SIOUX CITY — Emily Nelson brings organization and elegance into pantries, cupboards and closets, areas of the home that are often overlooked.
The Siouxland woman founded Orderly Elegance, a professional organizing company, roughly two years ago. And, since then, the demand for her elegant, organizational touch has grown largely by word of mouth. Nelson, whose services are currently booked out through January, has organized 150 homes and more than 10 businesses.
“It’s a new concept that really hasn’t been in this area, so it’s been challenging to educate people on how organization is so important in their life,” she said. “Being organized just propels them for a great successful day. If everything’s in its place, it makes for a great system.”
Before jumpstarting her business, Nelson and her husband, Taylor, a fifth-generation farmer, owned Jackson Express, a convenience store in Jackson, Nebraska, for eight years. After the couple sold the convenience store, Nelson found herself bored at home.
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“That’s just not my thing. I needed to find something to do,” said Nelson, a native of Osmond, Nebraska, who studied interior design at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Recognizing the wealth of interior designers in the area and the dearth of organizers, Nelson decided to take her design experience and intermix it with organization. Orderly Elegance, which serves all of Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota, was born.
“Our mission is to create function, flow and elegance in any home and business,” she said.
All ages benefit from organization, according to Nelson, who said a 92-year-old is her oldest client, while her youngest is a teenager whom she helped get settled into a college dorm room. She said her company provides clients with the proper tools — baskets, bins and other organizational items — to maintain a functional, organized home or business.
Nelson’s first step in her organizational process is seeing the spaces her clients need help with and finding out how they use them. She also collects measurements and takes photographs during the initial consultation, which she said can be done in person or remotely.
“I’ll notice different things that they use on a regular basis. I try to make sure every system that I place is going to work for them,” she said. “We label everything, so everything has a place and they’ll know where those items go.”
Working with a wide variety of vendors allows Nelson to customize each organizational bin to fit each client’s space, so there’s no need for them to do any shopping. Nelson also works with a contractor who designs custom inserts for closets and pantries.
“We just show up and we just knock it out with the proper bins,” said Nelson, who arrives with a crew of four to six employees, depending on the size of the space. “We have everything on site that you need right away.”
Orderly Elegance also offers a move in package. After the moving company has delivered boxes of clients’ belongings to their new homes, Nelson and her team take care of the unpacking and put all of the items in their proper places.
“They come in and it’s just turnkey. We incorporate the bins and all of the items like that. The move in is really a big part of our business,” she said. “That’s a huge trend right now with organizers down south and out west.”
Since everything has a place and a system, Nelson said clients aren’t running across the house to find something. Elegance is achieved with the addition of wallpaper and/or home décor items.
“I make sure every basket has the same detail that the house has, so if it’s dark wood, I’ll make sure the baskets are darker as well,” Nelson said. “We make it beautiful. We make it so they don’t mind opening their pantry and showing their friends.”
Clients can be involved in the organizational process as much or as little as they want to be. Some, Nelson said, chose to work alongside her and learn how the system functions. But, most leave the space, only to return when the project is complete. Nelson and her staff can finish a room, sometimes two, in a day’s work.
“A lot of my clients say it’s like an HGTV reality experience,” she said. “When they open it up, they’re like, ‘Oh my goodness. That’s amazing!'”
For more information, visit orderlyelegance.com.
