What My Sister Taught Me About Organizing

Two sisters happily sorting clothes together in a cozy bedroom beside an open closet.

If you’ve ever looked at someone else’s beautifully organized home and thought, “Why can’t I keep things like that?” I want you to know something I learned long before I ever knew professional organizing was a career: not everyone’s brain, personality, or lifestyle works the same way—and that is perfectly okay.

I actually began learning this lesson as a little girl, thanks to one of my sisters.

I Was Organizing Before I Knew It Had a Name

I have one sister in particular who is just so much fun. She’s interesting, she’s interested, and she has always described herself as very ADD.

She’s several years older than I am, and when she was a teenager and I was still a little kid, I thought she was absolutely enchanting.

She was always doing something.

She had this hobby, and that hobby, and then another hobby. She had great stories to tell. There was always something happening in her world, and I loved being around her.

I can still picture myself sitting in her room, listening to her talk while I quietly reached down and picked up clothes from the floor.

I’d straighten the hangers in her closet.

If I found a book lying open with the pages folded over, I’d find her place, put in a bookmark, and close it.

I wasn’t frustrated with her.

I wasn’t thinking, “Why can’t she keep this room clean?”

I was simply delighted to be in her space, listening to her stories and helping in a way that came naturally to me.

Looking back, I realize I was organizing before I even knew organizing was something people did professionally.

Some People Really Can Live With a Floordrobe

Years later, my mother made an observation about my sister that has stayed with me.

She said, essentially, “Your sister can go into a room that looks like a tornado hit it and come out looking like a model.”

And she could!

Somewhere in that observation was an important lesson for me.

My sister could have what I now jokingly call a floordrobe—clothing spread across the floor rather than hanging neatly in a closet—and still have a wonderful social life, pursue her interests, tell fascinating stories, get dressed beautifully, and move right along with her day.

Her room didn't define her.

And the way I preferred to organize things wasn't automatically the way she needed to organize them.

That distinction has become incredibly important in the work I do today.

Your Organizing System Needs to Work for You

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of knowing and working with people who think, function, and live in wonderfully different ways.

Some people love tiny categories, matching containers, detailed labels, and very precise systems.

Others need things to be visible.

Some need broad categories.

Some need fewer steps between taking something out and putting it away.

Some people are naturally tidy. Others are incredibly successful, creative, loving, productive people who simply don't have much interest in maintaining a highly detailed organizing system.

That's where compassionate organizing matters.

When I walk into a client's home, my goal isn't to turn that person into me.

It isn't to create a Pinterest-perfect system that looks beautiful for one photograph and then becomes impossible for the client to maintain.

I want to understand how you naturally function.

What do you reach for?

Where do you naturally put things down?

What feels easy?

What feels like one step too many?

What does your family realistically have the time and energy to maintain?

A good organizing system supports your real life. It doesn't require you to become a different person in order to keep it working.

There Is More Than One Way to Be Organized

I’m so grateful for the diversity of friends, family members, and clients who have allowed me to help them over the years—because they have also taught me.

They've helped me understand that there isn't one “right” way to organize.

You don't have to become a precise, micro-organizing person if that isn't how your brain works.

You don't have to maintain an elaborate system if your personality doesn't enjoy it.

And your home doesn't need to look like anyone else's home.

Sometimes the answer is simply finding a little more support, creating fewer steps, giving belongings easier homes, or developing systems that make everyday life feel lighter.

Progress matters far more than perfection.

I think back to that little girl happily picking clothes up from her sister's floor, straightening hangers and slipping bookmarks into books. I wasn't trying to change my sister. I simply loved her, enjoyed being with her, and happened to have a skill that made her space a little easier.

In many ways, that's still how I think about organizing today. Your home is there to support your life—not to judge it. And sometimes having another person beside you, helping create systems that make sense for the way you live, can bring an incredible sense of relief. Every space that becomes easier to use, every item that becomes easier to find, and every routine that feels a little lighter is meaningful progress.

Pinky Jackson is a Decluttering Specialist and Home Organizing Expert. If you need expert organizing help, don't hesitate to reach out. Pinky and her team would love to help you. Onsite Organizing services are available in the Louisville, KY area and Virtual Organizing services are offered for clients in other locations and for those who prefer to work online. Visit pinkyjackson.com to learn about our services and schedule a free assessment.

Photo : khezez | خزاز @khezez