Ervaringen

A text from a Happy Huis client after two sessions

''I have been visiting my family in England. I just wanted to share a small de-cluttering celebration with you…

My mum has been storing some stuff for me for a year or so. Today I finally let a lot of it go for her to try and sell at a car boot sale. I wasn’t able to let go of these things last time I was home. Most of them were presents from my dad and I felt guilty. But thanks to your support and wisdom, I felt strong enough to say goodbye to them. And I could hear your voice in my head: ‘Just because it was a gift, it doesn’t mean you have to keep it.’

So I wanted to say a big thank you for how much you have helped me already!''

Verjaardagstip: geef een opgeruimde kledingkast cadeau!

Onlangs ontving ik een leuke aanvraag van Jeroen om zijn vrouw te verrassen voor haar verjaardag. Ze baalde al langer van haar kleidingkast en bij het opruimen van de schone was ontbrak het steeds aan een vaste plaats voor haar verschillende kledingstukken. Zelf wilde het gewoon niet echt lukken. Met veel plezier ben ik samen met haar door haar kleding gegaan. Het doel is echt niet om altijd maar zo veel mogelijk kleding weg te doen, maar ze had wel veel dingen hangen die ze al zo'n 20 jaar had en al heel lang niet had gedragen. Deze kledingstukken nemen dan een hoop plaats in beslag als je ze toch niet draagt. Daarnaast zijn je kasten hierdoor erg vol, waardoor het aan overzicht ontbreekt. Na afloop ontving ik deze vriendelijke woorden van Jeroen:

'Maartje heeft alles 'in huis' om er een succes van te maken. Ze is positief, respectvol, en barst van de energie. Ik heb een coaching van haar cadeau gedaan, dat gaf een enorme verbetering in slechts een paar uur tijd. Precies goed, van harte aanbevolen.'

Expat life: Welcome to The Netherlands!

In two months time I helped out Elisa and her family to feel at home in The Netherlands. Their house did not feel like a home and it was a complete mess with 230 unpacked boxes, In the picture you see the result of all the things we donated. and some before and after pictures. At the end I asked her two questions and this is how she looks back on the process:

What triggered youto book an appointment with me?

We are a family of four and always move with our life belongings, which roughly fill one shipping container. Even though we reduced our shipping volume to half of what we usually carry I was absolutely overwhelmed at seeing piled boxes everywhere. I thought I couldn’t do this on my own. I needed guidance and a plan and someone to push me to get things done. Somebody that takes the lead and comes with a clear plan on what to do and how to do it. One of the reasons I looked for a professional organizer is because they have experience with other clients and can bring that experience to help with the situation here.

Can you describe your experiences in working with me? 

I was surprised that you didn’t stop. Sometimes I felt completely demotivated and I did not know what to do and you just said, ‘okay let’s do it’, and you’ve got that ‘let’s go forward mentality’. That was very helpful actually. You took the lead, so I just followed because I wasn’t in the mental state to think. I just needed to do.

It was great help. It’s not cheap, but I think it was worth it. I just couldn't have done it myself, I was completely blocked so thank you for your drive and get things done mentality!

What challenges did you run into when you decided to look for a home organizer? 

''The trigger was the unpacking of our moving boxes by the moving company.  At the end of the day it looked like a bomb exploded. This caused complete chaos. Running a household with two kids, I literally didn't have any time to organize anything.''

What were your expectations?

''A lot of people have the wrong idea about organizing. They just come and say, "Let me tidy up for you," but it's not about that. What I was really expecting was more than that. Somebody who comes and first thinks. Okay, how can we strategize this and help me find the right containers and then does it. 

First, you have to find the right place for an object, or 'a home' as Maartje calls it. It is an endless problem if you don't have a home for each item. It is not given to everybody to have this strategic approach, but this is where Maartje helped. So this is really where she stood out. Cleaning or putting everything in a place, anybody can do that. But doing it with a structure, that is different.''

In what way did I help you?

''You helped me find this strategy and structure. You also helped me get rid of things. I like that you ask questions frequently when you are there, you don't wait until the end of the session. You ask, "Where should I put this?" or "Do you want to keep this?" or ‘’You have two of these, do you want to keep both?’’ You also helped me identify if an object is redundant. So that helps a lot because sometimes it is better to have an outside person to point it out, and then you realize I don't need this. And what I really, really appreciated, considering I had zero time, is especially when you ordered things for me. So you helped me count the number of boxes we needed and the right sizes, because you measured everything we needed, and you already presented a few options that would work for our house. That was perfect. When I tried to do the ordering of things myself, it took me a long time.

Personally for me, the hardest part of organizing is kind of building this map or plan of where the objects will go. So do I need a box? Or a shelf? What is the system I am going to put in place? That is the biggest added value of your service. And of course, then also doing it is great.''

Do you have any advice or things I can improve?

''You did great overall. Push helping your clients to order for them, instead of having them do it. That saves them a lot of time. The process is good; I like that it was a 3-hour package. So we didn't need to hire you for a whole month at once. It is hard to predict how much help we needed upfront. As long as it made sense, we continued working together.

Some people might say it's a lot of money, but I see it as an investment. So I don't expect this situation to happen again where all my stuff is everywhere on the floor. Now it won't happen because it is all in boxes and labelled, and when we move again, I have good hope that the movers will just get the boxes, put them in cardboard boxes, and when they open it, it is not going to be the same chaos. It is something you do maybe once in a lifetime to have proper organization from A-Z, and after that, it is maintenance.''

What is the biggest difference between now and when we started?

''It's huge. Personally, I know where to put all the objects now because I was really involved in the process. Because I almost have a place for everything here, it takes less time to organize and to tidy up. If I have to do the living room, it only takes me 5-10 minutes. Because I go on automatic mode. I switch my brain off and just do it, as opposed to before I not only had the physical labour but also the mental labour. With this I mean: I can keep my home clean, but without the headache. I just do it like a robot. Not only did I normally have to go up and down in the house, but on top of that, I also had to think about every single object and I got a headache everywhere I went in the house, because there were more things added to my to do list all the time. Now I just do things automatically because there is a simple system. For example, going on holiday takes way less time now when we have to pack.

You ask a lot of questions to understand our needs and how we function as a family on a daily basis. We really designed a system according to how we live. So not all travel items are stored in the garage in our case, but for example the minis and small toilet bags we keep upstairs because I travel quite often for smaller trips. So I don't have to go back and forward in the house from the garage to the bathroom; I can just pack from one closet instead of running up and down.

You ask the right questions and you observe a lot, and that helps. I am really happy with everything you did. The garage, I wanted to run away from in the beginning, and now I just love going in there.

It was a pleasure to have you help us. It was really great. You love what you do, and it shows. I can really tell that you are in the right place and in the right job. It is also a very positive energy that you bring with you, which is great.''

Teresa's kledingkast aanpakken

Wat was je probleem voordat je bij Happy Huis kwam?

‘Je ziet vaak bij mensen een grote, handige kledingkast. Dit lijkt mij super, maar die hebben wij helaas niet. Dus dan laten we de kleine kast maar zo en gaan we hem uitmesten en reorganiseren, want nu heb ik totaal geen overzicht meer wat ik heb omdat de kast veel te vol ligt.'

Hoe vond je de begeleiding gaan?

‘Top! Aanpakken, maar op een leuke, gezellige manier. Alles uit de kasten, één voor één alle kledingstukken, schoenen en jassen nagelopen. Nog een keer de twijfelgevallen besproken. Meteen alles ingeladen voor een goed doel en een aantal spullen apart gelegd voor een rommelmarkt c.q. Marktplaats.’ 

Wat gaat er nu beter of anders? 

‘Eindelijk toch doorgezet en al tijden niet gedragen kleding weggedaan. Perfecte oplossing voor de schoenen geregeld. Ik heb geen grote kast meer nodig, ik heb mijn overzicht terug!’

Waarom zou je mij bij anderen aanbevelen?

‘Omdat je dit perfect hebt aangepakt!!! Complimenten.’