HOUSTON – Homeowner Amanda Hampton has never used her two car garage for what it was intended.
"I moved from Holland where we lived in 1,000 square feet. I never had a garage so it was sort of like 'Wow! This extra fabulous space,'" she said.
But soon 'stuff' shoved her car out of her garage and onto her driveway, where it was stolen.
"It made me realize before I invest in a new car, it would be best to create garage space where the car can go so it's inside and it's a bit more secure," Hampton said.
That's where professional organizer Leah Friedman comes in. She says she typically has three kinds of clients: people with deceased parents, people who hold onto furniture and people who can't part with their children's things.
"Mama is not in the thing; mama is in our heart," Friedman said. "We don't have to hold onto boxes and boxes of Bobby's artwork from when he was in third grade so I encourage them to get rid of it or send it to Bobby's house."
She says it doesn't make a difference where people keep things, the problem is the same: people just don't want to make a decision.
"I walk around with them and I give them permission. That's basically what they're looking for, permission to get rid of this stuff," Friedman said.
She has a two-pronged job: part organizer, part counselor. She said she loves both.
"I also tell people, what happens if you die and it really ends up, not to be morbid, but it ends up being your children's problem. So I always say, be kind to your children and start getting rid of the stuff now," Friedman said.
Renting storage space can be expensive and is often throwing away money.
"Unless you have a Monet, your stuff is not appreciating," Friedman said.
One more thing she said she tells her clients: clear out your lives and more good things will arrive.
America has more than 78 square miles of rentable self-storage space. To put that in perspective, an area more than three times the size of Manhattan.
