Would anyone employ a declutterer?

[Darkestseasonofall]

Whenever I read a thread on here about someone drowning in clutter and desperately trying to sort it out I'm almost foaming at the mouth wishing I could go to their house and help.
I absolutely love sorting, organising and streamlining. I seem to be good at it as well.
I'm wondering if I've missed my niche, could I set up a sideline doing this for people? I'd probably do it for free to be honest but is there a business opportunity here?

Possibly but how would you know what was important?

Out of curiosity are is your house very organised? I love organising other people’s lives (was a PA for a few years) but loathe doing my own!

I know a lady who runs a decluttering business- it works well for her. Though I know she was initially surprised that a lot of her work is helping grieving people sort through deceased family members homes. She doesn't do the work of throwing stuff out / moving stuff - she just helps, organises and guides people through their clutter. I've wanted to book her to help me sort my work garage out because I am certain that with better order I could get to work faster and earn more by not wasting time sorting through which tools I need etc. It's quite a wide scope she covers.

@Dollywilde my house is organised to military precision . DP and the dc roll their eyes but we are secretly glad to never have to look for anything as it's all where it should be... Despite their best efforts to rebel and be messy.
@waitingforadulthood that's exactly what I'd envisaged, helping people make sense of what they keep and why, and making suggestions (although I'd be more than happy to get stuck in as well). I'm a mental health professional and I wonder if I could use some of my training in that area to understand people and their thought processes. If you're in South Wales I'll do your garage

I'd be nervous they would discard things that have genuine meaning for me. I'd prefer to do it with them and make an argument in defence of actually meaningful items. And be prepared to lose stuff that had less meaning.

Me too, @Darkestseasonofall. There I was on Saturday night, making sure all our poly pockets DS took out of a ring binder were all put back in the same way round, while I had a spare 15 minutes! I honestly roll my eyes at myself sometimes!🙄😆

Can come and do mine, I’ll be your first customer

Well I know there are people who do. I wouldn't, because most of my Actual Clutter is still here because I don't know what to do with it. I don't want to just throw stuff away, which is why we have a dozen red noses and three party tablecloths in the box under my bed.

It seems to be a thing in America, so much so that people manage to make a living out of it so I guess some people would. I don't think my house is bad enough to warrant it but I'd love someone to come and organise and tidy everything away properly.

I’m not sure. I’m currently decluttering and I’m struggling especially with letting go of my children toys, they have too many, is this something you would be able to help with?

I would, but they would need to be bilingual for any paperwork.
Mind you, I live so far out in the wilderness that I cannot even persuade cleaning companies to take my business.

@thatwentbadly for something like outgrown toys I'd try to look at any emotional attachment, and maybe suggest making a photo collage of them for a permanent reminder of their favourite things, without necessarily keeping them. And advocate that another child could love and cherish them if we parted with them. That's the angle I'd approach with, rather than disregarding someone's understandable fondness of something that's been cherished.

We've recently had a family bereavement and going through the house was absolutely heartbreaking, I think there's probably a niche there too, to help with sympathy and care at a difficult time.

For those who would possibly consider it, would you think that £20 an hour would be reasonable?

£20 ph sounds like a good price

My problem with toys is not that they have grown them but we have too many.

*out of them

I tried once, but we didn't click. It then felt silly that I was paying her more money than I wanted to and just wanted her out of my house.

I also felt like I was making excuses all the time...

@thatwentbadly you need a rotation then, pack half away under the bed or in the garage, let them really enjoy the ones they have, then swap after a month. It'd be like having new toys 12 times a year, dc would love it!
@jodiTaylorfan was it a personality clash or something else? Would you have preferred a quick guide then some "homework" to check in with next week or suchlike?

Check out www.apdo.co.uk/ - they'll be able to give you lots of support and info.

I live overseas and I know of three businesses that do this. They do really well. Instagram research should throw up a few for you to look at.

@butterer can I ask, if you're house is super cluttered what's stopping you hiring someone? Is it cost, embarrassment, something else?
Just trying to pre-empt the hurdles.
I'll do you for free in exchange for a glowing reference

my house is organised to military precision . DP and the dc roll their eyes but we are secretly glad to never have to look for anything as it's all where it should be

OP, this is me, everything has a place in my house and easy to find anything. My OH is the opposite (we don't live together) he never knows where anything is, nothing has it's place, things lying around everywhere, it drives me mad when I go round there and he can't find anything. Thing is, we're in the process of buying a house together and will be moving in together soon, I hope I can train him to be a bit more organised. any tips welcome

Oh god yes! I need someone to talk sense into me as long as they didn't discard anything without my permission I'd 100% hire someone

Yes! I'm adapting to a life-changing illness and would love everything to have its place and someone to go through absolutely everything. My home is very clean but everything feels chaotic (this could be a reflection of my current state!).

The Home Edit show on Netflix is great, they've made a massive business out of going into people's homes and decluttering.

I would want a more inclusive service, i.e. not only someone who helped me declutter and streamline but who also willing to take away from my home and appropriately dispose of everything to be discarded.