When to Hire an Organizer for a Move: Earlier Than You Think
Kitchen with wood cabinetry and pendant lights in Space Camp's Holmby Hills Move-In project.
You have a move date, a very long list, and approximately no interest in making that list longer. Hiring an organizer might feel like something to think about once the boxes arrive.
Our vote? Bring us in while you can still make decisions about where everything is going to live. If you're renovating or building, that can mean before the cabinets are finalized. If you're moving into an existing home, it means giving yourself time to edit, measure and plan before the packing begins. Here's how we think about the timing.
If you're building or renovating, start with the plans
A beautiful closet can still have nowhere for your boots. A brand-new kitchen can still leave you wondering where the cutting boards are supposed to go. These are much easier questions to answer while you're looking at drawings than while you're standing in the finished room holding a box.
When we're involved early, we look at what you actually own. How much hanging space do you need? How many shoes are we making room for? Which kitchen tools do you reach for every day? We can then work with your designer and cabinetmaker to make sure the storage reflects those answers.
Our Culver City New Build is a lovely example. We collaborated with the interior designer during the build, consulted on storage and layout, and helped design five closets around the family's needs. Once the home was finished, we organized it. The planning and the putting-away were parts of the same project.
Domino's tour of this Culver City home also credits Space Camp's organizing role. Designer Chloe Heath explains how we connected her with the homeowners, a nice example of how these collaborations come together.
Dining area with built-in wood cabinetry and floral wallpaper in Space Camp's Culver City New Build project.
That doesn't mean every move needs custom cabinetry. It means the things you're already planning to build should have a job to do.
Before packing, let us see both homes
We love to see the home you're leaving and the one you're moving into. A floor plan helps, but opening the drawers and looking at your actual belongings tells us so much more.
This is when we can notice that your current baskets will work beautifully in the new pantry, or that the silverware tray you're about to pack won't fit a single new drawer. We can also see what isn't working now so we don't accidentally recreate it at the new address.
It's a good time for a pre-move edit, too. If you already know you don't want the extra dishes or the coats nobody wears, let's make those decisions before they're wrapped, packed and carried somewhere else.
Our moving guide covers the bigger packing-and-preparation picture. The extra value of involving an organizer now is that those decisions feed into a plan for the next home.
Once dates are taking shape, coordinate the people
A move often involves movers, a designer, contractors, deliveries and an organizing team. Everyone has work to do, and everybody needs access.
We like to get projects on the calendar well ahead of time, often several weeks or months before the move, so we can plan the right team and any additional help. Availability varies, so reach out when you know a move is happening rather than waiting for the perfect date.
This is also when we work out practical details. Who is sourcing the organizing products? Which rooms will be ready first? Where are items going if part of the move involves storage? Who can answer questions while the team works?
Giving those decisions an owner helps avoid the situation where three people assume someone else ordered the bathroom hooks. Small detail. Very annoying to discover on move-in day.
Plan the unpacking around a home that's ready
Early planning and early unpacking are two different things. We want to help before the move, but we also want the rooms ready when it's time to put everything away.
Construction should be complete before the move-in. A few finishing touches can sometimes be coordinated, but working around active construction makes it harder to organize efficiently. A team can't finish a closet if it has to empty the room for the painters halfway through.
In our Holmby Hills Move-In, we edited and pre-organized at the old home, then worked alongside the design team as they installed furnishings and we unpacked the family's belongings. The sequence mattered: we knew what was coming and could give it a thoughtful home.
Your project will have its own timing. We'll talk through what's realistic rather than promise that every house can be finished on the same schedule.
You can see that organizing-and-design overlap in another Domino home tour, where Julianna collaborated with designer Jess Diab on additional kitchen storage. The right place for your belongings sometimes needs to be planned into the room.
Already moved? You haven't missed your chance
If you're reading this from behind a wall of boxes, please don't panic. We can still help.
The work may start with looking at what's already been unpacked, changing placements that aren't working, and building systems around your daily routines. We might discover a drawer needs dividers or a closet needs another shelf. That's useful information, even if we would have loved to spot it earlier.
The goal is a home that supports you after the moving truck leaves. That takes a little thought about how you cook, get dressed, put laundry away and get out the door. Empty boxes are great. Knowing where everything belongs is better.
Our move-in organizing and new-home setup service brings that planning and hands-on work together.
If you're planning a move in Los Angeles, reach out for a free consult. Tell us where you are in the process, and we'll help you work out the next step. As Julianna likes to say, do it right or do it twice.