Morris Plains’ Lorenzo taking ClutterCrashers concept to companies

Clutter has a way of creeping up on us.
What starts with an innocent junk drawer can culminate in crammed cabinets and counters, overflowing office cubicles and unkempt attics and garages.

That’s because our reaction to disarray tends to be universal: Look the other way.

“I saw a room that was so cluttered, I was so overwhelmed that I just ignored it,” said Teresa Ferlisi of the guest room in her Hamilton home that had become a catch-all for her family of four. The same went for her disheveled basement, garage, attic and master closet.

“We’ve just accumulated so much stuff,” she said. “Every time we try to tackle it, we barely get halfway through.”

After years of trying to make sense of the mess, Ferlisi called in ClutterCrashers. Five days later, she said her home was the picture of order and functionality.

“It would have taken us a month to do what they did,” she said of hiring the professional organizers in April, “and it wouldn’t have been half as good.”

Reconfiguring disorganized spaces is second nature to Pete Lorenzo, 41, who founded the Morris Plains-based business five years ago.

“I grew up with order and beauty,” said Lorenzo, the son of an interior designer mother and Navy officer father. “My weekends were spent organizing around the house.”

Lorenzo’s mission is to provide clients with a clean slate to help them work more efficiently, whether that’s at home or the office.

“We help busy people be productive and live a better life,” said Lorenzo. “When you are organized you feel better, act better and your mind is clear.”

The former director of franchise development for Sylvan Learning, Lorenzo said he first realized the power of professional reorganization in 2005 when a lawyer friend gushed to him about the closet clean-out she’d sprung for. After being downsized by Educational Solutions Company in 2009, Lorenzo recalled that chat.