Ambry Organizing, Simplify and Design

More family peace and joy with Ambry Kids!
Have you felt like there's too much stuff and not enough time? Have you walked by your child's bedroom or playroom and felt a sense of frustration? Do you and your child have power struggles over clean-up, organization, and stuff?

We make your family life more joyful by working with your child to organize their toys, books, clothing, and precious possessions. By guiding your child, we gradually train them to sort their things, assess whether each thing should be kept, donated, or tossed, and then where to put their things.

We help you, the parent, through the different needs that children have with each life stage. These include:

Preparing for a baby. Nesting, stocking supplies, and preparing space so that you can feel comfortable and ready for babyhood.
Toddler and preschool years. There can be a plethora of toys and crafts in these phases of childhood! We help sort through the toys and crafts, figuring out how to have efficient and attractive storage.
Elementary years. These children have more books, and also need to organize schoolwork. As they develop more independence, they benefit from being empowered to curate their possessions, organize their belongings, and take responsibility in their family. As digital interaction increases, they may need dedicated electronic spaces that are stable, yet integrated in family life. We can advise and help implement strategies, for these, as well as provide structure for chores.
Tween and teen years. Children are making the transition to adulthood and independence. They often appreciate having outside advisors who can advise about life skills and organization while supporting their drives toward personal goals.
Leaving the nest. Congratultions are in order here! We help the young person get organized, so that they are well-equipped to venture out, whether to college, first job, or first home on their own. Also, we help you, the parent, organize and sort through your space as things change with a child leaving home.

503-440-2635

monicabree@ambryorganizing.com

I often call Monica at Ambry Organizing my "Chief Household Officer". Since working with her a year ago, I've returned to work, lost 25 pounds, and hyper-optimized the day-to-day operations of my house.

In Dec 2015, after having my second child, I decided I wanted to return back to work. But the prospect of juggling a family, kid's school, cooking, cleaning, and trying to exercise plus working full-time just seemed daunting. Fortunately, Monica came into my life and she has really backed me up in the 'mom department'.

Over the past year, she has organized and optimized my family room, kitchen, living room, dining room, basement, garage, master closet, master bathroom, and developed a "central command center" for everyday family operations.

The benefits I've found:

Clear mind, less stress. When my house is together, my mind is together -- there is less stress and I can reserve brain power towards other things, like work projects or kids activities

More time. Because I spend less time cleaning and maintaining the organization system, I have more time with kids, husband, my career, and, most importantly, for myself. Monica has built thoughtful ways of organizing that are easy to maintain.

Do more things. As a family, we love doing lots of things on weekends from tennis to violin to a spontaneous road trip! Monica's organization system has really helped my family scale - we can find the things we need and get out of the house quickly! (Unlike the pile of stuff I had to wade through before).

More mindful. Because I can now see everything we own, we really have a sense for what we need vs don't need. I've reduced many of my purchases because I'm able to focus on what's really important.

But what really differentiates Monica is her thoughtful and delicate approach. For example, she considers whether I'm left or right handed when deciding where to place items. She's very sensitive that change may be disruptive so she's very careful to ensure the systems work with us. For example, she knows my spouse loves his hoodies so she created a special hoodie section for him in the closet that he loves.

Another aspect that differentiates Monica is her wealth of knowledge and experience. I enjoy the conversations I have with her when we went through purging exercises that really helped me to focus on what was most important.

Last, Monica isn't just a home organizer but also, in a way, a coach. Her feedback is very practical and makes sense - I often come out of our talks thinking - "Why didn't I think of that?" I very much value her perspectives on family, home, and work.

- C.C., Palo Alto

Professional Organizer

Monica Bree Rhodes