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Jocelyne Ranucci: Working

By Taylor K. Vecsey

Jocelyne Ranucci is "A Votre Service!" That's the name of her project management and goal-planning service, which helps people become organized at home and work. The purpose, she said, is for them to take better control of their lives.

Ms. Ranucci, a native of Paris and 10-year resident of Sag Harbor, has a keen ability to "see through all the clutter," she said. "It's not only the physical clutter, but also the psychological. It's natural for me . . . it always has been," she said while sitting on her ivory sofa in her very tidy house on Division Street, which also houses a language and cultural center, Le Cercle Francais.

Four years ago she added an organizational aspect to the cleaning service she already offered. Though her company still does basic cleaning and straightening up, Ms. Ranucci also helps people "create a better harmony" by discarding the old and unused. "I help them take a step back. I help many people out of complete chaos," she said.  Although she does not think of herself as a "fluffer," someone who decorates and tidies a house, Ms. Ranucci's company can do the unpacking and organizing when the movers leave, as well as "giving life" to a house without a full-time resident when it is on the market. But she is most concerned with helping people function better.

Many people's houses are "overflowing with things that they don't need," she said, and "we will organize their home in a way that simplifies their lives." She has seen varying degrees of clutter, from desks stacked high with papers to stairs, barely accessible, with many items just left there. 

"Their lives are piled on those stairs. Their lives have snowballed," she said.  "I feel that particularly these days with the news, war, economy . . . people feel harassed almost by bad news," and bombarded by life, she said. People live in a "robotic way," according to Ms. Ranucci, "going through the motions" without making a smoothly functioning home or life a priority.

"There are so many benefits," she said, "gaining time for yourself and your family, a cleanly home, a sense of well-being, peace, and pride," to name a few. But not everybody is ready, she said, as decluttering can be "a psychological process" and her service is "therapy at some level, really."  "You need to be ready. It takes time and it costs money to do it right. Cleaning out your home cannot be forced, it requires much thought. There's no magic wand here."  "It doesn't happen like on those television shows. They give the impression that everything happens in a day, and it just does not," she said, noting that the people on TV have access to "hundreds" of staff members and loads of money.

Those who are serious about ridding their lives of clutter need three things, she said: patience, determination, and a goal. Asked for advice for the inherently messy, Ms. Ranucci suggested making lists, "which gives you focus and a sense of achievement," and cleaning out closets every six months, both of which she has done religiously for most of her life. "I buy something, I give something else away. Other people might enjoy what I no longer do," she said. These simple practices can be "extremely helpful," she said.

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