Has anyone used a professional declutterer?

[LizzieMint]

I've got to start decluttering in preparation for putting the house on the market. I don't have a problem with chucking stuff out, my problem is lack of time. I have 2 (school-length) days a week to myself to get it done. I find it impossible to do with the children around because they are always pulling out whatever I've put aside and deciding they desperately want to keep it! So I was wondering about getting someone in to help to speed up the process - is it worth the money?

it's never appealed to me because surely they still have to get you to check every item to ask if you want to keep or chuck etc?

I've been massively decluttering my house and don't really get child free time to do it.

What I do is get the bin, recycling, and a big bag for charity and a box for stuff to sell. its then just a matter of going through it all as quick as possible into the right section/bag.

I find as for having kids around. I do boring stuff like the kitchen stuff when they are around so they don't worry about what I'm chucking and then do their rooms when they are out.

What area are you?

I don't see how it could work. How are they going to know whether you need to keep something or not?

I did use one this week, because I am long term ill. I got more done than I would have alone, but that is because I find it horribly hard to throw/give things away and having a bit of non judgemental company helped. It wasn't worth the money, overall.

I suppose I'm thinking more along the lines of, we'd sort out a room together (I really am not bothered about chucking stuff, so could quite happily give very broad guidelines rather than inspect everything), then they could deal with the actual disposal of stuff when I'm back on doing the school run. So we'd presumably get through twice as much, and they'd take stuff to the dump/charity shop as well.

Face, do you mind me asking how much yours charged, and why you felt it wasn't worth it?

yes, she was ace and worth every penny. If you are in the SE I can give you her details.

No, in SW.

Have sent you a PM.

Hi Pop over and have a look at APDOuk The Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers www.apdo-uk.co.uk/declutterers.php if you are looking for help from a professional declutterer. Members of the Association are fully insured and they can work to a budget and timescale with you and help you get the task done efficiently and the least cost.

I haven't, and I'm not sure how much they cost, but I wonder if a skip (and a cash donation to charity if you feel the need) would be a more efficient solution.

I would love this if they arrived in an unmarked vehicle

Mine did, arrive in an unmarked vehicle, that is.

Apologies on the late late response on this thread - I'm a professional declutterer and can work either alone or side by side with my client.

Generally I begin with sorting the clients possessions "like for like" together then ask the client to join me so that some decisions can be made to keep/discard/sell etc.

Until everything is sorted you can't make an informed decision on what to keep and what to discard as you don't know how much of everything you have. I then assess available storage and make storage suggestions (if applicable) so that all remaining possessions have a home within my clients home to help maintain organisation going forward.

Happy to answer any questions you may have : )

Gill

If you did clearing after the children slept that might help.

I schedule my sessions at the the best time for the client however starting late in the day when the client has had a busy day with the kids often isn't very productive as when very tired it can be difficult to make decisions on what to keep and what to donate etc.

As the client doesn't have to be with me at all times, I can do a lot of the ground work alone whilst the client is either out with the kids or in another room.

It can be helpful if there is someone there to help with the kids when I need to spend time with the client for discussions around keep/donate/recycle etc

It wasn’t addressed to you I was addressing it to the person who asked for support.but this is actually an old thread.