Believe it or not, not all NEAT clients are disorganized by nature. Some, just don't have enough time to devote to establishing a system, and that's where we come in. NEAT Method Portland, Oregon owner, Allison Gross, takes us behind the scenes with a Type A NEAT client, to explain what it's like organizing for an organized person.
While this particular client's request for no brand labels was unique, it wasn't something we were unprepared to deliver. During the initial consultation, the client discussed his preference to keep things neutral, simple, NEAT, and visually free of marketing and packaging. "We love to work with clients that have unique requests!" Allison says. "We like to think outside the box to either solve an issue, or create a really special moment that is meaningful to our client."
"This client is very mindful of what is in his home, and does not like to be wasteful! He buys what he needs, uses it up, then purchases more. Getting his kitchen and pantry brand label free was actually quite simple to execute. He tends to keep the same limited types of canned goods in his pantry. We removed the existing labels and placed new custom labels from Paper & Pear on one of each type of can. The cans lining up behind the first one, sit naked with no label. We marked the bottom of each can with a Sharpie, to note the contents, just in case of a mix up. For pantry and refrigerated staples, we simply decanted into glass bottles and containers. Definitely time consuming to set up, but once the system is there it's pretty manageable - plus it looks great!"
At NEAT, anytime we decant food for a client, we make sure to include the expiration date and any cooking instructions on the new canister or jar. Allison explains, "We prefer to use our label maker for expiration dates when we decant. It is easy to remove and easy for anyone to affix a new one! For containers that we decanted, we rinse out and recycle, just like any other pantry job that we do! Because this client was already decanting a number of items on his own, it wasn't much extra work compared to a typical walk-in pantry."
