December 27, 2023 • 39 mins
On this episode, I am joined by Jaime Bergman. She is the founder of Crescent Living Co. She is a home organizer who works with clients all over the Fraser Valley and Greater Vancouver areas.
We discuss how difficult downsizing can be and how much guilt is associated with clutter. We talk about some easy tips on where to start by yourself and the benefits of working with professionals.
Crescent Living Co. can also assist you with moving. They help pack up all your belongings, donate everything that isn't coming to the new space and help unpack as well.
Jaime Bergman | Home Organizer (@crescentlivingco) • Instagram photos and videos
Contact 1 — Crescent Living Co.
Filled Up Cup - Unconventional Self Care for Modern Women
Ashley (@filledupcup_) • Instagram photos and videos
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Filled Up Cuppodcast.
We are a different kind of selfcare resource, one that has
nothing to do with bubble bathsand face masks, and everything
to do with rediscoveringyourself.
We bring you real reviews,honest experiences, and
unfiltered opinions that willmake you laugh, cry, and most
(00:21):
importantly, leave you with afilled up cup.
Ashley (00:35):
I am so excited today.
I have Jaime Bergman joining me.
Jaime is the owner of CrescentLiving Co here in North
Vancouver.
Is that right?
Jaime (00:44):
Yes, I actually serve all over the North Shore, as well as
into Vancouver and all the wayout to the Fraser Valley.
So we're fully encompassing ofthe lower mainland.
Ashley (00:54):
Awesome.
Are all of your services inperson or do you do online as
well?
Jaime (00:59):
In the beginning of pandemic era, we were
transitioning to virtualservices, but personally, I find
that when we do work togetherwith our clients in person, we
just get so much more value outof each session and connect with
people on a much more personallevel and are able to accomplish
loads more than Virtually.
(01:20):
So we have basicallytransitioned fully back into in
person services as of late 2020,early 2021
Ashley (01:29):
I would think for me personally, the virtual, it's
like they would show you exactlywhat they want you to see.
So there could be like a wholemess over here, or I would say
that it would be harder to beauthentic without the person
being right there in some cases.
Jaime (01:44):
Yeah, and I feel like a lot of barriers are really
dropped when we meet people inperson.
It's such a intimate experienceto be having a stranger come in
and touch everything that youown in a certain zone or room in
your home.
So when you get to meet somebodyin person, your walls drop down
a lot quicker than through avirtual screen.
Ashley (02:07):
For sure.
Were you always somebody thatwas really organized or did it
happen over time?
Jaime (02:14):
Short answer is yes.
I've always been the kid thatwas rearranging my bedroom and
begging my parents to come andtake a look or help me move the
bed or something like that butwhen it comes to my education it
started in interior design.
So being able to niche down intothis small market of home
(02:34):
organization service, as opposedto providing.
Full scope interior design isreally where I chose to direct
my energy and attention tobecause it's so needed here
locally.
I was able to provide a servicethat is a little bit more budget
friendly than a full scopeservice of interior design.
And naturally more and morepeople wanted to book us.
(02:56):
So that's been great for us.
Ashley (02:59):
I do think that so many people don't necessarily realize
when we are surrounded byclutter or especially for moms
with kids, when birthday partiesor holidays come in, how much
stuff you have in your house.
And sometimes if you're a personthat's really emotionally
connected to your stuff, it canbe hard to incorporate old with
(03:20):
new.
And then all of a sudden youbecome.
Sort of overwhelmed or itbecomes stressed that you can't
stay on top of cleaning or youcan't stay on top of What's
really important as far as likesomething that was passed down
or your kids favorite toy tosomething that's taking up space
just to take up space
Jaime (03:37):
Yeah, you hit two really good points there.
One being that the holidays arealready stressful enough as it
is.
And I don't know about you, butif I had company coming over and
wanted to go and make them abeverage or make them feel
welcome in my home, especiallyif there were staying here for a
number of days over the holidayseason I want to have a sense of
(03:59):
calm where I know that if myguests need something or needed
to find something that I'm notembarrassed to have them go and
seek out a mug for their morningcup of coffee themselves or go
into my linen closet and be ableto get the items that they need
without having to Ask me or inanother case, the host where it
(04:20):
is and feeling like they'reinterrupting or inconveniencing
anybody and having that sense ofpeace and calm and be in the
know of my own home that it isthat organized and dialed in
that I don't have to go rootingaround for anything.
It's just peace of mind for me,really.
So that's over and above interms of having people and
(04:41):
guests over for the holidays.
But We are always going to beaccumulating stuff and
regardless if that is forChristmas, a birthday, or just a
regular old Tuesday when yourmom decides to bring home a
bunch of your own memorabilia,and it's all about how we are
(05:01):
Placing those items within theareas of our home so that they
don't turn into clutter andaren't just being valued and
sitting in the corner of a dustybasement, but rather if it's
grandma's China and you actuallywant to be honoring it, placing
it in a space in your home whereit's going to get used or at
(05:22):
least looked at as opposed to itsitting in a box is something
that a lot of people strugglewith for sure.
Ashley (05:28):
We get so attached, like I've moved several times over
the years, I still have stuff inRubbermaid's that I probably
could just take the Rubbermaidstraight to somewhere and not
ever look at it again, but it'sfunny, the stuff that we keep in
boxes just for the sake ofkeeping for someday and rarely
someday actually ever happens.
Jaime (05:47):
You're absolutely right.
It's this whole notion of well,maybe I'll need it someday or so
and so of my family might wantit at some point when from my
experience over the past severalyears of helping families.
This is probably going to be ahard pill to swallow for a lot
of individuals, but The notionof hand me downs as well as
(06:08):
heirlooms is not as strong of aconnection or strong of a bond
in today's world as it has beenin previous generations.
Why?
Because as a culture we don'thave a lot of physical square
footage for these items andwe're also in a society that is
completely being bombarded withget the new thing.
(06:31):
Hold on to the old, get the newthing, get the new thing for
this season, for that season,and it just creates this Extreme
abundance of stuff.
And when we are given, or whenwe are told, Hey, auntie is
going to be selling her house,she's going to get rid of all of
her pots and pans.
They're meant to be in perfectcondition, but we don't
(06:54):
necessarily have anywhere tohouse them.
So unfortunately giving them toa charity or a goodwill in this
circumstance is not uncommon.
And holding on to these itemsisn't going to bring the value
back.
From how much was spent on themoriginally either.
Ashley (07:12):
Well, and that's the thing that we also need to
almost let go of the guilt ofthat.
If I spent something and it'sreally expensive and I actually
didn't need it or I actuallydidn't like it or it served its
purpose and I used it 50 timesand now I want something
different or to downsize, it'sokay to get rid of stuff like
there's so much guilt attachedto that unnecessarily.
Jaime (07:35):
Oh, you're absolutely right.
The level of guilt that we seewithin our clients come to
surface when we are sortingthrough any particular room, but
a lot of the case, it isclothing.
I love helping women getorganized when it comes to their
clothes and clothing, becausethey hold so many memories, but
they can also hold a lot ofguilt because it is something
(07:56):
that people tend to invest a lotin, or maybe not in a particular
piece, but in An investmentwardrobe of you have 20 of the
same sweater and you don't wantto get rid of any of them, but
they no longer fit you or theyfeel itchy or they're just not
part of your lifestyle anymore.
So dropping guilt is a huge partof our job as home organizers to
(08:16):
Make space in the client'sphysical room, but also make
space emotionally for them to beable to let go of that guilt.
Ashley (08:25):
If somebody was at the point that they were like, I'm
overwhelmed by my house, I don'tknow what to do.
I want to create theseorganizational systems.
How do they go about hiringsomebody and knowing that that's
the right fit for them.
Jaime (08:38):
So definitely do a discovery call or we offer free
consultations through Crescent,but it's a chance for not only
the potential client to get toknow the organizer, it's also an
opportunity for the organizer toget to know the client and what
type of circumstance we'redealing with in this sense.
So if someone messages me andsays, Hey, Jaime, I want to work
(09:00):
with you.
I'm excited to get my kitchenunder control and set up some
new refresh systems.
And they send me photos and thenthey have a Pinterest board of
things that they want torecreate.
I say, that's fantastic.
That's so good.
I'm so excited that you're thismotivated.
And when we go a little bitdeeper into the discussion I can
pretty much look at photos atthis point or video footage and
(09:22):
tell the client.
You're going to have to get ridof 30, 40, 50 percent of your
stuff in order to achieve thelook that you want based on your
inspirational board.
And if someone says, well, Idon't want to get rid of
everything, my immediateresponse is, I cannot simply
just organize the excessclutter.
It doesn't work.
So if we're not able to be onthe same wavelength when it
(09:45):
comes to getting on board withediting your items, then we
probably aren't a good fit.
And maybe that client in generalis just not ready to have a
professional come in yet to helpthem with the editing process.
I always say the magic is in theediting because it truly is.
Anyone can go and buy differentproducts to make their pantry
look really pretty.
(10:05):
But if the editing portion isn'tdone as the work or the first go
round, you will never get tothat level of stress free or
calm as you see and want toexperience in your Pinterest
board or inspirational boardbecause you have too much stuff
to begin with.
So when someone is.
(10:26):
Working with me for a discoverycall.
I talk about all this.
I'm very frank and open withpeople because I don't want
someone to be disappointed whenit comes to our services and get
discouraged from ultimatelyhelping them achieve what they
want to.
So sometimes it's more of a babystep process,
Ashley (10:43):
which I think is fair enough too.
One thing that I noticed on yourwebsite that I think isn't
talked about enough too, isthat, so say somebody comes in,
they're on board, you make itpretty.
I think that there's a myth alot of people have that then
that's that, that you stayorganized forever and that you
can, you know, have this perfectspace.
But I like that your websitepointed out that you actually
(11:05):
have to go back and help them orre edit and it's a kind of an
ongoing learning curve at times.
Jaime (11:12):
I wish that were the case in terms of being able to go in
and organize one specific areaand it just stayed organized.
My husband would never get madat me if that were the case
because even in my own home, I'ma very organized and meticulous
person.
We maintain a very organizedhousehold, but The major
misconception is that once it'sorganized, you never have to
(11:34):
touch it.
Well, circumstances in your homealso changed too.
I have a six year old beforethis, I had a five, four, three,
two, one year old.
So of course our needs as a homeare going to evolve as our child
grows.
As well as we transitioned todoing things like working from
home or going back to theoffice.
And every room in the houseneeds a little bit of juzzing or
(11:54):
revamping every once in a while.
And that's okay.
Another thing is that.
People often think, well, onlydisorganized people are seeking
the services of a homeorganizer, and that's really not
true at all.
Some of our most consistentclients are the people who are
extremely well organized intheir home.
They just don't necessarily havethe time to do a full reset of
(12:18):
specific areas or rooms in theirspace because they know how
important it is.
They just don't have thephysical time to dedicate
towards it.
With all the other stuff goingon in their lives.
So when an organizer comes inand is able to help and set the
time aside for the client, it isalmost like booking a meeting
with yourself and the organizerto get a project finished.
(12:41):
And that can be really helpfulfor extremely busy clients or
people that have like an excessof two to three kids or anything
like that.
It just is impossible to do byyourself, but.
They know the value and what itfeels like to have those spaces
organized and refreshed.
So there are repeat clients forsure.
Ashley (13:00):
Time is our biggest currency.
But it's like if you have theability to outsource whether
it's hiring cleaners, whetherit's hiring somebody to come in
and organize like there's somuch value in not stressing
yourself out, not overwhelmingyourself to have somebody who
knows the steps.
It can be this simple andreally, like you had said,
(13:21):
booking that time for yourself.
Cause I think a lot of timeswith women and moms, we tend to
put the stuff that we want or weneed at the bottom of our list,
which then almost just amplifiesit becoming a bigger issue.
So it really is.
Nice.
When you can say, Hey, I needsomebody to take the kids for
these two hours on this day andthis day, I'm going to do this
(13:42):
really quickly and loopingsomebody else in with it and
hiring that help makes it seemlike I'm just not taking the
time for myself and justify itthat way.
Jaime (13:51):
Absolutely.
It is a very common theme withus and our clients that a lot of
our clients are busy families.
It's moms that are reaching outto us and saying that they are
drowning in kids toys or don'thave time to go through their
whole closet themselves and needsome help.
And this whole notion of womenbeing expected to be at home
(14:14):
with our kids and not sayingthat men don't help, of course,
but this.
Yeah, this expectation of womenhave to be able to be home with
our kids and raise them while atthe same time having a busy
career and climbing a corporateladder or running a business
themselves and also maintain ahousehold and keep yourself
(14:34):
alive to and shower and do allthose things.
It's just too much at themoment.
I personally, I run a business.
I am a mom.
I'm a wife and I have a house.
Well, what can I outsource?
I outsource cleaning.
I don't do a deep clean myselfevery other week.
I hire someone to come and do itbecause I don't have the
capacity to spend an entireSaturday cleaning my entire
(14:58):
home.
I don't want to, I'm way morepleased to spend the time with
my family or doing somethingelse.
That is for myself or for mybusiness or whatever that might
be.
And again, it's that theme ofguilt that really plays in there
with women saying, Oh, I shouldbe able to do this myself.
Why?
Why should you be able to dothis yourself?
(15:18):
Why can't you get some help withit?
Much like any other service,even when it comes to
landscaping, or cleaning, orhaving someone come in and
change your electrical items, ordo whatever under the sun in
your household.
It's no different.
Ashley (15:34):
Yeah, our mental load is way too high and if you think
about the model of when, womenwere homemakers and responsible
for all of that, the landscapedid look a lot different where
maybe we were just at home andhad the kids.
It wasn't that we had to, work,be expected to, not age and look
a certain way.
To be a mom, to be all of thesethings where in today's model,
(15:56):
it's just, it's unrealistic.
That yeah, whenever possible,outsource and take that time for
yourself.
Now I know thinking aboutcleaners, when I first had mine,
I was like, I'm going to preclean before they come in.
Do you find that people are likethat with home organization that
they try to start the project ormake the project seem I don't
(16:18):
know, less embarrassing forthem, even though it shouldn't
be before you come in.
Jaime (16:23):
That is something that's discussed in our discovery call.
And when I ask for photos, Iunderstand it's a really
vulnerable thing to do to ask astranger to take pictures of
their house and then send it tosomeone that they met on
Instagram.
Like that is, that's a reallybig ask.
So I tell people to please don'tpre clean.
(16:43):
I want to see what it looks likeright now after the kids have
just had breakfast and they'vebeen rushed off to school and
you have a chaotic kitchen.
That's what I want to see trulyand honestly, because that is
how you currently are using thisspace and are maybe not seeing
the gaps.
That are in the setup of yourspace that I can help you with.
(17:03):
So I always tell people don'tfeel shameful.
They're not going to be releasedon the internet or put on
Instagram without anybody'sprior approval.
So when we have the ability to,again, start breaking down that
barrier with our.
Client right from the discoverycall, it is much more of an
impactful service when we getthe true story as opposed to
just what is being presentednow.
(17:24):
There have definitely been timeswhere someone has sent me photos
and video of their space, butit's not exactly an accurate
description of maybe what'slurking behind a shelf or a
cupboard door or 12 cupboarddoors that they haven't yet
shown me.
And then that's when we justhave to go into the discussion
of this session might take alittle bit longer, and that's
(17:45):
okay.
They're very receptive to it.
But it's all about the approachin our sense and being sensitive
to the fact that maybe this wasjust too much for them to
handle, or it was something thatthey were pretty embarrassed
about when they were sending usphotos and all of that's okay.
It's just about communication inthat respect.
Ashley (18:04):
For sure.
Do you have a certain area thatyou personally like to organize
the most when you go intoclients houses?
Jaime (18:12):
That's a really tricky question.
I have two.
First is definitely a kitchenbecause it's no joke that the
kitchen really is the heart ofthe home.
And I know that it's cheesy andcliche, but Everybody needs to
eat.
If your kitchen is stressing youout, I can't imagine anything
more of a relief than going intoa space that is no longer that
(18:36):
sense of chaos and clutter.
You are proud to be in yourkitchen.
You are excited to cook the nextmeal.
You take way less time to dothings like putting away dishes
and cleaning because you havethe systems in place that allow
you to spend less time doingcooking if that's something that
you don't like to do.
So we really do tailor it toeach and every individual's
(18:58):
needs when it comes to howsomeone sets up their kitchen.
I really like the puzzle thatgoes into that.
Secondly, I love working withwomen and their closets because
like I was saying earlier, theyreally do hold so many memories
as well as relationships withour clothing.
That seems probably crazy to saya relationship with clothes, but
(19:21):
it's true because we have somany things that we're attached
to when it comes to maybe aglamorous dress or a sweater
that you were wearing when youbrought your baby home for the
first time.
Day or slippers that your momgave you that are probably
ratty, but she doesn't live hereanymore.
They just hold so many stories.
And I love getting to get toknow my clients one on one in
(19:44):
this really intimate way,because you get to know someone
really fast when you go throughtheir underwear drawer.
That's for sure.
Ashley (19:51):
I definitely agree with what you're saying about the
women's closet, because I feellike it is somewhere where we
walk into every day.
And if there is.
I would say like a lot of shouldcalling this should fit.
I should have more time to wearthis.
I should be going to events thatit's like if you walk into that
feeling like that every day.
That can't be a great feeling.
Jaime (20:11):
No, absolutely.
And I can't imagine opening upmy closet every day and having
all my t shirts tumble down onmy head because I can't find the
right one.
And instead being able to getdown to a wardrobe that is full
of items that That's a clientloves that they feel great in or
that they are knowing thatthey're going to be wearing on a
(20:31):
somewhat regular basis.
I don't have a hard and fastrule for if you haven't worn it
in one year, get rid of itbecause that's just not been
part of our lifestyle for thelast.
Three years now, so I'vescrapped that rule and more so
just have focused on thephysical look and feel of the
fabric as well as the feelingthat we get when we do a pile of
(20:53):
try ons and say.
I love this, how it makes mefeel.
I love how it makes me look orGod, this tag is really itchy or
whatever the case is.
It's an opportunity to try onanything that you've been
neglecting or has been hidingyour closet too.
And sometimes it can get reallyfun too.
It's like a Carrie Bradshawmoment in some circumstances.
Ashley (21:12):
A lot of times you forget what's even in there.
So it's almost like reshoppingwhat you already have.
Jaime (21:18):
It also saves people money in that respect because I
can't tell you how many timesI've gone into a closet and
found the exact same shirt fromAritzia bought three times over
because the client physicallycould not find it in their
closet.
So clearly it's a winner, butyou just couldn't find it in the
other items that are clutteringup the space.
Ashley (21:40):
Which is a good point too, especially when we think
about fast fashion and thingsthat we know are creating
unnecessary problems everywhereelse to really kind of think, do
I need this or do I like this orthings like that too.
For people that are wanting todownsize, but they're not quite
in a place that they actuallywant to hire somebody.
(22:02):
What are some simple tips thatyou would recommend to kind of.
Start the decluttering processwithout becoming super
overwhelmed by it.
Jaime (22:11):
I would say start with an area of your home that maybe
wouldn't be the most stressfulor the has the most attachment
to.
For some people, like we werejust saying, might be your
closet.
That might be a high pressuresituation for someone.
So start with something that'sreally low pressure, such as
maybe it's your desk officedrawer and you want to get that
(22:33):
little portion, that little tinyarea of your home organized to
get the momentum flowing.
You don't necessarily have tohire someone to come and
organize that for you, but itcan really show you in a very
small way how satisfying it canfeel and how accomplished that
you feel and how great you feelabout it.
(22:54):
And then be able to work in amuch more cleaner environment
and see what the long termeffects of that are, maybe even
before you revisit the nextproject or the next project
after that.
Once you're able to see thebenefits of it longer term than
just the reveal, in a sense.
It really helps to make peopleunderstand that this is a
(23:14):
process that you can go throughfor your entire home, but that
doesn't have to be done in onefell swoop by any means.
It's just when you hire a teamor an organizer, they're going
to be able to do it in a muchmore efficient way and be able
to get a larger project done.
That you might not be able to doin a single day.
If someone told me to rip apartmy entire kitchen in a single
(23:35):
day, I would say you're crazybecause you are.
There's no way I could do thatby myself.
And so often we put thispressure of, I have six hours
while the kids are at school andI'm going to rip apart my
kitchen to organize it.
So often we get pulled in fourdifferent directions during that
six hours that the kitchen endsup looking like a total tip by
(23:56):
the 6 hour mark and you justhave to shove everything back in
the drawers because it's dinnertime and you got to start prep
on that or we got to go and dosome sort of event or anything
can really pop up.
So in order to get a largerproject done, I would say that
would be the time to call in thebig guns.
But in a smaller way, if youwanted to do something like your
desk office drawer or evengetting one of your child's.
(24:19):
clothing under control.
Something smaller that you don'thave a lot of attachment to is
always beneficial to get theball rolling.
Ashley (24:28):
See, for me, it's my bathroom because it's really
easy if a product is old andgross.
Just to be able to, toss it
Jaime (24:33):
Yes, absolutely.
And a pantry can also be thesame, too, because you can find
things that have been lurking inthe bottom of your pantry
cupboards or pantry drawers andrealize, oh my gosh, this
expired four years ago, and itimmediately creates so much
physical square footage in termsof space.
It's really satisfying to dothat, too.
Ashley (24:54):
When people hire you, how long does organizational
projects usually take whenprofessionals come in and do it?
Jaime (25:02):
It depends on the scope of the project.
When we work with a client for akitchen space that is pretty
standard, 2000, 3000 squarefeet, and it doesn't have a
Separate butler's kitchen.
We can typically do that withtwo to three organizers in about
six to seven hours Now each ofus would take a bit of a lunch
(25:22):
break, of course But it usuallytakes two to three organizers
six hours and that includesproduct placement so when I say
product placement that meansthat we're incorporating
different containers or bins anditems to decant your flowers and
baking needs into as well aslabeling Everything and doing a
solid edit with the client.
(25:44):
First we do the edit and thensecond, we put everything back
together while they go and havea cup of coffee and sit down and
relax.
And then that is when my teamand I get to work.
Real fast in terms of placingeverything back into the drawers
or cupboards that is going to beremaining.
And that's when the kitchenTetris really comes into play.
(26:05):
But yeah, it takes about six toseven hours.
That's typically the length ofour session anyways, because we
find that you get decisionfatigue as a client past that
point.
And that's something that wewant to avoid for sure.
Ashley (26:18):
I love the fact that everything is labeled and has a
home.
I think that makes it so mucheasier when you know, okay, I've
put this down or my kitchentable.
All of the kids have dumpedstuff on.
I know that it goes here, hereand here.
Instead of trying to figure outwhere am I going to put this?
Where does this go?
It really eliminates that thatmental load of having to make
(26:39):
another decision at the end ofthe day.
Jaime (26:41):
And that is exactly why having an organized space, the
benefits of it are really longterm, because when your house
does get a little crazy, andespecially after an event like
Christmas, you get an influx ofstuff.
But the system that you have inplace on the back end, much like
running a business, everythinghas its place and has a system,
(27:04):
it makes your cleanup andorganizing and tidying during
those middle of the road daysmuch more simple and quicker
because everything has a placeto go.
Anytime that my husband and Iare doing a detailed clean of
our house, it's gotten a littleout of control.
We've had a lot of things goingon throughout the last week.
(27:24):
It makes it so much faster toclean because I know where my
reusable chopsticks go.
I know exactly where all of mydaughter's art supplies are
supposed to be.
They might not be there at themoment, but at least I know
where they have to go in orderto quickly put them away and not
just get shoved into a drawer.
Ashley (27:42):
It's so valuable to be able to not have to think about
those things when talking aboutdifferent containers.
Is there a certain Place whereyou're like, this is my go to
like, are you an Ikea person?
Are you a structured person ordo you
Jaime (27:57):
kind of Yeah, we do work with a lot of different types of
brands and everything I willnever say that one is better
than the other but I will saythat Some of the Ikea employees
know me by name at this pointbecause I'm there very often But
it also happens to be I livequite close to the location of
Ikea So it's easy for me to popin there.
(28:19):
I will work with anybody and anybudget that they have when it
comes to products, we can godollar store or we can go
pottery barn and everywhere inbetween.
So it just depends on someone'sbudget.
I also have a welcome kit that Isend to let people know some of
the products that we use on aconsistent basis and that have
great reviews from our team aswell as our clients.
(28:40):
I would never promote a productthat I.
Don't love or use myself andbeing able to incorporate those
on a consistent basis, justallows me to buy them for the
client and be able to know thatanything that I'm installing is
going to be holding its value aswell as maintaining the system
that we've put in because we'vedone them time and time again.
Ashley (29:02):
Which makes it huge too, because I feel like when we get
too attached to one product, itdoes make it a little bit
difficult and there is so manyfantastic options as far as Lazy
Susan's and boxes and bins andall that kind of stuff now that
it has become.
So much more readily available.
Jaime (29:20):
Yeah.
And a big mistake too, that Ifind a lot of people make is
that we see all the time onInstagram and Pinterest, that
the products are what makeeverything look polished.
And while that is definitelytrue, the fact of the matter is
that really, we shouldn't bebuying products for our spaces
until we've done the nittygritty work of editing the
(29:43):
items, because you're justreally.
Buying all of these products forthings that you might not
necessarily keep and You'regoing to be overbuying or buying
the wrong product if we decidedto maybe revamp where things are
situated in a closet or in akitchen space.
(30:04):
And that can waste money.
It can waste your time by goingto shop for all of these
products.
It can really be discouraging ifyou ultimately decide that these
products don't work for youafter organizing.
And then you have to make thenext run of going and returning
everything.
So Discouragement,discouragement, discouragement,
as opposed to having someone beable to shop for you, bring all
(30:26):
the products to site and be ableto return anything for you after
the fact that isn't used.
So that's another benefit ofworking with an organizer in
that respect.
We take care of that for all ofour clients as well.
Of course, we'll takemeasurements if there are things
that need to be purchasedspecifically, such as drawer
inserts or baskets that need tofit on a specific shelf, etc.
Ashley (30:49):
Which I think would be so invaluable because I found
even during the pandemic, evenjust ordering from Amazon and
then having to actually send itback.
I probably still have some ofthose things that were on my, I
should've, could've, would've,and then you just never do.
Jaime (31:02):
Yeah.
So again, it's like time,effort, energy, money.
Let's just skip that step andhave someone else do it for you.
Ashley (31:08):
For sure.
Now, you had touched on the factthat obviously you go in and you
organize the space and youreorganize for existing clients.
Can you tell me a little bitmore about the additional
services that you offer?
Jaime (31:20):
Of course, something that we have been really focusing on
over the last year and into2024.
Is this whole moving conciergeexperience so I personally love
getting possession of a newspace, whether it's a rental
property or a new home, andbeing able to start fresh, being
(31:41):
able to curate what you wantthis new space to look and feel
like from the get go is such ablessing so my team and I have
been building up our client basewhen it comes to prepping people
for a move and being able to do.
Everything from the originaldecluttering and listing set up
(32:02):
when you're going to go listyour house for sale and being
able to declutter all of yourclosets, create that beautiful
breathing room.
And really just downsize theamount of items that you're
going to be moving into yournext home with all the way to
being that first line of defensewhen it comes to accepting the
moving truck on the other sidewhen you go and move into your
(32:25):
new house and start theunpacking process.
Right from the get go.
We will also pack up all theboxes and unpack them for you on
the other side so that it is wayless time spent with this
extremely stressful point insomeone's life.
They don't need the extra stressof having to then go and unpack
(32:47):
every single thing that they ownif they don't have the time to
do it.
So that's when we have.
full team on our roster, able totackle as many spaces as
possible in a very short amountof time to get someone settled
and nestled into their new home.
Ashley (33:02):
Oh, it's such a valuable service because moving is the
literal worst.
It is really stressful.
Like we had talked about, wedon't necessarily have time in
our regular day to day to doeverything that we need to do
that on top of it moving.
I couldn't even imagine howamazing that would feel.
Jaime (33:21):
It's way less daunting from the start if you have the
knowledge that you already aregoing to have help with this.
If you're thinking, I'm going tolist my house in the next three
to six months and Again, this isnot for just the disorganized
individuals out there, it'sactually more so we're finding
the very organized people thatare starting to plan out their
(33:42):
moves two maybe three months inadvance, and being able to get
our services booked in well inadvance so that they can have
peace of mind that they don'thave to worry about it.
Honestly, people don't have tolift a single finger when they
work with us when it comes topacking and unpacking short of
if they want to edit their itemsbefore moving now again, I want
(34:05):
to stress that it is superimportant to create space and
time for the decluttering andediting step before you move
into your new home, as opposedto pushing it off and saying,
I'll do it when I get to the newspace.
It'll be all fine.
Well, I'm telling you that yeah.
I'm that you're thinking aboutdoesn't really exist.
It only exists in our mindsbecause when we actually move
(34:26):
into the new space, there is nota chance that you want to spend
time decluttering and editing.
You want to start living in thisspace and experiencing it.
You're also going to save moneyand time by not having to pack
everything up, spend money onpacking materials, boxes, time
for movers to cart things fromhouse A to house B.
(34:46):
And instead just do it on theforefront.
So I can't stress that enough.
And that is definitely what wehelp our clients do.
Once their house has sold, wehelp them to edit and then pack
so that they don't have to worryabout bringing anything
unnecessary to their new home.
Ashley (35:01):
Well, and I think that when you are in the packing
stage, you realize, depending onhow long you've been in the home
that you're currently in, youstart to realize, Oh my gosh, I
have.
You know, art supplies and mykids now in high school and not
touching these as much or Ihave, all of these tea towels
and my kitchen is going to besmaller in the next house.
And all of these things I findfor me personally, it's so much
(35:23):
easier to actually really getrid of that stuff before taking
it to the other place.
The guilt is gone.
It just makes it like one lessthing that you have to do.
So mentally for me, it's beenthe best.
Although when it comes tounpacking, then it's easier to
get that fatigue from it.
So to have somebody really holdyour hand or go in and do it for
you and you don't have to dealwith it.
(35:45):
If you can afford that service,I highly, highly, highly
recommend it.
Jaime (35:49):
I always say to moving is an opportunity to touch.
Everything that you own and younever are going to get that
opportunity throughout your dayto day life because we simply
don't and don't have the timeto.
It's not something that I'mgoing into the back of my linen
closet or the deepest, darkestcorner of my crawl space just to
go and physically open a box.
(36:11):
But when you're moving, you haveto, there's no leaving it in the
crawl space for the nexthomeowner unless you want it to
be taken to the garbage dump.
So, another thing that we offerin terms of our service
packages, whether that is just aone on one day or a moving house
is we take your donations foryou.
Often we find that our clientsdonation piles get shoved to The
(36:35):
trunk of their car or the footof their garage, and we take
that burden off of you so thatyou don't have to worry about
that extra step of getting itout of your house.
And there's no take backsiesthat way.
We are taking it and it is gone.
So getting into the hands of thepeople that can actually really
use it is really important tomyself as well as our clients.
(36:55):
And instead of having it again,just move or shuffle from room A
to the garage, Let's just skipthat step and we'll take care of
it for you.
Ashley (37:04):
Are there certain places that you take donations, or is
it basically like any localthrift store
Jaime (37:11):
I like to drop things off depending on what the items are.
So if I'm working With a man ora woman and they have a lot of
clothing that is in really goodcondition As well as a little
bit more corporate style.
We go and drop off at dress forsuccess if it is something that
is Consignment we help ourclients to consign it we can
(37:31):
take them to turnabout for themor depending on what level of A
brand.
It is another consignment,online consignment store.
We'll connect with them and beable to sell them locally.
Otherwise there are differentfree stores.
There's one out in White Rock,our lead organizer, Amber lives
out that way, so she'sconstantly dropping things off
(37:51):
at the free store is what theycall it, And so it's just a
great opportunity for people tocome in without any shame or
guilt and be able to shop froman actual store.
But everything is.
free.
And then, of course, Mamas forMamas is great for different
baby supplies and products andthat type of thing that are
unused.
Some people come there withabsolutely nothing to their
(38:13):
name.
And then there's a lot of morewomen's shelters out in the
Fraser Valley.
And Salvation Army thrift store,and then Valley Village for just
the kind of everyday run of themill items.
Ashley (38:24):
If anybody is looking for you online, can you tell
them where they can find you?
Jaime (38:29):
Absolutely.
We are very active on ourInstagram account at Crescent
Living Co.
We have loads of behind thescenes footage every day of the
jobs that we're working on, aswell as tons of before and
afters so you can see what itlooks like to work with us.
You'll also find us at www dotCrescent Living dot ca and
(38:50):
you'll be able to get a rundownof all of our services and
connect with me for anyconsultations that you want to
hold with me.
Ashley (38:59):
Well, thank you, Jamie, so much for having this
conversation with me today.
Jaime (39:03):
Thank you.
Thank you so much for joining ustoday for this episode of the
filled up cup podcast.
Don't forget to hit subscribeand leave a review.
If you like what you hear, youcan also connect with us at
filledupcup.Com.
Thanks again for tuning in andwe'll catch you in the next
(39:23):
episode.
Welcome to the Filled Up Cuppodcast.
We are a different kind of selfcare resource, one that has
nothing to do with bubble bathsand face masks, and everything
to do with rediscoveringyourself.
We bring you real reviews,honest experiences, and
unfiltered opinions that willmake you laugh, cry, and most
(00:21):
importantly, leave you with afilled up cup.
Ashley (00:35):
I am so excited today.
I have Jaime Bergman joining me.
Jaime is the owner of CrescentLiving Co here in North
Vancouver.
Is that right?
Jaime (00:44):
Yes, I actually serve all over the North Shore, as well as
into Vancouver and all the wayout to the Fraser Valley.
So we're fully encompassing ofthe lower mainland.
Ashley (00:54):
Awesome.
Are all of your services inperson or do you do online as
well?
Jaime (00:59):
In the beginning of pandemic era, we were
transitioning to virtualservices, but personally, I find
that when we do work togetherwith our clients in person, we
just get so much more value outof each session and connect with
people on a much more personallevel and are able to accomplish
loads more than Virtually.
(01:20):
So we have basicallytransitioned fully back into in
person services as of late 2020,early 2021
Ashley (01:29):
I would think for me personally, the virtual, it's
like they would show you exactlywhat they want you to see.
So there could be like a wholemess over here, or I would say
that it would be harder to beauthentic without the person
being right there in some cases.
Jaime (01:44):
Yeah, and I feel like a lot of barriers are really
dropped when we meet people inperson.
It's such a intimate experienceto be having a stranger come in
and touch everything that youown in a certain zone or room in
your home.
So when you get to meet somebodyin person, your walls drop down
a lot quicker than through avirtual screen.
Ashley (02:07):
For sure.
Were you always somebody thatwas really organized or did it
happen over time?
Jaime (02:14):
Short answer is yes.
I've always been the kid thatwas rearranging my bedroom and
begging my parents to come andtake a look or help me move the
bed or something like that butwhen it comes to my education it
started in interior design.
So being able to niche down intothis small market of home
(02:34):
organization service, as opposedto providing.
Full scope interior design isreally where I chose to direct
my energy and attention tobecause it's so needed here
locally.
I was able to provide a servicethat is a little bit more budget
friendly than a full scopeservice of interior design.
And naturally more and morepeople wanted to book us.
(02:56):
So that's been great for us.
Ashley (02:59):
I do think that so many people don't necessarily realize
when we are surrounded byclutter or especially for moms
with kids, when birthday partiesor holidays come in, how much
stuff you have in your house.
And sometimes if you're a personthat's really emotionally
connected to your stuff, it canbe hard to incorporate old with
(03:20):
new.
And then all of a sudden youbecome.
Sort of overwhelmed or itbecomes stressed that you can't
stay on top of cleaning or youcan't stay on top of What's
really important as far as likesomething that was passed down
or your kids favorite toy tosomething that's taking up space
just to take up space
Jaime (03:37):
Yeah, you hit two really good points there.
One being that the holidays arealready stressful enough as it
is.
And I don't know about you, butif I had company coming over and
wanted to go and make them abeverage or make them feel
welcome in my home, especiallyif there were staying here for a
number of days over the holidayseason I want to have a sense of
(03:59):
calm where I know that if myguests need something or needed
to find something that I'm notembarrassed to have them go and
seek out a mug for their morningcup of coffee themselves or go
into my linen closet and be ableto get the items that they need
without having to Ask me or inanother case, the host where it
(04:20):
is and feeling like they'reinterrupting or inconveniencing
anybody and having that sense ofpeace and calm and be in the
know of my own home that it isthat organized and dialed in
that I don't have to go rootingaround for anything.
It's just peace of mind for me,really.
So that's over and above interms of having people and
(04:41):
guests over for the holidays.
But We are always going to beaccumulating stuff and
regardless if that is forChristmas, a birthday, or just a
regular old Tuesday when yourmom decides to bring home a
bunch of your own memorabilia,and it's all about how we are
(05:01):
Placing those items within theareas of our home so that they
don't turn into clutter andaren't just being valued and
sitting in the corner of a dustybasement, but rather if it's
grandma's China and you actuallywant to be honoring it, placing
it in a space in your home whereit's going to get used or at
(05:22):
least looked at as opposed to itsitting in a box is something
that a lot of people strugglewith for sure.
Ashley (05:28):
We get so attached, like I've moved several times over
the years, I still have stuff inRubbermaid's that I probably
could just take the Rubbermaidstraight to somewhere and not
ever look at it again, but it'sfunny, the stuff that we keep in
boxes just for the sake ofkeeping for someday and rarely
someday actually ever happens.
Jaime (05:47):
You're absolutely right.
It's this whole notion of well,maybe I'll need it someday or so
and so of my family might wantit at some point when from my
experience over the past severalyears of helping families.
This is probably going to be ahard pill to swallow for a lot
of individuals, but The notionof hand me downs as well as
(06:08):
heirlooms is not as strong of aconnection or strong of a bond
in today's world as it has beenin previous generations.
Why?
Because as a culture we don'thave a lot of physical square
footage for these items andwe're also in a society that is
completely being bombarded withget the new thing.
(06:31):
Hold on to the old, get the newthing, get the new thing for
this season, for that season,and it just creates this Extreme
abundance of stuff.
And when we are given, or whenwe are told, Hey, auntie is
going to be selling her house,she's going to get rid of all of
her pots and pans.
They're meant to be in perfectcondition, but we don't
(06:54):
necessarily have anywhere tohouse them.
So unfortunately giving them toa charity or a goodwill in this
circumstance is not uncommon.
And holding on to these itemsisn't going to bring the value
back.
From how much was spent on themoriginally either.
Ashley (07:12):
Well, and that's the thing that we also need to
almost let go of the guilt ofthat.
If I spent something and it'sreally expensive and I actually
didn't need it or I actuallydidn't like it or it served its
purpose and I used it 50 timesand now I want something
different or to downsize, it'sokay to get rid of stuff like
there's so much guilt attachedto that unnecessarily.
Jaime (07:35):
Oh, you're absolutely right.
The level of guilt that we seewithin our clients come to
surface when we are sortingthrough any particular room, but
a lot of the case, it isclothing.
I love helping women getorganized when it comes to their
clothes and clothing, becausethey hold so many memories, but
they can also hold a lot ofguilt because it is something
(07:56):
that people tend to invest a lotin, or maybe not in a particular
piece, but in An investmentwardrobe of you have 20 of the
same sweater and you don't wantto get rid of any of them, but
they no longer fit you or theyfeel itchy or they're just not
part of your lifestyle anymore.
So dropping guilt is a huge partof our job as home organizers to
(08:16):
Make space in the client'sphysical room, but also make
space emotionally for them to beable to let go of that guilt.
Ashley (08:25):
If somebody was at the point that they were like, I'm
overwhelmed by my house, I don'tknow what to do.
I want to create theseorganizational systems.
How do they go about hiringsomebody and knowing that that's
the right fit for them.
Jaime (08:38):
So definitely do a discovery call or we offer free
consultations through Crescent,but it's a chance for not only
the potential client to get toknow the organizer, it's also an
opportunity for the organizer toget to know the client and what
type of circumstance we'redealing with in this sense.
So if someone messages me andsays, Hey, Jaime, I want to work
(09:00):
with you.
I'm excited to get my kitchenunder control and set up some
new refresh systems.
And they send me photos and thenthey have a Pinterest board of
things that they want torecreate.
I say, that's fantastic.
That's so good.
I'm so excited that you're thismotivated.
And when we go a little bitdeeper into the discussion I can
pretty much look at photos atthis point or video footage and
(09:22):
tell the client.
You're going to have to get ridof 30, 40, 50 percent of your
stuff in order to achieve thelook that you want based on your
inspirational board.
And if someone says, well, Idon't want to get rid of
everything, my immediateresponse is, I cannot simply
just organize the excessclutter.
It doesn't work.
So if we're not able to be onthe same wavelength when it
(09:45):
comes to getting on board withediting your items, then we
probably aren't a good fit.
And maybe that client in generalis just not ready to have a
professional come in yet to helpthem with the editing process.
I always say the magic is in theediting because it truly is.
Anyone can go and buy differentproducts to make their pantry
look really pretty.
(10:05):
But if the editing portion isn'tdone as the work or the first go
round, you will never get tothat level of stress free or
calm as you see and want toexperience in your Pinterest
board or inspirational boardbecause you have too much stuff
to begin with.
So when someone is.
(10:26):
Working with me for a discoverycall.
I talk about all this.
I'm very frank and open withpeople because I don't want
someone to be disappointed whenit comes to our services and get
discouraged from ultimatelyhelping them achieve what they
want to.
So sometimes it's more of a babystep process,
Ashley (10:43):
which I think is fair enough too.
One thing that I noticed on yourwebsite that I think isn't
talked about enough too, isthat, so say somebody comes in,
they're on board, you make itpretty.
I think that there's a myth alot of people have that then
that's that, that you stayorganized forever and that you
can, you know, have this perfectspace.
But I like that your websitepointed out that you actually
(11:05):
have to go back and help them orre edit and it's a kind of an
ongoing learning curve at times.
Jaime (11:12):
I wish that were the case in terms of being able to go in
and organize one specific areaand it just stayed organized.
My husband would never get madat me if that were the case
because even in my own home, I'ma very organized and meticulous
person.
We maintain a very organizedhousehold, but The major
misconception is that once it'sorganized, you never have to
(11:34):
touch it.
Well, circumstances in your homealso changed too.
I have a six year old beforethis, I had a five, four, three,
two, one year old.
So of course our needs as a homeare going to evolve as our child
grows.
As well as we transitioned todoing things like working from
home or going back to theoffice.
And every room in the houseneeds a little bit of juzzing or
(11:54):
revamping every once in a while.
And that's okay.
Another thing is that.
People often think, well, onlydisorganized people are seeking
the services of a homeorganizer, and that's really not
true at all.
Some of our most consistentclients are the people who are
extremely well organized intheir home.
They just don't necessarily havethe time to do a full reset of
(12:18):
specific areas or rooms in theirspace because they know how
important it is.
They just don't have thephysical time to dedicate
towards it.
With all the other stuff goingon in their lives.
So when an organizer comes inand is able to help and set the
time aside for the client, it isalmost like booking a meeting
with yourself and the organizerto get a project finished.
(12:41):
And that can be really helpfulfor extremely busy clients or
people that have like an excessof two to three kids or anything
like that.
It just is impossible to do byyourself, but.
They know the value and what itfeels like to have those spaces
organized and refreshed.
So there are repeat clients forsure.
Ashley (13:00):
Time is our biggest currency.
But it's like if you have theability to outsource whether
it's hiring cleaners, whetherit's hiring somebody to come in
and organize like there's somuch value in not stressing
yourself out, not overwhelmingyourself to have somebody who
knows the steps.
It can be this simple andreally, like you had said,
(13:21):
booking that time for yourself.
Cause I think a lot of timeswith women and moms, we tend to
put the stuff that we want or weneed at the bottom of our list,
which then almost just amplifiesit becoming a bigger issue.
So it really is.
Nice.
When you can say, Hey, I needsomebody to take the kids for
these two hours on this day andthis day, I'm going to do this
(13:42):
really quickly and loopingsomebody else in with it and
hiring that help makes it seemlike I'm just not taking the
time for myself and justify itthat way.
Jaime (13:51):
Absolutely.
It is a very common theme withus and our clients that a lot of
our clients are busy families.
It's moms that are reaching outto us and saying that they are
drowning in kids toys or don'thave time to go through their
whole closet themselves and needsome help.
And this whole notion of womenbeing expected to be at home
(14:14):
with our kids and not sayingthat men don't help, of course,
but this.
Yeah, this expectation of womenhave to be able to be home with
our kids and raise them while atthe same time having a busy
career and climbing a corporateladder or running a business
themselves and also maintain ahousehold and keep yourself
(14:34):
alive to and shower and do allthose things.
It's just too much at themoment.
I personally, I run a business.
I am a mom.
I'm a wife and I have a house.
Well, what can I outsource?
I outsource cleaning.
I don't do a deep clean myselfevery other week.
I hire someone to come and do itbecause I don't have the
capacity to spend an entireSaturday cleaning my entire
(14:58):
home.
I don't want to, I'm way morepleased to spend the time with
my family or doing somethingelse.
That is for myself or for mybusiness or whatever that might
be.
And again, it's that theme ofguilt that really plays in there
with women saying, Oh, I shouldbe able to do this myself.
Why?
Why should you be able to dothis yourself?
(15:18):
Why can't you get some help withit?
Much like any other service,even when it comes to
landscaping, or cleaning, orhaving someone come in and
change your electrical items, ordo whatever under the sun in
your household.
It's no different.
Ashley (15:34):
Yeah, our mental load is way too high and if you think
about the model of when, womenwere homemakers and responsible
for all of that, the landscapedid look a lot different where
maybe we were just at home andhad the kids.
It wasn't that we had to, work,be expected to, not age and look
a certain way.
To be a mom, to be all of thesethings where in today's model,
(15:56):
it's just, it's unrealistic.
That yeah, whenever possible,outsource and take that time for
yourself.
Now I know thinking aboutcleaners, when I first had mine,
I was like, I'm going to preclean before they come in.
Do you find that people are likethat with home organization that
they try to start the project ormake the project seem I don't
(16:18):
know, less embarrassing forthem, even though it shouldn't
be before you come in.
Jaime (16:23):
That is something that's discussed in our discovery call.
And when I ask for photos, Iunderstand it's a really
vulnerable thing to do to ask astranger to take pictures of
their house and then send it tosomeone that they met on
Instagram.
Like that is, that's a reallybig ask.
So I tell people to please don'tpre clean.
(16:43):
I want to see what it looks likeright now after the kids have
just had breakfast and they'vebeen rushed off to school and
you have a chaotic kitchen.
That's what I want to see trulyand honestly, because that is
how you currently are using thisspace and are maybe not seeing
the gaps.
That are in the setup of yourspace that I can help you with.
(17:03):
So I always tell people don'tfeel shameful.
They're not going to be releasedon the internet or put on
Instagram without anybody'sprior approval.
So when we have the ability to,again, start breaking down that
barrier with our.
Client right from the discoverycall, it is much more of an
impactful service when we getthe true story as opposed to
just what is being presentednow.
(17:24):
There have definitely been timeswhere someone has sent me photos
and video of their space, butit's not exactly an accurate
description of maybe what'slurking behind a shelf or a
cupboard door or 12 cupboarddoors that they haven't yet
shown me.
And then that's when we justhave to go into the discussion
of this session might take alittle bit longer, and that's
(17:45):
okay.
They're very receptive to it.
But it's all about the approachin our sense and being sensitive
to the fact that maybe this wasjust too much for them to
handle, or it was something thatthey were pretty embarrassed
about when they were sending usphotos and all of that's okay.
It's just about communication inthat respect.
Ashley (18:04):
For sure.
Do you have a certain area thatyou personally like to organize
the most when you go intoclients houses?
Jaime (18:12):
That's a really tricky question.
I have two.
First is definitely a kitchenbecause it's no joke that the
kitchen really is the heart ofthe home.
And I know that it's cheesy andcliche, but Everybody needs to
eat.
If your kitchen is stressing youout, I can't imagine anything
more of a relief than going intoa space that is no longer that
(18:36):
sense of chaos and clutter.
You are proud to be in yourkitchen.
You are excited to cook the nextmeal.
You take way less time to dothings like putting away dishes
and cleaning because you havethe systems in place that allow
you to spend less time doingcooking if that's something that
you don't like to do.
So we really do tailor it toeach and every individual's
(18:58):
needs when it comes to howsomeone sets up their kitchen.
I really like the puzzle thatgoes into that.
Secondly, I love working withwomen and their closets because
like I was saying earlier, theyreally do hold so many memories
as well as relationships withour clothing.
That seems probably crazy to saya relationship with clothes, but
(19:21):
it's true because we have somany things that we're attached
to when it comes to maybe aglamorous dress or a sweater
that you were wearing when youbrought your baby home for the
first time.
Day or slippers that your momgave you that are probably
ratty, but she doesn't live hereanymore.
They just hold so many stories.
And I love getting to get toknow my clients one on one in
(19:44):
this really intimate way,because you get to know someone
really fast when you go throughtheir underwear drawer.
That's for sure.
Ashley (19:51):
I definitely agree with what you're saying about the
women's closet, because I feellike it is somewhere where we
walk into every day.
And if there is.
I would say like a lot of shouldcalling this should fit.
I should have more time to wearthis.
I should be going to events thatit's like if you walk into that
feeling like that every day.
That can't be a great feeling.
Jaime (20:11):
No, absolutely.
And I can't imagine opening upmy closet every day and having
all my t shirts tumble down onmy head because I can't find the
right one.
And instead being able to getdown to a wardrobe that is full
of items that That's a clientloves that they feel great in or
that they are knowing thatthey're going to be wearing on a
(20:31):
somewhat regular basis.
I don't have a hard and fastrule for if you haven't worn it
in one year, get rid of itbecause that's just not been
part of our lifestyle for thelast.
Three years now, so I'vescrapped that rule and more so
just have focused on thephysical look and feel of the
fabric as well as the feelingthat we get when we do a pile of
(20:53):
try ons and say.
I love this, how it makes mefeel.
I love how it makes me look orGod, this tag is really itchy or
whatever the case is.
It's an opportunity to try onanything that you've been
neglecting or has been hidingyour closet too.
And sometimes it can get reallyfun too.
It's like a Carrie Bradshawmoment in some circumstances.
Ashley (21:12):
A lot of times you forget what's even in there.
So it's almost like reshoppingwhat you already have.
Jaime (21:18):
It also saves people money in that respect because I
can't tell you how many timesI've gone into a closet and
found the exact same shirt fromAritzia bought three times over
because the client physicallycould not find it in their
closet.
So clearly it's a winner, butyou just couldn't find it in the
other items that are clutteringup the space.
Ashley (21:40):
Which is a good point too, especially when we think
about fast fashion and thingsthat we know are creating
unnecessary problems everywhereelse to really kind of think, do
I need this or do I like this orthings like that too.
For people that are wanting todownsize, but they're not quite
in a place that they actuallywant to hire somebody.
(22:02):
What are some simple tips thatyou would recommend to kind of.
Start the decluttering processwithout becoming super
overwhelmed by it.
Jaime (22:11):
I would say start with an area of your home that maybe
wouldn't be the most stressfulor the has the most attachment
to.
For some people, like we werejust saying, might be your
closet.
That might be a high pressuresituation for someone.
So start with something that'sreally low pressure, such as
maybe it's your desk officedrawer and you want to get that
(22:33):
little portion, that little tinyarea of your home organized to
get the momentum flowing.
You don't necessarily have tohire someone to come and
organize that for you, but itcan really show you in a very
small way how satisfying it canfeel and how accomplished that
you feel and how great you feelabout it.
(22:54):
And then be able to work in amuch more cleaner environment
and see what the long termeffects of that are, maybe even
before you revisit the nextproject or the next project
after that.
Once you're able to see thebenefits of it longer term than
just the reveal, in a sense.
It really helps to make peopleunderstand that this is a
(23:14):
process that you can go throughfor your entire home, but that
doesn't have to be done in onefell swoop by any means.
It's just when you hire a teamor an organizer, they're going
to be able to do it in a muchmore efficient way and be able
to get a larger project done.
That you might not be able to doin a single day.
If someone told me to rip apartmy entire kitchen in a single
(23:35):
day, I would say you're crazybecause you are.
There's no way I could do thatby myself.
And so often we put thispressure of, I have six hours
while the kids are at school andI'm going to rip apart my
kitchen to organize it.
So often we get pulled in fourdifferent directions during that
six hours that the kitchen endsup looking like a total tip by
(23:56):
the 6 hour mark and you justhave to shove everything back in
the drawers because it's dinnertime and you got to start prep
on that or we got to go and dosome sort of event or anything
can really pop up.
So in order to get a largerproject done, I would say that
would be the time to call in thebig guns.
But in a smaller way, if youwanted to do something like your
desk office drawer or evengetting one of your child's.
(24:19):
clothing under control.
Something smaller that you don'thave a lot of attachment to is
always beneficial to get theball rolling.
Ashley (24:28):
See, for me, it's my bathroom because it's really
easy if a product is old andgross.
Just to be able to, toss it
Jaime (24:33):
Yes, absolutely.
And a pantry can also be thesame, too, because you can find
things that have been lurking inthe bottom of your pantry
cupboards or pantry drawers andrealize, oh my gosh, this
expired four years ago, and itimmediately creates so much
physical square footage in termsof space.
It's really satisfying to dothat, too.
Ashley (24:54):
When people hire you, how long does organizational
projects usually take whenprofessionals come in and do it?
Jaime (25:02):
It depends on the scope of the project.
When we work with a client for akitchen space that is pretty
standard, 2000, 3000 squarefeet, and it doesn't have a
Separate butler's kitchen.
We can typically do that withtwo to three organizers in about
six to seven hours Now each ofus would take a bit of a lunch
(25:22):
break, of course But it usuallytakes two to three organizers
six hours and that includesproduct placement so when I say
product placement that meansthat we're incorporating
different containers or bins anditems to decant your flowers and
baking needs into as well aslabeling Everything and doing a
solid edit with the client.
(25:44):
First we do the edit and thensecond, we put everything back
together while they go and havea cup of coffee and sit down and
relax.
And then that is when my teamand I get to work.
Real fast in terms of placingeverything back into the drawers
or cupboards that is going to beremaining.
And that's when the kitchenTetris really comes into play.
(26:05):
But yeah, it takes about six toseven hours.
That's typically the length ofour session anyways, because we
find that you get decisionfatigue as a client past that
point.
And that's something that wewant to avoid for sure.
Ashley (26:18):
I love the fact that everything is labeled and has a
home.
I think that makes it so mucheasier when you know, okay, I've
put this down or my kitchentable.
All of the kids have dumpedstuff on.
I know that it goes here, hereand here.
Instead of trying to figure outwhere am I going to put this?
Where does this go?
It really eliminates that thatmental load of having to make
(26:39):
another decision at the end ofthe day.
Jaime (26:41):
And that is exactly why having an organized space, the
benefits of it are really longterm, because when your house
does get a little crazy, andespecially after an event like
Christmas, you get an influx ofstuff.
But the system that you have inplace on the back end, much like
running a business, everythinghas its place and has a system,
(27:04):
it makes your cleanup andorganizing and tidying during
those middle of the road daysmuch more simple and quicker
because everything has a placeto go.
Anytime that my husband and Iare doing a detailed clean of
our house, it's gotten a littleout of control.
We've had a lot of things goingon throughout the last week.
(27:24):
It makes it so much faster toclean because I know where my
reusable chopsticks go.
I know exactly where all of mydaughter's art supplies are
supposed to be.
They might not be there at themoment, but at least I know
where they have to go in orderto quickly put them away and not
just get shoved into a drawer.
Ashley (27:42):
It's so valuable to be able to not have to think about
those things when talking aboutdifferent containers.
Is there a certain Place whereyou're like, this is my go to
like, are you an Ikea person?
Are you a structured person ordo you
Jaime (27:57):
kind of Yeah, we do work with a lot of different types of
brands and everything I willnever say that one is better
than the other but I will saythat Some of the Ikea employees
know me by name at this pointbecause I'm there very often But
it also happens to be I livequite close to the location of
Ikea So it's easy for me to popin there.
(28:19):
I will work with anybody and anybudget that they have when it
comes to products, we can godollar store or we can go
pottery barn and everywhere inbetween.
So it just depends on someone'sbudget.
I also have a welcome kit that Isend to let people know some of
the products that we use on aconsistent basis and that have
great reviews from our team aswell as our clients.
(28:40):
I would never promote a productthat I.
Don't love or use myself andbeing able to incorporate those
on a consistent basis, justallows me to buy them for the
client and be able to know thatanything that I'm installing is
going to be holding its value aswell as maintaining the system
that we've put in because we'vedone them time and time again.
Ashley (29:02):
Which makes it huge too, because I feel like when we get
too attached to one product, itdoes make it a little bit
difficult and there is so manyfantastic options as far as Lazy
Susan's and boxes and bins andall that kind of stuff now that
it has become.
So much more readily available.
Jaime (29:20):
Yeah.
And a big mistake too, that Ifind a lot of people make is
that we see all the time onInstagram and Pinterest, that
the products are what makeeverything look polished.
And while that is definitelytrue, the fact of the matter is
that really, we shouldn't bebuying products for our spaces
until we've done the nittygritty work of editing the
(29:43):
items, because you're justreally.
Buying all of these products forthings that you might not
necessarily keep and You'regoing to be overbuying or buying
the wrong product if we decidedto maybe revamp where things are
situated in a closet or in akitchen space.
(30:04):
And that can waste money.
It can waste your time by goingto shop for all of these
products.
It can really be discouraging ifyou ultimately decide that these
products don't work for youafter organizing.
And then you have to make thenext run of going and returning
everything.
So Discouragement,discouragement, discouragement,
as opposed to having someone beable to shop for you, bring all
(30:26):
the products to site and be ableto return anything for you after
the fact that isn't used.
So that's another benefit ofworking with an organizer in
that respect.
We take care of that for all ofour clients as well.
Of course, we'll takemeasurements if there are things
that need to be purchasedspecifically, such as drawer
inserts or baskets that need tofit on a specific shelf, etc.
Ashley (30:49):
Which I think would be so invaluable because I found
even during the pandemic, evenjust ordering from Amazon and
then having to actually send itback.
I probably still have some ofthose things that were on my, I
should've, could've, would've,and then you just never do.
Jaime (31:02):
Yeah.
So again, it's like time,effort, energy, money.
Let's just skip that step andhave someone else do it for you.
Ashley (31:08):
For sure.
Now, you had touched on the factthat obviously you go in and you
organize the space and youreorganize for existing clients.
Can you tell me a little bitmore about the additional
services that you offer?
Jaime (31:20):
Of course, something that we have been really focusing on
over the last year and into2024.
Is this whole moving conciergeexperience so I personally love
getting possession of a newspace, whether it's a rental
property or a new home, andbeing able to start fresh, being
(31:41):
able to curate what you wantthis new space to look and feel
like from the get go is such ablessing so my team and I have
been building up our client basewhen it comes to prepping people
for a move and being able to do.
Everything from the originaldecluttering and listing set up
(32:02):
when you're going to go listyour house for sale and being
able to declutter all of yourclosets, create that beautiful
breathing room.
And really just downsize theamount of items that you're
going to be moving into yournext home with all the way to
being that first line of defensewhen it comes to accepting the
moving truck on the other sidewhen you go and move into your
(32:25):
new house and start theunpacking process.
Right from the get go.
We will also pack up all theboxes and unpack them for you on
the other side so that it is wayless time spent with this
extremely stressful point insomeone's life.
They don't need the extra stressof having to then go and unpack
(32:47):
every single thing that they ownif they don't have the time to
do it.
So that's when we have.
full team on our roster, able totackle as many spaces as
possible in a very short amountof time to get someone settled
and nestled into their new home.
Ashley (33:02):
Oh, it's such a valuable service because moving is the
literal worst.
It is really stressful.
Like we had talked about, wedon't necessarily have time in
our regular day to day to doeverything that we need to do
that on top of it moving.
I couldn't even imagine howamazing that would feel.
Jaime (33:21):
It's way less daunting from the start if you have the
knowledge that you already aregoing to have help with this.
If you're thinking, I'm going tolist my house in the next three
to six months and Again, this isnot for just the disorganized
individuals out there, it'sactually more so we're finding
the very organized people thatare starting to plan out their
(33:42):
moves two maybe three months inadvance, and being able to get
our services booked in well inadvance so that they can have
peace of mind that they don'thave to worry about it.
Honestly, people don't have tolift a single finger when they
work with us when it comes topacking and unpacking short of
if they want to edit their itemsbefore moving now again, I want
(34:05):
to stress that it is superimportant to create space and
time for the decluttering andediting step before you move
into your new home, as opposedto pushing it off and saying,
I'll do it when I get to the newspace.
It'll be all fine.
Well, I'm telling you that yeah.
I'm that you're thinking aboutdoesn't really exist.
It only exists in our mindsbecause when we actually move
(34:26):
into the new space, there is nota chance that you want to spend
time decluttering and editing.
You want to start living in thisspace and experiencing it.
You're also going to save moneyand time by not having to pack
everything up, spend money onpacking materials, boxes, time
for movers to cart things fromhouse A to house B.
(34:46):
And instead just do it on theforefront.
So I can't stress that enough.
And that is definitely what wehelp our clients do.
Once their house has sold, wehelp them to edit and then pack
so that they don't have to worryabout bringing anything
unnecessary to their new home.
Ashley (35:01):
Well, and I think that when you are in the packing
stage, you realize, depending onhow long you've been in the home
that you're currently in, youstart to realize, Oh my gosh, I
have.
You know, art supplies and mykids now in high school and not
touching these as much or Ihave, all of these tea towels
and my kitchen is going to besmaller in the next house.
And all of these things I findfor me personally, it's so much
(35:23):
easier to actually really getrid of that stuff before taking
it to the other place.
The guilt is gone.
It just makes it like one lessthing that you have to do.
So mentally for me, it's beenthe best.
Although when it comes tounpacking, then it's easier to
get that fatigue from it.
So to have somebody really holdyour hand or go in and do it for
you and you don't have to dealwith it.
(35:45):
If you can afford that service,I highly, highly, highly
recommend it.
Jaime (35:49):
I always say to moving is an opportunity to touch.
Everything that you own and younever are going to get that
opportunity throughout your dayto day life because we simply
don't and don't have the timeto.
It's not something that I'mgoing into the back of my linen
closet or the deepest, darkestcorner of my crawl space just to
go and physically open a box.
(36:11):
But when you're moving, you haveto, there's no leaving it in the
crawl space for the nexthomeowner unless you want it to
be taken to the garbage dump.
So, another thing that we offerin terms of our service
packages, whether that is just aone on one day or a moving house
is we take your donations foryou.
Often we find that our clientsdonation piles get shoved to The
(36:35):
trunk of their car or the footof their garage, and we take
that burden off of you so thatyou don't have to worry about
that extra step of getting itout of your house.
And there's no take backsiesthat way.
We are taking it and it is gone.
So getting into the hands of thepeople that can actually really
use it is really important tomyself as well as our clients.
(36:55):
And instead of having it again,just move or shuffle from room A
to the garage, Let's just skipthat step and we'll take care of
it for you.
Ashley (37:04):
Are there certain places that you take donations, or is
it basically like any localthrift store
Jaime (37:11):
I like to drop things off depending on what the items are.
So if I'm working With a man ora woman and they have a lot of
clothing that is in really goodcondition As well as a little
bit more corporate style.
We go and drop off at dress forsuccess if it is something that
is Consignment we help ourclients to consign it we can
(37:31):
take them to turnabout for themor depending on what level of A
brand.
It is another consignment,online consignment store.
We'll connect with them and beable to sell them locally.
Otherwise there are differentfree stores.
There's one out in White Rock,our lead organizer, Amber lives
out that way, so she'sconstantly dropping things off
(37:51):
at the free store is what theycall it, And so it's just a
great opportunity for people tocome in without any shame or
guilt and be able to shop froman actual store.
But everything is.
free.
And then, of course, Mamas forMamas is great for different
baby supplies and products andthat type of thing that are
unused.
Some people come there withabsolutely nothing to their
(38:13):
name.
And then there's a lot of morewomen's shelters out in the
Fraser Valley.
And Salvation Army thrift store,and then Valley Village for just
the kind of everyday run of themill items.
Ashley (38:24):
If anybody is looking for you online, can you tell
them where they can find you?
Jaime (38:29):
Absolutely.
We are very active on ourInstagram account at Crescent
Living Co.
We have loads of behind thescenes footage every day of the
jobs that we're working on, aswell as tons of before and
afters so you can see what itlooks like to work with us.
You'll also find us at www dotCrescent Living dot ca and
(38:50):
you'll be able to get a rundownof all of our services and
connect with me for anyconsultations that you want to
hold with me.
Ashley (38:59):
Well, thank you, Jamie, so much for having this
conversation with me today.
Jaime (39:03):
Thank you.
Thank you so much for joining ustoday for this episode of the
filled up cup podcast.
Don't forget to hit subscribeand leave a review.
If you like what you hear, youcan also connect with us at
filledupcup.Com.
Thanks again for tuning in andwe'll catch you in the next
(39:23):
episode.
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