Evanthia reached out to me finding my contact details on the Association of Professional Declutters & Organisers (APDO) website. Due to Covid restrictions at the time, our
initial consultation took place via FaceTime where she explained that her office/laboratory really wasn’t working for her any more.
Evanthia is an award-winning MSc Biologist and PhD student who is founder of her handmade beauty and body care business, Piotis Naturals in Norwich. She uses only the best, safest and cleanest ingredients to produce her handmade Natural, Vegan, Organic Skincare & Cosmetics, so it’s vitally important that the layout of her laboratory/office, with all the; equipment and ingredients, etc, are all organised in a logical manner so they are easy to locate. Due to Evanthia’s success in growing her business, she now wanted to increase her productivity and wished for some assistance to declutter and reorganise first.
We talked through her requirements and I formulated a plan where I could guide her on a ‘virtual’ basis, on FaceTime (or Zoom) to implement this. Evanthia has a large shelving rack with a mixture of ingredients, containers, labels, and some equipment on it. The items were not clearly visible and so tricky to locate and access. I noticed that she was left-handed and yet the shelving rack, her main storage area, was located to the righthand side of her workbench. The workbench has a shelf underneath which is where most of her equipment is stored.
The wall opposite the shelving rack looked to be approximately the same length as the shelving unit. I asked Evanthia to please check the length of the shelving rack and wall. She did this and confirmed that both the unit and the wall were 120cm long, a perfect fit! This meant that she could have everything she needed to hand by relocating the unit to the opposite wall.
To best organise her storage shelving, I suggested large/heavy items be located on the floor under the first shelf on the rack, while the other items be grouped into sub-categories, such as: ingredients, containers, labels, packaging, some equipment, etc, together on a shelf. I recommended less frequently used items and smaller/lighter items, be placed in a tray for ease of access, (labelled to identify the contents) and relocated to the top of the shelf rack. Then I proposed additional overstock of the bulky items, be relocated to the garage to free up more space. To aid the visualisation and implementation of the storage plans, I produced a floor plan and elevation drawings.
At the end of our phone call we, agreed a plan of action. Evanthia removed all the items from the shelving rack/unit before relocating it over to the opposite wall and implementing the storage plan. The unit fitted perfectly, this change really opened up the room, so now there would be space to locate a dual-purpose desk/vanity unit that she’s always wanted.
Evanthia’s work space was transformed and she was already noticing how much easier it was to access items from the left-hand side. Everything now had a designated storage area, was visible, looked neat and tidy, clean and organised. I’m delighted that by implementing these changes, they have really improved Evanthia’s working environment, enabling her to increase her productivity, which was her ultimate goal.
