Get tips on how to declutter your life on the House of Lou podcast.
Maybe it’s an overfilled junk drawer. Maybe it’s years of family photos in the basement or equipment from countless discarded hobbies in the garage. Disorganization and clutter can make it difficult to focus and cause negative emotions, such as confusion, tension, and irritability, according to the American Psychological Association. Conversely, a clean and organized space can improve your mood, increase your sense of accomplishment, and help you de-stress.
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If you have a problem area but you’re not sure where to start, there’s a St. Louis professional ready to help. These five women-owned personal organizational companies are designed to calm the chaos in your home–and maybe even your life.
Organizing STL
A St. Louis native, Debbie Richardson started Organizing STL in 2008 after working in commercial real estate and raising two kids. She’s been working closely with senior living communities since 2017, and helping clients downsize has become a big part of her business.
What services do they offer? “Anything and everything,” Richards says. To be more specific, she focuses on helping seniors declutter, downsize, and move. She also helps clients of all ages with moving coordination, from packing and unpacking to designing new spaces. Her business services include organizing, interior and exterior holiday decorating, pre-market cleanup for home sellers, and curb appeal enhancements.
Richardson services all of the St. Louis area, St. Charles County, and southern Illinois.
How it works: Call, email, or fill out the form on Organizing STL’s website to get started.
Examples: Check out the website for examples of her work.
Contact: 314-276-3539, [email protected]
Peace of Mind Organizing
Genealogy enthusiast, prolific knitter, and pet writer-turned-entrepreneur, Janine Adams is also a certified professional organizer who has worked with more than 300 clients since 2005. She’s appeared on A&E’s Hoarders and TLC’s Hoarding: Buried Alive, as well as talk shows such as Great Day St. Louis.
With a judgment-free approach, Adams offers an array of organizational help geared toward the clients’ preferred pace. She can also help you organize your family history.
What services do they offer?
- Operation: Peace of Mind Do you happen to be addicted to those home makeover shows in which a team transforms a junky space into an organizational marvel that the family can actually use and enjoy? You can have that experience, too (sans camera crew) with Peace of Mind Organizing. Dubbed “Operation Peace of Mind,” this mission begins with a walkthrough with owner Janine Adams to give her a feel for the space and the goals you have in mind. Then, she’ll give you a custom quote, usually between $700-$3,500, according to her website. When the day you’ve previously arranged arrives, so does the crew with bins, donation bags, and label makers. About four hours later, you’ll have a reformed space.
- The Tête à Tête If you’d rather ease into the process of decluttering, a slower approach is one-on-one organization consultations with the team, which cost $100 an hour with a four-hour minimum.
- Operation: Relocation Moving is one of the most stressful life events for most people. To help clients avoid the hassle, the team helps you declutter, donate, pack, streamline moving day—communicating with outside vendors, coordinating communication, and ensuring that you know exactly what’s going on at all times—as well as unpacking and organizing in the new home.
- YNAB Coaching Adams was such a fan of the You Need A Budget budgeting methodology that she took the training program and became a YNAB Certified Budgeting Coach. The financial organization program helps you set up a budget and work toward reaching your financial goals. It costs $550 for three 60- to 90-minute sessions and other training materials. After that, it’s $150 per hour for additional YNAB coaching.
- Virtual organizing Adams also offers virtual organizing via Zoom for $150 per hour.
How it works: Email the owner to book a consultation.
Examples: Check out her work on Facebook or Instagram, or listen to her “Getting to Good Enough” podcast.
Contact: 314-707-3022, [email protected]
Sacred Space Organizing
Founded on Valentine’s Day in 2014, this woman- and veteran-owned business is run by founder, co-owner, and West Point graduate Erin Neumann and co-owner and once-retired (but back at it again) entrepreneur Charlotte Slankard. The team uses a signature five-step process: prioritize, categorize, minimize, organize and systemize.
What services do they offer? Home organizing (closets, craft rooms, living rooms, kids rooms, kitchens, laundry, primary bedrooms, pantries, playrooms, home offices, garages, and basements), business organizing, moving and downsizing (decluttering and sorting, packing and moving help, and unpacking to assistance), financial organization (in-person and online), photo organization, and virtual organization.
To give clients peace of mind when purging and decluttering and ensure everything goes to a worthy home, they partner with Connections to Success (Dress for Success Midwest), The Society of St. Vincent de Paul (St. Louis), Catholic Charities (St. Louis), and Habitat for Humanity for our Blessing Our Neighbors project.
The team covers St. Louis, St. Louis County, Jefferson County, St. Charles County and O’Fallon in Missouri and southern Illinois. If you’re located 35 miles or more from zip code 63119, additional fees may apply.
How it works: To get started, call for a free 15-minute phone consultation or in-person consultation.
Examples: Check out their work on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest.
Contact: 314-266-4820
Cost: $75 per hour, with a four-hour minimum
St. Louis Closet Co.
St. Louis Closet Co. is woman-owned and has been creating custom closets and storage systems for more than 32 years. In addition to its own manufacturing plant, the company boasts a 30,000-square-foot showroom.
What services do they offer? As the name would indicate, they specialize in closets, but they also do home organization, laundry rooms, Murphy beds, pantries, and work spaces. The company includes pantries, laundry rooms, mud rooms and lockers, linen closets, shoe storage, coat closets, kids closets, garage storage, playrooms, wine storage, entertainment centers and book cases, wardrobes, closet accessories, home offices, craft rooms, commercial and retail office storage, and holiday storage.
St. Louis Closet Co. serves the entire St. Louis metropolitan area on both sides of the river.
How it works: First, you’ll schedule a free in-home consultation and design quote. Then, you’ll work together with the team to finalize your design. They then create your custom solution in their factory. Once completed, they’ll send out a team to install it.
Examples: If you’re looking for inspiration on your project, check out the “Idea Center,” an on-website mini-Pinterest board of local custom projects that the company has completed. You can also see their work on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Contact: 2626 S. Big Bend, St. Louis, 314-781-9000
2B Organized
2B Organized has organizers across the state and nationwide, but Debra Farnell, Amanda Stehl, and their all-female team hold down (and clean up) the fort in St. Louis. Stehl is a big believer in simplification, and she coaches her clients to “remove the daily ‘time robbers’ from their lives.” Farnell has a degree in Home Products Development and Marketing from Fashion Institute of Technology. Together, the working-mom duo is committed to creating simplified systems that everyone in the household can maintain.
What services do they offer? The company’s website lists in-home organizing; moves and relocations; life transitions and downsizing; new builds, renovations and space planning; home styling and pre-market preparation for home selling. The junk drawer, the kids’ play area, the garage, holiday dècor, and cross-country moves.
They service St. Louis and the surrounding areas, including Ballwin, Clayton, Manchester, Creve Coeur, Chesterfield, Kirkwood, Webster Groves, Frontenac, University City, and Maryland Heights; they are willing to travel.
How it works: To get a quote, fill out the company’s contact form. Describe the project and timeline, upload photos, and one of the owners will reach out to you.
Examples: Check out their work on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest.
Contact: 314-527-0954, [email protected]
