If walking around your bedroom, home office, or entire house gives you a claustrophobic feeling, it’s the right time to declutter your space.
With the New Year, now is the perfect opportunity to make this happen with the help of Jill Goldman, the owner of OrganizeTooLive.com, a full-service organizing service that helps clients purge, downsize, move, and discover the optimal use of their home or workspace.
“I’ve been working as a personal organizer for nearly 20 years. I started by organizing areas for kids with special needs so they could take care of their own space,” Goldman explains.
“My work blossomed from helping these kids to become more independent and has grown to help seniors clean out and transition to the next stage of their lives,” she says. “Currently, I provide a personal, one-on-one experience in helping seniors (and others) downsize their homes, and move to the next stage of their lives with clarity and grace. I enjoy helping others in my local community and beyond.”
According to Goldman, now is always the perfect time to downsize or declutter, especially with the fresh start that the new year brings.
“If you are a senior, you may have lived in a home for decades. It’s time to bring someone in to help you get organized, go through all of your belongings, and decide what to keep and what to donate. Nothing gets thrown out—if it’s usable by others, it will get donated,” she says.
“A change of seasons is a great time to clean out the clutter and donate to others who can use it – we need to help others, especially with so many disasters occurring in different parts of the world right now,” she explains. “For those getting ready to move, I can help pack everything up and, once people move, everything is unpacked and set up in their new space.”
While Goldman can certainly sing her praises, she also has numerous clients who value her expertise and professionalism.
“If you are looking to reorganize or clean out, especially after the holidays, I highly recommend Jill Goldman and OrganizeTooLive.com,” said Ellen Manhoff Abramson. “She helped me reorganize after my kitchen renovation, and clean out my basement and office, as well as my master closet! She is easy to work with and sets up systems that are manageable and easy to maintain!! She will also take your donations pile to donate. I will be using her again in the New Year for some major projects!”
Another thankful client calls Goldman’s services “a gift” to herself. Every year, “I hire Jill Goldman to safely pack up and put away all of my holiday decor. This will be the 5th year she’s doing it for me.” Goldman also helped her daughter organize the “toy room” to transition it from a kid’s space to an organized space for both of my children to explore their passions…If you need help organizing, cleaning out or moving, she is the best person to work with. She makes it effortless.”
5 Top Decluttering Tips from Jill Goldman for the New Year
- Start with 5 minutes at a time
- Give one item away each day
- Fill an entire trash bag
- Donate the clothes you never wear
- Create a decluttering checklist
The following is a Q and A with personal organizer Jill Goldman
Why do you enjoy helping people downsize and de-clutter?
Jill Goldman: I love helping people. They need someone they can trust to help them get organized and move on to the next phase of their lives, which is often a very emotional time. I’m there to be supportive and help them in any way I can.
Why do you believe that you are so good at this?
It’s part of being grateful for everything I have and wanting to help others. I enjoy fixing things, helping people get organized, and learning to love their spaces.
What makes a great client?
Someone ready to make a change who is open to taking advice and suggestions is prepared to purge any clutter, donate items they no longer need, and live a life that contains a little less but is much more fulfilling. Making a change leads to new opportunities, meeting new people, and positive feelings.
Talk about your local, regional, and national clients.
I’ve worked as far as Martha’s Vineyard, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Baltimore. I have helped people transition to new homes, and get everything cleaned out, and organized, sprucing up their space. I do travel but most of my clients are in Montgomery and Bucks Counties. I also work with local Realtors to identify people who may need my help.
How are you changing lives?
By making it easier for people to live less stressful lives; clutter is depressing, causes anxiety, and many people don’t know where to start. I offer the vibe of coming in and organizing with a friend and encourage them to tackle one space at a time so they don’t feel overwhelmed by having so much stuff.
I specialize in working with seniors, who often can’t move around and get stuff done. as easily as they used to. They need the help and they appreciate it. Often their children are grown and aren’t local. So, I can help them get organized and through the transition of downsizing and moving into a new home.
People are grateful for the help, and it’s a great feeling; they often pass my name along to other people because they enjoyed the process so much. Word of mouth is the biggest reward – it’s a business built on referrals
What was the most dramatic project you worked on?
I once flew out to Martha’s Vineyard to unpack and organize an entire house for someone over only one weekend. The transformation was amazing, it was an 1890s house that we dramatically changed into a modern home. I went in and organized the house, unpacked & moved them in, and designed the house with them. They were extremely impressed and appreciative.
How do family members fit into the decluttering that you do?
I often work with my clients’ kids to help declutter and reorganize their rooms; giving them ownership in the process helps get them excited about the process.
I also work with the adult children of seniors to help their parents prepare for a move by helping them organize their belongings and decide what they want to keep or donate.
What do you do to help seniors get ready to move to a smaller home, a retirement community, or a nursing home?
One of the first steps is to meet with the client to find out what their needs are, the size of the space they’re moving to, and to see what they can take with them and what needs to go. I also go to the new destination to take measurements in order to figure out how everything will fit into their new space to help them with spatial awareness. The next step is to meet with their adult children to see who wants what.
I also help my senior clients make repairs around the house if anything needs fixing, helping them to get organized to figure out what needs to be done, and create a plan. Part of the plan is to help them move into the new place and to get organized when they arrive, help unpack and get them moved in, hang pictures on the walls, and decorate their new space. The whole idea is to make the space comfortable and clutter-free to help make it theirs – bringing the essence of their old home into their new space.
What do local relationships have to do with your work and why are they important?
I work with other local businesses including Junk removal firms, handymen, carpenters, plumbers, and more. This helps me help my clients by providing whatever services they need. I have a crew of people all working together to help people, making it a true team effort.
Tell me about your exciting new construction business ideas.
I also have years of knowledge in renovation and fixing up houses to flip and sell. This includes 25+ years in home renovations, which evolved from talking to clients about home organizing and creating a livable space. with clients. I can help them redo a kitchen or bathroom, finish a basement, or build shelving units to help organize their space. I offer a unique ability to provide woman-to-woman renovations in a male-dominated industry.
Tell me about your free time activities, and your love for horses and other animals.
I’ve been rescuing dogs for more than 10 years. I have also rescued two horses, enjoy traveling and spending time with friends, going to concerts, gardening, going to the beach, and helping friends with their home-related projects.
What gets you dashing out of bed each morning?
Knowing that I’m going to be helping people, being productive in the world, and being grateful that I can get up every day and make someone’s day better.
Is there anything you want to add?
As a mom of a special needs child, I know what it feels like to need help and community support. To be able to ask for help if I need it. The ability to do that to help other people in similar situations is what I love the most about my work.
For further information go to:
The Website: OrganizeTooLive.com,
Email: discoverjill@hotmail.com
Phone: 215-813-5455