Organize with Santa Barbara’s
Neat Method
Kat Pettey, Owner of Neat Method Santa Barbara,
Helps Clients Transform Messy Spaces into
Streamlined Sanctuaries — Proving That a Tidy Home
Really Does Mean a Clearer Mind
By Tiana Molony | September 11, 2025
Find more Fall 2025 Home & Garden stories here.
When Kat Pettey was 10 years old, she attended a sleepover at a friend’s house. Instead of the usual activities — building forts, watching movies, or playing dress-up — she opted to organize her friend’s pantry.
It’s a fitting prelude to Pettey’s role today as owner of Neat Method Santa Barbara & Ventura County, a franchise cofounded in 2011 by Ashley Murphy, Molly Graves, and Marissa Hagmeyer, dedicated to bringing order to cluttered spaces at home.
Pettey’s journey to Neat Method began eight years ago when she stumbled across an Instagram post from actress Kate Hudson, praising the company for organizing her closet. At the time, Pettey hadn’t planned on going back to work for a few more years.
“I knew I didn’t want to be a stay-at-home mom forever,” she confided, “but I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do.”
That uncertainty shifted after discovering the Neat Method. She realized she could actually make money doing something she enjoyed: organizing. And when she realized the company didn’t yet have a market presence in Santa Barbara, it felt like fate. “I knew I had to jump on it.”
Shortly thereafter, Neat Method Santa Barbara was born. Pettey now has an entire team behind her, ready to tackle any space: closets, kitchens, garages, pantries — you name it.
While every project is different, Pettey and her team approach each with the same method. First, they conduct a consultation to understand the client’s needs and lifestyle. On project day, they “take everything out,” she said. “We really like to work with a blank canvas.” Then they sort all items, map out a plan for organization, and determine if anything needs to be reworked.
They’ll also bring in organizational products, such as baskets, trays, and bins. In doing this, they ensure that they choose products that fit both the space and the home’s aesthetic — sometimes pre-ordering and sometimes shopping during the project. Pettey emphasizes that the process is highly customized to each client and space.
They also implement different organizational systems to fit the specific needs and lifestyle of the family. She emphasized that “it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach.” In other words, she wouldn’t organize the home of a five-person family the same way she would organize that of an elderly couple.
Pricing for a project varies widely depending on the size and complexity of the job. Their hourly rate is $100 per hour per organizer, not including the cost of organizational products. The total cost depends on factors such as the number of organizers required and the duration of the project.
They also do refreshes, which is when she and her team return to a client’s home to help tidy up, reorganize, or rework the organizational systems they’ve previously set up. “If we’ve created a really good, sustainable system, our clients shouldn’t have to have refreshes that often,” she noted.
For Pettey, a clean home means a clear mind. Those junk drawers and overflowing closets may seem harmless, but they often have a deeper impact than we realize, which is why, as much as you want to avoid it, it might be time to tackle those spaces.
If you don’t know where to start, Pettey recommends creating systems that are easy to maintain, so you’re more likely to keep up with organization. “We’re really big believers of giving everything a home,” said Pettey, which is why they use labels to indicate the proper place for items — making it easier to keep things tidy.
For those looking to declutter, she advises starting small — such as with a closet — and using the rule that if you haven’t used or worn something in a year, it’s probably time to let it go.
Once you tackle the first space, it’s hard to stop. “Walking into your closet and seeing that everything that’s in there is something that you love and that you’ll wear — you become addicted to that feeling.”
Pettey’s house is, as you can imagine, very organized. She’s a big believer in living minimally, which she notes helps control unnecessary clutter. If there’s one thing she always tells her clients, it’s to try to live as minimally as possible.
As she says, “There’s being really organized, and then there’s living really minimally, and those two go hand in hand.”
See neatmethod.com/locations/ca/santa-barbara-ventura-county.
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