🌏 Life in Korea | Living with My American Husband 🌏 Language: 🇰🇷 KR | 🇺🇸 EN We’re a Korean–American couple who got married in Korea May 2024 . We decided to hold only a Korean ceremony, while celebrating separately with our U.S. family with a nice dinner and photos later. Because of that, the entire process followed Korean wedding customs , which felt quite foreign to my husband. It was my first time, too, but I at least had some idea of what to expect from my friends and family. He, on the other hand, had never been exposed to how that process works in Korea — so everything felt new. For anyone preparing a wedding with an American or otherwise-foreign spouse unfamiliar with Korean wedding culture , I’m sharing our full wedding timeline and practical tips by stage based on our real experience.
Post-move Organizing in Korea: Do You Really Need a Professional Service? Our Real Experience with “Isahue” Partial Organizing
My husband works in Korea as a native English teacher, and I am a Korean wife in the final weeks of pregnancy. Between his school schedule and my physical condition, we barely had any time to unpack and organize our new home before the baby’s due date. In Korea, teachers usually can’t take days off freely during the semester, so if we wanted to organize the house together, it had to be little by little after he got home from work in the evenings, and it wasn’t realistic for me to do all that kind of thing alone in the final stage of pregnancy.
That’s why we started looking into professional home organizing services, and ended up using a company called “Isahue”. In this post, I’ll share why we decided to use a professional organizer, how the booking process with Isahue worked, how the service day went, and our honest review afterward. I hope this is helpful for anyone who can’t easily take time off work, or who just feels overwhelmed thinking about post-move organizing.
1. Why We Started Looking into a Professional Organizer
Once our moving date was set, we kept putting off packing. In the end, we only started seriously packing about a week before the move. Because of that, we didn’t really look up anything about post-move organizing until just a few days before moving day. But once we began putting things into boxes, the reality hit us: “Where are we even going to put all of this in the new place?” That’s when I started searching YouTube for storage ideas and organizing tips.
YouTube had tons of videos and countless methods from different people, but the idea of doing it all ourselves in our circumstances just seemed like too much. Then I remembered having heard the term “professional organizing service.” In Korea, this usually means professional organizers who come to your home and categorize, arrange, and figure out the optimal way for you to store your things. I had heard the term, but before I started looking into it for myself, I hadn't really understood how much these organizers do.
When I searched “정리업체 후기 (professional organizing service reviews)” on YouTube, I found that many people had been using these services for years already. Most reviews said the price was quite high, but that the results were very satisfying. The cost worried me, but I kept thinking that finishing our organizing before the baby arrived was more important, so I started leaning more toward using a professional organizing service.
YouTube search results for “professional organizing service reviews”
2. Why We Chose “Isahue” Out of Many Services
The problem was that there was less than a week left before our move. I wasn’t sure if we could even find a company and finalize a booking on such short notice. My mindset was, “It would be great if we can use a service, but if we can’t, that’s just how it is.”
Then I happened to watch a YouTuber’s review video. She said she contacted the company on Friday and was able to use the service on the following Monday or Tuesday. As soon as I heard that, I thought, “Well, I should at least try contacting them, too!” When the reviewer also mentioned that the company had a good reputation online, I went straight to the website and submitted a consultation request.
It was already close to midnight on Wednesday, November 12. 😅 We needed the service on Tuesday, November 18, so I asked in the form whether that specific date would be possible.
Online inquiry page for the organizing service “Isahue”
3. How We Booked Our Session with Isahue
The next morning, on Wednesday, November 19, the company contacted us right away. I was honestly surprised they'd responded so quickly; I had sent the form just before bed and had woken up to an immediate reply.
Thankfully, they said they were available for the date we wanted. They asked us to send photos of our belongings so they could estimate the workload and give us a quote. I quickly took pictures of things around our place and sent them over. A little later, they called and walked us through the labor cost per person, the difference in staff needed for full-home organizing vs. partial organizing, and the expected time.
Based on the photos, they said our home didn’t seem extremely cluttered, so they recommended partial organizing to match our budget. Partial organizing means they focus only on certain areas (like the kitchen or veranda), and only organize items that are actually placed in that space.
They explained that if we could roughly sort items in advance into “kitchen things” and “veranda things”, the work would be much smoother on the day of the service. Looking at our photos, they even gave specific suggestions, like where to store travel items or my husband’s model kits. Thanks to those tips, we packed more efficiently before the move, and the whole moving process felt much easier.
Right after the call, they sent a clear summary of everything we had discussed via text message. The whole process felt very smooth and professional, and I could tell they had a lot of experience. We transferred the deposit and completed the booking.
We got a call the next morning after submitting our inquiry.
4. What the Service Day Looked Like
On Monday, November 17, the day before the scheduled service, they contacted us to confirm the exact arrival time. On Tuesday, November 18, three professional organizers arrived right on time at our new home.
As soon as they came in, they placed their tools and storage supplies in one corner of the living room and had a short team meeting. They divided the workload by area and then got started. First, they checked the overall condition of our belongings and did a first round of sorting. During this stage, our job was simple: look at each item group and decide whether to keep it or let it go.
After the initial sorting, they began assigning homes to each item, using storage bins and organizers where needed. All of these storage items are charged at cost, and you pay for them together with the labor fee at the end. I had a maximum budget in mind, so I told them in advance that I didn’t want the material cost to go beyond a certain amount. Maybe because of that, the final cost for these storage items was much lower than I expected.
Storage bins we paid for at cost (1)
Storage bins we paid for at cost (2)
Storage bins we paid for a cost (3)
Storage bins we paid for a cost (4)
Storage bins we paid for a cost (5)
Storage bins we paid for a cost (6)
They usually take about one hour for lunch around 12:00. The client is expected to provide lunch, so I asked what kind of food they preferred and ordered delivery through a local app. Since delivery can be slow during lunchtime, I placed the order between 11:00 and 11:30.
Their standard working hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.. If there is a lot to do and they have to work past 5 p.m., additional fees apply. In our case, everything was finished comfortably within the time, so this wasn't an issue.
5. Our Honest Review of Isahue’s service
After moving, unpacking and organizing is always a challenge. Normally, I'd only immediately unpack priority items and then slowly deal with the rest over time. But this move was different. We wanted the house to be set up and clean before bringing our newborn home so we could also prepare a cozy space for the baby.
In that context, using a professional organizing service was a game changer. On moving day, we were already exhausted and the number of boxes felt endless. I kept thinking, “When are we ever going to finish unpacking all of this?” I honestly never imagined that our entire home would be organized in just one day.
We were also incredibly lucky with the team that came to our home. Some reviews mentioned that, even within the same company, organizers can vary in skill and style, so the experience can be hit or miss. But the three organizers who came to us were clearly very experienced. The process was smooth from start to finish, they worked quickly, and most importantly, the way they categorized and stored things felt intuitive. The way they arranged and labeled things, I expect it will be much easier to stay organized in the future.
If I could give a star rating, I would definitely give them 5 out of 5. I even thought afterwards that I should have asked for their names so I could recommend them specifically if friends ever wanted to use the same service.
I didn't have particularly high expectations going into this. I basically thought, “If it works out, great. If not, that’s okay too.” Now I understand why so many people say they’re satisfied after using a professional organizing service. If your home isn’t overflowing with stuff, or if full-home organizing feels too expensive, I highly recommend trying partial organizing first like we did.
Our home after everything was organized (1)
Our home after everything was organized (2)
Our home after everything was organized (3)
Our home after everything was organized (4)
This article is the English version on Today 1 Step.
🌏 Life in Korea | Living with My American Husband
Daily life in Korea as a mixed-nationality family.
The real problems we run into, how we solve them, and what it actually takes to build a life here long-term.
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