Welcome Katie, Our New Teammate.

To be honest, my fan-girl-ing over Help You Dwell has been going on for 2 years. I just couldn't get over the admiration I had for the two (courageous) women that were brave enough to build a business while doing what they love and growing meaningful relationships along the way. I am a young (and sometimes creative) 24 year old girl that jumped at the idea of joining this power-squad. After college I somewhat randomly moved from my home state of North Carolina (hi mom & dad!) to Knoxville, TN and spent the past 2 years making a home for myself here in the scruffy city.

The lovely Naomi & Carl Zellers III.

If you asked me when I was in elementary school what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer would have been a news anchor... needless to say that dream faded when I realized how many people would be able to watch and see me make mistakes, on LIVE tv. No thank you! Since then, I've had jobs ranging from the Sample Lady at Costco all the way to Accounting. There are two common threads woven through all of the opportunities I've had; connection & order.

My roommates and I love a good porch swing.

Connection.

The Lord has been so abundantly faithful in providing mentors, friendship, and family-like relationships through the people I have worked for and with. To be loved and known by the people you work with, is not a guarantee. Yet, over and over again I can recount His kindness in providing this. My prayer is that these relationships and connections will be ever-deepening and expanding as His kingdom does. 

Order.

I've always loved arranging, re-arranging, and re-arranging again all the places I spend time. While doubts and insecurities told me that's a silly way to spend time and energy (aka muscles), I politely and boldly beg to differ with those lies. Where function and beauty meet- I wanna be all up in that. I think our Creator is fond of both things as well, I mean look at His Creation- full of function & beauty intertwined. 

To finish with a closing thought: There is something sacred about inviting others into your home and it takes courage to share the rooms that aren't quite perfect, the closets that explode when opened, and the sink full of dishes. But we forfeit deep connection when we only share our perfections (disclaimer: this is true for our homes as well as our souls).

This is where Help You Dwell comes in! It is actually our joy to help you put your belongings, memories and possessions in order. And to share a secret: this is a life-long, ongoing process.

Please raise your coffee mug (or margarita - Happy Cinco de Mayo!) with me - Cheers to our team growing from 2 to 3! And shoutout to Texture Photo for this fun photoshoot. I am so eager for how this adventure will unfold and how I will be shaped along the way. And for you who are reading this- I hope to meet you & spend time creating sacred spaces in your home. 

Happy 2nd Birthday To Us!

HYD is officially 2 years old!

Image by Texture Photo

We've done a lot of organizing, staging, planning, selling, and moving since we started. 122 individual spaces or projects are represented in the graph below which is CRAZY to think about! It's been two years full of wonderful people and amazing homes and we couldn't be more excited about where our third year will take us.

Thank you for encouraging us, hiring us, welcoming us into your homes, and joining us in the journey to bring peace and order to homes all over Knoxville. Cheers!

Letting Go of the Sippy Cup

Sometimes we just don't see it coming. Life brings changes we never dreamed of. The changes can be full of hope and excitement with so many opportunities and possibilities in front us. Other times, these changes can be the opposite. The loss of a dream, a relationship, or even a life.

Recently, HYD had the great privilege of walking alongside a loving mama named Leanne who had to say goodbye to her baby son. Leanne also happens to be a dear childhood friend of mine. November 14, 2012, Baby Drew entered this world as a mighty warrior fighting for life from day one, 8 months later, he "passed peacefully from parent's arms into the arms of Jesus." I won't begin to share with you the journey this was for my friend & her family, you can only imagine. God never left their side, but the pain endured and the loss they continue to feel matches nothing I've ever known. If you're interested in reading more, here is the CaringBridge journal.

What I do want to share is what life is like two years later, when the room in their house that was to be Drew's still sits waiting for him to come home from the NICU at Vanderbilt that he never left. Drew's mama has tried for months to redo the room, find new purpose for it, and let go of some of Drew's baby gear that he'll never get to use. There are so many emotions attached to these items.

When we lose something precious, our grief process may have some similarities to others but truly it is always our own process. Drew's mom has clung desperately to her faith, her family, and her friends. Leanne's transparency through this journey has been immeasurable. It has also allowed countless others to confess the hard, ask for help, and find healing through inviting others to share their own burdens.

In this season, after all the CaringBridge readers are gone, the sympathy cards and casseroles don't come any longer, and most people think her family ought to be "back to normal," Drew's mom knows that the healing will never be full until she holds her boy again in Eternity. Until then, there's a room in her home that needs new life. This is where Help You Dwell comes in.

Leanne knew it was time. She was ready. She called and said she didn't know where to start.

Caroline and I got there at 10:30am and by 2pm, Drew's room was well on it's way to be a guest and family craft room for both she and her 9 year old son, Nate. 

The process was wonderful and hard at the same time. Drew's mom got to sift through some of the thoughtful, handmade gifts she's received along the way. HYD helped her make decisions about how to donate certain items and how to discard others. One of the hardest items to let go of were the sippy cups she had saved for him. Any of you who've had the blessing of multiple children have saved items from your older kids that the younger ones can use. This bag of sippy cups had been Nate's. All the other items she had saved could be donated or given to a friend to use, but sippy cups aren't really items to share with others. You really just use them for your own kids so she knew they would just have to go in the trash. It's amazing how so much of a person can be wrapped up in an object.

Listening, waiting, and gently encouraging her to let go of the bag of cups wasn't easy but it was good. She would agree. We moved on to the next items and by 2pm, the room was transformed into a place that allowed her to see all kinds of possibilities.

In closing, I want to also share a little of my friend's experience having Help You Dwell enter into this intimate & sensitive place to walk alongside her in this journey.  Upon writing this blog, I shared it with her before posting & she responded with her journal entry just after we had come. Here is an excerpt she gave me permission to share...

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Yesterday, Taryn and Caroline came and helped me declutter Drew's room. It was an amazing, productive, and heart wrenching time. It felt like forever, but it was 4 hours. Funny how you lose a sense of time when you're in that kind of space. (at one point, I commented that cleaning out spaces seems to go a lot faster on HGTV) I was so anxious leading up to our time and asked so many to pray for that time. God was faithful to be there. He gave me a willing spirit to get rid of stuff and to stay on task. He also blessed me with 2 precious sisters to walk with me in this process. What a gift!!

Several times since they left, I have gone into Drew's room and just enjoyed the space. It's open and mostly organized. (there are still boxes to go through, but they are in the basement and out of sight... this could be dangerous. You know, out of sight. Out of mind.) I love the space and the reward of having purged so much stuff yesterday. However, I know the room isn't finished. We began the day yesterday discussing what the space should be. I LOVE, LOVE that Help You Dwell's goal is to make spaces functional and to bring purpose to a room.

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Caroline and I know that when we enter someone's home or even workspace, we often come across the parts of our clients' spaces that stay hidden. We expect to hear stories although they're never required. And always, there is no judgement on our part. We expect a mess, that's why you called us in the first place. 

Taryn, Leanne, Caroline

Why not just leave all that stuff in the attic?

People often take action on spaces or rooms that guests or family see and utilize but what about the spaces that most people don't see; the ones that internally weigh you down? Most of us have a stash hidden in our closets, attics, or basements. Why not leave it there?

Image from Sundaytimes.co.uk

The problem with accumulating things and then hiding them away is that one day they have to be dealt with by you or by the family you leave behind. Often times we carry around subconcious guilt or anxiety about those spaces. We form attachments to our stuff or maybe attachments to the idea of having access to stuff. There is a process that one must go through to mentally prepare to let go of things. Part of the decluttering process begins with a good look at how you think about your things. For many of us, holding on to things is a way to feel safe about a future need that may or may not ever occur. We encourage you to think about what it would be like to only keep items that truly give you joy? Sometimes it's simply a matter of stopping to think about the purpose you originally had behind a purchase. You may find that it's served it's purpose and can be passed along. We've found that decluttering doesn't come naturally to many people. Organizing and decluttering your home can be really overwhelming, even scary at times. On top of those things, letting go is HARD! It usually takes an outsider to help you not get stuck in your head when trying to make decisions on what to keep. It's only natural to begin thinking of all the reasons to not get rid of things when the real question (and way less time consuming question) is whether keeping it will bring you joy. Being ready to declutter doesn't happen over night, it's a personal journey that doesn't work if you've reluctantly agreed after being coerced by a friend of family member. The decluttering and ultimately the organizing process only works when you truly want to be free of your stuff.

Image by Texture Photo

Our goal is never to convince anyone to do anything they don't want to do but rather for you to be so convinced that you need freedom from your things that you make the move to call us. We want you to be the hero of your clutter problem and we are here, ready to guide you along the way.

"I'm not a professional organizer..."

 OK, well maybe my profession is organizing, but I've never been too comfortable with the title "professional organizer." It continues to be more about the person than the organizing. I think of myself as a "personal organizer." 

Photo by Texture Photo

As Caroline and I talked about this earlier in the week, we both agreed that we love bringing the order and peace to someone's home or work space. It truly gives us such satisfaction to create living and working spaces for clients to move from that "stuck" place into a place where they can live more fully.

Image courtesy of Christina Rosalie

At the same time, letting our clients off the hook a little, showing grace as they share their story, and celebrating the victories as we finish spaces is by far the highlight of what we do.

 

Getting to hear the story that brought clients to where they are, whether they need HYD a little or a lot, and then getting to see hope rise as the clutter begins to clear is why we show up.

That's all we ask of our clients too. Just show up. It might be that the idea of letting go of sentimental or valuable items seems daunting, your budget is limited, or you just don't know where to start. HYD gets all that. To be practical, that's why our initial consultation is free. We want to hear what's going on, give you tools to help, and show up to work alongside you in the way you need us too.

And finally, I can't finish this quick post without thanking those folks that have allowed us into their homes and offices thus far. We have so loved this journey and wait eagerly to be part of yours.