Feature: The Get It Done Guide's Inside The Home

Let’s face it: Life can be overwhelming. Who has the time to get the car fixed, spring clean like your grandmother, figure out how to properly install a car seat, plant a vegetable garden? Well, you can relax. All over town, pros are poised to help. We dug deep to find some of the best and most innovative personal services available. Set them to work, and all you'll have to do is cross things off that to-do list.


PERSONAL ART CURATOR
Aspiring art collectors can find out what type of art looks best in their home by renting a favorite work of art from Seattle Art Museum’s SAM Gallery, which has a large collection of works by Northwest artists available for rent or sale. Should you decide to purchase, at least half of your rental fee will be applied to the sale. Anyone can purchase from SAM Gallery, but only Seattle Art Museum members may rent art; memberships start at $30. In-home consultations are also available at no cost to help you assess your needs. 
SAM Gallery Downtown, 1300 First Ave. 206.343.1101; seattleartmuseum.org $150 (on average) for three-month rental period

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CONQUER YOUR CLUTTER
The professional clutter conquerors at Mount Baker’s Empty Your Nest Professional Organizing are dedicated to clearing out the past and making room for the future. Owner Amy Gray is a professional organizer, a certified health education specialist and a feng shui expert, and she and her team help clients with ADD/ADHD, hoarding, and chronic disorganization challenges. But never fear, those of us with
only mild organizational issues can still get help with our overflowing offices and inefficient kitchens. Gray and her associates will even address the energy and flow of your space with feng shui for a Zen home.
Empty Your Nest Professional Organizing 206.719.7525 emptyyournest.com $80­–$90/hour

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FENG SHUI HOME HEALER 
Elizabeth Schermer, founder of Fundamental Feng Shui, uses phrases like “healing your environment” in her holistic approach to arranging interior spaces. The Greenwood-based practitioner combines the principles of feng shui with a variety of healing traditions, such as Reiki and space clearing, to create positive harmony in your home. Schermer will help you rearrange your possessions (a desk facing the door creates positive energy), recommend color changes (a soft green wall to induce serenity) and clear clutter to improve your home’s energy flow as well as the functionality of each room.
Fundamental Feng Shui Greenwood, 8406 Sixth Ave. NW 206.605.2506 fundamentalfengshui.com 20-minute phone consultation, free; One-hour in-home diagnostic consultation, $175

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HOME ENERGY AUDITOR
Green up your home with a little help from Charlie Rogers, the Seattle-based Habitat Home Energy Specialist. A building analyst professionally certified by the Building Performance Institute, a national training and certification organization, Rogers will inspect your home for missing insulation, identify air leaks and heat loss, and prepare a report of recommendations for improvements (such as sealing windows, changing light bulbs and minimizing appliance usage), including an explanation of government tax credit incentives and utility rebate programs ($285 and up). In this business, Rogers says, small changes can mean huge benefits for a homeowner.
Habitat Home Energy Specialist Capitol Hill, 1631 Belmont Ave., Apt. 205
206.390.3348; habitataudits.com; $285-$565 for home energy audit

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DIY HOME ENERGY CONSERVATION:
The City of Seattle, in cooperation with Seattle City Light, publishes a step-by-step guide for performing your own energy audit and provides links to a wide variety of conservation topics (e.g., efficient lighting, efficient appliances, weatherizing and tips for reducing your energy bill). Help line: 206.684.3800; seattle.gov/light/conserve/resident/

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ANTIQUE APPRAISERS 
You’ve been picking up 18th-century art and vintage porcelain on trips to New York and Europe, and your elegant great-grandfather from Charleston recently shipped you a few pieces of lovely furniture Thomas Jefferson would have coveted for Monticello. Is this stuff valuable? Maybe. It’s time to find out by getting your art and antiques appraised, a necessary step for insuring high-value pieces (and if you plan to donate any of them for a tax deduction). Trust Scott David Singer and Carey Ross to get the value right. Both are members of the International Society of Appraisers. “I have been buying and selling for more than 20 years,” says Singer, who is well-known for his expertise in antique furniture and the decorative arts. Ross specializes in art and collection management. Appraisals can be done either in your home or their offices.
Singer Galleries Queen Anne, 411 W Galer St. 206.285.0394 singergalleries.com $125/hour
Allison & Ross Fine Art Services SoDo, 2234 First Ave. S 206.682.8580 allisonrossinc.com
$150/hour

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HOLIDAY LIGHT INSTALLERS 
Sure, you’ve just now taken down the holiday lights. Who wants to think about putting them up again? But when December does roll around, wouldn’t it be nice if elves showed up to install holiday lights on the house, lighted angels on the front lawn and reindeer on the roof? Locally, such elves go by the name of Northwest Christmas Lighting (previously known as Electric Elves), a Redmond-based company that’s been around for some 30 years. They’ll hang the lights, saving you from teetering up on a ladder. They also change bulbs that burn out during the season and remove the display a week after New Year’s Day. That’s a holiday present worth wishing for.
Northwest Christmas Lighting 206.971.4643 nwchristmaslighting.com Holiday décor packages start at $200

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REARRANGE YOUR FURNITURE 
You don’t need to buy new furniture to pull together a new look for your interior spaces. In just a few hours, Ede Bookstein, one of only 15 Accredited Staging Professional Masters in the state (a designation that comes with the completion of a number of professional courses), can create a plan, using your existing furnishings and accessories, that will transform your surroundings and give them a whole new personality. It’s amazing what a fresh eye can do for your existing furniture, Bookstein says, who offers a walk-through service, during which she points out steps you can take to give your home the best look; or a full consultation, in which she takes numerous pictures and prepares a detailed action plan.
Artful Lodgings Home Staging Capitol Hill, 1505 11th Ave., Suite 403 206.200.9990 artfullodgings.com Walk-through, $150 full consultation, $275

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BIG- AND SMALL-JOB HANDYMAN 
It’s time for new cabinets in the kitchen. You need some plumbing work done. You want to add chair rails in the dining room or crown molding in the living room. And the porch steps need to be rebuilt. You need someone who can handle the little and big jobs you or your significant other would take care of—if only one of you was handy. Those are just the tasks that Shirey Handyman Service of Issaquah is happy to tackle. Founded by the owners of 28-year-old Shirey Contracting, a home building and remodeling company, Shirey handyfolk will give you an estimate and get the job done on time and on budget. And you can toss that “honey-do” list.
Shirey Handyman Service Issaquah, 235 NE Juniper St. 425.392.8301; shireyhandyman.com $88/hour

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GREEN SPRING CLEANER
While spring cleaning might seem like a lost household art, it’s the specialty of Kathy Decandia’s Attention to Detail, a company that’s been offering deep cleaning (and the usual home cleaning) throughout the Puget Sound region since 1979. “I personally train each person who works here,” says Decandia, an Everett resident. She’ll give your home a deep clean—we’re talking floors to ceilings, including all woodwork, trim, windows, furniture, heat vents, appliances, light fixtures and more—with organic, earth-friendly supplies, while you do more important things, like hit the spa for a caviar facial and an herbal body wrap.
Attention to Detail LLC 425.353.2850 attentiontodetailnw.com Home cleaning starts at $38 per person per hour; multi-person crews

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JUNK HAULER
You open the garage door and a cascade of boxes, old engine parts, a sneaker, ancient skis and rusted lawn furniture tumble onto the driveway. Time to call 1-800-GOT-JUNK? Local franchiseesNick Wood and Jeff Hill will dispatch a signature blue-and-green truck to haul your junk to the dump. They also recycle as much as possible and give back to the community by hauling donations to victims during flood disasters. Their services have even been used on ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition during local filming.
1-800-Got-Junk? Northgate, 9594 First Ave. NE; Bothell, 10600 Woodinville Drive; 800-GOT-JUNK (468.5865) 1800gotjunk.com/Seattle Single items from $99; $598 for a truck load

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FURNITURE HAULER 
Need all your household goods moved? There’s no shortage of moving companies that will do the big haul. But if you need someone to move that lime green Victorian love seat you fell in love with on Craigslist, that’s a little tougher. Eric Michelson and Alex Overlan—two recent transplants from Boston—launched the Green Lake–based Can’t Stop Moving last year and can do the small jobs as well as the big. For $50 or so, they’ll bring your Craigslist finds to you. Sure, you could rent a truck and do it yourself. But this way, your back will still be intact at the end of the day.
Can’t Stop Moving 206.909.0605, 425.577.1524 cantstopmovers.com $50­–$100/hour

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Originally published in March 2010

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