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Spring is not only nature’s time for renewal — it’s also the time when many of us take stock of our households and embark on the tradition of spring cleaning. Spring is also a popular time to sell a home or to move into a new one. Either way, we can face an immense challenge in organizing, decluttering, and simplifying our households.
That’s where Caitlin Smith, owner and operator of ReCreate Space in Peterborough, can help. She shares her professional organizing skills with her clients, helping them create beautiful and efficient spaces.
When Caitlin explains the passion that led her to professional organizing, she refers back to her childhood. At about 10 years old, she became inspired by how the public library catalogued its VHS tape collection. The system made it simple and entertaining to flip through a book of the videos, select one, and find its location using a category number. She thought it would be fun to categorize her own family’s VHS tapes the same way.
“My mom loved it,” Caitlin laughs. “I always say organizing is in my DNA, and I get it from my mom.”
But not everyone in her family shares Caitlin’s organizing gene. She says her sister and father have opposite organizational habits and become overwhelmed if faced with a major organizing task. While growing up in a household where some family members struggled to keep things in order, Caitlin began along the path that informs her professional organizing business today.
Later in life, Caitlin realized many people are like her sister and father, struggling to keep their home organized and free of clutter, and she has the knowledge and skills to help them.
I wanted to help people using my skill set ... organizing is a service that many people can benefit from.
“When I was deciding what direction to take my life, I knew I wanted to work with people and connect with them,” Caitlin says. “I wanted to help people using my skill set. As I learned more about the world and people, it became clear that organizing is a service that many people can benefit from.”
She launched her business in March 2021, when she purchased ReCreate Space from its previous owners. Last December, she was awarded a $5,000 microgrant from the provincially funded Starter Company Plus program administered by the Peterborough & the Kawarthas Business Advisory Centre.
While some of Caitlin’s clients need help with their organizational skills, others have the skills but don’t have the time to do a project on their own — Caitlin compares it to hiring a house-cleaning service when you are too busy to do it yourself. Others come to ReCreate Space with a project they know is essential, but they lack the direction or motivation to get it started.
“For a lot of people, they want to declutter but they haven’t been able to,” Caitlin explains. “Having accountability to another person is a really big motivator. We’re there with them through the entire process, keeping them on track.”
While do-it-yourself organizing shows like Netflix’s Tidying Up with Marie Kondo have become immensely popular, many people still can’t do it on their own and need the help of a professional organizer like ReCreate Space to guide them through the process.
As owner and operator, Caitlin works one-on-one with each client as a nonjudgmental sounding board, bringing in ReCreate Space team members to help with larger projects — reducing the time it takes to tackle a project and relieving some of the client’s stress.
I encourage the client to be involved in the process because that's when they're going to learn the skills and techniques.
“I encourage the client to be involved in the process because that’s when they’re going to learn the skills and techniques,” Caitlin points out. “It also gives me a chance to get to know them better, to learn how they function, and to decide what might be a good solution for them.”
Caitlin is a pro at optimizing space and knows how to make a room feel larger and easier to navigate.
“I think a lot of people who try to do it on their own don’t necessarily get to a point where it’s a functioning space, because they haven’t gone through the process of sorting through things, downsizing, and putting things together,” says Caitlin. “A lot of the time, they buy bins, put everything in them, and then say ‘Okay, I organized’. But there’s a lot more involved than that.”
“You need to know what you’re storing before you buy those solutions,’ she points out. “Some people want clear bins. Some people don’t want to see what’s in the bins. Some people want labels or don’t want labels on their bins. Some people want this particular thing front and centre because they use it every single day.”
Some projects may entail reorganizing and decluttering an entire home or business, while others may focus on specific problem areas like a room or a closet. ReCreate Space can help clients tackle these smaller-scale projects as well.
For instance, they can develop a filing system for the papers cluttering a client’s desk drawers, or they can help organize and catalogue a client’s collectible items, like a collection of hockey cards.
I was with her through the process of packing and unpacking her two apartments and setting up ... I helped get her space set up in a way that was comfortable for her.
A member of the Professional Organizers in Canada, Caitlin can also help clients who are moving to a smaller home, joining another household, or preparing to sell their home or the home of a loved one who has passed away. While she is not a professional home stager, Caitlin also offers cursory staging services.
Caitlin can also help those who need to tackle a project but have practical limitations like location or health. For instance, Caitlin recently assisted a client with a physical disability who needed help moving.
“I was with her through the process of packing and unpacking her two apartments and setting up,” Caitlin recalls. “We went to stores together and shopped for products and furniture. We did errands, and I helped get her space set up in a way that was comfortable for her.”
Another client reached out to ReCreate Space recently from another country. When the client sold her Peterborough home from outside Canada last year, her parents packed up her belongings and put them in a storage unit.
“She hasn’t been able to get back into the country so she hired me,” says Caitlin. “I donate things where they need to be donated and save the things she wants. I’m going to move those things to her parent’s home, so she’s not paying for storage. That was a stress relief for her because she’s paying over three hundred dollars a month for a storage unit.”
The pandemic has created new organizational challenges for people, with more working from home than ever before. Disorganized home office spaces may cause people to spend more time looking for items, distracting from their work. Cluttered dining rooms collect paper and lose their appeal for family dinners and entertaining.
With COVID ... we're feeling a bit stagnant, so a refresh and tidy does wonders for people's mental health.
“With COVID, people having spent so much time in their space are now realizing a lot more the impact their environment and surrounding has on their well-being,” Caitlin says. “We’re feeling a bit stagnant, so a refresh and tidy does wonders for people’s mental health.”
When spaces function the way they’re supposed to, according to Caitlin, they not only look more spacious and beautiful, but the people using the space experience improvements in well-being, mental clarity, and time efficiency.
“A lot of people want to sort out a space or environment but, when they’re faced with the task, it’s really easy to become overwhelmed,” Caitlin says. “It’s hard to know where to start.”
People are always saying they feel a sense of renewal after we work together. They feel lighter and refreshed.
She says organization projects are not one size fits all and every project ultimately comes down to a client’s individual needs. That’s why interpersonal connection with her clients is so important — it helps each client walk away with a sense of relief, having enjoyed the experience, and with a completed project they can maintain for years to come.
“People are always saying they feel a sense of renewal after we work together,” Caitlin says. “They feel lighter and refreshed.”
For more information about ReCreate Space Professional Organizing, their services, and to book a free phone consultation, visit recreatespace.ca. You can also find them on Facebook and Instagram.
This story was developed in partnership with ReCreate Space.
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