Can a space be functional yet beautiful? We say yes, and, as southerners, we emphatically insist on both!
Meet the Authors
Martha Carol Stewart
Mom, teacher turned organizer, busy bee, and cheerleader for all things kind.
As a child, Martha Carol Stewart was considered the messy one in her family. She was the youngest of three daughters and grew up in a house with aging great-grandparents, busy working parents, and two very active sisters. To ensure things ran smoothly for her mom, she learned at an early age that efficiency, function, and being organized were key. Her childhood is where Martha Carol’s organizational journey began. Today, as founder and CEO of Chaos Organizing™ (chaosorganizing.com), a professional organizing company, Martha Carol teaches others the same skills she learned as a child. She created Chaos Organizing after thirteen years of teaching because she saw families stressed and overwhelmed due to a lack of home organization. She knew her gift of organization could help these families save time, enjoy less stress, and increase the quality of their relationships. Southern Chaos (OrganizingSouthernChaos.com) complements the work of Chaos Organizing, which services the unique organizing needs of the southerner. Martha Carol is a native and longtime resident of Baton Rouge. A graduate of The University of Louisiana with a degree in early childhood education and family studies, se formerly trained preschool teachers through the VOA Partnerships in Childcare program. She also served as a maternity counselor for Gail House Adoption Agency. An active community volunteer, Martha Carol works in support of local nonprofits, is an Emerge Foundation Board member, and president of her local sorority alumni chapter. She and her daughter served side-by-side in the National Charity League from 2011-2017. As wife to Mike, and mother to grown children Riley and Reed, Martha Carol is also a loving (and organized!) foster dog mom.
Lisa Hutchinson Clement
Corporate event coordinator turned hustle-bustle organized mom who cherishes beauty in all things, especially Southern things.
One of Lisa Hutchinson Clement’s fondest childhood memories is raking pine needles, then using those needles to form the floor plan of a make-believe house. She used her play-time to construct perfectly organized closets for her dolls’ extensive wardrobes and pretty vignettes where she staged them as the perfect flaneurs. Creating beautifully designed and organized spaces has been Lisa’s lifelong passion. After her college graduation from The University of Louisiana, Lisa landed her first job as an event planner for Corporate and Convention Services (CCS), a destination management company in Houston. Because CCS was a division of Kerrville Bus Company, she soon found herself coordinating convention shuttle programs in addition to city tours and event planning. While she loved the creative side of events, she equally enjoyed the logistic challenges of the shuttle and tour programs. Her success in that job led to her being named vice president of CCS, a position she held for a year and a half. Then motherhood called, and she shifted her focus to childrearing, volunteer work, and keeping an exquisitely organized home. Throughout the years, Lisa has helped friends, friends of friends, and family members renovate their homes. She has managed both large-scale home renovation projects as well as new home builds. She has also staged numerous spec homes for builders and homeowners looking to sell their homes. Lisa and her husband, Chad, reside in Lafayette, Louisiana. They are the proud parents of three grown children: Ashley, Jonathan and Kelly. In her spare time, Lisa enjoys travel, writing, and DIY projects at home.
