We signed on our new house on a Thursday afternoon. By Tuesday night, the basement had flooded. Welcome home to us.
We had been looking for a house, then decided to take a break. Then our realtor sent us one more listing. We went to see it and fell in love. It wasn't what we expected, but God did what He does so beautifully. He worked out details we never could have worked out ourselves.
And then the water came…
I'll spare you the very long version involving plumbing, phone calls, and more people coming through our house than I could keep track of. Just picture people moving things out of the basement while other people moved our belongings into the upstairs. That was our welcome home!
We love this house, and I'm so grateful for it but also, moving is overwhelming…
With the chaos of construction in the basement, hiring a professional organizer became one of the best decisions we made during this move. I want to share what it actually looked like, what surprised me, and why asking for help felt less like a luxury and more like a lifeline in this season.
Why I decided to hire a professional organizer
There were moments when the logistics, the mess, and the needs of our family felt like a lot to hold at once.
Harris does best with routine and predictability, so a move is a big deal for him. Much of my energy went to helping him settle in. (I shared what helped our son feel safe in our new home if you're preparing for a move with a little one who needs extra care.)
Meanwhile, there were boxes in every room and two more little ones who wanted to help unpack every single one of them and no time to unpack. Without the help, unpacking would take months that we don’t have with the speed of our life.
That's when Simply Busy Bee came in.
What happened when the organizer walked in
Here's the funny part. I originally hired Heather Killingsworth and Simply Busy Bee to organize my jewelry. That was it. One small, pretty project.
Then Heather saw my closet.
It was packed. I simply had more things than the space could hold. So Heather gently suggested we start with the closet first, and the jewelry could wait.
I'm so glad she did.
What does a professional organizer actually do?
Before this, I think I pictured someone coming in to make things look pretty. Matching hangers. Cute baskets. A label maker.
That's not what it was.
We took everything out of my closet and sorted it into categories. Then we worked through each item together. Heather would hold something up and ask me questions.
The questions that helped me let go
The first one stopped me in my tracks: Are you ready to live your best life with less?
From there, she asked:
Does it fit your life today?
Would you buy it again?
Have you worn it in the last year?
Does it bring you joy?
"Does it fit your life today?" was the one that got me. My life looks different than it did a few years ago. Three little ones. A new house. A new season. Some of what I was holding onto belonged to a version of me that isn't here anymore. And that's okay.
One more thing made letting go easier. Simply Busy Bee partners with North Fulton Community Charities, so I knew the things I donated would go to people who need them. It's so much easier to release something when you know it might bless another family.
Round two (because the first pass wasn't enough)
After we decluttered, we put everything back in the closet. I had done a good job letting go. But the closet still didn't have the breathing room I needed.
So we went back for round two.
I dug a little deeper. Then Heather helped us set up a mini clothes vault downstairs for my seasonal clothing. Those pieces are still organized and easy to reach. They just aren't crowding my everyday space anymore.
Now when I open my closet in the morning, I can see what I have. It feels calm instead of heavy. I didn't realize how much that little bit of daily chaos was costing me until it was gone.
The garage, the kids' closets, and a place for everything
Next up was the garage.
We took everything out and spread it across the driveway. Then we sorted it into categories and asked the same questions we used in my closet.
Heather set us up with a garage vault: clear, labeled bins so we can see what we own, know where it belongs, and grab what we need without digging through piles. Our Christmas decor finally has its own home. (Which is good, because apparently a flooded basement cannot stop me from planning a big, merry-and-bright Christmas tree for our mint green living room.)
There's still another phase ahead for the garage, including overhead storage. But it already works so much better.
We also tackled the kids' closets. We let go of over half of each child's wardrobe to give to other children in need. Their seasonal clothes went into the vault too. Little ones grow so fast. It felt good to pass those clothes on while someone else could still use them.
Is hiring a professional organizer worth it?
For us, yes. Not because the bins are pretty (although they are). Because of what it gave back to our family:
I know what we have.
I know where it is.
I'm not spending nap time digging through boxes.
There's room for what matters most.
That last one is my favorite. One of the things I love most in our new home is a cabinet where I can display my grandmother's china. Seeing it there makes my heart so happy. There's something special about making room for pieces of her in our new home.
Heather says organizing is a team sport, and that's exactly how it felt. She never made me feel behind or embarrassed. She came alongside us, helped us make decisions, and gave us systems that actually fit our real life.
Holding gratitude and overwhelm at the same time
I'm learning how to thank God for this home while being honest with Him about the hard parts of settling into it. Both are true.
The house is a gift. The flooded basement was hard. The flooring is finally coming up, renovations are still ahead, and we're hosting Thanksgiving. So there's that. Ha!
Peace didn't come from everything being finished. It came from not carrying it all alone. Help from Heather. Help from the people who showed up for us. And a God who keeps working out the details I can't.
I've written before about learning to be still, go slow, and let God be God. This move gave me a fresh chance to practice that. Some days I did it well. Some days I cried over a box.
If you're walking through something similar, friend, you're not alone. You don't have to earn peace by doing it all yourself. Building your village, whether that's a friend, a family member, or a professional, is part of how God cares for us in hard seasons. (That's something I learned first while building our special needs village, and it's still true.)
Our house still has unfinished corners. There are boxes left to unpack. But little by little, the rooms are becoming ours.
And if you're in the Atlanta area and your home feels like a lot to hold right now, I can't recommend Heather and the Simply Busy Bee team enough. They helped calm the chaos for us, and I'm so thankful.
