Find Your Floor
How It Works
This cat is assessing the flavor of a client's files.
Initial Assessment
1. You and I have a free half-hour phone consultation (781-605-8619). I learn about your situation and needs, and you learn about my process and experience. If we both decide to go forward, we set a day and time for me to come by.
2. I email you my organizing agreement, an informal combination of contract and information. Let me know if you have any issues or concerns so we can discuss them. Fill it out electronically and email it back to me. I'll bring a hard copy for you to sign.
3. If you prefer, I can first come for a one-hour assessment. I charge my normal hourly rate for this ($90), but if you have me come for a full session later, I credit the hour back to you. Usually people prefer to just dive into a session.
4. When I see you, we go over the organizing agreement and new client form. You give me a tour of the house, you identify problem areas and we brainstorm a bit. We set up priorities and goals.
A Typical Session
2. Starting at one end of the room, we sort your stuff into categories, grouping like-with-like.
3. As we go, we also put items into the boxes. We may purge as we go, or we may just sort everything first and then go through it later to decide what to keep. I encourage and remind you to keep only things you truly love, need, and/or use, guiding you through the decision-making process.
4. We also talk about the big picture: how the space tends to become disorganized, how you might be able to maintain it more easily, the influence of other people who live there. I make specific suggestions depending on your personality, likes/dislikes, and techniques that have worked or not worked in the past.
5. About 30 minutes before the end, we put everything away, if not in your storage (sometimes there isn't room yet), then at least in labeled containers.
6. We talk about what the next step will be, and decide what you'll do on your own before the next session: maybe more organizing, shopping for supplies, or just maintaining the gains we've made today.
7. You hand me a check (unless you've pre-paid), and I take the donations away for you.
Sometimes all it takes is one session to get control of a desk or a small not-very-cluttered room. I recommend spacing the sessions no more than a week apart, so we can maintain the momentum! I'm always available for questions via email or phone in between sessions.
Other Options
I can also bring one or more other organizers with me. This is recommended when you're in a big hurry, the space is extremely cluttered or extremely large, and/or when furniture needs to be moved.
I can sort without you there. Sometimes all you need is to have like things grouped together so you can more easily make decisions.
I can bring papers home with me to sort on my own.
Why People Have Hired Me
- She is about to move to a new home and needs help decluttering, downsizing, and organizing to prepare for it. (Moves are great times for organizing.)
- They have moved into a new home (often, some time ago) and still haven't finished unpacking or deciding where to put things.
- He has been drowning in clutter and needs someone to provide guidance and hand-holding to help him break through a seemingly permanent state of paralysis.
- They are a newly cohabitating couple who need to consolidate their stuff and get it to fit easily into their new home.
- They are parents whose house has been taken over with their child's stuff. They need help weeding, prioritizing, and storing it all, for the current progeny as well as any future ones.
- He has a home office that is piled high with papers, making it hard to function. He needs help sorting it all out, deciding what to keep, toss, and shred, revamping his files, and setting up systems to maintain paperwork going forward.
- She
is an artist or crafter who hasn't been able to exercise her creativity
because her art studio or craft room is a big mess. And so on...