Giving the Gift of Zen

"I just want clean lines and surfaces. I don't want things on places!"
Edina (Jennifer Saunders)/"Absolutely Fabulous"

More than most, apartment dwellers fight a constant battle of "Space Vs. Things." And especially around the holidays, things usually win.

For those of us with too much stuff and too little space, this season the best gift we can ask Santa for might be the "Gift of Zen" -- cleaning, organizing, compressing, curating memorabilia, Feng Shui and other services to help turn our cluttered nests into peaceful, livable spaces.

Admitting You Need Help is the First Step

For many people living in overcrowded New York apartments, taking the first steps toward getting organized can be daunting.

That's where Carrie Gravenson comes in. The owner of Unjumbler Professional Organizing (unjumbleronline.com), Gravenson (a standup comic who's headlined at Caroline's) brings humor, tolerance and, of course, compulsive neatness to her work.

"Basically, if you can touch it, I can organize it. I don't organize time, money or events, but I do organize kitchens, living rooms, offices, garages and basements," says Gravenson. Her clients run the gamut from hoarders (though she only works with those seeking counseling) and the chronically messy to basically organized people who need outside help during major life transitions, including divorce, the death of a spouse or positive transitions like converting home offices to nurseries.

"People have a lot of shame about being disorganized. So I think one thing that I really take to heart is to be extremely nonjudgmental. It's hard for people to trust someone in their own home."

Gravenson has seen the decluttering process have a powerful psychological impact. "People smile more and they get more energy. I feel like living in a hoard can weigh on you, particularly if it's mountains of stuff. If you physically can't walk across a room, then you feel closed in and closed off. Opening up that space can do wonders for a person," she says.

"It's infectious. Once you get the momentum of clearing out your space, people pick up and run with it," the Unjumbler says. "They go back to school. They write their novel."

A favorite anecdote: "I once had a client who started playing her piano again, for the first time in years. She'd had it buried under 'a hoard.' "

Memories Curated/Music Compressed at Your Fingertips

After you've begun organizing your home, you may find yourself with a closet full of miscellaneous photos. Park Slope-based Martie McNabb can help you put the images you treasure most at your fingertips. A personal historian, McNabb's company Memories Out of the Box (memoriesoutofthebox.com) works with clients to sift through boxes of photographs and other memorabilia to select the essential images, which she then turns into handsome photo albums, printed books, and, occasionally, digital albums.

"We document the heck out of our lives. We save ephemera and memorabilia from our journeys and then we shove it in a box somewhere," she says. "I say I'm a visual storyteller. I work with photos and documents, also, occasionally, hair, medals, baby teeth, maps and other things people save from their lives." Some collections date back to the late 1800s. "I've worked with newspaper articles from 1907 and wedding invitations from 1911," she says.

Despite the wonders of digital technology, McNabb says most of her clients request a "good old-fashioned book, either a photo album or printed book," rather than a digital archive.

Some clients hand her small boxes of photos from their weddings or once-in-a-lifetime trips. Others have several large boxes with thousands of images and items to work with. "Most of my clients literally hand me the box or I come and pick the boxes up and I do about 75% of the work on my own," she says. "I get a feel for the story, for the family, and then I get them to sit down and review what I've done up until that point."

Converting older, clunkier music formats to digital can save a ton of space, says Kevin Flume of Manhattan-based Dataworks (dataworksnyc.com), which provides high-quality duplication of everything from CDs and DVDs to older formats. "We've been in business for 31 years. We can convert home movies from the 1950s and 60s and we can work with reel-to-reel technology," says Flume. "Basically we can work with any format you have."

Flume says clients with enormous CD and DVD collections have opened up tons of space by going digital. "They can get rid of their boxes, racks, trees and carousels."

He adds that Dataworks' business picks up during the holidays with clients who want older home movies converted to a digital format. "It's a great gift."

Did Someone Ring for the Box Butler?

Gravenson and other personal organizers stress the importance of converting clutter into "Karma, cash or trash" by donating, selling or disposing of items that aren't needed. She's also a fan of storage facility services.

Simultaneously inspired by Fresh Direct's arrival in Manhattan and the sight of elderly neighbors schlepping boxes out of his coop's flooded basement, entrepreneur Scott Sinclair had a brilliant insight several years back -- seamless storage.

"Why spend half a day on the weekend packing boxes, flagging down a cab and then traveling to a storage unit, and, even worse, having to do it in reverse later when we want our stuff back?" asks Sinclair.

To address this need, he created Box Butler (boxbutler.com), a concierge storage service that picks up and delivers to clients' doors. They even pack for clients as needed. Box Butler spends the fall storing summer clothes and delivering boxes of sweaters and winter coats. During the holidays, many clients rely on Sinclair's firm to deliver boxes of Halloween and Christmas decorations, which then magically disappear after the holiday is over. With nicer pieces of furniture or gently used clothing clients no longer want, Box Butler provides free delivery to Housing Works.

Surprisingly, Box Butler's rates are competitive with do-it-yourself storage facilities in the city. How? "We keep our warehouses well outside the city, so operating expenses are lower."

An admitted neat freak, Sinclair adds, "Getting stuff out of our immediate field of vision is calming. There's nothing more rewarding than walking into a home that doesn't have clutter."

Creating an Environment That Empowers

A Chinese philosophical system of harmonizing people with their environments, for many, the practice of Feng Shui takes de-cluttering to a spiritual level. Consultant Susan Chu owns One Peace Sanctuary (onepeacesanctuary.com). She's been practicing Feng Shui since childhood and chose it as a career a few years ago, transitioning from a position in finance. "My parents are from China. They're taught Feng Shui as part of their school curriculum. So I grew up thinking everybody did this."

Clients usually consult Susan for three reasons: to improve their health, their professional lives or their personal lives, often to attract a new mate. "The practice of Feng Shui can change how you feel in a space and attract what you're trying to bring into your life," she says.

While Feng Shui addresses much more than clutter, creating a tidy, more spacious environment is usually part of the process, Chu says. "If your apartment is so stuffed that you can't move around, that's not a healthy space," she adds. "For New York apartments, I stress that they be well lit. If they're naturally dark, add some lamps. If your environment is drab, it depresses you. That, on an organic level, subconsciously affects you."

For single clients looking for mates, Susan emphasizes creating actual physical space. "If your closets are jam packed, you won't have room for a partner. I suggest these clients clear out about 20% of their closets," Chu says. "If you have a dresser, empty out a few drawers."

She also underscores clearing living spaces of mementos from past relationships. "People hang onto stuff past its expiration date," she says. "If every time you look at a chair, you think of a friend you had a falling out with, then that is what occupies your mind."

Cleaner Than Clean

Known for cleaning services so meticulous they'd please a mother-in-law wearing white gloves, East Village-based New York's Little Elves (nyelves.com) was founded by Barbara Roche Fierman, who has since passed the business on to daughter Sabrina Fierman.

"My mother started the company when I was a child. Growing up, I had a 'manny,' before people had male nannies. As I got older, he had less to do. So my mother got him cleaning jobs with other families in the building," Fierman recalls. The business grew and in 1996 Barbara Fierman incorporated.

"The business was borne out of a need to help people," she says. "Mom (who retired four years ago) has always been involved in our cleaners' lives. We have many employees who've been with us for more than 15 years."

NY Elves offers three distinct cleaning services: regular cleaning, deep cleaning and post-construction cleaning. "We also can coordinate specialty cleaning of areas such as upholstery, windows and window treatments," Fierman says.

Her company has become the "go to" cleaning service for architects, contractors and designers, especially for post-construction cleaning of new properties.

"We've cleaned cashmere walls, leather floors, gold-leaf ceilings, as well as many forms of marble and Venetian plaster," says Fierman. "However, most of our jobs just involve meticulous cleaning of walls, floors, ceilings, windowsills, frames, hardware, built-in lighting and slats in blinds."

She adds, "We remove drawers and clean behind the drawers-areas you don't 'see and areas people don't necessarily think about."

Fitness is key for her elves, Fierman says. "You need good physical strength and cardio to work for us. We have, in the past, borrowed staff and they couldn't keep up with our people. They were panting on the floor before the job was finished."

Cuties Who Clean, Too

Speaking of "fit," yes, New York does offer naked cleaners as well as those catering to other, shall we say, predilections. However, if you're looking to actually have your apartment cleaned/organized and just want a little convivial eye candy in the bargain, Cute Guys Cleaners (CGCleaners.com) may be your best option. Actor Evan Todd launched his business several years ago and now manages the New York business, sometimes even from LA.

"When I was a college student at Juilliard, I started cleaning apartments as a side job. When I graduated, I realized that I was making more money cleaning than working as a personal trainer," says Todd. Then, as he began landing acting gigs, Todd added a few friends to his crew, other attractive and friendly actors, singers, dancers in their 20s looking for side jobs.

"If anyone is looking for naked cleaners, I refer them to other companies. Our clients like that our guys are cute, but they want the job done right. If our people aren't actually going in and cleaning, they'll get a bad referral and I'll have to fire them," he says.

"Usually when the cleaning lady comes, people leave their apartments," says Todd. "With our guys, clients tend to stick around and chat."