510-407-5556
The Gentle Sort,
Home Organizing
Hey there, I’m Sylvia Perry. I work one on one with people purging, sorting, and organizing their homes. I also help with packing up, and unpacking for a move. I have been a professional home organizer for the last five years.
How did I get started doing organizing? For years I have been going to my friends homes and helping them clean up. Five years ago, I was helping a friend get ready for a party. I can usually figure out a kitchen, but wow, her kitchen was pretty wacky! Together we organized it quickly. She turned to me and said, “You need to be paid for this!”
I create joy out of the mundane. It’s really funny, when I first start with my clients they look at me, they look at the pile of things, their foreheads crinkle, and they frown. I just laugh and tell them we just have to start! Andiamo Bella! Once we get going it turns into a frenzy of activity. It’s a simple service that creates an emotional clearing for people to be more productive, and relaxed in their lives.
A friend asked me, “What is the most important part of my business? The most important part of my business is happy clients! I show up, we become whirling dervishes, then things fall back into place sorted and organized. It’s a wonderful feeling. I get a lot of repeat clients, and they refer me to their friends.
I believe in helping people in the present moment quickly, and efficiently. I support people while we go through every physical detail or their lives. I help them manage their overwhelm while we sort, and organize their precious things. In all my organizing sessions, at one point the client turns to me and says, “I have been looking for that!” I always let out a big big belly laugh and say, “I was waiting for you to say that!” I go on to explain that every client I have ever had the privilege to serve has said the same thing at some point in the session. Every one! As we work I love hearing the story of their lives, their treasures, and their adventures.
Another thing people say, “I feel so overwhelmed!” I’ve heard this over and over. I reassure people that they are in good company. The Bay Area is a wonderful place to live, and it is also crowded, expensive, and frenetic. Most people work very hard to keep up, especially going through a global pandemic, climate crisis, economic fluctuations. It’s difficult to stay on top of all the little details. I help people with the accumulated decades of their lives. I find that it is best if we go through all items to determine what is: sell, keep, donate, recycle, and trash. As we go through that process we start putting all (like things) with (like things) figuring out all the categories, clothing, shoes, electronics, books, photo’s, important papers, memories. I tell my clients, “There is only room for great!” To help them let go of things that don’t serve them. Usually people have limited space, and need to brainstorm the best use of that space. “Less is more!”
I believe in humility. I am always careful to ask about each item. I find that if things have gotten piled up, (important items) can be mixed in with (less important items). We have to go through everything so nothing important gets thrown away. For example, I was going through some papers with a client. There was a grocery list. I asked, “Is this trash? She said, “That is very important to me. My grandmother wrote that list 40 years ago!” We put it in a special box and put it on the mantle.
I believe in humor and gentleness while navigating the delicate issues of removing clutter. I had this one client who expressed dismay for having a lot of purses. I reminded her about how much she had already let go. I told her that she has helped thousands of patients for decades! She is allowed to have as many purses as she wants! She had already donated five of them! I am there to encourage forward motion when clients start over thinking things.
Another great part of my service is to take all donations to Goodwill. It’s really a good thing to get the donations out the door. A lot of people will let them sit in the hallway for weeks, and end up going through it again taking half the things back. I helped my sister organize her home, I had to run the donations to the car before she grabbed everything back! I love reminding people when we donate we are re-purposing for the benefit of others. Somebody will love your stuff!
Did you want to sell some of your clothing? In Marin: I recommend Willow Grove consignment at 1001 Bridgeway suite C1 Sausalito, CA 94965. You have to go upstairs to get to this location. The phone number is 415-320-9489, hollis@willowgroveconsign.com, willowgroveconsign.com, it’s very high end, I recommend calling before showing up.
There is also Sax Consignment at 629 San Anselmo Ave., San Anselmo, CA 94960, 415-4567655, if you can go on Fridays, the owner, Erin is always there… She is delightful!
Stella’s at 224 Greenfield Ave. in San Anselmo, CA 94960 is very easy to get to.
In Oakland, I recommend Maribel at 3251 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland, CA 94610, 510-419-0677, maribeloakland.com.
Do you ever get confused about recycling? At Marinsanitaryservice.com they have an online tool to find out what goes where? It’s called “Where does it go, Joe?” They offer document shredding, and they also have a mobile shredding service that comes to you! This includes x-rays, ID’s, diskette's, no hard drives, they are fully insured.
Sometimes, there are a lot of medical donations, crutches, walkers, things of that nature. Here are four places that you can take medical donations:
marinMER.org 415-388-8198
Marin medical equipment recyclers
Open Wednesday only
Kerner Blvd., San Rafael, CA
Med Share - 510-567-70702937 Alvarado St., San Leandrowww.medshare.org
VIDA - 510-655-84322424 4th St., Berkeley (warehouse)www.vidausa.org
Sonoma MERP - 707-360-24983000 Dutton Ave., Santa RosaOpen Wed. 11am to 2pmwww.sonomacountysoa.org
If you know of someone that has a bigger job, I highly recommend my friend Meg Connell, 510-482-5892, TheOrganizedOne.com, Professional Estate Organizing.
My friend Steve Adams is a master organizer and interior designer, creativespaceorganizing.com,
510-501-1213.
I will end with these questions. In this time of transformation and magic...what will you manifest? What will you let go?
I would love to answer any questions...510-407-5556
About
Do you have drawers, closets, whole rooms that feel overwhelming to you? I would be happy to come help you! I offer packages. I charge $500 for a 5 hour session, ten hours for $900, and 25 hours for $2000. I also offer a flat rate of $75 an hour for seniors 65 and over. I travel to San Francisco, North Bay, South Bay, and East Bay. Concerning Covid...I had a mild case January 2021, then received the vaccine and booster. I am happy to wear a mask in your home.
I have many 5 star reviews on YELP. Below are some of the testimonials I have received:
“Sylvia Perry is a compassionate competent organizer. She implements her effective process for decluttering and organizing with loving compassion. I appreciated how she treated me with respect while helping me push through some of the trauma associated with the spaces we cleared in my home. Her method was so effective that she inspired me with courage to empty my storage unit in addition to setting up my home. Because of Sylvia’s expertise, kindness, and love, my house has become a cozy welcoming home, filled with beauty and order. Thank you, Sylvia!”
-Eileene/College Professor
"Sylvia is the absolute best at organization. I was completely overwhelmed. I was paralyzed at the thought of moving, and having to make decisions about what to do with all of my clutter. Sylvia came in and immediately put me at ease. She is soothing, calming, and she actually made the process feel like no big deal. She assessed the situation then immediately went to work helping me to sort everything, and before I knew it, the living room was organized into different categories. She helped me to make hard decisions about what to keep and let go of, and did it in a way that was relatively painless. She is also a loving, gentle spirit who makes an otherwise painful process so much easier." - Gina / Writer
"Sylvia is a sorting and organizing wizard. She's also kind, calm, and insightful. My walk-in closet was a huge mess, stacked high with boxes and stuff to be given to the Goodwill, thrown out, or recycled. Sylvia arrived on time with a cheerful, sympathetic attitude, and coffee. She helped me sort everything into piles (keep, recycle, trash, donate) and organize the stuff I wanted to keep into orderly, easily accessible categories in my closet. She gently helped me let go of shoes, handbags and clothes I never wore but had been madly clinging to. She cleaned the shelves in my closet, swept up the dirt and dust, and took out the trash and recycling. Then she drove ten bags of donated stuff to the Goodwill and dropped it off for me. What a relief! I'm going to hire Sylvia again to help me clean out my other closets and organize my kitchen cabinets. She is really a gem. I can't recommend her highly enough! - Laura / Administrator
"YOU ARE THE BEST! I COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU! Thank you for your stamina and encouragement to clean out my basement which is our 3rd session together after cleaning out the sleeping room and the kitchen of any unnecessary items and put the remaining in a logical order! I feel I can breathe again, and I am much closer to my goal of having an uncluttered space that serves my needs, and pleases my eyes!" - Ulrika / Business Consultant
"On my boat and in my storage unit, I had let things get piled up, and I was feeling really overwhelmed. Sylvia came in and put me at ease, and my dog loved her! Which made me feel even more comfortable. She was quick, hard-working, and fun to be around. She also hauled away donations and hazardous waste! I highly recommend Sylvia Perry." - Ranen / Retired Military
There is a different dynamic when working with couples. There are things that she wants to keep that leaves him scratching his head in complete disbelief. And, there are things that he wants to keep that make her eyes roll and pop out of her head. After I had to clean up the eyeballs off the floor a few times, I realized I had to take action. When working with couples, we will start the session with holding hands in a circle. I make them say to each other, "I honor your need to hold on to some things that don't make sense to me. I love you." Then we are ready to do the work! It is a process of getting through the accumulated things quickly. There are 5 categories: Sell, Keep, Donate, Recycle, Trash. I find the process invigorating and full of joy!
Services
The service provided is straightforward and simple - I will come to you and help you purge, organize, and clean your space.
$500 for a 5 hour session
$900 for a 10 hour session
