Differences between a Professional Organizer and a KonMari Consultant
What's the difference between a Professional Organizer and a KonMari Consultant? Are some Professional Organizers also KonMari Consultants? And are all KonMari Consultants Professional Organizers?
The answer is Yes and No.
I'm a Professional Organizer and also a certified KonMari Consultant. So, it's possible to be both, and I am excited to share more about it. Keep on reading, or watch the video above if you prefer watching to reading.🎥
What they both have in common:
A KonMari Consultant and a Professional Organizer need a particular skill set. Both are organizers but emphasize different results. There can be an overlap, but it depends on each organizer.
In a nutshell, these are the differences:
1. A Professional Organizer organizes for you, and a KonMari Consultant organizes with you.
2. Not all professional organizers declutter, but they organize and create systems. A Konmari Consultant always declutters; only after doing this do they organize.
3. A Professional Organizer has a practical approach, and a KonMari Consultant will emphasize the emotional side of letting go of an item.
It worked well for my clients that I have both skill sets because I can adapt to their needs. I use a mixture of the KonMari Method ® when decluttering and more of the Professional Organizer skills for implementing new systems.
Now, let's go deeper.
Why does someone hire a Professional Organizer? And why does someone hire a KonMari Consultant?
The person who hires a Professional Organizer is looking for an organized home. They are usually after a result that looks well organized and helps them to have a better functioning living space. They are after organizational systems and products.
Example:
Suppose somebody isn't happy with their closet and would like a custom closet system built in. In that case, the Professional Organizer plans and designs the closet and proposes different designs to the client. After the client chooses, the Professional Organizer orders the whole closet system and assembles it or works with a contractor. When all is installed, they put back all the clothes in an organized way. There may be no decluttering happening from start to finish, but it depends on the client and what they want. After an initial consult, the Professional Organizer will do the rest herself.
The person who hires a certified KonMari Consultant also wants a well-organized space that functions better; however, they also want each item they own to spark joy. So, initially, the consultant helps the client develop their ideal lifestyle vision. This indicates which items will support this vision and which ones won't. The things that don't spark joy or don't have any other benefits for the client will be discarded. Decluttering is the longest part of the process. The organizing is much faster.
The KonMari Consultant is also a coach and a teacher. As many personal and vulnerable stories will be told by the client, the KonMari Consultant can also be a counselor. This is the case for me because, as a former Pastor, I have a counseling background.
If you want to learn how the KonMari Method ® functions, then read this blog post here.
Advantages of working with a KonMari Consultant:
The client is part of the whole process and will learn new skills, routines, and habits to keep their space tidy. If the client chooses to do a "Tidying Festival," they train their decision-making muscle significantly and are like KonMari-Tidying-Ninjas. This means the Konmari Consultant doesn't have to come back in the future.
Tidying Festival = decluttering and organizing all your belongings with the KonMari Method ®.
Disadvantages of working with a KonMari Consultant:
It takes time, commitment, and effort. The client must leave their comfort zone and grow and change.
Depending on each client, it is hard to give a timeline. Some clients are faster in making decisions than others.
With a KonMari Consultant, there's a lot of talking and listening. And not every client feels comfortable doing this.
Advantages of working with a Professional Organizer:
Time and energy savers: They do most of the work, and the client only tells them at the beginning how they want the result to look and their budget. Depending on how big and long the project is, there are more check-in points along the way, but this can mostly happen via email communication. If the client has a very time-intensive job and family life, having a Professional Organizer as a project manager is essential.
System and productivity specialists: A professional organizer navigates the Container Store and other organizational stores very well. They are skilled in space and design planning and are always ready to pull their measuring tape to calculate what fits where. They can come up with practical solutions that you didn't think of yourself, and they have the can-do attitude to put in the elbow grease.
Disadvantages of working with a Professional Organizer:
If they are mainly into organizing and systems, they might not be as equipped to help the client declutter in the best way. But this depends on the Professional Organizer.
The Professional Organizer will create the systems with the client's feedback, but in the end, the client has to test the systems out to find out if they work as intended. A system can be as well designed as possible, but if the client doesn't change their routine and builds new habits to maintain the new organization, things will revert to how they were. This means it's likely that the client has to hire the Professional Organizer again.
Who to choose when?
As always, it depends on your goals!
There are seasons in life when you need someone who comes and does it all for you because you don't have the time and headspace to make those decisions for yourself. And a Professional Organizer can help with that.
Then there are seasons where you want to train your decision-making muscle and learn new skills and habits, and then a certified KonMari Consultant can be a more helpful choice.
You are all set if you find someone like me who uses both approaches. Then you have options and can pick and choose what works best for the season you are in.
Who would you choose? A Professional Organizer, a certified KonMari Consultant, or someone with both skills? Let me know in the comments.
If this blog post was helpful for you, and you learned something new, leave a comment and share it with someone who can benefit from it.
Free Resources for you
And if you want to go deeper into the KonMari Method ®, you can download my free KonMari guide, where I explain every step of the KonMari Method ®.
And if you are ready to rock and roll and declutter everything you own, I made a free digital KonMari declutter checklist.
PS: Sign up for my e-mail update to never miss a blog HERE.
More Blog Posts:
Selling and donating are usually the two big categories people think of when decluttering. However, more options and strategies can help you release your items.