{"id":82573,"date":"2026-04-06T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T06:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/?p=82573"},"modified":"2026-04-05T16:43:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T22:43:04","slug":"a-professional-organizers-guide-to-spring-cleaning-your-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/a-professional-organizers-guide-to-spring-cleaning-your-life\/","title":{"rendered":"A professional organizer\u2019s guide to Spring cleaning your life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The New Year has come and gone and with it your resolutions for doing a deep, cleansing purge. What has stayed, however, is the clutter. Piles of clothing, boxes of books, bags of crafts and cords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The start of spring offers a new opportunity to clean, well, everything, including your emotional and physical connection to your stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot everyone knows how to edit and organize. Or to make room in their lives and in their homes for a fresh start,\u201d said Christina Fallon, 46, owner of Dream It Done Organizing, a Manhattan-based professional organizing company. She specializes in closet and space design, estate clearing and Swedish death cleaning, or decluttering before one\u2019s own death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople get lost in the different chapters of their lives,\u201d she said. \u201cSpring puts people in a mood to take charge and action.\u201d We asked Ms. Fallon how she approaches decluttering and how nonprofessionals can tackle their own homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This conversation has been edited and condensed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What makes people hire you? Usually, they\u2019re in the middle of a transition. They\u2019ve lost a loved one and don\u2019t know what to do with that person\u2019s belongings. They\u2019re having a baby or getting divorced and starting over. They\u2019re working from home now and need to create an office. Or they\u2019re overwhelmed by the chaos and amount of stuff they\u2019ve accumulated. Many are stuck mentally, emotionally and physically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why can\u2019t they reorganize with a friend or partner? I bring fresh eyes, a neutral energy. There\u2019s sensory overload and emotional clutter attached to their physical clutter. I present solutions while holding them accountable. That\u2019s something your friend, sibling or partner can\u2019t do. They might be biased, and say, \u201cYou have to keep that dress. You wore it when we went to this or that event.\u201d I don\u2019t have an attached memory or emotion to your belongings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you dump and deconstruct, or go room by room? I start in the bathroom because people don\u2019t tend to have an emotional attachment to their expired NyQuil. Once they get used to saying \u201ctoss it,\u201d and they\u2019ve started to build a purging muscle, we move on to harder things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t pressure anyone to get rid of anything, but I do shake up their home like a snow globe so I can put it back together. People decide what to keep, throw out, give away or donate. We look at usefulness and the feeling an item gives you. Say someone owns multiple pairs of stilettos from their 20s that they haven\u2019t worn in 10 years. Maybe we keep one or two pairs and give away the rest. We are editing and curating for the version of you now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What room is most telling? Closets are the heart of the home. They show you people\u2019s lives, what they collect and what they\u2019ve shoved in the corners: art supplies, memorabilia, gifts they plan to re-gift. Things that belong in different rooms get stuffed into one space. They close the door and forget about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do people have difficulty parting with? Books and souvenirs. Most people are sentimental and hold onto things, especially if they are attached to a good memory \u2014 a trip they took, a concert they went to, their kid\u2019s artwork. They worry that if they give something away, that memory will fade. I suggest people take photos of these items and then let them go. We tend to make museums out of our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You also do Swedish death cleaning. How does that work? Swedish death cleaning is the act of setting clear intentions for where your belongings will go once you pass away, which includes organizing and categorizing things to appraise and sell, charitable donations, gifting to friends and family and tossing. Usually I do this with an older person or someone with a terminal illness who wants to get their belongings in order and not burden their loved ones with managing their possessions after they\u2019ve gone. Younger people have started hiring me because they\u2019ve gone through the process for their parents and realize they don\u2019t want to burden their children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tips or advice? Don\u2019t use the dining room table as a storage unit. Things you use often, like coffee mugs should go above or next to the coffee maker. Shop for your space; for me, that means no Costco. I value the real estate in my apartment more than the deal on 30 rolls of paper towels. There\u2019s the 20\/20 rule: If you can get an item in 20 minutes for under $20, and you\u2019re thinking of getting rid of it, get rid of it. We only use about 20 percent of our wardrobe, so if you haven\u2019t worn or used something within six months, you\u2019re probably not going to use it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n