. (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study)
The average U.S. home has approximately 300,000 things. (L.A. Times)
Links mentioned on this episode:
https://www.organizedinteriors.com/blog/home-organization-statistics/
https://thriveglobal.com/stories/how-house-cleaning-improves-mental-well-being/
https://www.apartmentguide.com/blog/americans-annoyed-with-clutter/