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

JEN MACLEAN always loved sorting and organizing, so when practicing law did not bring her the satisfaction she hoped, she set out traveling the globe until she ended up back in Wilmington, helping people sort “through their lives.” 

JAM Organizing officially opened in 2017, but MacLean’s skills had been put to use for friends and colleagues for more than a decade.

MacLean tackles organizing “pretty much everything, as long as I understand what the stuff is used for.” But, her passion is women’s closets. 

“There’s a lot of insecurities on those hangers, and women are faced daily with a barrage of insecurities. There should be nothing in your closet that makes you feel bad about yourself,” MacLean says. “Get rid of it. Let it go. Your closet cannot do that to you.”

MacLean’s process starts with a free, one-hour consultation where she can see the space and make a plan that works for her client.

“It’s a personal process. I literally have my hands in your underwear drawer. It is very personal, so before any money changes hands, I want to make sure you are comfortable with us or else you are not able to open up, and we’re not going to do as good of a job,” she says.

MacLean says learning how clients use their space is essential, but the main focus is decluttering. 

“Life is easier with less. The more we can get out, the better. I take away donations at every session,” MacLean says. 

She has taken so many donations to such a wide variety of organizations that MacLean was inspired to compile a list of local nonprofits where people can donate their goods and posts it on the website DonateILM.com. 

“It is meant to be a resource. People are more likely to donate if they can connect with an organization,” MacLean says. 

MacLean describes clients as “people who are victims of life. Life has happened and they want a reset where they can move forward from there. It doesn’t matter where you start, just that you start.”

Pro Tips:

• Declutter, declutter, declutter. 
• Don’t buy bins and baskets. Wait and see what you need after you see what is needed to fit after the space is cleared. 
• Think about how you use the space or want to use the space. Look forward and ask which possessions get to move forward with you in your life. 
• Get your family involved in the organizing process. They’ll be more likely to maintain it.

Correction: Jen MacLean’s last name was misspelled in the print version of this story. The online story has been updated with the correct spelling.

To view more of photographer Aris Harding’s work, go to arisharding.com.

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