Organization on your list of resolutions for 2025?

As we all wrap up our holidays and begin to put away our decorations, we might begin to see places where we are holding on to more things that we have places to store them. Or, maybe, in trying to decorate our homes or prepare for family, we found that we were stuffing our things in various closets or unused rooms because there was no set place for them to be stored. Lastly, perhaps, despite a closet full of clothing, we entered the holiday season feeling like we had nothing to wear.
Dianne Dion, owner of Orderly Zen, has seen all these things and more. She has been organizing for a long time, but only created Orderly Zen as an official, full-time business this past summer.
“I think I just, it’s always come naturally to me,” she said of organizing. “I just want everything in my cabinets to be facing the right way.
“I can stand it if something is out of place for a limited amount of time, but I just want things to be in order.”
Given that part of her personality, maybe it is no surprise that she chose the name Orderly Zen.
“I think just because I wanted something that would create a sense of calm that would go with organizing,” she said.
While there are lots of areas Dion has organized, she said that overcrowded closets are such an understandable issue for people these days.
“As far as clothes, it’s so easy for people to shop,” she said.
She has a particular approach to closets and makes sure she makes enough time to tackle the job.
“I think closets, closets are more time consuming as well. I like to hang things in certain orders,” she said. “It takes more time just with refolding everything because usually people have clothes all over the place.”
She also said that she helps clients with analysis of how they store clothes.
“There are certain hangers that are just ruining people's clothes,” she said.
Orderly Zen is a Chicago-based business and Dion brings supplies to her client, but she isn’t really attached to certain containers on the first visit or so. But when it's time for containers, she likes to default to things that are going to look nice.
She likes clear bins for things like bathrooms or under cabinets. For closets, she likes things that will just elevate the space and will create a cohesive look above the hanging clothes.
While the amount of time an organizing project takes will vary, she will always let her clients know how long she expects will be needed to complete a job.
To that end, some clients are more on a time crunch than others. One of her new clients and one she just wrapped up work with, are looking to declutter because they are moving.
I am going to be meeting a new client,” Dion said. “She took a video.
“She wants to start with her walk-in closet. She’s going to be moving in April.”
And recently she assisted a client in the North Shore who will be downsizing his home.
“His wasn’t clothes, as much as he is moving, and he wanted to clean out the place,” Dion said.
He had to clean out things his child had left behind and things from his parents who had passed away.
The experience left him eager to recommend Orderly Zen to others.
“Do yourself and your family a big favor by decluttering and re-organizing your home and office space by hiring Dianne and Orderly Zen! He said on the business’ Facebook Page. “Transform your living and work areas into a sacred space that will be both pleasing to the eye and restore peace and tranquility.
“I’ve been working with Dianne and thus far the results have been nothing short of transformative. I recommend Dianne highly.”
In addition to prepping for the move, one of the unique challenges for this client was finding a stylish and useful solution to storing his vinyl.
“I sent him some solutions because he has a lot of record albums,” she said. “I sent some that look nice and maybe even have wheels.”
That particular client is moving to a condo in the city and having a way to store records that can be moved is great as he organizes his new space.
If you’re looking to organize or declutter, now is the perfect time to reach out to her as winter is the slower time of the year and you will be able to get on her schedule faster.
Dion works mostly from word of mouth, but she has a Facebook page - facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564042550604. You can also reach her by email, orderlyzen1@gmail.com.