Custom Living Solutions

San Francisco, United States

5

Closed now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

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Telephone:
+1 415-830-6345
Website:
www.customlivingsolutions.com
Address:
San Francisco, CA 94141
SoMa
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
0.6 miMarket St & Van Ness Ave
0.6 miMarket St & South Van Ness Ave
0.6 miVan Ness Muni
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Bussiness info

Accepts Credit Cards
Yes

Today

Today 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (San Francisco) 18:42 Wednesday, 11 June 2025

Business hours

Monday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Tuesday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Wednesday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Thursday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Friday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

We specialize in helping professionals, entrepreneurs, and corporations implement proven strategies to boost productivity and get more organized.

The Custom Living Solutions team focuses on helping you get control over your information, time, tasks, and technology so you can boost your productivity, get more of the right things done, and boost your bottom line.

Our specialties include the following:

Corporate Office Productivity & Organizing Consulting and Training,

Small Office /​Home Office Productivity & Organizing Consulting and Training,

Paper Management and Systems,

Workflow Analysis and Improvement,

Electronic Document and File Management,

Email Strategies and Systems,

Storage Planning and Management,

Cable Clutter Control.

PLEASE NOTE: we do not offer custom cabinet or closet design or installation, and we do not sell organizing products.

History

Established in 2003.

Custom Living Solutions was founded in San Francisco in 2003. Since then, we’ve helped hundreds of people just like you get control over their space, paper, time and technology so they can reach their organizing and productivity goals.

Some helpful things to know about us:

— Registered San Francisco Green Business

— Licensed, bonded and insured

— #1 in the Organization category for the 2011 «Best of Baylist» and Top 5 for the previous 3 years

— #1 rated on Yelp

Affiliations:

— Company Member, National Association of Professional Organizers

— Our CEO Joshua Zerkel was Chapter President from 2008 – 2010 of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers

— Golden Circle (NAPO)

— Featured regularly on publications and classes from Franklin Covey, The Neat Company, Shoeboxed, OfficeDrop, and the San Francsico Small Business Administration

— Evernote Productivity Ambassador

Meet the Business Owner

Joshua Z.

Business Owner

Whether you run a small business — or the business of life — you may feel like you’re adrift on a sea of chaos and clutter. The truth is that most people are never taught how to stay organized and productive, so it’s no wonder that many of us struggle to reach our goals.

That’s where Custom Living Solutions comes in. We specialize in helping busy people just like you — successful professionals, entrepreneurs, small business owners, service providers, and home office workers — discover and implement simple, proven strategies for boosting productivity and getting — and staying — organized.

After a decade in business, we’ve helped hundreds individuals and businesses get control of piles of paper, manage the files on computers, gain power over tasks and schedules, eliminate clutter, plan storage, and more. Now, it’s your turn for us to help YOU save time, money and space, boost your productivity and bottom line!

Custom Living Solutions also recommends

Greencitizen — CLOSED

92

reviews

Centri di riciclaggio

Joshua Z. says,

«We make a practice of recycling our clients’ electronic cast-​offs, and GreenCitizen makes it easy. They accept most types of electronic detritus.»

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20 reviews of Custom Living Solutions

No registration required
Place rating: 5
San Carlos, CA
After struggling with what seemed, to me, insurmountable problems with telephones and computer organizing, I bit the bullet and contacted Josh. I wasn’t even sure what I needed, as it all seemed so confusing and overwhelming.
Josh asked me to send him a laundry list of my technology and productivity problems, as I saw them. Just doing that helped me more than I expected. He was helping me think through the confusion. The list was long, and I could only hope we could tackle at least part of it in the afternoon we had set aside. It included all sorts of things, from multiple phone lines to cleaning up and backing up computer data and mail to best methods of social media marketing.
I was stunned when we finished the entire list – and with detailed concrete progress with every single item, in 1 ½ hours! I hadn’t felt rushed at all. We just did it all!
Josh listens calmly, hears problems accurately, has amazing knowledge of the latest and best resources and technology, and he is a very good teacher. When we finished, I had, among many other things, installed a new computer back-​up system, a good plan for going paperless, and clear directions for my social media marketing.
He is one of the most productive consultants I’ve ever worked with.
Place rating: 5
Oakland, CA
Josh is an amazing professional in every way. I highly recommend having Josh speak at your event, organize your space or advise you how to integrate new technologies into your life and business. His experiences and knowledge are solid. As an ambassador for several online tools and sites including Evernote, you know Josh knows what he is talking about. I have and continue to use Josh as a resource and often refer people to invite him to speak at their events or groups on using new technologies to be organized and boost productivity.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
Josh has an incredible arsenal of methodologies, systems and technologies at his ready. He got my home office in shape so I could be more productive. It sounds basic, but it’s not. After working with Josh, I have saved time, been able to keep organized, and even slept better knowing that everything is where it should be. A true professional, I highly recommend Josh.
Place rating: 5
Sausalito, CA
Just listening to Josh is an inspiration to get organized!
Being a totally organized human being, Josh has an amazing ability to relate to those of us who are — in certain area (s) of our life — «organizationally challenged».
Thanks to Josh’s powerful coaching, I have scheduled the time to «clear the clutter» of the past, together with a committed friend.
Then, I’ll be ready to have Josh help organize my newfound space to make room for the future and keep it that way!
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
Josh has had a positive impact on my life and I’ve only been reading his e-​newsletters for a few months! I love all of this great organizational tips and product suggestions…
His newsletter led me to his website and from just studying his «before and after» pictures on his website, I was able to copy his lead and design and install a large elfa shelving unit in my home office to create more storage space for myself.
Then I read his suggestion and purchased a good paper shredder to begin to get rid of the paper and clutter in my home.
After that I read his suggestion about getting a high quality, dedicated scanner with organizational software to digitize important documents for storage before I shred them in my new shredder. I’ve recently purchase one of these and I’m excited to finally be able to scan and dispose of all of the business cards I’ve collected over the years since I am in sales.
I’ve just accepted a new job and will be working out of a home office so I will definitely be having Josh come to my apartment in the near future so he can help me get sorted out even more. I tend to get wound up when I’m overwhelmed with too much clutter and I feel confident that his calm and organized nature will help bring a lot of peace into my home.
If you are in need of some organization help but aren’t sure if you want to spend the money, start getting Josh’s newsletter and you’ll gain the confidence I have in investing in his services.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
Woooohoooo! …is right! Joshua is the most professional, yet personable you can get. i found him on Unilocal over a year ago and have been wanting to get a system of organization both for my office and paper piles, plus my online and desktop computer files. He took me through everything step by step and suggested some new tools to use. It is true, having his help and expertise has saved my money and my sanity. Being Organized makes my life much more rich and happy. Thank you Joshua.
Place rating: 5
Alameda, CA
Josh has a solution for every organizational or productivity challenge I present him with. He is a joy to work with. We get so much done together! He is nonjudgmental and has a sweet sense of humor that puts me at ease. We have been able to explore and get to the root cause of some of my most counterproductive behaviors. He has helped me to changing my physical work space and my behaviors which has brought more serenity and creative energy flow into my life.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
Man, I’m trying not to give out so many five star reviews, but Joshua is forcing my hand here.
Joshua (the proprietor of Custom Living Solutions) is the sort of supremely organized person I can only dream of being someday. He really walks the talk, and you can tell he’s legitimately passionate about organization and productivity.
I had just moved into my new condo, and as a part of that move I brought along a stack of 5 or 6 boxes that I didn’t unpack. You know the kind of boxes I’m talking about – the boxes that, move after move, you drag from place to place but never open and honestly don’t really know what is inside of them.
Well, in my new place in Mission Bay, space is at a premium. (These new construction condos are nice, but they leave a lot to desire in the storage department.) The time had come to finally sort through that big stack of ugly and get organized. The very thought of doing this without a helping hand made me contemplate just tossing them all in a burn pile, so I decided to reach out to a professional.
After searching Unilocal,I decided on Custom Living Solutions. And boy am I glad I did. In addition to helping me sort out the contents of those boxes (~80% of it was donated or recycled), Joshua also built a real strategy for managing my paper storage and organized my very limited cabinet space. We also designed and purchased an Elfa closet organization system from the Container Store and were able to make my wardrobe and general storage space more efficient.
Long story short: if you’re in need of a pro to help you build a solution for organization and/​or productivity, Joshua is your man. You should be aware that the cost is definitely pretty high by most standards, but for me, deliverance from that stack of boxes was worth every penny.
Place rating: 5
Oakland, CA
Josh is a rockstar! Very knowledgeable about anything and everything related to organization, even computer stuff. Every time I talk to him I learn about some new cheap or free web-​based utility that will make my life easier. If you have a lot of tasks to juggle, you can’t afford not to call him.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
Joshua from Custom Living Solutions recently gave an amazing presentation about free and cheap online organizing tools to a group of entrepreneurs and small business owners. He had obviously put in a lot of effort into the presentation and thoroughly researched all the tools before recommending it to others. He seemed to know everything about the tools, even the smallest, most hidden features. I was really impressed.
And best of all, he helped me find several great tools for saving time and getting more organized.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
My wife and I felt crowded all the time in our two bed/​bath condo/​loft. To make matters even more stressful — we had a new roommate that was moving in… that would be our first child! We needed help fast w/​organizing our place or we were going to freak out and not have a very comfortable home for our new baby boy.
Thanks to Josh and CLS; the stress is gone and our home literally has taken a 180 degree turn for the better. The clutter is gone! We have a system in place today where we no longer feel stressed out.
Josh is highly recommended for meeting and exceeding your expectations… thanks, Josh!
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
I haven’t had the pleasure of being a direct customer of Josh’s, but came in contact with him through my work — Josh is a featured expert on our company blog (
). After reading his stuff and meeting with him a few times, the organization tips rubbed off on me.
My multiple email inboxes, both personal and professional, used to be crazy! It got to a point where I didn’t want to open my gmail anymore for fear of being run down by the never-​ending messages. I followed a few of Josh’s simple tips, and my inbox is now über-​organized, and my stress level is down! Plus I now actually respond to people.
Josh is a patient guy and a great listener — the kind of person that understands customer service intuitively. He’s also passionate about his work, which makes him a pleasure to work with.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
Josh is the best! He made a huge difference for us. He helped organize a number of areas in the house, but the biggest job by far was the garage clean out and organization. We went from a two-​car+ garage nightmare packed to the gills with old stuff, boxes and junk, to a perfectly organized, totally cleaned out space where everything has a place (and labels!) Plus we can now get two cars in there. The process was actually fun because Josh is such a pleasure to be around.
I absolutely recommend working with Josh.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
I had a whole room dedicated to my craft so it wouldn’t mess up my home, but that room got so tangled and cluttered it was not longer fun to work there, and it was spilling into the rest of the house. I tried to find a way to keep things straightened up a few times and had to admit I pretty much failed… And then I found
Josh. He didn’t just fixed things automatically — he actually sat with me, discussed what I need, and how I usually work in the space, and planned a solution that made things work for my needs. I feel a clean creative energy fill my craft room now and I can work with ease. Thank you!
Place rating: 5
Oakland, CA
I can’t speak highly enough about Josh– working with him has made a huge difference in my life.
I was the kind of person who was so messy and cluttered I could never have friends over. I had stacks and piles all over my room.
I’ve been working with Josh about once a month for the past year. I now live in a apartment which is calm, peaceful and neat (I never thought I could be a neat, organized person!) I actually know where everything is!
When I first started working with Josh, we were dealing with clutter and organization. Then we moved on to time management. Now we are going to start dealing with financial organization. Through my work with Josh, I’ve cleared the time and space in my life to actually start living some of my dreams (having creativity in my life, working on projects I put off for 10 years.) Josh is very patient and supportive– I HIGHLY recommend him.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
Custom Living Solutions will help you Organize, Design, and Rework your living space.
As a single male with zero design acumen and even less understanding of how to spatially design a place, I turned to CLS to help me out. Here are the details…
The Space:
800 sq ft Loft, 1 Br, 1 Home office, 2 Bath, 1 closet
The Goods:
3 mtn bikes, 5 surfboards, bed, guest bed, etc. Essentially, I asked him to help the place look pulled together.
The Help:
— Performed an initial Needs Assessment, in other words, where were the problem areas. Essentially everywhere.
— Redesigned closet
— Home office relocation and design
— Bedroom design
— Storage advice
— Living Room concept
— Overall decorative advice
Everything has a place now. Things are purposeful. In a limited space like a loft, clutter is easy to create and thus cramp the living space. That is now gone thanks to Josh.
Final Verdict:
Easy to work with. Prompt and on-​time appts. Recommendations are documented for you to execute (awesome for using as a checklist), and otherwise fantastic to work with.
Reactions:
Neighbor — «This looks so spacious.»
Mtn bike friend — «Nice.» (what was I thinking when asking?)
Hire Custom Living Solutions!
Place rating: 5
New York, NY
OMG — Custom Living Solutions is awesome! They helped me organize my crazy workspace over the course of 3 – 4 weeks into something I (and I’m sure other people) can tolerate.
I used to live in SF and I sometimes worked from home and used to have an overly cluttered work area. It was sometimes hard to find certain files and other stuff, but after working with the organizing skills of CLS, everything is now very manageable and easier to deal with. Not only was I helped with creating new ways to organize files, but also organize items on my computer… my computer desktop was filled with a mess of different documents and CLS helped me come up with a system to keep things organized and not look so cluttered and insane.
This investment was totally worth it since it continues to help me out to this day. I broke my bad habits and actually live and work in an organized place.
Place rating: 5
New York, NY
Used this service for my home and office — OH my god!
Josh was informative, prompt, helpful and funny!
It was worth every penny, he makes you feel like you can
actually find easy ways to make even the messiest mess
a logical space.
I am so happy I took the step to call him and start feeling
better about the space I surround myself in… his service
gets an A+++
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
If you’ve ever watched one of those home makeover shows like «Clean Sweep» on TLC, the Discovery Channel, or some channel like that and wondered to yourself «wouldn’t it be nice if someone would do that to my home?» Maybe you’ve even said that loud — I don’t know.
In either case, I know I always wanted someone to do that to my home, only without the camera crew and silly games. I never knew people who do those home organization shows actually existed, but when a friend told me about Custom Living Solutions I knew I had to jump at the chance. I was lucky to get them — they are often booked.
Hiring Custom Living Solutions is like doing one of those home makeover shows, only you get to provide the direction. I can’t possibly recommend them enough. My home looks like I had always imagined it could look, and this time I know I’m not going to create a huge disorganized space again. … But if I do, I know I can always call up Custom Living Solutions and have them help out again. It’s like having your own designer/​decorator/​organizer. I can’t recommend them enough; they are worth every penny.
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
I had a craft room that I tried three times to reorganize. I consider myself to be a pretty well organized person, but this room really got the best of me. I was using it as a store-​all and always never doing my crafts in there. Nice sentence.
Anyway, I found Josh on craigslist, and I was DELIGHTED by the service. We got along really well, I felt like I found a friend who really wanted to clean my room with me. He was really inspiring and motivated me to take care of my shit and organize.
What I liked best is that he doesn’t give you a ridiculous, can’t-be-done plan. He works with the stuff you have, breaks your work into sizeable pieces, and follows up to make sure you did it. And, if you feel like paying extra — he WILL do it. :)
It’s a little pricey — but it’s so worth it! Check out his site, you can see the before & after pictures of my craft room. Ahhhhh simply wonderful.