I Declutter

My husband and I are pack rats and had accumulated lots of clutter. I have a hard time getting rid of anything (can always find an emotional reason to keep it) and I tend to buy in bulk. Just to complicate the obvious issues with that, we also currently live in a small home. We were both sick of the chaos of the clutter and wanted to get our small home on the market to move into something nicer, larger. Janice came over and we walked from one room to the next, talking about which areas bothered us the most. We talked about each of the messes and how they got to be so bad, and Janice helped us realize what was causing some of our issues. She showed us areas where we had attempted to organize in the past and explained why we hadn't had success. A few things that stuck out in my mind: - Use clear plastic bins so you can see what's inside and label them. PULL THE STORE LABELS OFF! - Don't buy in bulk if you don't need to. There's no space to store everything and you wind up with lots of stuff you don't need. - For those items that you can't sell or give to Goodwill (like partially used beauty items or craft supplies), you can use Freecycle on Yahoo Groups. I always felt guiltly throwing things away and this keeps that from happening. There are lots of things of other useful tips and advice that Janice gave us, more than I can go into here. We would love to have her come and help us with organizing time and time again, but the overall price is a bit too steep for us to do on a regular basis. However, the one trip she did make out helped us an incredible amount and allowed us to organize the house more than well enough to get it looking decent before listing on the market. Once we sell our current house (fingers crossed) and move into the next, I'd love to get her advice again on how to organize our new house starting from scratch.

Janice is the best gift you can give yourself! When she first came to my home in October, I was completely overwhelmed and depressed about having to sort through belongings in order to downsize. From the very beginning, Janice kept me calm and focused, ensuring I conquered one file, one drawer, one closet at a time until it was empty. I loved her visual guide of putting post-it notes on cabinets (and I had many!) saying 'EMPTY" - no more opening and closing doors to see if I missed anything, plus it gave great satisfaction to see how much I was accomplishing. It was emotionally draining to make decisions on what would kept, given away, or tossed, but Janice put no pressure on me and reminded me, "take it if you have doubts; you can always change your mind after the move." Janice not only helped me keep my sanity, but she also became a good friend. I highly recommend her to everyone. Why not try her for your after-Christmas organizing and cleanup? She is worth every penny.

I called Janice in desperation because my husband, dog and I were getting ready to move from Cincinnati to South Florida. I was in an utter state of panic and was so overwhelmed by the amount of "stuff" that needed to be sorted to pack, toss, donate, recycle etc. I just didn't know where to begin. Janice came in, assessed the situation and set up a plan for me to follow. Basically one room or area at a time so as not to be so overwhelmed by the whole house. She came many days and worked with me very hard. She is very knowledgeable, patient, thorough, non judgmental and even at times had to be my "therapist"! We are now in Florida and I just don't know how I would have been able to handle the task without her! Her service was truly invaluable!! Thank you Janice!

I was in a state of panic to get my house ready for a showing and she was amazing. She went around room-by-room with me to get rid of my clutter and make my home presentable. I would use her again in a heartbeat.

As described above, it could not have gone better.

Her name is Janice and she is awesome. I spent way too much, around $1000 on that work. She came and we made a plan. She sat down with me and made suggestions if I must keep some things or not. She did not bully me or make me feel like I had to do anything.

She's nice, patient and doesn't pressure me to get rid of anything I'm not sure about. She has help me clear a great deal of clutter from my house and I will definitely be hiring her 3 or 4 more times. I have lived in my house for 6 years and never quite gotten settled to the point where there is a place for everything. She's done a fantastic job helping me get organized.

Overall, it went very well. I will have Janice return once I have gotten thru the first round of suggestions. Her services are an excellent way to jump start any re-organzing, decluttering project you have been putting off.

I chose her because she had good reviews on Angie's List. She's very good at canceling out the guilt. The price was fair enough. I'm planning to use her again.

She charged for the visit (she requires a 2 hour minimum), but she is also available for phone consultations, too, if you ever need a pep talk or some advice. She is easy to work with and easy to talk to. She had good ideas for organizing my house.

I was completely stuck and no matter how hard I worked on my own - and I mean HOURS of trying to clear out and clean up - I could not make lasting progress. Janice has helped me to get un-stuck. I have eight clear areas now that I maintain. I am making further progress in small areas on my own. I have changed my way of thinking about things and letting go of junk is becoming easier. Janice is great with kids and has helped my daughter, age 7, organize her desk and craft supply drawers. My children are learning about putting things away and keeping things clear instead of learning from my (former) bad habits! She is a positive teacher, gently instilling her lessons as we work, which gives tremendous added value to her services. Seeing it all done in manageable chunks, I would recommend her for small projects - a closet, a pantry, a laundry room - as well as for whole-house organization. I think her rates are very reasonable, considering what I have spent on housecleaning, which didn't truly address the real problem (hoarded clutter), and therapy, which did nothing to improve my actual environment. In a way, she is providing tangible therapy and has a wonderful healing gift. I will be a client for a while to come, since this is a major, systemic problem for me, but I can see light at the end of the tunnel and already my life has improved in dramatic ways thanks to finally getting someone in here to help me with all the clutter and accumulated junk! I am grateful to others who wrote the reviews here that convinced me to call her in the first place (and not to cancel at the last minute out of dread and shame!) and grateful to her for the help she is providing.

She got right to work and showed me how to manage the project in small chunks so it would not be overwhelming. She showed me how to set up systems so it will not get disorganized again. We got through a lot of clutter which made a great visual difference when I enter the room. She also leaves the area clean so I do not need to pick up anything after she leaves which I appreciate.

I contacted Janis to help me prepare the house for my first large family holiday party. I learned that Janis is a woman of many talents - not only did she help organize my house but she also gave me wonderful suggestions on the best way to use my space - where to place the buffet line, the coffee and dessert, the wine glasses etc. She re-arranged the furniture in my living room to be more intimate and inviting. She gave me useful tips on how to make the "stuff" in my rooms look more organized. Janis also saved me time and money by giving me names of specific stores that sold the organizers that I needed at the best price. Janis gave me the encouragement that I could handle my holiday gathering! Janis is a good listener and understands that she has to adjust her strategies to your lifestyle in order for you to gain control of your environment. In my 2nd session, Janis worked with me on the dining room and converting it to a "modern" dining room allowing for homework, bill paying etc. She has also given me practical suggestions on how to re-decorate the parts of my house that I don't like. Janis is professional, very personable and knowledgeable on many subjects. My next project with Janis will be to place the photos/artwork on my walls! As a working mom wtih a young family and lots of responsibilities, Janis has helped me gain control of my home and not feel overwhelmed.

I went great. It seemed like a lot of money at first, but I actually ended up saving money, as she unearthed old checks, and figured out a system to get bills paid on time! She is patient and encouraging, and helps you figure out what works best with your lifestyle. We did a little bit and each, and made changes to make things easier during the process. SHe has a fung shay background, so she helped me pick out appropriate funrniture and decide where to put it. I wish I had enough of funds to have her do the whole house!

Janice has a plan of where to put where to put things so you KNOW where they are. She is a good teacher of organization as well.!!!!!!!! I will be having a SUCESSFUL garage sale in a few months and I will be sure to call Janice to help me set it up and I know already what I will be selling. My tip to customers is to have plenty of medium size empty boxes, garbage bags, trash cans and markers on hand and it will make the work time less stressfull for both of you, and have a plan of what you want to accomplish before she starts. I had all of the these things ready for her when she started and I was not told to prepare ahead but I'm glad I did. Next time my bedroom and closets!!!

She was very good at keeping me going, handing me paperwork to go thru and either keep or file. We went thru drawers that hadn't been touched in a couple of years and we accomplished quite a lot. It didn't feel like regular cleaning and she made it enjoyable for me plus giving suggestions on how I might keep it that way. She told me if I could not find something, after organizing the kitchen, to call her since she organizes other's homes like she does her own.

I've been working with Janice for about a year and a half. If if weren't for her knowledge, skill, and sensitivity, I'd now be featured on an episode of "Hoarders" or on the local news being the "crazy lady in the house full of stuff covered in cat hair." As difficult as the work is, as hard as I resist facing things, she handles it with sensitivity and knows when to back off or do something else. If you're looking at boxes in your rooms from when you moved three years ago -- if you're looking to de-clutter your life and move on, you must call Janice. It is well worth the investment.

Janice worked with me over a 6 month period. The appointments ranged from 3 hours (usually) up to full weekend days. I found the job overwhelming. Janice was calm and reassuring, knowing exactly what emotional tone was needed to get through the next file drawer. She has a keen ability to diagnose the entire situation and come up workable plans, which were always presented as suggestions or ideas and never forced. She listens very well and has both the ability to work with the person and excellent ideas about how to organize the job to be done, to break it down into workable pieces, and work with you. We usually had 1 or 2 appointments per week, to keep the job moving. When the crunch period came at the end, we had a few long days. Janice is clearly a gifted organizer, from conception to execution and completion. She also has so much knowledge useful in setting up my new office, some of it based on principles of "fung shui" and making it a room that "feels right" as well as supports my work best. I could not have imagined a better match for this enormous, emotion-laden task. I never experienced any judgment, just support. I am now going to get some files at home organized with her help, something I had not anticipated at the start of this job. A few other comments: Janice is professional, keeps good records, promptly returns phone calls, and was flexible with scheduling. And always cheerful.

I would have liked him organize and clean the area in a logical manner and I did not receive this. He did not wipe down any surfaces before he put things in cabinets. They charged me for driving time and he chatted with me. They charged me for that. It took him 2 half-days and he still didn't get the entire job done. Or at least close to what I thought it should have been. I spoke to Janice, who is very nice. She sent her son to do the work.

If you need help cleaning up your space, just call Janice. Don't worry that it is too much to do or where to start, Janice will help make it happen. I had gotten tired of living in chaos, and found her service on Angie's List, and from the first phone call, she made me feel at ease. She methodically goes through each area of concern and helps sort out what is necessary for the space and makes what you need accessible. But she does it with such patience, kindness, gentleness, and a great sense of humor. I found myself enjoying what really was a very unpleasant job (most of the time. :)

Very well. Janice was very responsive to my initial email - returning my email and following up with a phone call. She was able to schedule an appt within a week of our initial conversation. She provided lots of easy to implement suggestions and really helped us get our small space in order. I thought her prices were very reasonable for the service we received. She was even able to give us some feng shui advice on placement of furniture and flow in our home.

Ms. Ash has had great ideas for me on how to make the best use of the space available in my home, while at the same time considering how I use things and my lifestyle. She got me to think about space differently - using it in ways I may not have thought about before. She is very personable and easy to work with. She was very helpful in getting me to "let go" of stuff I haven't been using, deciding what to put in storage, and what needed to be readily available. Thus far, I have been able to sustain the organization we set up for my kitchen, an area that always seemed to be cluttered in my previous home. I will be continuing to work with Ms. Ash to work through the other areas of my home.

The first session was very scary. I almost backed out because I didn't want anyone to see all my junk. Thank goodness I didn't cancel, because I've never regretted it.

It was awesome! Great working with Janice.

She is very flexible with hours, working around our schedule- evenings, weekends, etc. A definite bonus! Great to work with and very helpful!