The Chicago Organizer

Terri and her people are just great. She is very hands-​on and sizes up a problem quickly and sets to making it right. Her follow-​up is thorough and she’ll send you links to products, after she researches your particular needs. If you want, she’ll accompany you to stores to go over possible solutions that address organization and best use of space. She is also a fabulous resource for Chicago area companies like closet designers and kitchen shelving experts, who are as high-​quality as she is. She is also a lovely person. Highly recommended.

I got to the point where I was fed up with all of the piles of clutter in my house. As I walked past the mess I became more and more stressed and kept putting off organizing my apartment. I had absolutely no no motivation to get started.
I finally made the decision to get help with my mess because I couldn’t tackle it alone.
I had seen professional organizers on TV but I didn’t know where to look in the Chicago area.
I needed motivation, accountability and someone to help me not feel so overwhelmed.
I hopped onto my computer and searched Unilocal for «professional organizers».
I came across a few different companies that had a cold, corporate vibe which really turned me off.
Then I found Terry (and I’m glad I did).
What I first noticed was that she had all 5 star reviews. This was HUGE for me because I know how brutally honest the Unilocal community is. So, when I decided to contact her I was put at ease.
I sent her an email and she responded the same day.
She asked me questions about myself and really made an effort to know me which made me feel comfortable.
Her prices were reasonable and she informed me that she would be helping me personally. It felt really good to know that I would be working with Terry directly instead of an assigned staff person who I had never talked to before.
Another great thing about Terry is that she’s flexible. She has weekend availability which is great for my schedule.
Just like that we picked a date, she sent over a client agreement and I returned it to her.
Terry asked me to send over some pictures of my apartment so she could get a better idea of how to get my place organized.
She also sent me some links for some products I could buy to make the process easier but she ended up bringing her own supplies too.
The next evening she arrived (15 minutes early) with a smile on her face and ready to work.
After giving me a quick but thorough walkthrough we got started and she works FAST. She leaves no stone unturned and will organize every inch of your home but she likes to work quickly. You really get a great value for your money when you work with Terry.
After she was done she followed up with me that evening and made an offer to come back again if needed as I unfortunately had to cut our time short due to other commitments.
Terry is very outcome focused and your satisfaction is her top priority. She over delivers and you’ll be amazed at how good your place looks once she does.
I highly recommend Terry for all of your organizing needs!

We used Terri in 2013 & 2014, while living in Chicago. In 2015, we moved to Texas (our home state), and embarked on a remodel which has taken just over a year to complete. I managed to put together my kitchen and several of the basics, but when it came to my closet, my husband’s closet, my dressing room, our master bath as well as my office and my husband’s office its was simply overwhelming. I called Terri. We flew her to DFW, and she spent 2 days along with hiring local organizer who belongs to the same organization of professional organizers to come along and assist. Terri is like a whirlwind. She walks in, assesses the situation immediately and has numerous ideas to put our lives in proper order. The first day she and the assistant worked for 12 hours, the 2^nd day they worked for 8 hours only because it was time for Terri to get to the airport to catch her flight to Chicago. I cannot tell you how much was accomplished in those two days — I can finally locate my clothes, accessories, shoes, toiletries and my husband can, too. We unpacked approximately 60 boxes, set up boxes for donation, several boxes for items going to my granddaughter who just moved into her first apartment, a box for items to discard which had no further use for anyone, but separated for recycle and garbage. The local organizer and I will continue working to finish with my office, but the amount of work accomplished in two days is astounding! Terri is unbelievably amazing. She is creative and a genius in organization. I cannot properly express how much we adore Terri and her remarkable organizational skills, time management and her treasured friendship. Thank you, Terri!

Terri is amazing! I moved to Chicago 4 months ago from Cincinnati, Ohio. I went from a large 2 bedroom apartment to a tiny studio apartment and I brought just about everything with me. Of course, I had problems getting everything to fit so I purged and purged and STILL was living in chaos. I had furniture stacked on top of furniture, tables covered with random items, dog fur imbedded in everything, clothing thrown over any free standing object. My place was a mess. I was getting ready to just give up and accept that I’m just a messy person, but I decided to try a professional organizer. Terri had great reviews and I’m so glad I chose her!
We organized my closet, bathroom, and living room/​bedroom space in 4 hours. She gave me ton of great organizing ideas. I had a LOT of organizing containers, baskets, and bins (from my failed attempts at organizing) that I was going to throw away, but she found great uses for them!
I have this very old antique trunk that I love, but I hate using it to store things because it’s heavy and difficult to access. She helped me designate that trunk for things that I rarely ever use. I have friends from my hometown visit once every so often so that is where I now keep my air mattress, sheets, pillows, and blankets for my guests! I’m so happy that I rarely ever have to open that thing and it can just sit and look pretty in my space.
After Terri left, I had to go pick up my dog my daycare and I easily found EVERYTHING that I needed before I left out the door. That NEVER happens. I’m always looking underneath the couch and throwing stuff off the coffee table looking for misplaced items. I feel so much more organized. I am going to book a second session to organize my kitchen since I spend so much time there.
Terri has some really great ideas and I REALLY think that I can keep them up!
AN UNCLUTTERED HOME EQUALS AN UNCLUTTERED MIND! Thanks Terri

I just finished a 3-​hour office organizing session with Terri. She is incredible! I consider myself someone with a good foundation of organizational skills but needed a fresh set of eyes on a small home office with some awkward spaces.
Terri and I worked together to purge items I didn’t need and re-​purpose things I already owned to make my space more functional and my work more accessible.
Three hours flew by; the amount of work we plowed through would’ve taken me a leisurely weekend to complete.
Terri is friendly, professional, creative, and productive. I so appreciated her focus, direction, and helpful tips to make my day-​to-​day more manageable. I can already think of other rooms and projects I would enlist her services for.
I researched other organizing companies and went with Terri based on her experience in the corporate world (she could understand my line of work) and her prompt response time. Do yourself a favor and hire Terri… You absolutely will not regret it!

The unfinished portion of our basement has been a ‘dumping ground’ for years. I knew that I needed help and, as it turns out, Terri was the perfect solution for this monumental task. In just three hours, we sorted /​relocated the stuff, cleaned and organized the space! Believe it or not, it seems that we have MORE space in that area of the basement. Amazing!
Terri hit the ground running and immediately got to work. She was direct and clear with how we were going to accomplish the job. This was so very helpful to me as I just couldn’t find a way to get started. She knew exactly what to do, and we got to work. Terri gave me advice on what items I should keep, and others that may need to be eliminated. What a relief to have this space be functional again!

We just moved into a new home and I was having a really tough time getting my kitchen organized. What I like best about Terri is she showed up ready to work with a very pleasant, upbeat personality and lots of energy. It was so nice to have a new set of eyes and an extra set of hands. Terri really helped me power through our three hours together and as a team, we were able to get so much done. The kitchen not only looks amazing, but is extremely functional and she gave me some great tips that I will also put to use in some other areas of our new home. I highly recommend Terri; she is a great resource!

Terri and Bethel did a phenomenal job unpacking and organizing our two bedroom apartment!
From the first phone call, when I was calling around for pricing, Terri’s professionalism and enthusiasm were evident. Every other company I called I got voicemail. Not with Terri. She answered on the first call, and every subsequent call or text was responded to either immediately or within minutes. She was transparent about her rates and was able to accomodate me on very short notice. Her rates are very reasonable and the level of energy and precision and focus she brings to the job are refreshing.
When I first called, I really could not imagine that anyone could make a dent in the chaos that was my apartment without it taking at least a week. I even took pictures and sent them to her, to make sure she knew what she was getting herself into. I mean it was a wreck. We had been living out of boxes for several days, so everything was disorganized and strewn all over. Terri was unflappable. She estimated 7 hours to get it done, so I was happy to agree to service. When it was all done, it had taken just 5.5 hours!
They arrived precisely on time, took two minutes to assess the situation and got right down to work. These two women work hard. They have a system and a feel for what is the right way to organize for maximum benefit. Within two hours most of the kitchen was set up and boxes and debris had been carried to the curb.
As an extra bonus, Terri worked with my teenaged daughter to organize her room and in doing so gave her a lesson in organizing from a professional. I’m sure my daughter learned a lot and will use Terri’s approach to streamline her habits and keep things organized.
Overall, The Chicago Organizer is a top notch class act organizing company that is reasonably priced, responsive, thorough and professional.
Do yourself a favor and hire these ladies, you will not be disappointed!

I just moved into my new apartment and my mom decided to hire me an organizer cuz my brain just doesn’t function like that.
Terri came in and right away helped get my whole room organized. She’s very friendly yet productive at the same time. Very interested in her clients life and makes sure that you still know what you’re doing what she’s gone.
In 3 hours we got a lot done and I now know how to finish and make my room and life organized.
I highly recommend Terri for any life organizing necessities!

Terri is amazing. I found her here on Unilocal,and she lived up to all the 5 star reviews. She works super fast, is very thorough, super motivating… She had tips for things like a seamstress to take my pile of never-​gotten-​to-​sewing-​projects, and places to sell or donate books… Punctual, friendly, professional. Stellar work. Thanks!

I used Terri (and her fabulous right hand woman, Tammy) to help me unpack and merge households with my fiancé and honestly, there is no way we could have done it without her help! She was friendly, kind, matter of fact, focused and supportive in such a way that we managed to unpack, organize and fully move in over the span of two days without any of the bloodshed and fighting typical to moves and merging of lives. Beyond being an incredibly helpful extra pair of hands, every time we hit a speed bump as to how we were going to store something, she’d say «wait! I have something for that!» and then return from her car with the perfect solution.
I would recommend Terri to anyone for any job, large or small! Thanks Terri!

Where to start, I honestly was very weary to allow a stranger into my home to organize. My girlfriend suggested we use one to help organize our combined large amount of stuff. Until the last minute I was trying to convince her to cancel our appointment.
So how does this end with a 5 star review?
Easy, Terri is wonderful to work with. She did not come in and just clean up, she was very focused on aiding us in advice that we could utilize to keep up with the work she was helping us with.
At the end of the day, this was money well spent. If your a working family and it seems like life piles up, take my advice, call Terri!

this is my first review on Unilocal,and I chose to call Terri at the Chicago Organizer after reading her other Unilocal reviews. I just moved to Chicago for work & had ZERO time to move in. quite literally, I finished work in New York on a Friday and started a new full-​time job in Chicago the following Monday. My work days are full (6am-​6pm) and when I get home I’m too tired to do much of anything, let alone move furniture & unpack my whole life. I called Terri and she went over to my apartment after the movers dropped off my boxes, and unpacked my entire closet & organized it to perfection. I have way too many clothes, but Terri managed to fit them all beautifully in my closet & her layout was clear and intuitive– I know exactly where to reach for items by type and color– which means I have actually managed to successfully get dressed in the dark and with my eyes clothes as I groggily get up for work around 5am. her prices are fair and she even provided extra organizing boxes that I needed for small closet items (like socks and swimsuits etc). she is very friendly and reachable by phone or email. Fairly priced, communicative, and very professional. made my Chicago move a million times easier. definitely recommend!

Terri was a great help to me! After major life changes — including sudden move and downsizing from big house to a small apartment — I felt overwhelmed by too many possessions that had no ‘home’ in my new home. Terri helped me figure out what should go where; we sorted bins full of stuff into sensible groups, sorted and labeled the containers, put them in order on shelves. Then we went through years of old files, purged some old ones, started new ones, and arranged them in logical order.
In three hours, we made enormous progress in getting my new house in order. Terri was friendly, smart, efficient, quick, on-​task and fun to work with! Exactly the jump start that I needed! Thank you, Terri! Dell, Chicago

Terri is fantastic — you will get more done in a short time than you hoped or imagined. She is a serious worker with great ideas for space, time and money saving. We created a filing system that is streamlined and clear — it is so much easier to do any project with her. We also organized my storage locker with years of accumulated stuff — she was happy to roll her sleeves up, get dirty and get the MAJOR job done so well. Call her! You will be thrilled and wish you had called sooner.

I am thrilled to write this review after having had two AMAZING organizing experiences with this organizer, Terri Albert. She was fast, an excellent organizer, clear minded and professional. She assisted in helping me clear out a very cluttered bedroom closet, bathroom storage area and front hall closet. This has given me a tremendous peace of mind and clear sense of organization. Thank you, Terri, for such an excellent job!

When it comes to organizing, I have zero patience. I’m able to start a project but I always seem to end up with a pile or box of stuff that has no place. Then, that pile grows and grows. With 3 kids I became desperate to find a way to get organized and stay organized. A few months passed and I came to the conclusion that I needed professional help… a professional organizer, that is.
I hired Terri, and in our first session we were able to tackle and COMPLETE 2 of my kids’ rooms. They went from messy (we couldn’t see my daughter’s desk top) to immaculate. Everything now had a place. We got rid of duplicates and anything no longer used. By the end of the session, the only two piles left were «donation» and «trash/​recycling». What a great feeling. So, I hired her again, this time to create the most accessible, organized art-​room. We dug deep, creating bins for even the smallest subsets like gluesticks and seashells.
Terri kept me focused and on task. I’ve spent 6 hours with her so far and plan to continue to use her going forward.
If you are staring down piles or have junk drawers or just want to remove the clutter in your life, hire Terri. I wish I had hired her years ago.

Ever since I had my daughter (almost 2 years ago) I feel like I“ve been living in a daycare center. I’m constantly cleaning and decluttering, but somehow all the toys and things of my spoiled little girl seem to take over my condo. Now that we’ve got baby #2 on the way and also plan to put our condo on the market shortly after he’s born. It’s time to get serious about decluttering.
I’ve been researching professional organizers on Unilocal for awhile now and decided to take my mom up on her offer of getting us one to organize our household. Her real motivation turned out to be making enough room for my brother to stay with us for 3 weeks until his own apt was ready, but regardless we took her up on her offer/​bribery.
It turns out there’s a bunch of professional organizers to choose from in Chicago, but after a little bit of research (thanks Unilocal) and outreach I settled on the Chicago Organizer. I chatted with Terri, discussed how the process works, discussed pricing ($ 75/​hr) and then booked a total of 6 hours of organization time with her. We spread it over the course of 2 days (3 hours on each day) and I cleared my schedule during that time since Terri mentioned I’d need to be available to help her with the task ahead. This made sense to me since Terri doesn’t know anything about our stuff… and it’s tough to organize when you don’t have an idea of what we use, no longer need, etc.
On organization day Terri showed up (a few minutes early) and after a quick tour we got right to work. We decided together that we should spend a few minutes finding new homes for my daughter’s toys that had taken over the living room, but then moved on to our massive storage unit in the back of my condo. Since this is the size of many bedrooms I’ve seen in Chicago I wasn’t sure if we’d get thru the entire unit in the time we spent together, but Terri moves fast… and we got thru it in about 4 hours between the 2 of us and the help of my nanny. It turned out to be a very good idea to book these sessions during my daughter’s naptime so we had an extra set of capable hands.
Most of the process involved figuring out what needed to be thrown out and donated. Ten trash bags and at least another ten bags of donations later we had decluttered our storage unit and organized everything that we do use on a somewhat regular basis. While it’s nice to feel organized now, I think I’ll be most thankful when it’s time to move months from now and I can skip the step of figuring out what to keep, throw away or donate.
Terri and I even had an extra hour or so leftover and decided to spend that time organizing my daughter’s closet and she started to pack up some of our wedding gifts that I’m pretty sure won’t be put to use before we move.
Obviously I’m capable of organizing my storage unit myself, but it would have taken me triple the time and I would never have gotten around to it with the constant demands of motherhood, work, etc. It’s been a month since Terri organized us and I’ve been making an effort to keep it that way, which isn’t too difficult since she did an excellent job of finding a place for everything and labeling accordingly. I even went to the container store on my own a few weeks ago and bought a few things she recommended to organize other closets in my condo.
I don’t think this is the last Terri will hear from me, especially with a move being in the somewhat near future. I may use her help packing us up and will most definitely be calling on her to unpack us in our new home so that we start off organized from day 1.

I don’t know how I would have done this move without Terri. I moved from a small rental apartment to a much larger condo — it was completely daunting. Terri flew in while the move was taking place and was leading the charge from the moment the movers departed. By the end of the first night, we had unpacked the bathrooms and kitchen and the bedroom was ready for sleeping, having made a surprising and satisfying dent.
We worked hard to unpack and cull our belongings to a settled state over a long weekend so I can focus on work tomorrow without the stress of knowing I have weeks (or months) of unpacking and streamlining ahead. A multi-​week effort over in a weekend. Yes!
Terri is energetic and efficient (you need to experience her tricks getting rid of packing materials and how to organize your office!) She has a fun «whip your place into shape» kind of attitude until the job is done. This is one expenditure that’s absolutely worth the price. The best part? Peace of mind and lack of stress. Terri’s help allowed me to focus on enjoying our new place quickly and being settled so I can focus on my new business. Bravo Terri!

I am a first-​time parent of infant twins and recently returned to my corporate job. Two babies attract lots of gear, gifts and very little time. We also live in a condo in the city, so space is a major consideration. I reached out to Terri for some expert help.
Terri was punctual, friendly and non-​judgemental. We did a quick assessment of the space and dug right into the work. She makes great suggestions, but doesn’t insist on doing things her way if the solution wouldn’t fit how you use the space. Instead, she asks great questions and presents options and choices. I found the most important and beneficial aspect of her style was her gentle way of keeping me on task and making decisions so that we could accomplish as much as possible during our time.
Some people might find hiring a professional organizer to be a luxury. I discovered that it was an investment that immediately paid off. I’ll be specific. I found: 1) a pair of Prada eye glasses that went missing over a year ago (I was going to replace at a price of at least $ 350) 2) fetal heart monitor that I had been renting at a cost of $ 55/​month 3) $ 75 worth of gift cards just to name a few… This far exceeded Terri’s very reasonable rates.
If you have found yourself saying, someday I’ll get «organized» and many somedays have come and gone. Just call Terri to make that quantum leap past your procrastination and make actual progress!