I’m Penny, your ultimate resource for fun & fabulous organizing without judgement.
I grew up in a habitual garage sale house. One of my favorite memories of being a kid was when my mom and I would get up early on Sunday mornings, go out for donuts, grab a newspaper and I’d circle all the garage sales in our area and map out our route. We would buy random costume pieces, cool vintage knickknacks, chairs to reupholster and if we got lucky, even fancy jewelry. I learned early on how to spot a deal, fix it up and display it. Our house was eclectic and packed, but beautifully curated. But it didn’t stop there, my mom also loved to host a garage sale! So a couple of times a year we’d do a huge purge and sell off the pieces we didn’t end up using, didn’t fit us anymore or we just grew tired of. This taught me how to happily let go and also gave us money and space to find new treasures!
The skills I learned garage-saling with my mom came in really handy when I decided it would be fun to move onto a 40 foot sailboat! I had to do a massive purge (and I won’t pretend it was easy), get super organized with all those tiny cupboards and learn to live without running water or electricity! Paring down to only the essentials and a few things of emotional value was a difficult and steep learning curve, but I’ve never felt more free in my life! I could pull anchor and go anywhere at anytime because I didn’t have a bunch of stuff weighing me down.
When I finally decided to go back land-side I moved into a gorgeous 1300 square foot loft in Oakland. I had tons of space, but nowhere to put anything! There were no closets, no built ins, no shelves, no walls - nothing! I had to get really creative to create delineated living spaces and hide all the day to day stuff you take for granted by being able to shove into a broom closet.
All of these experiences, added to the fact that I’m a kinky, queer, burlesque performer and costume designer in the Bay Area makes me uniquely qualified to provide hands on organizing to compliment your lifestyle, no matter how alternative!
These are some of the values I believe in:
Embracing the quirks that make us special
Radiating positive energy (sometimes with a snarky twist)
Communicating with compassion
Acting with resourcefulness, creativity and savvy
Forming meaningful connections
Sharing my gifts whole-heartedly - but only if you want them!
Having a good time, as much of the time. I laugh a lot!
