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The REALTORS® Association of Edmonton (RAE), founded in 1927, is a professional association of real estate brokers and associates in the Greater Edmonton Area and beyond.
Mark Connolly (00:05.634)
Joining us is Caitlin Beakhouse from SORT and SIMPLE Professional Organizing. Hello, Caitlin.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (00:11.344)
Hi Mark.
Mark Connolly (00:12.888)
So organizing, mean everybody thinks they're organized and many people know they're not. How did you get into this business? Were you always a very organized person?
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (00:22.096)
I have always been a very organized person. That's definitely what drew me to professional organizing. But I actually previously had a decade long career in healthcare. But when it came time to switch jobs, I thought, how can I continue to help people, but in a different way that's maybe a little more creative, a little more autonomous? And I came up with organizing. And that's really transformed over the time that I've been doing this.
Mark Connolly (00:47.662)
So how do you first get into it? What kind of things were you organizing and how do you present it to people to say this is an actual thing that you need?
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (00:56.16)
Absolutely, good question. The thing about the organizing industry is it's actually a very new industry. So everyone knows what a house cleaner is, they know what a home stager is, and they know what they do. They know that these services are available. But the thing with professional organizing is because it's newer, we end up doing a lot of education and a lot of awareness of, these are supports that are available.
And a lot of times people say like, I've never even heard of professional organizing, even though we have these great TV shows like The Home Edit and Mary Kondo. And so I kind of started out more in that traditional sense of professional organizing where I thought, hey, I'm gonna go and help people organize their pantry and declutter their closets. But very quickly, Mark, I realized that people don't have organizing problems, we have stuff problems.
Mark Connolly (01:29.645)
Right.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (01:48.261)
Right? And these things really, really pile up on us. So very quickly I learned that we needed to focus a lot more on helping people that were overwhelmed to simplify their lives. And over time we started to work more and more with seniors, which was something that I did a lot in healthcare. So I had a lot of experience working with people in these emotionally charged situations and that started to merge with the organizing as well. And we got into decluttering and downsizing.
Mark Connolly (02:18.092)
I'm betting there's a real sort of emotional aspect of this, right? That people are, I mean, people are connected to their things, right? They keep something for a reason, for the most part. So how do you deal with that? How do you approach that?
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (02:31.078)
So our team is all about having a compassionate approach. So we know that things pile up on us for all kinds of reasons. Sometimes, you know, it's our shopping habits. Sometimes it's just that our kids and our lives are really busy. And other times it can be health related, you know, maybe mental health or even just physical health that we can't keep up with the things in our home. So I think the most important thing is coming with a judgment free approach, whether it's a professional helping you or your realtor or a loved one.
We need to have this open mind, first of all. And then really, it's this first step of our process, which is helping clients identify what is their goal, what are they working towards. And in the cases where people are moving, it's quite often, hey, I want this next chapter to be a fresh start. What do I want that to look like? Especially if people are downsizing, you're not gonna be taking your whole entire household of things with you. So we have to think, what does that chapter look like and get really specific about it.
Mark Connolly (03:30.552)
So is that the kind of thing you discuss in your first consultation with someone? You show up and you start discussing all these things. What is that like with people? Do they get kind of emotional sometimes?
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (03:41.678)
Yes, so often before I even meet people at their homes, you know, they'll give me a call and tears are not uncommon, right? We often feel overwhelmed. People sometimes are calling because a loved one is sick or ill or maybe even has passed away because quite often we're even working in people that are in estate situations. So those home clear outs, things like that. But then like you mentioned, just that emotional tie to our stuff and that
Mark Connolly (03:48.653)
Wow.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (04:08.4)
things are changing and change is scary. That is totally fair. So tears are quite common and totally okay. I know that realtors see that a lot too, right? These are overwhelming situations. So yes, whether we chat on the phone first or go to meet someone in their home, the very first thing we're doing is just opening, asking part of me these open-ended questions of, why have we been keeping things? What are we working towards? What's your timeline?
those kinds of questions to figure out what is their goal.
Mark Connolly (04:40.78)
And so you work, I assume, with a lot of realtors, a lot of professionals. What is the best time for them to sort of bring you into the process? I'm assuming earlier is better.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (04:51.716)
Yeah, so I imagine a lot of our realtor listeners feel this way too, where it's always better to be proactive and call sooner. So especially, we work a lot with seniors that are downsizing and families clearing estates. And often people think, you know, I won't call my realtor till I'm ready to list, or I won't call an organizer until the month I'm ready to move. That's not enough time. And especially if we want to create a strategic plan or to
Mark Connolly (05:00.782)
Right.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (05:21.382)
kind of mitigate those emotions by just not being so rushed through the process. So like calling your realtor, call your organizer, your declutterer as early as possible. So some of our clients will call us a year in advance, maybe like a year before they wanna move. Yeah, very proactive. I love those phone calls, because those are the kinds of folks we can go and see once every two weeks or something like that. And they feel that they're very in control, not rushed.
Mark Connolly (05:36.718)
Wow.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (05:50.182)
But we do get clients that are calling, you know, even just one or two months before they want to move or to list, for example. And we've had those kinds of turnarounds where we'll get people ready within two weeks, do the decluttering, do some pre-packing and get their house listed.
Mark Connolly (06:06.37)
Now you mentioned kind of some of the more famous TV shows about this, Marie Kondo obviously being one and her approach being, you know, keeping things that I guess what bring you joy or sparks joy, right. And then there's hoarders, which is a completely other situation where things are out of control and there's a lot going on there. Do you deal with both of those? Have you had that experience?
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (06:17.679)
Yeah, she asked what sparks joy?
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (06:24.707)
Yeah. Yeah.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (06:30.811)
Yeah, so the way I love to describe it is on the organizing spectrum, we have Kim Kardashian's closet, right? Pretty, pretty closets all the way to hoarding disorder. And it's sort and simple. We focus on supporting the 80 % in the middle. So we have your specialists in pretty pantry organizing and you have your hoarding specialists as well. And we're always happy to refer out to those people that are experts in that.
especially for hoarding when you know we might need a social worker and a therapist involved and sometimes there's also peace officers and things like that involved. So we like to support that 80 % in the middle, mostly overwhelmed seniors, families and their caregivers.
Mark Connolly (07:01.251)
Right.
Mark Connolly (07:13.304)
You know, one thing I would think too is that people, they've been keeping these things that they've had for a long time, but now they've decided they've gotta move on from those, you know, having everything. But they don't wanna throw them out. They don't want them to end up in the landfill. How do you determine whether something is worth, moving on to Goodwill or one of those other places, and something that's like, well, this best before date is over, and I'm afraid it's not gonna be reused? How do you make those determinations?
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (07:20.602)
Yeah.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (07:38.79)
So Mark, that is one of the two most common obstacles that our clients run into or anyone that's moving runs into is I have things of value. And of course they have extra value because they're mine. They belong to me. And not wanting them to go to garbage. And I love that this is an obstacle for people because there are so many great resources and great community initiatives. So yes, there are things like rehoming through your neighborhood.
Mark Connolly (07:49.835)
here. Right.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (08:06.403)
buy nothing group, so if you are someone that uses Facebook, that's absolutely fantastic. You can also sell items of course on Marketplace or there's great local resellers, know, local consignors for clothes and even for antiques, things like that. Some people choose to do auctions or in-home sales when it's more of like an estate situation, but we're always very particular about when we recommend that because sometimes the effort, the time,
and the commission rates are just not worth it, especially if you're ready to let go and move on. But our absolute favorite thing to do, is like you mentioned, is donation. And there are so many great groups here in Edmonton. As you mentioned, Goodwill, we have Find, which is just here in Edmonton, which is a really special group helping people transition from homelessness, Habitat for Humanity, and other local thrift stores.
Mark Connolly (08:41.4)
Right.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (09:01.573)
But even things that you wouldn't think of, like small things like your eyeglasses can be donated and rehomed. Yeah. So we actually have a resource and all our realtors, try and let them know about it so they can share it with their clients. And it's right on our website at sortandsimple.ca. It's called the Rehome Hub. And the Rehome Hub is a free online directory that lists local organizations like artists, makers, businesses.
Mark Connolly (09:06.968)
Right, yeah.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (09:31.021)
as well as thrift stores and schools. And they will take items and find new lives for them, which is fantastic.
Mark Connolly (09:40.14)
Well, all that said, it kind of brings us around to that point of starting early, because there is so much to it that the earlier you're starting, then you're not sort of in a panic situation where you gotta get rid of things. If you do it in a more gradual way, you're gonna have more success, I would think.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (09:46.747)
You
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (09:57.666)
Absolutely, you're gonna feel less rushed, you're gonna feel like you're able to give friends and family a chance to take what they want, to rehome things to, know, a lot of our seniors love their senior center, so like CESA has a big rummage sale and they want things to go there. So we have to time those things. So you're right, the earlier we start, the better. But one thing I always recommend is instead of trying to get every item to the perfect place, which is really stressful and really hard to do,
Mark Connolly (10:24.782)
Yeah.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (10:26.831)
Pick maybe four or five key organizations that are meaningful to you and just focus on getting your items to those ones.
Mark Connolly (10:35.214)
What's one of the biggest misconceptions about professional organizing that you hear from people and maybe the one thing you wish people would stop believing about it?
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (10:45.211)
Stop believing about professional organizing. I think a lot of us think of it as a luxury service and that it's completely out of our price range or the other thing is that I should be able to do this myself. Why should I need to hire someone to do something like this for me? There's something wrong with me. But just like house cleaning, we don't have to do everything ourselves and sometimes passing off some of this decision making to an expert or a helper.
makes a big, difference. So especially if you're selling your house and downsizing, the cost of hiring a professional organizer to walk you through every stage of your move is actually very reasonable. And even we have different ways of adjusting to people's budgets. So for example, we can space out our organizing sessions so that you can have some homework tasks in between, do a little bit on your own.
Mark Connolly (11:38.222)
Right.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (11:40.379)
We can even incorporate other family members to get you having that kind of help and then it's sort and simple all of our services are hourly So if you want to take your own donations to the thrift store Go ahead you do that if you want us to take that for you because you know You're not going to do it for six months. We're happy to do that So stay keeping it really flexible to different people's budgets and yeah that it's not so scary to have someone in your home
Mark Connolly (11:57.999)
Thank
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (12:07.638)
if they have the expertise in that non-judgmental approach.
Mark Connolly (12:12.047)
All right, so here's a fun question for you. Color coordinating. Is that an organizing win or an organizing trap?
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (12:14.554)
Mm-hmm.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (12:20.102)
a trap. That sounds so scary. I really believe that everyone has to find their own methods for decluttering and organizing. And for example, a rainbow for me, that seems like extra work. I'm more of a sort by type, right? So I want my books sorted by nonfiction and fiction, or my clothes sorted by t-shirts and pants.
Mark Connolly (12:36.878)
Yeah.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (12:45.444)
But for someone else, rainbow is great. And it could depend on if you're a visual person. I know this is a very diplomatic answer, but I think we all have different styles, and that's part of our work as professional organizers, is figuring out what is it that you need. And quite often, we have to do some experimenting to find that out. And that's where clients might feel like, I've tried all these methods and I saw the home edit does rainbow, so I have to do rainbow and I need plastic bins.
But the thing is, that might not be what's right for you. So if you've experimented, it hasn't worked out, don't be hard on yourself, try something else.
Mark Connolly (13:23.586)
You know, we talked a lot about the portion of this, of your organization where people are trying to downsize, they're trying to get rid of things, but do people hire you also because they just want everything they have?
to be more organized, in other words, a place for everything. And I often think that when you move into a new house, for instance, it's usually built that way that, well, this is where you put the towels and this is where you put the toys. And your expertise would be very helpful in that way, I would think.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (13:55.823)
Yeah, definitely. So whether someone is staying put or needs help setting up their new home, there are definitely ways to do it in a strategic and functional sense. And again, it's very personalized, right? So if you have little kids in your home, we might need to put the snacks lower down, or we need to put cleaning supplies higher up. Or for some of our seniors, their reach isn't as good anymore, things like that. So yes, we do help people organize. But what I found as soon as I started
helping people with the organizing is that decluttering is easily 80 % of the work that we do. And it is the most important step. the fewer things you have, right, the easier it is to store them, the easier it is to find them, to put them away, and to remove that mental and emotional weight that really drags people down. But as well, for our folks that are moving, doing that decluttering first is going to make their listing
look a lot nicer. Those listing photos and that walkthrough are so important. So doing some decluttering for that's really essential as well as it's gonna cost you less to move because there's gonna be fewer things to pack. And when you get to your new place, you're having that fresh start and again, easier to set up.
Mark Connolly (15:12.622)
So for realtors, which a great many of the people who listen to our podcast are realtors, and this is by realtors and for realtors, what's an organizing tip that they can share with clients to make listing prep feel a little less overwhelming?
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (15:20.602)
Yeah.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (15:28.002)
Yes, I love listing preparation because it's really twofold because we can use listing preparation to get ready for photos, but you can actually also use it to get ready for your move. So you're doing that decluttering part, but I also love this term that we use and we call it pre-packing. So pre-packing is choosing the items like family photos, holiday decor, you know, that dish that you use once a year at Thanksgiving, and you're going to
pack that away into your boxes before your listing if it's something that you want to keep. And that way, not only now is your listing looking a little more simplified, you're already gonna be halfway packed when it comes to moving day.
Mark Connolly (16:10.84)
You know, I think one of the indications in our society that we have too much stuff is the storage industry. So you have a house and you can't fit all the stuff you own into it, so you buy some storage, you put it in there, and then you never look at it. Does anybody ever take you to a storage facility and say, here's my little space, what am I doing with all this stuff?
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (16:30.19)
Yeah. Whether it's a storage facility or what we call doom rooms or doom bags, doom closets, that's a common term. Doom rooms. So that's a common term, especially for our ADHD or neurodivergent clients that really feel like stuff piles up and they throw it in somewhere, usually in a tote bag and then into a room. So we see those spaces a lot.
Mark Connolly (16:39.116)
Doom rooms? I've never heard that before. Wow.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (16:56.716)
And quite often too, people reach out to us saying, you know, I think I need a storage locker. I need another shed. I need more shelves in my garage. And it's always, okay, let's slow down. We first want to do that decluttering, go through, and then we're left with what we call our inventory. Then we decide if we need more storage. So far, I'm trying to think if I've met anyone that needed more storage. Most of us, we have, we usually need less. Yeah, we already have.
Mark Connolly (17:21.294)
We need less.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (17:26.074)
tote bins and shoe boxes on hand and bookshelves. It's really about that excess stuff. Usually, there'll be once in a while, we need a little lazy Susan here or a drawer divider there, but I think sometimes we overcomplicate the process. And maybe that's what some of these perfect homes on social media or on television kind of teach us is that it's gotta be perfect. But really, it just needs to be functional for you.
Mark Connolly (17:52.514)
Well, I know when we renovated our house, which we did 10 years ago, and we were redesigning the kitchen, the woman who drafted up the plans for the kitchen, she gave us a list of everything that went in every drawer. I was like, wow, this is amazing. I hadn't thought about that because it can be so daunting to take everything out of your kitchen and then bring it back and you think, well, where is everything going to go? But if you've already pre-thought through that process, then it's easy.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (18:16.781)
Yeah, it definitely helps Mark. And actually one thing that we'll do when we're moving folks, especially if we're moving to a smaller space where things are gonna have to be completely rearranged is we'll go ahead of time and we'll put some little tape on each cabinet of what's gonna go where and kind of pre-plan that. And then our clients can take a look at those labels and say, you know what, my coffee mugs, I like them in a drawer, not a cabinet, things like that. So then moving day comes.
we start unpacking and we know exactly where it's going to go. Because you're right, it is stressful. Where are we going to put all these things? And typically, once you unpack, are you really going to go and rearrange it? Maybe not. So we want to get it close to right on the first try.
Mark Connolly (18:56.471)
Right.
Mark Connolly (19:00.344)
Does anybody ever bring you in to do a specific place? I would think like a garage. Every year I try to clean my garage a little bit every spring and I kind of take everything out and I look at it and I go, am I gonna put that back in or am I gonna get rid of it? So that's kind of a process I do every year and I want to have less things in my garage so everything else is easier to find. But do people bring you in for a specific reason like that sometimes? Yeah.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (19:05.284)
Mmm.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (19:17.966)
Yes.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (19:25.517)
Definitely, yes, and garages are a popular one because those are kind of those doom spaces again where things that we're not sure where to put might end up in the garage.
Mark Connolly (19:36.314)
and piled up to write because i mean there there's people who basically can sell you a package of garage organizer right shelves and all that sort of thing i mean that's not your role per se you would come in and more look at what they have been say this is a change you can make everything
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (19:53.838)
Yeah, these are the changes we can make, but it's also too, I find in garages specifically, we underutilize our vertical space. So people really fill the floor of their garages and not very often are they hanging things on the wall or adding shelves or even hanging things from the ceiling. But garages are something that our team loves to do because we will come as a team and do exactly like you said, Mark, pull everything out and on the same day only put back what belongs.
Mark Connolly (20:05.004)
Right.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (20:22.497)
And that's actually a really great tip for folks, and I call it avoiding default. So whether it's your garage or your junk drawer, your closet, what we wanna do is pull all the items out and only put back what we really, really feel belongs and what fits with our current chapter. And when we find that we do that, we see a huge increase in what people are willing to let go of. Because, like you said, now you have to make a decision. You're touching every item.
and being more intentional.
Mark Connolly (20:51.958)
Right? And do think one of the benefits of decluttering and organizing is when you look at that drawer or you look at that room and it's not a mess anymore, there's just this mental break that you have just sort of this like, you feel much more relaxed now.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (21:10.741)
Absolutely, yes. Our clutter can impact our mental health. It can even impact our self-confidence. So we have many clients that feel like they can't have company over. They maybe feel guilt or ashamed to have people over. And I know a lot of our realtors know that feeling of someone inviting them to come and look at their house potentially for sale. And you can just see them kind of shrink into themselves. And again, it's because we have like this big stigma that homes need to be perfect.
If we can create this feeling that relief, that I have control of my space, that I'm proud of my space, you can see people grow two inches taller. And that's one of my favorite things is when we work with someone and they just say, my gosh, I couldn't believe that this was possible. I didn't know how to get here. And then we might get tears again, right? Which is some happier tears in that case.
Mark Connolly (22:05.452)
Yeah, tears of joy at that point.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (22:07.534)
Tears of joy, exactly. That's what we're usually aiming for, the tears of joy of course. But we see people in these emotional situations too where sometimes they have to go through a past parent's memorabilia or something and we get to sit by them and hear these stories and it's always a special experience.
Mark Connolly (22:11.032)
Yeah.
Mark Connolly (22:25.55)
Well, think that's a nice thought to go out on to let people know that if they bring you into their home, they're bringing somebody who's coming with a lot of understanding and a lot of empathy, right? I think that's what you would like to communicate to people, that you're not there for judgment. You're there to lend a hand to clear that space, both physically, but also mentally.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (22:47.253)
Absolutely, Mark. And we're there. We're the emotional support, the physical support. We like to call ourselves the muscle. We might not look big and mighty, but we are. And to anyone that's thinking of moving, of getting help to declutter, downsize, or clear in a state, our number one tip is always, going back to that being proactive, is to start today. So if you've got someone that's been kind of thinking about it, we start with a complimentary, no pressure,
consultation, you know, an in-home visit or a phone call, and then we just take it one step at a time so it's not so overwhelming.
Mark Connolly (23:22.678)
And how did they get a hold of you? You're online, I presume?
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (23:25.623)
We are Mark. So our Realtor friends can of course follow us on Instagram or LinkedIn at sortandsimple. And you can find more information about our business and all of our services at www.sortandsimple.ca. And that's where you can book a complimentary consultation or you can always give me a call that number is on there.
Mark Connolly (23:51.596)
That's awesome. All right, so we always finish with this question, and I hope you can handle this one, to you personally, what makes a house a home?
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (23:57.177)
Okay.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (24:03.341)
What makes a house a home? That's interesting that you asked me that because I've actually been doing a lot of updates on my home recently. And I've lived in my house for 11 years. And when I moved in, I painted all the walls gray. And quite recently, I have figured out that I am not a very gray person. I love color and personality. And so I've really been going back through my house and updating it to make it feel more like me.
Mark Connolly (24:22.83)
You
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (24:32.397)
And I think that's what makes a house a home, is having those special items out that you love and cherish, showcasing your memorabilia, not tucking it away, painting the walls the color that make you happy. And for me, those personal photos, photos from travels or a family, that makes it
Mark Connolly (24:51.48)
Caitlin, thanks so much for doing this with us. We really appreciate it.
Kaytlyn - Sort & Simple (24:54.477)
It's been so much fun, Mark. I am so glad to be here.