Cannot say enough about this incredible organization! We needed help cleaning out our parent's large house after our dad passed away. They were patient, sensitive, incredibly efficient and thorough throughout the entire process. Katie did an on-site walk through and answered all of our questions. Sam and her team not only acted as the liaison for aligning us with the appropriate movers, consignment house, charities for donations, but were very conscientious about things NOT ending up in the landfill. They packed, wrapped and boxed all of the items inside of the house (not a small job!), and even offered to take our AT+T box back to be recycled. We were sent photos of the house at the end of each day-showing it had been secured, were provided a re-cap of what had been done, and the plan for the following day. I would recommend them to anyone who needs help with a large and emotional job. read more

Changing places was a life saver! I had to arrange a large household move from across the country for my boss and would not have been able to do so without them. From the initial phone call I knew I was in good hands. They handled EVERYTHING! Packing, transporting wine, art and furniture from the old house to unpacking, organizing and installing the art in the new house. Julie kept in constant communication with me with daily texts and updates on the progress. I had some crazy requests and they were able to meet them all! I got to meet some of the team during the organizing stage and wow what a group of amazing people! I would absolutely recommend Changing Places for your move or ANY type of organizing your house needs, the finished product looks out of a magazine! read more

I have been working with the Changing Places team for many years now to help customers get organized and moved. Their services have always been phenomenal and they always do what they say they will. Great service, highly recommended! Mike read more

The biggest disappointment you can imagine. If you want to pretty much handle all the details yourself and pay someone 4k a day to stand around and watch movers then changing places is for you. Zero value very very high price tag ... total scam. If you're interested in details message me. read more

We have had the great pleasure of working with the Changing Places team, assisting them with their clients' consignment needs and in turn having their clients become our clients. The ladies at Changing Places are professional, insanely organized, and very easy to work with. They are always looking out for their clients, making sure that their experiences are as top notch as possible. We are excited to continue to work with this dynamic team! read more

Changing Places made the impossible task of packing up our home of 30 years a breeze. Professional, positive and got the job done so much faster and easier than I ever expected. Outstanding! read more

Changing Places is the best! My parents needed to downsize from there big house of 25 years to a smaller condo and the CP team came in and made this transition easy and seamless! There organizers were amazing and worked hand in hand with my parents and helped guide them the whole way. They organized the items they wanted to keep, donated, and get ride of all while making my parents feel good about the entire process (which isn't easy let me tell you!). They even handled the venders (moving company / haulers) which took so much stress off the entire process. Nothing but good stuff to say about this company, highly recommended! read more

Changing Places is a fantastic company all around. They are consummate professionals who attend to your every need and manage everything on deadline with a high quality of service. I have recommended them to several of my friends and family who have moved to the Bay Area. They also have impeccable taste when it comes to staging and organizing. My closet is now a dream to behold and I wish I could sleep in there. read more

Margaret Walsh, owner of Changing Places, is a phenomenal organizer; four days and my house is magically transformed! I can't say enough about how through and logical the process was, and I wouldn't hesitate a second to recommend her to anyone. Sandy Fitler Square, Philadelphia, PA. read more

I had lived in my current residence for almost 3 decades and had accumulated belongings from multiple family members and from other moves. Changing places not only organized and found appropriate homes or destinations for my belongings but found treasures that I thought were gone and lost forever. They also gave new life to many possessions that I was able to repurpose or provide to a new home. In addition within a week of my move into my new home we were organized, labeled and comfortably living in our new space and felt stress free in a short amount of time. I would recommend Changing Places and their team of professionals to anyone who is moving or needs to get organized! They also did it with such positive energy and ease that it was very enjoyable to have them around! read more

I put down an ~8k deposit which funded ~6k for one day of help, and then they charged me ~1k to cancel the engagement. $300 for a fifteen minute phone call, when I asked to cancel, an additional $300 for them to pick up their items they had left at my house over a month earlier. And an additional ~$400 for cancelation paperwork. During the initial engagement, they proposed and charged me for them to manage contractors to install closets and stair treads - these contractors never showed up or materialized at all until I decided to have my contractors take care of these tasks. In the end, I'm not sure what I paid for - a jumpstart to the project and a whole lot of time to mismanage a project. Definitely not worth the money. read more

We hired Changing Places for two moves, one apartment and one large complicated house, and we could not have done it without them. From the first walkthrough all the way through the move they were professional, proactive, and considerate. They did a great job tracking all the varying pieces of the move and keeping us informed. We would highly recommend Changing Places for your moves and/ or organization projects. read more

Changing places changed our game plan!  We were completely overwhelmed by my mom's home after she passed, and had no idea where to begin. We turned to the CP team and with their thoughtful advice, incredible organizational skills, professional reporting and most of all, their kindness and understanding, we were able to empty her house in just a few weeks.  It would have taken us months -- if not years!  One of the things we appreciated the most, was their dedication to allocating everything we did not keep to the right places, making sure as much as possible stayed out of landfill.  This was something that was very important to us and they had wonderful relationships with all sorts of vendors ready for us to partner with.  This is just one example of their detailed and invaluable process. Obviously, I am a fan!  I am forever grateful to the CP team and would highly recommend their services. Christine Puccini read more

We have been working with Changing-Places for a few years now, and I believe that a review is overdue. They provide Warren Estates the "dream client" by giving us consignment opportunities. With so many things to pack and organize, they treat each item as if it were their own. They coordinate with their clients to determine which items they want to take and which items to leave behind. This is where Changing-Places shines as no stone is left unturned. They provide a list and photos of unwanted items their client decided not to take and provide us an opportunity to sell them. Changing -Places goes the extra mile to find a provider, such as Warren Estates that can make sure unwanted items find a new home as well as providing liquidity for the mover. The items are meticulously packed and labeled for transfer to our shop. Many of these unwanted items are valuable and can be sold to someone else who can treasure them. This concept saves the burden of deciding whether to store unwanted items in a storage facility or dumping in a landfill. Changing-Places not only commits themselves for items being moved, but also commits to the unwanted items that can find a new home. read more

I own a local moving company in San Rafael. I had a client in Ross who needed some serious professional help with organization and purging before her move was to take place. I referred her to Changing Places. Katie was very responsive and had an estimate to my client within 24 hours. Not only was my client free from the headache of having to make so many decisions on her own as to what to get rid of, donate, and throw away, she was treated with respect and was absolutely prepared for my crew to get her moved without any hiccups. Kelleigh managed the project flawlessly and worked in tandem with my moving team leading the way. So easy and efficient. Thank you CP. Rikki A read more

I will never be able to thank Katie and the team at Changing Places for their help, support and expertise in the last year. My father passed away last November and as an only child, I was solely responsible for clearing out and selling his Peninsula home of 60 years. Katie quickly lined up resources to help me get his house cleared out and prepped for sale all in less than a week. Changing Places then coordinated a mover who moved all his remaining belongings to a storage space in Novato. Months later, when the dust settled, they sent an amazing team to project manage and help me sort the remains of his very long life. Their professionalism, expertise, compassion and leadership was invaluable during this past year. Katie and team, I've said this before but I couldn't have done it without you. You're absolutely THE BEST. read more

We had a wonderful experience with Katie and Cara at Changing Places. Not knowing really where to start with staging our home, and thinking we really wanted to mostly do it ourselves with a little guidance, I called Katie and she warmly walked me through different options from light staging with our furniture and their styling to full-fledged staging. I never thought we would end up having our home professionally staged from top to bottom, but that's just how it ended up working out for us, and I am still astounded at how quickly and professionally everything got done! Within a week of our thorough free initial consult, everything was scheduled to a T, and ended up being executed beautifully. Cara has an impeccable eye for design and really listened, and incorporated our existing accents where she could. We have an out-of-state move coming up and I won't hesitate to call Katie for help when it comes to the logistics of that. They are truly the best in the business! read more

Changing Places - Staged living and dining room - Home Organization Near Me - San Rafael, California

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I recently used Changing Places for my move. While they did an OK job, their estimate and the actual cost was double. I was very clear with them on my budget at the start and they came numerous times to assess what was involved with my move. I cannot understand why they had to add so many extras to my job when they are supposed to be well versed in this task and know what it takes upfront to complete. I also paid a lot to have one of my unpackers work with donations during my "unpack" time driving the cost up. Also, my personal helper and I found the staff to be very judging about my belongings and kept making derogatory comments about my things and how we handled my cat to keep her safe during the move and to top it off, they were not warm and friendly. I have reached out numerous times to resolve this in a fair and right way and Katie, on their staff, to find that she simply does not listen to anything I have to say and will not make concessions that are satisfactory to me. I have since learned there are many services like theirs, I suggest you look further before you employ Changing Places, or plan to pay much more than they quote . read more

Changing Places is top notch! We recommended them to one of our high-profile clients who needed someone to help coordinate and manage their move into an 8,000 square foot home. Changing Places did an excellent job transitioning them into their new home, from helping edit down their belongings to unpacking and organizing every detail in their new home. They stayed in touch throughout the process and were a pleasure to collaborate with. Their focus on client satisfaction and their high attention to detail resulted in a seamless transition for our clients. We can't wait to work with them again! read more

These folks are great at helping handle the details of clearing out the physical items in an estate. Mom had died and they helped us sort out what could be donated, what could be auctioned off for a decent return, and what needed to be hauled away and they made all the contacts for us. It felt like they would have done more if we had needed it. We were on a tight timetable to try to get it all done before year end and they did it! They even replied to email over the Christmas weekend so that we could be efficient once people got back to work. One thing I really liked is that they charged by the hour, so we only paid for what time we used, and they really hustle. You do not pay for wasted time or delays. read more

These people are unbelievable! The most helpful and fun team to work with. Cannot thank them enough for all their hard work. Worth every dollar! NOT TO MENTION - I still call them (We moved 3 months ago) and say "Do you happen to remember where my .... is?" AND THEY DO!!! They lead me right to it! Amazing!! read more

My Saga with Changing Places My wife's company hired changing places to help us with our move to the Bay Area. They helped schedule repair people to fix things and get our house professionally cleaned before we moved in. They also helped organize some of our stuff before and after our move. On the positive side, they try really hard, and they have a really good closet guy who, if you get him to work on your project, will do a great job in organizing your closet. However, there were a number of issues that prevent me from recommending Organizing Options in general. First, and most importantly, they have a difficult time listening to what you ask for and actually doing it. Instead, they seem to have a mental script or vision of what they think you would like, and they do that instead. As someone who likes to be listened to, this was rather frustrating. As an example, one of their team came to our home before the move and helped us to figure out where the furniture would go in our new house. To minimize the trauma on our kids and also because we were preparing for an open house, I instructed her to not put any labels on the furniture but instead make a list of what will go where. When we were not watching, she put labels on nearly everything. I had to go around and pull them all off before the open house. She also took it upon herself to rearrange the furniture in several rooms to help "stage" the house. When I came home and found my fireplace grille hiding behind the couch, I had to put it (and all the other things) back where they belonged. Second, they are not very handy in the handyman sense. For example, we asked to have them be at the house when the alarm system was enabled. There were all kinds of problems getting it to work, and in the end, they left one of the doors of the house unlocked and ajar and the alarm off for a week while our house was unoccupied. Thankfully, no one broke in, but a more handy person would have realized that the alarm error code was an open door and shut and locked it before leaving. Third, I noticed on the first day of our move in that someone from the the team had thrown away some things I wanted to keep (e.g., my compost bin and some old sponges). I explained that I did not want them throwing away any of my stuff, but in the end, they threw away a number of things that we wanted to keep. They seemed to have some vision of what was important and what was not and would toss out anything they thought we would not need (like my fingernail clippers and parts to my shaver). The only reason I realized this is because of my next point. I am a bit of a recycling fanatic, and I realized that the Changing Places people are not good at recycling at all. This is rather strange because I thought that Californians were really into recycling. Anyway, they generated an incredible amount of garbage in the process of organizing my wife's closet. Even though I asked several times for them to leave the boxes of garbage for me to sort for recycling, they strongly insisted on carting off their trash. In the end, I was able to get them to leave two large wardrobe boxes stuffed full. When I went through the boxes, about 98% of it was recyclable or could be donated to Goodwill. I also found a bunch of things that I did not want to throw away (my best tweezers, hairdryer parts, instruction manuals, jewelry, a vase, and our daughter's toothbrush and some of her knick knacks). In summary, I think Changing Places would be a good choice for you if you had an elderly relative who needs some organizational help and would not miss a few of their items being thrown away. read more

Janis, Katie and Beth are true professionals, so good at what they do. Like many of their clients, I've been dependent on their organizational skills and professionalism without ever looking back. Their ability to listen carefully to your preferences and actually commit to making sure they meet or exceed your expectations is outstanding compared to other companies I've worked with. Most impressive, in my opinion, is their ability to deal with so many people at the same time and treat each customer with the respect they deserve. Both thumbs up for Changing-Places! read more

We moved in the middle of a work week when both my husband and I were juggling hectic schedules, and Beth, Katie and the rest of their team were absolutely heaven-sent. I spent about 20 minutes with Katie on an initial walk through, and 30 minutes with Beth to discuss what (roughly) goes where. And then pretty much let the Changing Places team take over from there. Et voila, we moved in to our new place! The team was professional, thoughtful, and all around a pleasure to work with. read more

I hired CHANGING PLACES for a home organization project after having interior painting and wanting some assistance with regard to rearranging and becoming more efficient. Every interaction with the company was professional, from our first online request, through the telephone calls, contract, planning, day of service, and follow up conversation to review the project. The organizers arrived on time, were communicative, and respectful of my requests and ideas. They did not throw away anything without my permission. They had many good suggestions and followed through with my approval throughout the day. I arranged to be home for the full day of the project in order to answer questions and consider ideas. I am completely satisfied with the results. I gladly will hire CHANGING PLACES again. I enthusiastically recommend their services for home organization. read more

I hired Changing Places to help me organize my new home. I was overwhelmed by just thinking about how to start organizing so I was very happy to have found such an efficient team. Communication with Katie was outstanding, she responded to emails in a timely manner and when we met I thought they were just awesome. Once the organizing started, I was very surprised at how quick and efficient their team was, they got to work fast. If I had one criticism it would be that there were times I had asked for things not be put away and they did anyway, but this actually helped me clear my mind and not feel overwhelmed with any type of clutter. They were also very trusting. Thank you for your services! read more