InnerLift Organizing

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InnerLift Organizing

If you’re overwhelmed by getting your house ready to sell, moving, or just want to declutter and get organized, I’m here for you. Not Instaperfect. Not for show.

No judgment, just good advice, support, motivation & accountability to help you take small, easy steps and get it DONE. I help overwhelmed people clear the clutter, get unstuck, and finally feel good in their homes again. Whether you’re downsizing, drowning in to-do lists, or just tired of walking past the same piles every day, I’ve got your back. With 30 years of experience and a whole lot of hea

rt, I offer step-by-step support (minus the shame or pressure). Together, we’ll create a space—and a life—that works for you. Just real, functional, and finally manageable.

19/08/2026

Summer's not really over, it's just a mindset shift! Set a deadline to wrap up summer in 15-minute increments. Start with easy tasks like putting away beach bags and pool towels. Don't organize junk, and think about what you can improve for next summer. Make a note for future you and set a calendar event to get ready for next year. Look forward to cozy fall weather, book time, and bonfires!

18/08/2026

What do you LOVE the most when it's clean, clutter-free and organized?

For me, it's my Car.

Every time I get it cleaned out and cleaned up, I feel so satisfied when I slide into the driver's seat. Everything looks shiny, there's no dust, pollen or dog hair. I know what's in the Console, the Side Pockets, and the Glove Box (do we still call it that?)

I admit, this is my most difficult area. It was bad when I had 3 boys, now they have grown up and reproduced themselves, it's STILL hard! So obviously it's not the kids, grandkids, and dogs, it's me. I am the problem.

4 Things that Help me do better:

- Paying for a good car wash once a month. This forces me to empty my car so that all of it gets clean. And it's SO satisfying! One of my favorite self-care treats.

- Having a place for the trash that I am in the habit of emptyting every time I get gas. (If you want to remember this as a new habit, put a piece of removable tape inside your gas cap that says "Trash!")

- Having ONE dedicated bag (I use a clear tote so I can always see what's in the bag) for things that go back and forth from house to car AND a dedicated hook for this bag in the house. I walk in the house and hang the bag on the hook next to the hook for my car keys. If I don't empty the bag that day, I will have to empty it before I leave the following day in order to put new things in it (fresh water bottle and such). If you are someone who uses grocery store totes that are full of stuff and lying around, using a Clear Tote is a GAME CHANGER!

- Expecting (and reinforcing) everyone to clear out their stuff and trash from the car every time. Even if it takes a second trip. If an item is not supposed to live in the car then we don't let it move in.

Photos attached:

1) My son Justin cleaning my parent's car years ago. My Dad always kept our cars immaculate and the grandsons were great helpers!

2) Justin's son Apollo. He is a "nester" so every car ride must include a blanket, stuffies, books, etc. He has a massive tote bag for it all.

3) My clear tote so you can see what I was talking about. Highly recommend!

17/08/2026

Having two acres of woods is a dream come true. But watching it get choked out by invasive plants has felt overwhelming, honestly kind of discouraging.

So we started clearing paths through it, and now we've got these lovely winding trails through the trees. Next step is covering the paths with wood chips so everything doesn't just grow right back.

There's something so satisfying about seeing usable, cleared space appear in what used to feel like a mess. That's the whole point of decluttering, really.

Getting the chips free through ChipDrop: getchipdrop.com

We do have to cut down two small mostly dead trees though as the Chip Drop will be ENORMOUS and requires 15 feet of space. OMG. I’m excited but also realize that I’m signing myself up for another big home project here.

Well, you know where to go if you want to get some cardio in!

12/08/2026

There's one question you should ask yourself (and everyone in your house) before you bring something new home:

"Where is that going to go?"

If your answer is usually "we'll find a place for it"... that's not a great sign!

Case in point: our new puppy, River. She came home with two crates, four leashes, toys, food, treats, a LOT of gear, and yep, we need all of it.

But here's the thing: we knew exactly where everything would live before she even walked in the door. Treats and toys go in bins on top of her crate. Leashes and extra collars hang on hooks by the door. All the general pet stuff lives in one cabinet in the library.

Adding a new puppy, and keeping two dogs totally separate while they work out some pack dynamics, has been a big disruption to our home life. But the stuff? That part wasn't chaos, because we had a plan for it first.

22/07/2026

It’s Christmas in July at Brightview Senior Living in Westminster. They must have some serious celebrity connections because SANTA WAS THERE!

I had to take a photo with him to remind us all that “we better watch out, we better not pout, etc.”.

He said we should all be nicer to each other.

Santa is always right!

20/07/2026

I just heard back from a recent Coaching Client that he really liked “the red tape method” so I thought I would share it with you.

He had a bunch of boxes in his basement he needed to sort through and needed some motivation and a method to follow. So I asked him to do the following:

Step 1) Buy some bright red removable masking tape or painter’s tape.

Step 2) Go into the basement and put a big piece of tape onto every box, bin or cabinet that needed to be sorted out.

Step 3) Count the number of pieces of red tape and figure out how long it would take to go through that many spaces. (This is something I work on with my Coaching Clients so that we can have a realistic Action Plan to follow).

Step 4) Set a deadline WITH a reward for when you can have all of those areas sorted through.

Step 5) Make set appointments with yourself on your calendar to tackle those areas. You can do just 3 on weekends if you want. It’s better to underpromise and over deliver then to set your expectations to high.

Step 6). Get started! As you sort through and declutter each box or bin, take the red tape off. I suggest you yank it off triumphantly and with some kind of sound or side effect! I had one family I was working with and everyone would ring a bell loudly when they finished sorting a box. It was so fun!

Then you keep going until all the red tape is gone.

This is also a great method for working in a kitchen so you can keep track of which cabinets you’ve gone through and which ones are still to go.

This is just one of the many ideas I use to help people FINALLY get the decluttering and organizing done that they have felt terrible about for years! I love when people get excited about their progress and share it with me. Also they often give me feedback that makes the idea even better and so I can share the update with the next person. I love my work!

19/07/2026

Check out these photos from the AirnB cottage we just stayed at in Vermont!

The floors were so out of level, everything felt tilted and I literally had Vertigo the first day and had to hold onto stuff when I was walking around. Then we got used to it but it was still weird. My husband, who has a remodeling business, was really bothered by it, I know he wanted to rip out those floors and get it all leveled out!

I’m always amazed, and grateful, when on vacation because there is nothing-I-should-be-doing. No plants or gardens to tend, nothing to clean, no to do lists to work on.

I’m sitting on the sofa finally writing content for hours UNINTERRUPTED! I always have tons of ideas and stories I want to share but don’t take the time to get them out of my head and onto paper/computer so I’m finally doing that, and it’s so cathartic!

I’m sitting here thinking about how so many of us crave vacation time so we can get away from our Home Lives that we built ourselves. We stuff our houses, and our schedules, and then we’re so stressed out we can’t wait to get away from it all. We blame it on a lot of things but we do it to ourselves.

Now don’t get me wrong, I do love my home and my stuff and my gardens and my plants and my family and my friends and my work. And I want it ALL and that’s why I have built a full Life. That sometimes I still want to get away from. But only to a place with level floors!

18/07/2026

Thinking about my sweet grandmother, Ida Schneider, today.

In this photo she is with her first great grandchild, my son Sean, who is now 38 years old. Crazy!

I have a special place in my heart for those older people who I think of as “quietly stubborn.” They don’t really argue or fight with their grown kids. They just… don’t do the thing the other person is trying to get them to do. They do what they want.

They’re going to keep driving, even if everyone knows they probably shouldn’t. They’re going to keep all their stuff too, even when their kids say, “Mom, just get a dumpster and throw it all away.” Honestly, that’s one of the fastest ways to make someone even more determined to keep everything.

And no, I cannot “clean it all out” while the person is on a cruise. I get asked that more often than you would think, and I always say, “I understand why that sounds like a quick and efficient solution… but that’s also called theft, and I don’t do that.”

There are lots of strategies for working with the quietly stubborn. But arguing, pushing, criticizing, or trying to force the issue almost always brings progress to a screeching halt.

Usually it’s one of the grown kids who’s exhausted and frustrated. And honestly, I get that too.

It’s incredibly hard to watch someone you love struggle. They want your help… but they don’t want the help you think they need.

I often find myself in the middle, helping everyone figure out what the real goal is and how to work toward it together. It’s a challenging place to be, but I love it. For a little while I get to become part of that family, and that’s one of the greatest honors of my work.

One strategy that often works really well is to move the person first and declutter later.

If they’re moving in with family, going to assisted living, or downsizing to a retirement community, let them get excited about their new life. Help them choose the things they love most and get settled first.

Then you can go back and deal with the old house. Maybe that means storage for a while. Maybe it means presorting. Maybe something else. There isn’t just one right way.

But getting someone out of a home that’s no longer serving them can make an immediate difference in their quality of life.

And let’s remember… someday we’re going to be the older people who want to keep our stuff too.

17/07/2026

People probably think my phone rings all day with people asking me to come over and help them declutter.

Sometimes it does.

But honestly, that’s not why most people call.

Most people call because they need advice.

By the time they reach out, they’ve already spent weeks, or even months, trying to figure everything out themselves. They’re clearing out their parents’ house, getting their own home ready to sell, trying to choose a mover, deciding what to keep and what to let go of, or standing in the middle of a new house surrounded by boxes wondering where to even begin.

They don’t call because they don’t want to do the work.

They call because they don’t know what to do first, what can wait, or whether they’re making the right decisions. And they feel like they should know.

I always find myself thinking the same thing…

I wish you had called me sooner.

Because I could have saved you weeks of stress, a tremendous amount of time, and probably a few expensive mistakes along the way.

The biggest value I bring isn’t carrying boxes or sorting closets.

It’s helping people make hundreds of good decisions before they become hundreds of stressful problems. Sometimes an hour of planning is worth more than weeks of trying to figure it out by yourself.

Consider this your invitation.

You don’t have to figure this all out by yourself.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, call me before you spend another weekend wondering what to do next. We’ll come up with a plan together, and I think you’ll feel a whole lot better.

I’d love to hear your story and help you figure out your next step.

Call me at 301-887-3622 or email me at [email protected]

Address

505 High Acre Dr

21157

Telephone

3018730459

Website

https://www.innerlift.com/

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