Help! How to tackle clutter: a place for everything, and everything in its place
Japanese tidy-house guru Marie Kondo took the world by storm with her books on how to rid homes of clutter. The concept caught on, and "declutter consultants" became popular service providers around the world – even here in China.
Their target is all the junk and other accumulated flotsam and jetsam that we buy one day and then stash forgotten in storage cabinets the next. Surveying the groaning burden, many people just don't have the will to clear it all out and tidy their premises. Enter the professionals, like Lin Jiexiao.
She was among the first group of "house organizers" in China in 2016. According to Lin, professional organizers work either as individuals or as a team.
Lin Jiexiao
"It was a new occupation at the time, so there were no service standards or instructions," Lin told Shanghai Daily. "We had to rely on experience. I used to work alone, but I eventually formed a small team in 2019."
The decluttering profession is already mature in countries like the United States and Japan, but it remains a niche market in China. In 2018, there were no more than 50 professional house organizers in Shanghai, with an average hourly income between 100 yuan (US$15.80) and 300 yuan.
The profession suddenly faced its stiffest competition ever last year after China's Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security officially classified the occupation as a housekeeping service.
According to Lin, her four-member team needs three to four days to completely declutter and reorganize an apartment. The team used to earn 20,000 to 30,000 yuan from each order.
It may take Lin and her team three to four days to completely declutter and reorganize an apartment.
"In the good times, we received four to five orders a month," she said. "But some months we had no orders at all as competition increased."
Lin was quick to adapt. She stepped in to offer her services even before a home becomes hopelessly cluttered, and she started courses for people who want to learn the ABCs of tidy homes.
"When the service first appeared here in the domestic market, some customers considered us 'well-educated ayi (domestic maid),'" said Lin. "But I know I'm more valuable than that."
A bedroom, before and after, shows tidy makeover.
Lin and her team are now involved in home organization even before a client moves into a new apartment or decides to redecorate rooms.
"Home organization used to be a one-time service," she said. "It was done, and then the home progressively became messy again over time. So I decided to upgrade my service by helping my customers put things right from the start, once and for all."
To do that, Lin first becomes acquainted with the day-to-day living habits of a client. Her team then designs the interior structure of wardrobes, shelves and other details of storage space in an apartment.
"Every client and family have their own unique habits and requirements," she said. "Some do a lot of home cooking and prefer larger dishware, for example. We provide a tailored service."
That service can take weeks and comes with a charge of 100 to several hundred yuan per square meter. Lin provides designs for a customer, then alters them according to a client's wishes.
"We emphasize practicality and functionality of space," said Lin. "We tell the clients the reasons behind certain designs, let them make choices and give them instructions on how to keep the tidy systems ongoing."
A tidy kitchen featuring practical storage
Lin used to work in office administration. She went to Japan to look for teaching materials when she decided to switch careers. She also attended interior decorating courses and eventually developed her own course for others in the business.
"Home organization is a better developed profession in Japan," she said, "but I found that the structure of Japanese homes and living habits there were very different from ours. My course is tailored for Chinese households."
Lin provides both online and offline courses. Her students come from more than 20 cities around the country. Some sign up to improve their own organizational skills; others take the courses to become professionals in their own right.
Lin Jiexiao teaches courses on how to declutter a home. Some students go on to start their own tidy-home businesses.
Huang Lirong, who majored in economics and management when studying overseas, is one of Lin's graduates.
"I did some research before getting to know Lin," said Huang. "My communications with her convinced me to make it a career. My parents wanted me to pursue a more traditional job, but I wanted to start my own business."
She added: "As an overseas student, I moved house frequently. To help people organize their homes is to provide a sort of healing process for them. You have to earn the trust of people when you are organizing their private space. I see great potential in the profession."
Housewives account for a portion of Lin's students.
Gu Ji, 30, was a full-time housewife and mother of two children before leading a seven-member house design and organization team in Changzhou in east China's Jiangsu Province.
"I took the course for my own domestic benefit at first," she said. "Then I tried my hand in helping friends organize their homes and received positive feedback. Some housewives who are friends got inspired and joined me in starting up this small business."
Gu's team provided services for some 20 families in the past year. She said that more than just making some extra money, the work improved her self-image.
Gu's son used to write "housewife" under his mother's name when filling out family information at school. Now he writes "professional organizer." It makes her proud, Gu said.
A corner of a decluttered living room
