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?

Often it's not just about clutter, there is a psychological reluctance to let go of things. Not as strong as in case of hoarding, but it's often there nonetheless. A friend of mine went to help another friend clear out his house this summer so he cou;d redecorate and reorganise. He isn't a hoarder, but it was still an uphill struggle to help him. I don't think they go very far.

I would I'd love it. X

Yes , but I would want you to deal with and remove the chucked stuff. I now have quite an accumulation of boxes and bags that I’ve decluttered cluttering up the spare room 🤣

@butterer that's actually great to know, I'm not at all intimidating, I sound like Stacey from Gavin and Stacey, I swear a bit and I've got wonky teeth, definitely not a matronly type .

Thank you all so much for your help, I think I'm going to register a domain, get dp to build me a website and put some feelers out.

Now I need a name... Serenity with Rachel? Or does that sound a bit like a high class escort?

My sister did, and it changed her life (for the better). I probably will once our building work is complete so I can work out how best to use the new space we have, and get everything a “home” to be put back in.

We are terribly untidy having both grown up in untidy homes, and I really want to help my DDs avoid the same fate.

If you’re in the NW you can practice on us!

@CremeEggThief I initially read that as Polly Pockets and thought you made your kids organise their toys into a lever arch file!

I am tempted by this. And also in South Wales if you're looking for testers.

Agree with the above that I would want someone to either take or arrange removal of the items. I find that even if I organise stuff it ends up in the garage waiting to be taken to the charity shop/tip etc.

There were some sisters who started up a similar service but it seemed expensive for the extent of decluttering that I need. It's a bit better now though.

www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/sisters-become-uks-answer-marie-18818845

Terriblizard, I'm not quite that bad, although I was very much of the "one toy out at a time, tidy that before anything else comes out", when DS was little. 😂

Sorry, TerribleLizard.

I think there is a market for down sizers too.

My FiL is a bit of a hoarder and won't throw out anything 'useful'. I think he'd benefit from someone who could actually show him what had a use and what he could do with the rest.

Two women who live near me set themselves up in this business. I dont know how you can trust strangers to know what is clutter and what you cant bear to lose.

I have been trying to find someone to do this but to go the step further to get rid of stuff on ebay, go to good homes, be recycled etc. If you were offering that sort of service for £20 an hour for clearing plus half the profits from sales plus for getting rid of stuff then - I would definitely be interested. From reading the thread that is the element most of the current services lack. No point in sorting it all out for it then to sit in the hall/garage for months!

God yes! Can you come and do mine. What id love is someone to come and tidy and declutter my house, sell all my kids’ outgrown toys/clothes - we could sort out a % and sort out my home out!

I would definitely pay for something like this. My issue is I have no proper system to store things so I just shove stuff everywhere and then can't find it. I need someone to come, make sensible suggestions, tell me how to organise storage, help me move everything into its new place and then spy on me for ever to make sure I don't slip back

I would want you to take all the rubbish away and do the charity shop run for me as otherwise they will sit in the hall until the kids unpack them and spread it back round the house...

Now I need a name... Serenity with Rachel? Or does that sound a bit like a high class escort?

I think your business name would need to make it obvious what service you provided so if someone comes across you on a Facebook post for example, they’d be more inclined to click.

I’d also be really upfront about your approximate costs- lots of people would think this is a really high end service, whereas £20 ph is pretty good value for long term benefit.

Use your social media to lower the embarrassment factor for people who might be worried about what you’d think. And special mention for bereavement clearance and the sensitivity you’d need for that as mentioned by a pp up thread.

100% embarrassment.
Plus cost as I'm disabled (which is also why it's got so bad)

I am too far away from you sadly or I'd love to be a tester
(I'd be a challenge - I have things boxed in my basement from 15 years ago when I moved). But I have a friend on a pension who pays 1/3 of her total income for a storage unit for stuff from a move from 15 years ago too.

Oh I TOTALLY would recommend finding a good declutterer. i put it off for years despite knowing it would help after DD was born and i struggled to keep up with it all.

Then a friend of mine started her own business and did a couple of sessions with me for free, lucky me!! It was great and left me with lasting tips. I think you can find ones near you on a database online- association for declutterwrs and organisers or something along those lines !

I employed someone, £20 per hour well spent. Not only did we go through bedroom but also dining room/general dumping area. She also outlined ideas for better use of cupboard space and things like having a “travel box” or “party box” for stuff. Labelled up all the Chuck/charity/keep.
I have kept it up so I wouldn’t need to do it again, but got me on the straight and narrow.

I would pay! Do you live in Edinburgh by any chance? I probably wouldn't pay more than £30/hour. I would welcome expertise such as what to do with unwanted things and hard to recycle things. Also ideas for repurposing things.

Don't speak too soon- I actually AM in South Wales 😂
The lady I know works in west wales, and charges much more than £20ph. I think £20ph is very fair, there are lots of business groups in South Wales aimed at women- check out local business groups and pitch your idea ( well, not now, I'd give it a few months as people are still scared and restrictions in households etc will hamper you) but definitely give it a shot.

I think you'd have to think about what to do with any rubbish. At our tip vans can't go in there regularly, dumping stuff; they need a licence. You might not be able to fit everything into a car. You can't leave things at their house as that's the whole point, that you clear it away. They might be embarrassed to have a skip, if they have nosy neighbours.

For those worried about someone throwing away something precious, it would depend what you consider to be precious. Obviously they wouldn't throw away birth certificates or photos etc, but a true hoarder will consider a pile of newspapers from 20 years ago to be precious and the same for empty cereal cartons and egg boxes. It would up to the person whose house is being sorted to say specifically what couldn't be thrown away.

I think the type of people who can afford or would consider a declutterer are probably reasonably well-off so I'd probably charge more than that- if you think about it tutors charge £30-45 an hour for their expertise, so I'd be thinking more like that, or more if you live in a well off area.

I have a declutterer. She works two ways: going in to a house, say of a bereaved family, and organising every thing in to categories so then the family can go through it in a systematic way to keep, discard or give to charity. Or, like for me, she comes and we go through stuff together sorting as above but with what's left she develops a system. So the idea is that I keep up with the system which prevents clutter from taking over again - maintaining is the hard part. Sometimes she just comes to help me sort through all my paperwork into a comprehensive filing system. It's not rocket science, but she provides motivation to do it - like a personal trainer. It makes you accountable.
I don't like the Home Edit show as I don't like all those plastic containers, and I don't think I would keep the system going. The celebrity segments are a waste of time - I want real people issues! And I agree you need to do it with them, not allow them to make any decisions but help you make your own.
Oh and she charges £20/hour and will sell your excess stuff on Ebay and take half (so I hardly had to pay her at all in the end).