Decluttering and home organising FAQs

Creating space and order in your home environment really can kick start all manner of changes for the better in life generally. If you’re feeling stuck, are hungry for change and would like to create a place to breathe, think, relax and recharge, enjoy food, sleep well and take pleasure in the company of family and friends, decluttering and organising services are the way forward.

Many clients come to me having tried unsuccessfully to declutter/organise with the help of family and friends. More often than not emotions run high and it all ends up in a big old fall out.

I believe professional help is best for the following reasons:

1. Working with a professional depersonalises the task; this creates emotional boundaries that help to keep the task on track.
2. An experienced professional understands how to break tasks down to suit each specific client.  A lot of time and energy can be saved by using an efficient method.
3. Paying for a service brings focus and commitment to the task – which of course massively contributes to the success of the project.

Yes. Decluttering advice and demo session is available in a morning or afternoon – it is a fixed price session.

Ideal for those with limited time and/or budget. If you would like me to provide a quote please e mail your post code and a brief summary of your situation/goals.

For more information click here.

STEP 1 – the hardest part – initial contact (phone or e mail) to outline briefly what you’d like help with.

STEP 2 – We’ll have an informal chat/consultation phone call.  It is completely normal to feel apprehensive but you will find yourself at ease in no time in this judgement free zone. The chat generally takes about 20/30 minutes. This is a chance for us to ask questions and for us to establish if we would like to work together and if so, which type of session might suit your needs and circumstances best.  There is no obligation to anything at this stage so nothing to lose by having a chat.

STEP 3 – If you’d like to go ahead, an £80 deposit will secure your date in the diary and we’re up and running.
Sessions can be booked on a one by one basis with no commitment beyond each session.

THE SESSION

We will work together to separate your possessions into categories: bin, recycle or keep. We aim to recycle as much as possible of the items you no longer have use for.

I can work alone on some tasks if your time/energy is limited, however the decision to let go of items is always yours. My role is to help bring clarity to your decisions.

I will do a basic clean up as we go along and I can take unwanted items to the tip or charity shop as required.

HANDS ON HELP

Perhaps you have an idea of a priority area you’d like to work on- clothes, a large storage cupboard, toys or kitchen for example? Even if you want to sort your whole house out and budget/time are not available, generally a couple of sessions may be enough to get you moving towards the overall goal. Realistically a first session is ideally somewhere in region of 6 hours dependent on task, to really get things moving. This will include a charity drop off if you have items you’d like to get rid of.  No mutual obligation beyond first session.

Declutter & organise personalised ADVICE & DEMO session

If you rarely get more than a couple of hours at a time free to do anything… or if budget is very limited just now (both true for a lot of people) you may prefer to do your own declutter/organise BUT DON’T KNOW HOW OR WHERE TO BEGIN? Then this personalised advice session would be an ideal first step, towards getting your whole house sorted for the long term. See services page for more info.

Feel free to call for a no obligation informal chat about either type of session.

An open mind to the process and realistic expectations bring best success. A certain amount of ‘trust and let go’ is necessary to achieve. In terms of your time and energy contribution, naturally the more you are willing and able to contribute the faster the task moves and the less you spend. If you’re willing I can also give achievable homework tasks in between sessions. Don’t worry if you have limited time and energy – we will discuss your schedule and circumstances during initial phone consultation and I will aim to work something out that fits best for you.

Sadly, we no longer take on tasks around hoarding disorder/extreme hoarding.

For alternative specific help with this and for more information you might find Life-Pod Edinburgh a useful starting point.

You might also try Edinburgh Council: Social Care Direct. 0131 200 2324. socialcaredirect@edinburgh.gov.uk.