A woman has shared how she quit her corporate job and now earns $100,000 (£83,000) a year clearing ‘chronic clutter.’
Kayleen Kelly, 37, has always been fascinated by decluttering and transforming spaces but it wasn’t until January 2015 when she quit her corporate job to organise full time.
Since this big life move, she has transformed the homes of 1,000 clients.
Kayleen endorses a ‘core four’ method which involves clearing out, categorising, cutting out, and containing items.
The decluttering expert specialises in habitual and out-of-control mess. She calls this issue ‘chronic clutter’ and aids hoarders both in person and online.
Kayleen, from Jacksonville Florida, US, said: ‘When I was growing up, I wasn’t in control of many things, but organising became a hyper-focus for me to control my environment – it made me feel safe.
‘Clutter does not discriminate, it doesn’t matter what your background is or the size of your home.
‘I work with real people with real homes – often Instagram homes are all smoke and mirrors. Leaving my full time job was the best decision I ever made.’
Kayleen started Kayleen Kelly Home Organizing & Redesign in April 2014 and quit her full time job in January 2015.
In her first year she made an incredible $40,000 (£33k).
Now she earns $100,000 a year, working just 23 hours a week and has three staff members to help her.
‘I apply the core four method to every single project – when you have an unorganised space everything gets mixed together,’ she explained.
‘You have to work through a room, one tile at a time, it’s like a puzzle game.’
When working on a home, she first cleans room by room, categorises everything by item, then uses the three-second rule to confidently clear clutter and contain everything that remains.
‘Start by targeting things that don’t belong in that space and moving them to their appropriate space,’ Kayleen advised.
‘For example, move things from your bedroom that belong in the bathroom or kitchen. Start with one room and one space at a time.
Kayleen’s ‘Core Four’ Method
- Clear-out. Target things that don’t belong in that room and move them to their correct home
- Categorise. Break your items into smaller categories such as clothing and then into smaller sub-categories
- Cut out. Use the three second rule to keep or delete your items
- Contain. Choose storage solutions to house what remains
‘Then categorise everything into small categories such as clothing and then break it down into even smaller subcategories – such as tops, bottoms, undergarments, shoes and accessories.
‘You can then break things down into smaller categories for example for tops you have tees, sweaters, tanks and heavy knits.’
The three-second rule allows you to be ruthless when it comes to items.
‘Look at one item at a time and give yourself three seconds to make a decision,’ Kayleen said.
‘If you hesitate for more than three seconds, keep it and you can circle back. It’s the easiest way to make progress and make quick and confident decisions from your gut.’
In the final stage of containing, the aim is to find a space to store the remaining belongings.
‘The last step is creating a system that makes sense to you,’ she noted. ‘You can lay out and find what works for you.
‘It doesn’t have to be beautiful or pretty all of the time. Life is messy and we already have so much pressure, Instagram homes can be very misleading.
‘What I do is all about functionality not form.’
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