a fresh start

Houston organizational expert shares 8 tips for reducing clutter

Welcome to 2025! Each new year ushers in a different set of hopes and goals for the coming months, but one in particular continuously tops the list: becoming better organized.

With the holiday season firmly in the rearview mirror and children back at school, now is the time to get started. For some, tackling organizational challenges is easier said than done, and oftentimes just not even knowing where to begin may make the project feel overwhelming. Recognizing this, Houston organizational expert Carroll Cartwright of Neatly & Co. has some tips and tricks for getting organized, as well as sharing her local go-to spots for her favorite organizational accoutrements.

Photo by Rachel Manning

Neatly & Co. founder Carroll Cartwright.

Cartwright founded Neatly & Co in 2020 when — like so many others — she found herself working her corporate job from home. What started as a personal quest to declutter her own cabinets and closets has grown into a business with 10 employees that serviced 158 clients in 2024 alone.

“It turns out that I really love it,” Cartwright tells CultureMap. What’s more — she’s great at it. Her thoughtfully-designed and practical storage solutions put Cartwright on the radars of top interior designers like Kara Childress and Benjamin Johnston, the likes of which consult Neatly & Co. during the planning stages of their new builds and remodeling projects to ensure that clients receive truly bespoke solutions that align beauty with functionality.

“Most clients want to feel like they’re walking into The Four Seasons Hotel when they come home,” Cartwright says. It’s this epiphany that led Neatly & Co. to offer end-to-end move management in addition to their organizational services. These stress-free transitions are what clients have come to expect from working with top interior designers, and Cartwright and her team blend seamlessly into that turn-key realm. Organizing, packing, and unpacking ensure a chaos-free experience for clients during what could otherwise be a stressful experience — and Cartwright is a pro.

Here are Carroll Cartwright’s top eight steps to getting organized in the new year:

Start with a Plan: Write down every area in your home. Identify spaces that feel the most stressful or daunting to tackle. This is your task list!
Pick Your Priority: Assess how much time you have and choose a project you can complete in that timeframe. Thinking you can do your house alone in one day is not realistic! When getting started, go for an easy win! Starting small (like under the sink or a single closet) can help you build momentum to then continue tackling other areas of the house.
Create a Centralized Sorting Zone: Before taking on an area, designate a spot for the purge AKA items you’re donating, selling, or throwing away. Once you’re done with one area, handle those piles before moving on.
My Foolproof Method for Organizing Any Area:
Purge – Start by removing everything from the space and letting go of items you no longer use, need, or love.
Categorize – Group similar items together to understand what you have and how they fit into your space. Now that you have your categories, do a second sweep and reduce any extra duplicates you don’t need. Of course there are exceptions, but you really don’t need more than 1 or 2 of any single item!
Consolidate – Combine like items to streamline your belongings, ensuring everything has a clear home.
Curate – Thoughtfully choose which items to keep and arrange them in a way that feels functional, intentional, and visually pleasing.
Complete Each Area Fully: Always finish one area before moving on to the next to avoid feeling overwhelmed and leaving areas undone.
Make It Functional: Organization only works when it makes sense for your lifestyle and daily needs. Keep frequently used items in logical spots. For example, your cutlery drawer should be near the dishwasher for easy unloading. Create designated areas for common clutter areas like countertops and mail.
Use Dividers and Organizers: Compartmentalize drawers and cabinets using dividers to group items by category for easy access.
Daily Maintenance for Clarity: End each day by tidying surfaces like countertops and desks. This ensures a mentally clear space for the next day. Beginning the day with a clean environment boosts productivity!

If bespoke cabinet, closet, and drawer inserts aren’t in the budget, fun, off-the-shelf items work great.

“Depending on what you’re looking for, I love Rejuvenation, Restoration Hardware, Kuhl-Linscomb, and The Container Store,” she says. “It’s more fun to be unique when looking for product! I also always look at home stores like Biscuit Home for fun storage items or antique stores around town for bins or, like, an antique drip-dry for a laundry room! Makes it more bespoke and sets you apart!”

Regardless of whether one chooses to repurpose items from around the house or pop around town for fresh, new (or antique) finds, one thing is for certain — the only way to finish a project is to start one. Good luck!

home organizing home-design

respectful design

New Montrose studio brings bespoke European design to Houston

Photo by Laurie Perez

Armazem.design is located in the historic Winlow Westheimer buildings.

Houston’s newest interior design showroom is a dazzling display of how historic preservation and swanky European design can slip into a harmonious dialogue that quietly dismisses the longstanding notion that contemporary furniture has no place within the oftentimes rigid constraints of a traditional home.

Tucked between The Upper Hand Salon and The Phoenix Pub in the historic Winlow Westheimer buildings, Armazem.design is a lifestyle design boutique carrying elevated European design and architectural solutions from century-old brands such as Arclinia, Lema, Barausse, Foscarini, Gaggeneau, and Sub-Zero Wolf.

The name Armazem pays homage to founder and principal Jon Fante’s Brazilian roots. Traditionally, armazems were community cornerstones — general stores where people not only shopped but also learned, connected, and built long-term relationships. Appropriate then, that Fante would choose to nestle himself between a salon and a pub, two businesses that are traditional archetypes for familiarity and community.

Armazem.design is set up like a bespoke home as opposed to a traditional contemporary design concept space. With everything from stately 1920s Victorians to cozy 1930s bungalows still in play in Montrose, setting up shop in a “Houston Browns” brick building from the 1930s — complete with original wide plank floors, exposed brick interior, and open rafter ceilings — allows clients to get a genuine feel for how the product lines work within the framework of these older homes.

Fante, who was born, raised, and educated as a civil engineer in Brazil, came to the States in 2006 to handle US operations for Florense. Fante retired from his position as CEO in 2017 to start Armazem.design in Chicago. The decision to expand to Houston is something that Fante says was a no-brainer, as Houston has been moving towards a more contemporary style overall.

“What we are trying to show here is that you don’t have to be in the extremes. You don’t have to be in the extremes of classic American design, which is beautiful, and what is also perceived here as European design, which is super contemporary, which is also beautiful,” Fante tells CultureMap. “There is a breadth of solutions in the inbetween.”

The buildout for Armazem.design takes clients on a journey through two kitchens, a living room, dining room, generously-appointed closet and dressing space, home office, and casual den space, all outfitted with wall units, complex storage solutions, and warm, comfortable furnishings. Formerly open spaces have been divided into distinct concepts using architectural partitions that can be designed for any space.

Every aspect of Armazem.design is custom made to order. The design may follow a more European school, but there are wooden elements and handmade objects that protect their environment from the contemporary curse of feeling cold, uninviting, or institutional. With lead times around three to four months, going bespoke here is as accessible as placing orders from mainstream retailers.

“While there is a focus on kitchens, there are a lot of different products that we bring,” says Fante. “We are a showroom that is focused on interior architectural applications for home. We have partners in doors, partitions, wall paneling, closets — there is a lot. We got this historical place in Montrose and we made it as a home. We want people to walk in and feel like they could live here. It’s very comprehensive.”

The owners of the building are currently working with the city to gain historical recognition, something that would mean a lot for the neighborhood, and to Fante.

“We were very lucky to find this space. We preserved every historical element in the showroom — you see these very rustic floors, these floors are almost 100 years old.” Fante discovered more of the historic “Houston Browns” brick during the renovation (the classic Houston brick has been out of production for decades), all hidden behind swathes of drywall. “We ripped that all out to expose the true character of the space,” Fante explains. “Of course we kept the brick.”

Fante shares that the decision to restore the building led to a phrase from an architect in their Chicago showroom that has remained their motto here in Montrose: “Let’s not bully the space, let’s respect it.” That’s a sentiment that the entire neighborhood can get behind.

Armazem.design is located at 1911 Westheimer Road and is open Monday through Friday from 9 am-5 pm.

Photo by Laurie Perez

Armazem.design is located in the historic Winlow Westheimer buildings.

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