Oftentimes, we have many things going on in our lives that we forget to pause, rest and realize that a break is what we need. It has been the case for me here at STR blog for the past year. While we have been organizing for amazing clients, collaborations, keeping up with the business side of things, and most importantly taking care of family. I took a long break from the blog and I’m back in full force to give you all the organizing tips, tricks, and inspiration for your own organizing journey.

STR has been out in clients’ homes creating accessible, beautiful, and functional organizing systems. While getting to know clients, the question always comes out “how did you start organizing for others?” So for this blog post, I’m going to share some fun facts, get to know your favorite organizer, and my own organizing journey!

Northern Virginia Professional Organizer helping you create accessible, beautiful, and functional organizing systems

Born and raised in El Salvador, I moved with my family to the United States in my teens. After college, I worked as a federal government contractor for the Department of Defense. It was when I became a mom for the second time that my husband and I decided to make a lifestyle change and I became a stay-at-home mom. I’ve always been organized and tidy and it wasn’t until our move to Texas that I realized that we just had TOO MUCH stuff!

We started decluttering and packing to get our home ready for sale, we were pulling out things we didn’t know we had, nor had used during the time we lived in the house. We donated, tossed, and let go of so much that wasn’t longer serving us and that we didn’t need. It was so freeing to see those things go and what was most satisfying was the fact that our home didn’t feel overwhelmed with things.

Fast forward to 2 years of living in Texas with 2 little ones in a house that we were living in temporarily, and things were multiplying again. It was the constant cleaning and picking up that was taking the joy out of the day. It felt like I was just cleaning and organizing all day.

When we decided to make our move back to Virginia is when I finally realized that we didn’t need that many things and that there was a way to maintain a neat and organized home where in my mind no one was sharing the secret. It was when I saw on Netflix the newly released series Tidying up with Marie Kondo, I watched all 8 episodes in one day and I was determined to follow through with the Kondo method, which helped me tremendously and it pushed me to make decisions I had delayed for years.

After telling friends and family about my tidying-up experience and sharing it on social media, I received an overwhelmingly positive response to what I was doing. I wanted to share with everyone how amazing it feels to declutter and set systems that will set you up to create and have a tidy home. I did have some people worried that I was overdoing it and getting rid of things I was going to regret, but I’m happy to announce that I have not missed one thing I tossed. Things are just things and they only have the value we give to them.

My husband saw my enthusiasm for what I was doing and told me something that changed my life, “you should do this for people, you are good at it!”. I was like, no way, how? I don’t know how to start a business or find clients. Then, I started to think about it more because I knew that eventually once we were back in Virginia and both girls would be in school, I had to go back to work, and honestly, I wasn’t ready to start looking for jobs and immediately got nervous just thinking of the job search and interview process, no thanks!

So what I did instead was research and research about how to become a professional organizer, to my big surprise, there were already a ton of people out there doing this job, so I figured that it would be something I could do too, after all helping others is what I’ve always looked for in a job.

Ever since this job has become more than a job, it has become a lifestyle, a journey, and an experience I wouldn’t trade for anything! I absolutely, love helping people who open their homes to me to help them create accessible, beautiful, and functional organizing systems that are life-changing.

Do you have an event that has changed your life? I would love to hear about your experience in the comments below.

Karen Windholz, Professional Organizer in Northern Virginia

I would also like to share that as of right now STR is growing and we are now serving clients more efficiently with a growing team. If you need a space in your home to declutter and organize we are still offering complimentary consultations, just make sure to fill out our contact form here.

Here are some articles STR has been featured

Forbes: 22 Satisfying Marie Kondo-Approved Kitchen Organization Ideas

Architectural Digest: 16 Pantry Storage Containers the Pros Can’t Get Enough Of

Life in Jeneral Blog: Purging: 6 Tips From Our Favorite Pro Organizers

Real Simple: Try These Genius Pantry Organization Ideas to Give Your Kitchen an Instant Upgrade

Until next time,

STR