Cringeworthy Coat Closet

A busy mom reaches out to The Order Project to save her sanity. Her daughter’s playroom is a disaster and the toddler’s turmoil is getting on her nerves. Recognizing that this is an opportunity to teach her daughter the art of organizing, this mommy is following the instruction of Lauren, Tneisha and V and getting her little one to start the sorting process by piling all her favorite toys in one area. What results is a cacophony of color that leaves this monochromatic loving mommy cringing! Understanding that organization is both functional and aesthetic, how will the TOP ladies give mommy the calm she craves and baby girl a path to productive play? Can they make both mommy and mini happy?

Beautician Sheila Green has been doing Lauren’s and Tneisha’s hair for decades, and every time the ladies are there for an appointment they beg to be allowed to turn Sheila’s Chaos to Calm. This one is not easy! The salon is a busy place; there are health and safety regulations and, just like in many bathrooms at home, there are tangles of cords to wrangle. And Sheila has a bad habit or two to break. But just like any woman at home she wants her hair products close at hand. And just like what any woman experiences, not being able to quickly and efficiently find what you need to get your look can be stressful! Hair is, after all, our crowning glory. The Order Project team swoops in to not only deliver on their promise of ‘functional organization’ but to provide calm for Sheila, her fellow hairdressers and every woman who sits in her chair.

When a bathroom vanity is so embarrassing and exasperating that the owner calls the TOP ladies with a ‘fix me quick’ emergency, the peripatetic pro organizers rush to the rescue. If you can’t find your face wash or your hair products in the morning your whole day can be topsy turvy. The client has handed over her keys and given the girls free reign to terminate the turmoil in her bathroom. The double vanity is generously proportioned but, without a place for everything and everything in its place, the bathroom is anything but soothing and spa-like. The ladies look at the use of vertical space and share some tips for cabinet door storage systems. In the end the tone of the bathroom changes from cluttered and confusing to cool, calm and collected.

Organization can be a challenge for everyone; the home crafter, home cooks or collectors. In this episode anyone who craves calm in their home will learn lots of tips and tricks as the ladies of The Order Project come to the aid of a balloon business. Every day the owners are wasting time and getting frustrated searching for the right balloon, which is often in the wrong place. The ladies create a functional sorting and storing system that can work for anyone who finds themselves in a sea of disarray. Anyone who is frustrated and flustered when searching for materials for work, hobbies or domestic tasks will be inspired. The ladies’ expertise enables them to organize literally thousands of multi-colored balloons and, where there are balloons and the TOP ladies, there will be tips and tricks for organizing - as well as a few shenanigans.

He can never get his car into the garage. She parks hers there but the space for his is cluttered and crowded with everything from holiday decor to cleaning supplies, ladders and folding chairs! The disorganization in the garage is causing more than grumbling; it's causing tension. The wife calls The Order Project in order to surprise her husband with a parking place as well as a system that will end the search for the Halloween or Christmas decor. The ladies step in to solve the garage grumbling by creating a system that anyone can use in their garage or basement. They’ll use covered bins and shelving designed to prevent dust buildup on those rarely used but much treasured items that we all keep from season to season. And with any luck his ladders and other bits and pieces will also get the TOP treatment.

Kitchen cabinets and drawers are a catchall for stuff; often stuff that is out of sight and out of mind. A client has reached out for help because she and her family can no longer deal with the clutter and confusion in the home that they are renting while their new house is being built. Even though they will only be in this home for 12 months they want to be organized and maintain good habits. What they do not want to do is spend a lot of money! So many busy households can relate to this! Andrenters will get some great tips about storage solutions for kitchens that are not permanent. This episode sees the TOP ladies providing order that will move this family, and yours, out of kitchen chaos and into kitchen calm.

The Order Project’s team of turmoil terminators get a call for a pantry that is a hot mess, stuffed to the rafters to serve a working mom, 11- and 2-year-olds and a busy dad who fancies himself a chip connoisseur! And SURPRISE: it turns out that the clients are Lauren's sister and brother-in-law who have been after The Order Project for a 'family favor' for ages....but could not wait any longer and sent an email request signed only "hot mess express"! Lauren's sister-in-law wants peace in the family and order to meal times but also aspires to a pantry that is visually pleasing. She wants an oasis of calm rather than the pantry that is currently driving her nuts and she was willing to stoop to subterfuge to get it!

We all make jokes about sharing a closet with a life partner, but in real life it can be less than funny. What happens when a soon-to-be groom recognizes that there’s potential for a relationship battleground in the main bedroom closet? If he is smart, he calls The Order Project to surprise his bride. They will solve the problem before it becomes a point of tension while he whisks her off for a weekend break! This newly engaged couple is attempting to happily merge their space. Having just moved in together they are already having spats over who gets which real estate in the closet. This is a small space with big organizational needs. Space planning is going to be a huge part of the solution to this his-and-hers space. The TOP ladies, all happily married women, use their personal and professional experience to create a neutral space with a functional closet system that works for both and provides room for growth.

Gwen and her husband are both recently retired and, like many things in their lives, their food storage situation has been issued a change order. The Order Project comes in to evaluate their new wants and needs, while also taking planning for the future into consideration. Gwen and her husband want to stay in this home and the ladies need to look ahead and come up with an age-appropriate pantry design using the basic principles of ‘aging in place’ design.

An entryway closet is causing confusion and tension for an otherwise happy family of five. When they have company, mom and dad cringe if a guest asks to hang up their coat. Rather than the public space (guest coats and grab-and-go family closet that it is intended to be), this closet is a catch-all. It's like a black hole; things go in there and are never seen again! Mom is frustrated and tired of the strain it is causing in the family, but she knows she can’t say put it where it belongs because even she doesn’t know where that is!!! In an effort to make for calmer comings and goings she has called The Order Project. Mom wants a place that the whole family can use easily and happily and she wants a place that will not make her cringe when she says, “can I take your coat?”

Part linen closet, part utility closet and all a mixed-up mess, this space at Great Commission Baptist Church, where our host Lauren and her family regularly worship, is in need of more than a hope and a prayer! Like many of The Order Project’s clients the church needs to be able to find those ‘use once in a while items’ as easily as those used daily. But in this storage space, filled with items that range from tablecloths, napkins and serving dishes to items normally found in a utility closet, this has proved to be a challenge. And, just like the linens at your house, the church’s linens require special storage requirements. Do they fold and stack or hang? Is it a good idea to store on wire racks? And how do you know if this is a tablecloth for 4 or 14? The ladies of The Order Project, like always, have done their homework and will create systems that keep the serving pieces clean and protected and the linens preserved and ready to go at a moment’s notice. If their tips and tricks work for a church that regularly hosts events for hundreds, just imagine how helpful they will be for your linen’s occasional pieces.

Viola’s House is a maternity home for homeless teens and the demands on the space are enormous. They have reached out to The Order Project for one particularly problematic area. Like many homes they have one big storage closet that has multiple identities. The closet serves as storage for food, baby bottles and paper products, including diapers and cleaning supplies. There is an overwhelming amount of stuff in this closet and many people access it for many different reasons. This kind of storage is so common in so many domestic settings that viewers will resonate. How will the TOP ladies categorize, organize and strategize an ongoingplan for maintaining order in this multi-use space? This is a huge challenge and order is so important for the young women going through challenging times as well as for the people who look after them and their little ones. One of our TOP ladies knows these challenges first hand and she uses her (painful) past experience to the benefit of the residents and staff at Viola’s House.