Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Capps.
Hi Melissa, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We decided to sell our starter home and buy something with more space after having 3 children. So I found myself with 3 kids ages 4 and under preparing our home for sale. It was wild and difficult. Prior to kids, my home looked like a magazine cover – everything tidy and perfectly decorated. But post-kids it was out of control. The realtor hired a stager to consult with us. We followed everything she said, and our home was under contract in less than 10 days. Not only that, I enjoyed living “staged” and clutter-free so much that we moved into a home 1,000 square feet larger with less stuff than we had in our starter home. It was freeing. This was my pivotal moment of seeing how much living in clutter and chaos had been affecting my mood, and my family. As my children started school and I pondered going back to work and what I would do, professional organizing and home staging was something I’d experienced myself, and I began helping others with it as a friend. My humble beginnings started in the beginning of 2012 with a Facebook post to my friends: “Who needs help organizing their house?” From there I became official with a business license and a website. I bartered with every vendor I needed to use to get my business off the ground, as I didn’t have any “start up” money. I traded organizing for professional photos, website design, logo, etc. Thirteen years later, I offer multiple services under the umbrellas of Professional Organizing, Home Staging, and Interior Styling, and have a team of 5 who can handle large jobs like whole house decluttering and move management.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not smooth! The first biggest obstacle was Hurricane Florence in 2018. Things were going great and business was finally growing so much that I hired 2 people to help with jobs. Then Hurricane Florence came and ravished our city. Staging-wise – the market got weird. Some sellers took their homes off the market to get them repaired. Buyers were cautious to buy in this area, and worried homes were hiding big problems from the storm. And since organizing is a luxury service, people here were not concerned with spending money on that. They had damage to their homes and properties to repair. Those fortunate enough to not have damage still were cautious with money. I personally experienced quite a bit of damage to my home, and we had to live under repairs for for months, and in an airbnb for 6 weeks while the final work was done. The second big struggle was Covid 2020. For obvious reasons, people were cautious to have an organizer come into their homes even when masked up. Again, it wasn’t a priority and you had a lot of DIYers since people had time on their hands.
And the third struggle I had 2 years later was on a personal level. I lost my brother to colon cancer. We were very close and I’d supported him through 2 years of treatments. When he passed away in the spring of 2022, it took a lot out of me and I had to check out and coast for a bit.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
We are a full scale professional organizing company that services home owners and realtors through offering whole house decluttering, downsizing, home staging, packing/unpacking/move coordination, and Airbnb Styling & Staging.
One thing that sets us apart is our knowledge of the psychology behind clutter, and our ability to connect with clients because of it. My background and education is in psychology, so I understand those clients with struggles such as: grief, divorce, ADHD, depression, anxiety, aging and losing independence, etc. We have also been in business longer than any other company in this industry in our area. This brings with it so much experience with multiple situations and homes.
What I’m most proud of is every moment that I hear a client say, “I feel so much lighter!” Watching the effect of the transformation on our client’s faces is the greatest reward.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
The most important lesson I’ve learned is to surround myself with strong, like-minded business owners who I can hash things out with and we encourage and support one another! It’s hard not having a “boss” sometimes oddly enough. Having other business owners to consult with makes me not feel so alone.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.getsimplespaces.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simple_spaces_wilmington/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/getsimplespaces/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/getsimplespaces/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/simplespaceswilmington
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/simple-spaces-wilmington
