In Its Place

STUFF: We all have a lot of it, and often, no idea what to do with it. Professional organizers play an important role in helping clients make effective use of their beloved belongings by giving them a purpose, a space, or a new home. Here are some area business owners making the most of paring down and their tips to help you cut through the clutter noise.

• Wardrobe Order: Click here to read more about Jen MacLean helps people “sort through their lives.”
• Meticulous Moves: Click here to read more about how Erin Barbee Keller helps people move with order and efficiency.
• Sparking Joy: Read below to find out about how Lydia Fields helps clients create their own unique spaces. 

LYDIA FIELDS uses bestselling author, Netflix star, and organizing expert Marie Kondo’s tidying methods to help clients choose what they want to keep by deciding what “sparks joy” for them and what does not. 

Fields opened Seaside Styling and Organizing in 2018, but she became a certified KonMari Consultant in 2020, to help clients use their chosen pieces to create their own unique spaces. 

“It is really better to let go, choose, and be intentional with what you’re working with. Take a collection of curated things and display them in creative ways to create a space that is yours as a retreat to come home to,” Fields says.

As a certified home stager, Fields began her business using her sense of space layout and eye for color to create beautifully staged homes but soon realized she wanted to help clients make their homes beautiful for daily living.

“I loved the creative challenge of working with what clients already owned as opposed to buying all new items,” Fields says. 

Using her own experience with the KonMari method inspired her to attend the Marie Kondo’s training course and use the method as the cornerstone of her work. She is currently a silver-level consultant with 300 hours under her belt working towards the program’s gold level of 600 tidying hours.

Instead of just keeping things in boxes and bins, Fields suggests going through the items and choosing what they want to keep. 

“If you love it, then figure out how you can make it useful and be creative with it,” Fields explains. 

Fields says that it is often fear that impedes clients’ progress.

“They say, ‘I don’t know how to let go of these things,’ and they can’t seem to let them go,” she says. 

In her community enrichment class on home transformation at Cape Fear Community College, Fields provides a space “to pause and think about the emotional side of why we keep the things we do, and sometimes the story just needs to be told.” 

Pro Tips:

• Go on Netflix and watch Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. See her go through the process and get in the mindset when you’re trying to tackle a space that’s overwhelming. Ask what do I want to keep? What makes me happy? What inspires me?
• Find organizations to donate to that have a mission you can believe in. It will help you let it go a little more easily when you know it is going to one of the great nonprofits in the community. 
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help. You may need some support, and there is nothing wrong with getting a little extra help.

To view more of photographer Terah Wilson’s work, go to terahwilson.com.

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