Are you going to make me throw things away?

Absolutely not! I am there as your coach, and I can guide you through the process of assessing your belongings, but ultimately you make all the decisions about what you want to keep and what you are ready to let go of.

I’m nervous about letting anyone see my mess - should I try to clean and tidy first?

For me to get a good idea of what needs doing, it’s actually more helpful if you don’t try to tidy up first! And cleaning will of course be easier once your space has been decluttered and organised as everything will be easier to access. We may choose to do a small amount of ‘incidental cleaning’ as we go along (eg wiping down a dusty bookshelf so your newly curated books go back onto a clean shelf!) but please note I do not offer cleaning services as such.

Will our sessions be confidential? Will you be taking photos of my house?

Rest assured that client confidentiality is of the utmost importance to me, as well as being part of the code of ethics of APDO, the professional body I belong to. If you are happy to share any ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos with me (and there is never any pressure or expectation to so do) to use on my website, these will only be shown in a general and anonymous way with no links to your name or personal details.

Do you have insurance? Do you belong to any sort of professional body?

Yes, and yes! I have full public liability and indemnity insurance, and I am a member of APDO (Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers).

What happens to the items I no longer need?

Excellent question! During our session, we will usually sort things into categories such as ‘keep’, ‘donate’, ‘recycle’ etc, with a view to finding the most sustainable way possible of discarding what is no longer needed. Please note that I do not come with a vehicle - however I can help you to make a plan so that you know what the next steps are/where to find services who will collect from you if needs be. I have even accompanied clients who wish to build taking items to their local charity shop into our day together for example, so there are always options that we can discuss during our booking call.

Do I need to make arrangements for children and pets to be elsewhere?

For everyone’s safety, and so that we can fully focus and gain the most out of our time together, I would recommend trying to book a session when young children are going to be at school/looked after elsewhere if at all possible.

I love animals, so it’s probably best they are kept away from our work area otherwise I will just get distracted by befriending your cat and rubbing your dog’s belly (also, it can be quite unsettling for your animal friends if we’re making lots of noise or mess in the process of our work, so for everyone’s safety it’s probably better if they can be somewhere quieter).

I appreciate this will vary depending on individual circumstances, so feel free to have a chat about this during our consultation call.