To thrive in a tidy space, you don’t have to be the kind of person who believes every last object should “spark joy,” as world-renowned organizer Marie Kondo puts it. Rather, you simply have to be willing to create a space that caters to your ideal life. And with Lisbet Byler’s help, you don’t have to do it alone.
In January, Byler launched her own professional tidying business, So Organized. This career allows her to combine her innate empathy and people skills with her intuitive and learned sense of functionality and tidiness.
“They’re always guided sessions,” Byler says about the organizing work she does with clients. “I think it’s really important that they’re part of the process, because I can’t choose what matters to you.”
Whether it’s a specific space—garage, kitchen, closet, or the like—or an entire home, Byler works directly with clients to address underlying causes of disorder and create a lasting system of organization.
Byler is Lancaster’s first (and only) KonMari Consultant, which means she largely follows Marie Kondo’s KonMari method of organization. However, Byler understands that every client is different, so she applies a bespoke approach to every project, fusing KonMari with her own unique touch as she sees fit.
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Byler is the type of person who reads books like “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning” in her spare time and has an impeccably organized sock drawer. “If you walked into my childhood room and breathed, I would’ve known someone was in there, because something was slightly off,” she says. “My sisters were the total opposite. It was just inherent in me.”
But it’s not like Byler thinks her tidying services will make others magically love organizing. It’s actually the opposite. “I want to make your life as easy as possible in the space we’re in,” she clarifies.
Already, Byler has proven how effective her strategies are time and time again. One of her first clients was a couple in retirement who hired her to tidy their entire house, including what Byler calls “the underbelly” (otherwise known as the layer below the seemingly pristine surface). She saw them a couple of times per week for nearly four months. By the end of the process, the couple couldn’t wait to host, showing their guests every spick-and-span corner of the house they could.
Another client was honest about their ADHD, so Byler worked with them to make the space as functional as possible. She even met with other professional organizers who specialize in spaces inhabited by those with ADHD, all in an effort to be as well equipped as possible to do right by her client.
“It’s a very intimate and vulnerable process. I don’t take that for granted,” says Byler. “I feel honored they feel comfortable inviting me into their home going through their things.”
This is true regardless of how many things someone has in their home. Byler, promising she’s judgment-free, says to potential clients, “Don’t pick up before I come over. Don’t clean. I want to see your space in its natural form. Even before our first consultation, you don’t need to have anything figured out.” That’s the voice of someone who is open-armed and ready to help others rid themselves of shame and excess stress in the way she knows best.
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Byler’s process involves a lot of minimizing. Only once someone has gone through their things with her can she choreograph the tidying process.
When it comes to the actual organizing, Byler believes less is more—unlike some other organizers, who often push their own product lines on their clients. “It’s really a luxury service, but if I can cut costs for them elsewhere, I will,” she says. That means using tidying products people already have before going out and buying more (and even then, she’ll only purchase products if her clients want them).
Byler speaks like someone who is trained in counseling (she doesn’t believe in junk drawers— they’re “organized utility drawers”—and she’s a firm believer in giving yourself at least a 24-hour waiting period before going out and buying a shiny new thing). The overlap in counseling and professional organizing is apparent the moment Byler starts talking about the work she does.
For people who enlist the help of So Organized, they’re doing more than giving their home a refresh. “There’s no shame in asking for help. If this is a daily struggle that you deal with, asking for help is a gift you’re giving yourself,” Byler says. By doing this, she adds, “You’re able to focus on the people and things you love and care about.” In increasingly busy households, perhaps that is something wonderful to strive for.
