Organizing A Better Life

You’ve had one of those days at work – the kind that can only be remedied by going home, putting up your feet and relaxing. But when you get to your house, the disorganization and clutter is so significant that the bad day just gets worse.

You really need to talk to Becky Keever.

Keever is an Edmond businesswoman who operates Reclaim Your Space, a professional organizing business. Her goal is to help people create efficient spaces at home or at work, thereby cutting down on the frustration of being disorganized.

“Being disorganized can nag at the back of your mind,” she says. “It takes away from the enjoyment of your home or office. That’s why I love doing this – for the peace of mind it brings to people.”

Keever and her husband recently relocated to Edmond from Indiana, and she saw the move as a perfect time to start her own business. The organizing work she did for one particular friend in Indiana solidified her desire to turn her skills into a business. Helping people organize their homes and offices was the next logical step. Plus, she’d already been doing it for her friends.

“My friend’s son didn’t want to host his graduation open house because the house was so disorganized,” Keever says. “My friend was embarrassed and felt she had failed. I did some work for her, and I could see the relief on her face by the time we were done that day. It was so rewarding to bring that peace of mind to someone. She hadn’t failed. Her life had changed – she started working again full-time – but her system to get chores done hadn’t changed. We don’t always think to re-evaluate.”

When Keever receives a request to organize someone’s home or office, she first talks to the person over the phone to get an idea of the work needed. During the first in-person appointment, she asks questions, probing the client’s needs.

Then she makes a plan. Her clients have the option of doing the work themselves or having Keever carry it out. If Keever does the work, she talks her clients through the process, letting them see the reasons behind her actions so they can continue the organization on their own.

Monique Terrell of Oklahoma City used Keever’s service to get organized in a new office for her business, Sparkle Internet Imaging Solutions. Terrell says Keever came up with organizing ideas that weren’t immediately apparent.
“What intrigued me was her knowledge about how you can do these things, such as a color-coding system for my client files,” Terrell says. “She listened and learned about how I work so that when she left, I could still function. She took a very professional approach to it.”

“We all have a mess somewhere,” Keever says, “In our car, our home, our office, someplace we don’t have time to get to. People are sometimes embarrassed to show me their homes, but it’s never as bad as they think it is. I’m sure I’ve seen worse than what most people are afraid to show me. I have two sons in college, and I’ve seen their dorm rooms.”
Keever can organize any space, but she especially enjoys home offices, craft rooms, kitchens, linen closets and pantries, as well as decluttering for home sales.

Creating a more organized home is always beneficial, she says, no matter how daunting the task may be.
“People are so busy today, working extra hours,” says Keever. “I like to think you can have an oasis from all that. You shouldn’t have stress during the day then come home and be stressed again. I feel good about helping people
create that oasis.”

Anty Proctor of Oklahoma City is another client who found an organized approach for her new pastime – sewing. Keever helped create Proctor’s space for her sewing machine and accompanying items, arranging the area by what was used frequently and not so often.

“Before, I put everything in a cabinet and had a hard time finding what I wanted,” Proctor says. “She helped me arrange all my ribbons and buttons in ways I would never have thought about. She’s very motivated.”
Keever says her business name tells everything about her goals. “It’s about reclaiming your space and making it work for you instead of you working for it all the time,” she says.

To contact Becky Keever at Reclaim Your Space, call 405-285-1972 or e-mail keever.becky@emergingops.com.