Cary mom helps others get their homes in order

Beverly Kain's home has always been neat and clean - no toys scattered for days on the same patch of carpet or crumbs on the kitchen counter. Friends have even picked on her about just how in order her home is.

But Kain, one of seven children growing up, doesn't know any other way to keep a house.

"Our house needed to be clean," she said of her busy childhood home.

"I really love to see things go from old to fabulous," she tells me.

Kain's interest in her own home took a leap nine years ago when her younger daughter was born. Kain has stayed at home with her children since her first one was born 13 years ago.

As she cared for her newborn younger daughter, she got hooked on "Trading Spaces," the popular show in TLC that involved neighbors redecorating a room in the other person's home with the help of designers.

She started transforming her home, then in Raleigh, using ideas culled from the shows. Pretty soon, she was helping friends organize and redecorate their own homes.

In 2008, she officially launched the business, getting the necessary licenses and starting a website. The business has grown through word-of-mouth. She's gotten at least one client from the sign she affixed to the side of her car.

The job lets Kain share her passion for an organized and well decorated home, but it also gives her the time she wants for her girls - to be at home at the end of the school day, volunteer as a room mom or chaperone field trips.

Kain helps people organize and decorate. She's done everything from organizing pantries and master bedroom closets to helping people who have lost a loved one sort through their belongings.

"You can get paralyzed sometimes," she tells me of clients who are going through the things of a loved one who has died.. "It's almost like counseling."

Her true love, however, is decorating - everything from master bedrooms and kids rooms to living rooms and every other part of the house. Her own style is eclectic, but she'll work with whatever the client wants.

"I love it," she said of designing. "I lose track of time. I skip meals. I just get consumed."