Estate Organizing Specialists & Senior Downsizing

I hired Helene to help me purge and organize my clothes. I was able to get rid of dozens of bags and she took care of all of the donations. My home is still a work in progress but she helped me make incredible progress and I feel like I am finally organized after years of needing help. I would highly recommend her to anyone in need of organization assistance.

I hired Helene to assist with downsizing my elderly mother’s condo for a move from NH to Kansas City. I was impressed with Helene from the initial phone conversation, but even more so when she met with my mother for a consultation. She put my mother at ease, and they hit it off right away. I flew to NH to assist with the packing and sorting, and I could barely keep up with Helene. She works very quickly and is extremely organized, but she was very patient with my mother when sorting items to ensure her most precious items were packed for the move. She was extremely sensitive to my mother and hiring her was one of the best decisions I have made. Helene knows which items to donate where, which items are not “donatable” and she had a great trash hauling contact (JDog) for quickly removing old furniture, appliances, and MANY bags of trash. I spent a considerable amount of time with Helene, and she is delightful. The rest of the family couldn’t believe the progress we made and the fact that my mother was laughing throughout the process. I HIGHLY recommend Helene’s services.

If you are looking for an organizer, you can stop now. Helene is the best one! Anywhere. No question. I have worked with organizers before and she is in a whole different class! I have used her services several times now and would never hire anyone else. Things to know: First, she does all sorts of decluttering/organizing, not just estates or downsizing. (I have a lot of clutter due to kids and my difficulty letting things go.) Second, she is so hard working and efficient that what she accomplishes in one day would take other organizers several days and ordinary people like me weeks to do. Third, she gets things OUT of the house! Other organizers help you sort. She will bag and haul trash out. She has a van she can pack up with items you want to donate. She drives your donations to charities on her own time! Fourth, she gets in the trenches with you. Instead of telling you how to clean out your dusty, nasty places, she’ll do it with you (others won’t). Nothing fazes her. She’s seen it all. She’s helped me move and disassemble furniture. She’s strong and has unbelievable energy! Fifth, she’ll do it how you want to do it. She will offer her professional opinion and then you decide how you want to proceed. I have never felt any pressure to toss vs keep things. I think the reason Helene is so singularly great at what she does is because it is not just a job to her. She truly enjoys the process and it comes from a place of compassion and kindness. She knows how clutter can produce stress and consume your energy and she wants to help you reclaim your time and energy. Most recently, in about 11 hours, Helene helped me transform our “office” (holding room for everything without a place) into a dual purpose exercise and computer room. Previously, in one day, she cleared out our garage from a place you could barely step in to shelves along the sides with space to park our car. She’s done a quick, one-hour closet reorganization for me so I could easily sort through my (far too many) clothes and see where I can whittle things down. Those are just a few examples. I live in the DC area, and look forward to the few times a year when Helene comes down to work with clients. Give her a call! She is totally honest about what to expect and what is realistic. And there is absolutely no pressure.

Fabulous! I've worked with Helene several times this year. She's positive, focused, and always on the move when she's on location. The attic went from wall to wall boxes and mouse nests and moldy journals to empty and spic and span within hours. Then she helped me take 2 loads to the dump. Top marks!

Went great! Super fast, efficient, I was able to donate so many items, I would hire again in a heart beat!!

My experience with Estate Organizing Specialists has been top notch each time I have hired them. Now that I've had this kind of help I cannot imagine not hiring them again for all of my moves. Thank you very much. I appreciate your professionalism and your skill at managing to organize life's necessities in a way that makes life more enjoyable.

We will be ready for the movers in a few days, and per my desire, almost all of my belongings, except the large pieces of furniture will already be placed in the new home. I will add a final addendum in a week to confirm what I expect will be a smooth and most efficient move.

just fantastic; we got an enormous amount done and it is making just a great difference in our lives. we could not be more pleased.

Helene Parenteau arrives on time, presents herself professionally, works very hard, and really helped us get rid of things no longer needed in a kind respectful way. I was amazed in what we were able to accomplish together, and had achieved the best results compared with other organizers I had worked with in the past. She knew where items could be recycled. And best of all she has a large van to remove boxes that day from the house. She lists the items, and procures receipts, where applicable. What had seemed to be an insurmountable obstacle, became resolved working under her guidance. We have decided to bring her back for other projects.

Excellent! Helene is absolutely wonderful! She is organized, focused, and professional. Her 35 years of experience really shows. She salvages as much as possible and itemizes them for the many charities she works with and delivers them in her truck for you. She is understanding, gentle and considerate with you and all your possessions. She is the "energizer"! It is amazing what she can do in a day. I thought it would take 2 weeks to sort and pack my basement, but Helene did it in 4 hours! She was a joy to work with!

Helene is great. Can't say enough good things about her. She is extremely organized, energetic, helpful, wonderful!!!

Over the last year and a half we've been working off and on.

Good team-work between Helene and her husband; after 4 hours we had made major headway on a clear-out of my basement. Loads of trash needed to be set out a couple of days later but on the day in question (a 4 hour appointment) a positive exercise took place, removing clutter that others would have had to handle at some future date. Kind and humorous, Helene and her husband handled each step of the process competently and with respect. Glad I scheduled this exercise; it would not have worked for me without the professional, detached but friendly level of attention to detail. Years of practical experience was evident in knowing when an item was donatable (and to whom, if so), recyclable, or not. Their simultaneous human interest and get-on-with-it skills left me appreciative of the friendly ability to oversee a difficult (previously-thought-impossible) task. I needed support and it was provided. The costs covered hourly rates for Helene and Norm plus mileage for dropping off various donation to shelters, Habitat, and metal scrap once they left. Not cheap, but definitely reasonable and well worth the investment for me. Highly recommended.

Helene is very popular, but I was happy to wait my turn to work with her. She has a terrific sense of vision and organization, and I am still enjoying the benefits of her good work. Thanks, Helene!

On the free consultation day she came over, gave me an accurate idea of how long the project would take, and then came back later that evening to take away half a van full of items I wanted to donate. She did that all for free! She is sometimes scheduled out a month or two so get your appointment now! When she came back for our home organizing project, she and I spent two full days organizing the basement, office, and kids crafts. I worked along side her and I can attest to her seemingly boundless energy and stamina. Helene operates with a very high level of efficiency and flexibility. She has many great ideas and is easy to work with. The spaces in my home that were lingering in disarray from our move here 3 years ago are now tidy and spacious. I do have homework following her visit, which I expected, but the way to proceed is very clear and if I am not able to complete those smaller leftover projects on my own, I would not hesitate to call Helene to help me finish them.

Helene was very professional and good spirited. She was knowledgeable about how best to dispose of different items (clothes, toys, batteries, paint, etc.). Best of all, she had a good-sized minivan which she used to remove all the things that she felt could be given away to good causes. She let me know where the things would go (I agreed with her that the organizations she'd chosen were good causes), and she left me a receipt to use for tax purposes. This was not a one-visit project. So far she's worked with me on two days, she's going to work with me another day, and she referred me to an acquaintance for another day as she didn't have enough time available in the period before the work on my house is going to start. (I am on a tight schedule!)

Stop searching for someone better and just call her. Because there is no one better. She showed up at 9 am, and basically said "I'm here as long as you need me." She didn't leave until almost 9 pm (our choice.....once we got started we didn't want to stop). For some background, my wife and I are total opposites when it comes to organizing. She wants everything put away, out of sight -- appearances first, basically. I want everything easily accessible, and appearances are secondary -- functionality first. Additionally, my wife would throw almost everything non-sentimental out, but would keep the sentimental things.......I'm the opposite, on both counts. Enter Helene ("heavens open" music). She's a serene presence, and a great mediator between different ways of doing things. She's also a workhorse. We're very fit, in our 30s, and we could NOT keep up with her. She must've gone up and down the stairs to the attic 500 times.....most of them while carrying a heavy load. In terms of how the day goes you can leave her to it (we did this once she wore us out 9 hours in) or she's happy to welcome your help in order to maximize the time together. I could go on and on. Just get off the internet and call her now. Your search ends here.

Helene came to our home to give us some ideas and advice on organizing. She realized that it was not right time to start the project and did not charge us for the service. I might still use the deal. I really appreciated her honesty. I have even recommended her to others.

I purchased an Angie's List Big Deal for this service. They came just a little after I purchased the Big Deal. I think the person who came out was the owner of the company and she was great. She was very professional and helpful. We did the pantry together because she felt it was the best way to organize it the way I want it. It was good and she gave me some pointers on my closet upstairs. She said she could come back if I needed her and she was very good.

We have more work to do, but Helene clarifies every complicated, overwhelming step and keeps working until the task is completed.

Very effective. Encouraged me to make decisions which were difficult for me. Carried away discards the same day. Packed, interacted with movers, and unpacked at the new place. I think the move might never have happened without them. Highly recommend.

outstanding in all respects. I'm very grateful.

As a Realtor, I referred Helene to a client. This review is my clients review of the service provided. Thank you very much for your referral of Hélène Parenteau. She was spectacular and extremely organized. I couldn't have done the packing without her. She was punctual, actually even early upon her arrival, communicated very well and was very pleasant to work with. She is very experienced and professional. Actually, I couldn't have done it without her. She packed up my artwork with extreme delicacy and precision. I will certainly use her in the future. I give her the highest marks and my best recommendation. Thank you so much again for the referral. Please feel free to post this on Angie's list. Warmest regards, C

This was the third satisfying project I completed with Helene. She is pleasant, productive, and motivating. She breaks large tasks into small tasks and guides you through an organized, efficient process. I am a very satisfied client and have been recommending Helene to everyone!

I thought she was good. She wanted to do some things that were good for her and bad for me, even though I was going to be the one using the system. I do not think that I would use her again.