The clutter that lies inside a home is just unmade decisions.
That’s a phrase that Katie Milburn, owner of Organize With Kurnsie, has heard from other professional organizers over the years. It has become something of a guiding principle in her work.
“You already have enough decisions throughout the day that you need to make, from work to clothing to the food you eat. Looking around and all the clutter being that many more decisions — we can help take those decisions off of your brain,” Milburn said.
Sometimes people need someone to help carry the weight of what’s already there. Katie Milburn has built a career around exactly that distinction.
Seeing order in the chaos
Growing up, Milburn found herself feeling anxiety and stress from her own home. Her father was someone she describes as having “chronic clutter problems,” and her mom as someone who didn’t really enjoy cleaning. It wasn’t unhygienic, just clutter.
“There were piles everywhere. All of my memories as a kid have that in the background, and I remember trying to figure out how to be happy in that,” Milburn said.
Because she was a child, there was a lack of verbal language that could convey her anxieties. So, her Barbie shoes and accessories started to become neatly organized in separate containers. She sorted her sticker collection. It then moved beyond her things to the kitchen pantry, the furniture – multiple spaces in the house began to change.
That childhood experience became the foundation for Organize With Kurnsie, the Delaware County-based residential and commercial professional organizing business Milburn launched in June 2023.
This personal experience instilled a deep understanding and a sense of compassion for people doing the best they can amidst their busy schedules, life stressors, and other circumstances they face.
“My brain easily sees order out of chaos. I was managing 30,000 image libraries as a graphic designer, it comes easily to me. I just didn’t want to sit behind a desk anymore. I wanted to make an impact in a practical way,” Milburn said.
After realizing organizing people’s stuff was the answer she’d been giving for nearly a decade whenever someone asked what she’d do instead, she left her corporate life behind.
Your stuff matters, let’s act like it
In a blog post, she said, “figuring out where things belonged and making a space work better lit something up in me that nothing else quite did.”
Today, Organize With Kurnsie serves clients within a 25-mile radius of Delaware, tackling everything from pantries and garages to full-scale office systems.
It’s difficult to realize disorganization is happening until the overwhelm comes over a person. It doesn’t mean a person is unorganized, but at capacity with their time and energy. One space could be affecting someone, while the rest of the house feels maintained. This weight stays on their shoulders, though.
“When people work with me and see the final product, it’s not that they’re saying ‘it’s beautiful,’ but rather, ‘I get my life back,’ ‘I feel freedom’ or ‘there’s creativity in my house again,’ ‘I get to enjoy people!’ It’s never the problem they initially describe,” Milburn said.
That freedom is exactly what Westerville resident Paige Landig found after a season of loss.
Landig’s husband passed away two and a half years ago following a battle with cancer, and home repairs that had been put on hold came due all at once as their nearly 30-year-old house needed updating both inside and out.
“I felt very at ease with Katie from the start. She did not show any judgment to me at all. I told her our story and she was empathetic to my situation,” Landig said.
Milburn and her team worked through Landig’s basement using a photo-based system, tagging items for keep or donate so Landig could make decisions even while working long hours.
Milburn set aside all of Landig’s husband’s belongings in their own bins, giving her family time before deciding what to do with them, a level of care Milburn says is central to her approach.
“I have a phrase that I use a lot. Your stuff matters. Let’s just act like it,” Milburn said.
People hold on to their clutter, and while they may act like it matters deeply, they leave it to rot in boxes or get dusty in the garage. This doesn’t show that it matters. Milburn wants to help them bring those items into alignment with what matters, or help them let go of them.
Landig later brought Milburn back to organize her kitchen, closets and office, and again during a difficult holiday season.
“She put up and decorated my Christmas tree and home when I was emotionally paralyzed from the loss of my husband. She did such a great job of putting it up, I will definitely be having the team come over again this year,” Landig said.
For Amanda Owens, owner of Modern Maid LLC, the relationship started at home and grew into an ongoing business partnership.
Owens hired Milburn first for her house, then brought her into the office the cleaning company has occupied on East Winter Street for 15 years, as Modern Maid approaches nearly 23 years in business.
“I honestly wish I had found Katie sooner. Having her come every month to tackle a project is a complete game changer. It gives me peace of mind knowing there is always progress being made, even when life gets busy,” Owens said.
The system that changed daily operations most?
“A place for everything, and everything in its place. That mindset has transformed the way we work. Everyone knows where things belong, which saves time and reduces frustration,” Owens said.
Owens also credits Milburn’s team with handling one of her own clients through a loss with grace. Every appointment with Milburn is a judgement-free zone, whether it’s a first-time client anxious about a stranger seeing their space, or someone working through a loved one’s belongings after a death.
“Almost everybody will say, please don’t judge me on my space. I can assure them that I’ve seen worse. I’ve lived in it, I’ve sometimes lived in worse spaces than they have,” Milburn said.
An investment, not a cost
Over time, Landig has learned the importance of investing in oneself.
“My home was brought to order and now I can manage it as I go. She took the time and pressure off of me that I just didn’t have,” Landig said.
It’s a lesson she says took her most of a lifetime — and a profound loss — to learn.
“This is not only an investment for your home, but for you personally. It takes the stress away, and when you are blocked and don’t know where to start, the team will come in and make your area or home look and feel so much better. Your home is your space to just be you.”
For Owens, the return on that investment shows up every day at Modern Maid, where she’s referred Milburn to friends and colleagues alike.
A space doesn’t have to be picture-perfect to work. It just has to work for the people residing in it.
Organize With Kurnsie serves busy professionals with done-for-you organization when they are tired of fighting the clutter and disorganization in their homes and businesses.
Serving Delaware, Powell, Lewis Center, Dublin, Westerville, and other surrounding areas throughout Central Ohio. More information is available at https://organizewithkurnsie.com/ and Organize With Kurnsie on social media.
