Kitchen Counseling

When it comes to closets, not all ladies like to share. Miss Lauren (not our host Lauren) and her husband are very much together but recently have SEPARATED CLOSETS! Lauren no longer wants to have two shared closets; she believes that in this instance, not sharing is, in fact, a path to a happier relationship. She recognizes, as do the ladies from The Order Project, that disorganization can lead to stress and strain in relationships. After the separation of ‘community closets’ Miss Lauren just stuffed everything in, resulting in chaos. There are an overwhelming number of items in this tight space. The ladies have requested a pre-organization purge, but will it result in any real progress? The ladies plan a creative cubby system, color coding and in general creating a closet of calm, thereby helping Miss Lauren to not only have a happier closet experience every day but a more harmonious marriage!

Sharell is a fun, energetic wife and mother to two small children, but her energy stops dead in her pantry! Lauren, V and Tneisha took one look and christened this project pantry pandemonium! Sharell wants a space she can walk into and find exactly what she wants, but right now, on a disaster scale, this pantry is off the charts! Our turmoil terminators are challenged to purge and merge, getting rid of out-of-date products and finding room to effectively organize everything; kid snacks, wine, cookbooks and Sharell’s husband’s expanding collection of ‘wellness’ products. With tips and tricks and a lot of hard work, the ladies of The Order Project turn this hot mess into pantry heaven, showing you how you can work the same magic in your pantry no matter where you store your necessities.

A family room should be a place for relaxation and family fun but when clutter rules the day the space can be the cause of family tension with turmoil taking over. This family has made some effort to be organized but they feel that they are falling short as items have started to pile up. The cubbies intended to help maintain order have become jammed with a hodgepodge of books and papers, boxes are piling up and it has become challenging to watch a movie or play a game without moving piles of stuff in order to get comfortable. The ladies of The Order Project recognize that visual clutter is robbing this family of their chill time. It’s time to step in and create systems that can be easily maintained.

Thaddeus Young is an NBA player and avid shoe collector. When your job is running around a basketball court, it’s easy to understand how you can get hooked on shoes–lots and lots of shoes! But how to keep them organized, sorted, and protected- that’s a whole other ball game. And what if you end up getting traded and have to move with little or no notice? It’s all the real-life dilemma of a basketball playing shoe junkie! They are everywhere, and no husband and wife need to get into a tug of war over shoe storage, so the ladies of The Order Project have tips and tricks for sorting and saving our sanity when closet wars are imminent.

Every home office gets a work out when not one but two people use it, never mind keeping the kids out. Your office at home should be your haven, not hell on earth! The ladies of The Order Project get their marching orders from a client who has handed over the keys and gone off on vacation. The tall order is making this home office space work for two and making it kid proof to boot!

Kids’ closets are often neglected or seen as unimportant, but the ladies of The Order Project believe that is a mistake. As moms, they are all about teaching their kids order and appreciation and respect for both themselves and their things. Helping the kiddos learn and maintain an orderly space will teach them good habits, bringing them peace and calm for years to come. Robert is a dad who wants the best for his little princess - with a closet to match - but he also appreciates the ladies creating a design that teaches his little darling how to keep her own closet organized while leading her along a path of self-respect and order.

Imagine having three kids under age 3; the chaos, the clutter THE LAUNDRY! Mom and Dad are at their wits ends trying to create order in a laundry room that gets a daily workout. Doing laundry for a family of five is already a bit of a nightmare but when the laundry room is a labyrinth of clothes, cleaning products and a bagatelle of clutter the terror can reach epic proportions. Can The Order Project bring calm to this chaos and find a way to contain the clutter into a system that Mom and Dad can maintain as the kids grow?

Many of us have been there; traveling with kids is always an organization nightmare but add to that a special occasion, and you have to call The Order Project (especially when you are family)! Mo is V’s sister-in-law, and she is getting married in Mexico in just two weeks, and things are getting out of hand. The hallway of Mo’s house has boxes upon boxes; it resembles a warehouse more than a home! She has to figure out how to pack her wedding dress, not forget things, and how to pack for her whole family– a whole new blended family including young kids (she has twins, and her husband-to-be has a daughter). There is a lot of love and excitement going around, but Mo is not short of challenges to throw at the team! How to pack for three children, all the wedding things, and what about keeping the kids organized and occupied on the trip? Anyone who has ever traveled for a special event knows the fear of forgetting some key item! The Order Project always comes to the rescue, but this time it's emotional, it's life-changing, and it's personal!

Sleep deprived first time parents are on a steep learning curve. Babies come with stuff, mountains of stuff, and it all feels overwhelming to this new mom and dad who are suffering from clutter and chaos in the nursery. They have called in the ladies from TOP on a real organizational 911. They can’t find the onsies, the wipes or the swaddling blankets! They dream about a chance to sleep, but until that happens the last thing they want to do when they’re woken up for the 2:00 am feeding is fumble around looking for the necessities. All the TOP ladies have been through this as moms, and as pro-organizers they come to the rescue with a plan and some solid tips on staying on track. As an added bonus they throw in their most tried and true infant soothing tricks.

Not everyone has a full-sized kitchen pantry even if, with a family of 5 kids under 10, you might wish for one! But like many people, Laura has only cabinet storage in her kitchen and with a super busy life as a working mother the cabinets are a cluttered chaos! She has attempted to organize but has been disappointed in her own efforts and called The Order Project. This is a real kitchen cabinet 911! She dreams of being able to open a cabinet door and know where to quickly find what she needs to calm down the hectic household. Family tensions can arise, food can be wasted, and with the constant distraction of kids clamoring for snacks that no one can find, the TOP ladies quickly recognize that, as working moms themselves, this level of disorganization can lead to aggravation and discord. With their expertise and ‘mom chops’ the ladies attack the cluttered cabinets and transform their chaos to calm!

If the TOP ladies had to give this school counselor a grade on organization in their school closet it would be D-! On a scale of 1-10, this mess is a 9! But this lovely lady wants to improve her grade. She’s called on the ladies of The Order Project for a school closet clean out and craves a system that will work for her moving forward. She has a lot to keep track of as items for both teachers and students are stored in her closet and there is an overwhelming amount of stuff - some of it essential and some woefully out of date. Removing packaging and purging are two of the TOP ladies’ first steps. And then, through careful consideration and planning, the ladies leave our counselor with a concise plan for avoiding future chaos.

This sharply dressed bachelor has made some efforts to organize his closet but he has stalled, not for lack of motivation but because he simply doesn’t know what to do to make his closet work more efficiently. His busy life necessitates a well-ordered closet that helps him move quickly in the mornings or when he dashes home to change for a night out. The large attractive wooden closet system is a good start but he is not sure he is optimizing the space. It’s getting crowded and he is having challenges finding things. The Order Project rushes to the rescue. They will create a system that not only allows him to find his clothes quickly but makes sure that his impressive wardrobe is well looked after. His drawer space will be reviewed and reworked, his hangers replaced (to preserve his suits as well as to create better hanging space and a unified look) and his collection of bins will cease to be a collection of mystery boxes that he has to scrabble in constantly.

The Franklins are repeat clients. They lead busy lives and, knowing the value of organization, are smart enough to know that they need a little help. Kirk is often touring or traveling and they lead a peripatetic lifestyle. Sometimes the fridge and the pantry become something of a mystery. How long has something been in there and when was the last time it was used is a familiar refrain in this household. Although fridge organization is trending right now, the TOP ladies have known the value of organizing this space for years. They say that if the kitchen is the heart of the home that the fridge and the pantry are what makes it tick! The TOP ladies are up for the challenge and confess that they also enjoy the little sneak peek into what celebrities have in the fridge and pantry….even if a few things might be past their ‘best by’ dates!

History, Detroit’s heartbeat and the music that defined a generation are all preserved at the Motown Museum along with clutter not so hidden in a small but very busy office. Pro organizer Michaele Tocco is tickled to tackle the turmoil in the office of the Museum’s General Manager.

Spare bedrooms should be room for guests or a space to hang your out of season wardrobe, but this media maven/fashionista can’t even step into the room! This brainy beauty knows when its time to call in the professionals, Michaele to the rescue!

When you think of Detroit you think of cars, and car collectors. And, there’s a lot to organize when a family inherits a car barn and all the clutter that goes with it, its like a garage on steroids! Michaele might not know car collecting but she sure can kick start this family past the car clutter!

Organizing tools can be challenging, but if your client is driving all over the city renovating over 10 properties it is a herculean task! Michaele helps a Detroit renovator who has little or no time to keep herself organized.

Kitchens can be battle grounds with items vying for space and families fussing over what goes where. Michaele answers a call for help from a repeat client who appreciates that there is no one like Michaele when it comes to counseling a family through kitchen clutter.

Pro Organizer Michaele Tocco says that whenever you go through a big life change you need to review your closet. A young client about to move onto high school has (with parental permission) called Michaele to take her little girl closet from tot to teen.

Growing a business is a good thing but when it happens fast it can be overwhelming and lead to disorder. Michaele is called in by a repeat client who owns a wine shop that is growing to include food service and just like your kitchen at home there is a lot of room for improvement.

Organization is not just for ladies! A suave gentleman and entrepreneur reaches out to Michaele for help organizing his men’s shop. With clever containers, a man’s cave panache and some knowledgeable fabric storage Michaele is on the organizational – leading edge.

Everyone needs to organize things in plain sight, organizing is not always putting things behind closed doors. Michaele helps the event organizer at an historic venue create an attractive storage system that is so pretty it can share space with brides.

The beast that hides in the closet is often the clutter that we just can’t let go of. A Beauty Queen mom can’t part with the keepsakes in her pre-teen daughter’s closet. Baby dolls are out and purses and shoes are in as Michaele helps mom through parting with the past.

When any space is used by a lot of different people it needs to BE organized to STAY organized. But when the space is back stage and used by Detroit’s Public TV station, The famous Detroit Youth Choir and the equally celebrated Shakespeare in Detroit company the stakes are high. Flexibility is key and the star at center stage is Michaele Tocco as she takes on the challenge.

Even the most accomplished woman can struggle when dealing with the belongs left behind by loved ones who have passed on. This extradentary homeowner, with a more than impressive resume, has decided its time to attack the mountains of memories and move on…and Michaele is just the right person to take on this emotionally charged organizational challenge.