CityView Magazine

l CONJURING STYLE O A home organizer works magic on clutter | By Rebekah Sanderlin Put it up | Boysen recommends shelves for displaying items, controlling clutter and creating more liveable space in every room. n a recent fall morning Stephanie Boysen arrived at a cluttered, disorganized VanStory house armed with nothing more than a vision for neatness and order. Mere hours later her vision had become reality – just like magic, or at least that’s how it seemed to the home’s residents. The truth is that in order to make the magic happen a team of helpers arrived shortly after Boysen, bearing a few pieces of new furniture, a lot of baskets and bins and an endless supply of patience. Boysen’s company, Design Wizards, does this sort of thing all the time and she said they never tire of transforming homes – and lives. For this to happen, Boysen meets with her clients in advance – a meeting for which she asks that they not clean their house. “I have to see how they really live,” she said, noting that if they clean before she comes she won’t be able to ascertain the real problems. “You have to go through the clutter to have balance and function,” Boysen said. “People feel so much better when they come home and everything has it’s place. It’s not overwhelming for them anymore.” Once she understands the problem areas – maybe it’s kids’ toys, or junk mail or maybe just a lack of places to display cherished items – Boysen develops her plan. Sometimes she orders new furniture to help the clients but she often uses what they already have in a new way. “I want to use what the client owns and is sentimental about but I want to make sure it fits with their lifestyle,” she said. “You can have a nice home with a lot of panache and it still be liveable.” Boysen has spent most of her life helping people beautify their homes. She began working with home interiors while living abroad in the 1980’s. She lived in Stuttgart, Germany for six years and worked in a store that sold furniture and rugs. “In Europe, living spaces are small so they’ve always made furniture with a place for everything,” Boysen said, adding that this concept is just beginning to catch on in the United States. The former Army brat moved back to Fayetteville in 1989 and was employed by Ethan Allen as a designer, a job she held for 10 years. She started Design Wizards in 2000. Since then she has helped homeowners in Raleigh, Cary, Holly Springs, Apex, Southern Pines, Pinehurst, New York City and in several Wilmington-area beach CityViewNC.com | 21 iving

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