Posted by
Marissa Ponikowski
Friday, March 16, 2012 3:36 PM EDT
After all of the agonizing, after all of the hard work, after the lonnnng week of asking the kids not to mess up anything when they played in the basement (surprisingly, they complied, and I noticed they seemed just as excited as we were about the prospect of having a neat, organized play space), the big day had finally arrived. It was time for us to step back and let the professionals at Spot On Organizing and Eureka! Assembly & Installation Inc. do their thing.
STAGE FOUR: THE BIG REVEAL, BASEMENT AND CLOSETS
Spot On’s Tina Blazer had transformed my house from a disorganization disaster to a tidy, arranged place. When she recommended enlisting the Eureka! team to set up several shelving units we’d purchased from IKEA, my husband and I thought it was a great idea. (He is handy, but also pressed for time, so getting a break from the set up was a treat for him. And I don’t follow instructions very well—especially not the kind you get from IKEA, with that benign little stick-figure drawing making you feel like everything should be way more obvious than it is.)
Peter Filimonov, who runs the Toronto-based Eureka!, sent a team of uniformed, trained professionals who treated our home like it was their own. They always brought floor protection, power tools, a vacuum cleaner and, perhaps most important, an awesome attitude. They’ll do anything for you, from installing a prefab kitchen to hanging pictures. Their standard fee is $95 per hour, with a two-hour minimum. “But a lot can be accomplished in two hours of work,” Filimonov points out.
This is true. After two hours, they’d built two IKEA Expedit shelves and two Billy bookcases with extension kits; taken care of some small hangings; and cleaned up after themselves such that you’d never know they were even there. Bonus: In the case of the Billy bookcases in my office, they expertly cut holes in the back panel to make way for the electrical outlets. (This is a lot easier than moving outlets, and better than being unable to access them at all!)
THE BASEMENT
What the pro said:
“You should be able to maintain the toy storage should using the categories we created,” Blazer explained. “I would say, though, that space is most dependent on the right storage pieces and using the appropriate containers. By putting all of the kid’s activities on one side of the room and keeping them separate from the storage portion of the room, you should be able to keep the ‘zones’ organized.”
How we've done so far:
It’s been a few months, and we’ve definitely been able to keep the zones organized. The kids love having a place to make art, dress up, and simply play. At the moment, we’re still functioning in our basement with hand-me-down furniture, in addition to the shelving we bought at IKEA, so there are still a few things we’d like to change — but for the time being, we’re happy.
What I would have done differently:
The storage containers on the bookshelves aren’t clear containers, which means the kids, both under 6, don’t know what’s in them and sometimes make a bit of a mess searching. Sure, they end up making less of a mess, and less frequently than before, but they also seem to play less freely due to not being quite sure where things are. In the meantime, Blazer suggested putting pictures in the space for the hand-written box labels so the kids cans still know visually what’s inside each one.
THE CLOSETS
What the pro said:
“You’ll always face a challenge with the size and shape of your closets, and that can’t really be addressed until you renovate,” said Blazer.
What we say:
Renovation is part of the longer-term plan for our home. Still, by making full use of vertical areas using double hangers, shelves and the backs of doors, we are now making the best use of the space in its present state. BUT, we are more inspired than ever before to start planning our dream closets!
What I would have done differently:
I would have asked first before moving all of my husband's stuff out of our master closet! He’s good-natured for the most part, but he reached his limit with the closet stint and I don’t blame him. But, since he currently works from home and thus does not need constant access to dress shirts and dress pants, he’s come around to the idea of keeping a great deal of his clothing in our son’s room — for the time being.
Tomorrow on “Clutter Gut Job”, the final piece of the puzzle: an office I truly love, with a bonus space I can’t get enough of!
