Simon, Catherine and their Council

Simon and Catherine had known Clare for 3 years after attending a one day workshop before calling her in for help.

‘We loved the workshop’ said Simon. ‘It all made sense and we came away with high hopes – but we just struggled with making the time to turn it into practice and, of course, the longer we left it to make the time, the harder it became to turn it into action’.

Not uncommon at all.

Thankfully Simon and Catherine didn’t decide to give up and, having applied to their local council to have help (knowing that it can help councils increase recycling rates, reduce landfill and improve the health and well being of their residents), they got a grant to get Clare in to help them for 2 days.

It’s not uncommon for councils and care support services to provide help with cleaning, but as Simon and Catherine had discovered, they couldn’t do any cleaning until they had de-cluttered, and whenever the council sent around a cleaning service, the cleaners had left because they said they couldn’t clean because of the clutter. Thankfully they had a forward thinking council who could see that they needed help to de-clutter and were willing to financially support that help.

After talking further to Simon and Catherine on the telephone, Clare established that the clutter was at the 25 – 50% level – all over the surfaces, on the floor at to at least knee height.

They also had a significant amount of paperwork clutter, so the bulk shredding service that we can provide clients was going to an important element of the help and support provided.

2 days of help in their home was booked and Clare travelled to their home.

Simon and Catherine found that the preparation stage was of huge value to them.

‘We’d never thought about how life would be without the clutter’ said Catherine. ‘All our friends and family just know us as the ‘clutterers’ and I’d never imagined we’d be anything other than that. It was hard to think of life without the clutter, but with Clare’s help we got a wonderful vision of a clutter free home’.

After the hour of preparation (which is free), Simon, Catherine and Clare moved onto the ‘doing’ which started with choosing the Clutter Clearing Category Cards.

‘It was hard to think about what was actually in the clutter to be able to decide on our 7 categories’ said Simon. ‘When we’d done weekend blitz’s it’d always been a ruthless approach – keep, chuck, charity. And as Clare says, being ruthless always leads to regret – and don’t we know it! It was wonderful to be allowed to give ourselves permission to be ‘not sure’. I never imagined I could be ‘not sure’ and still succeed with my de-cluttering.’

By the end of the first day, Catherine had de-cluttered the entire lounge, and Simon had de-cluttered the entire 3 draw filing cabinet. 2 sacks of paperwork were in the car for bulk shredding, and the rest of the car was full of charity donations.

Simon and Catherine were on a roll!

Day 2 produced even more significant results. The rest overnight and the different process and way of thinking about the de-cluttering and home meant that when Clare arrived on day 2 Simon and Catherine were brimming with ideas. They’d even changed the layout of the furniture in the lounge so that they could see and feel an even more significant change.

They also clearly defined homes for incoming post which has significantly reduced the clutter accumulation problem that they had.

‘We moved the furniture so we couldn’t picture it cluttered’ said Simon. ‘We’ve never known the room cluttered with the furniture this way round, and we don’t intend to ever know it cluttered this way round!’

It was wonderful to see Simon and Catherine not only work with the process, but embrace it wholeheartedly.

6 months on they’re still clutter free and more organised..

‘We only need to tidy up which takes 5 minutes, and the kids know where their post is when they are looking for it because it has a clearly defined home. And, although life has been hectic in the last 6 months we’re continuing with the last few bits that need de-cluttering. Life getting in the way doesn’t worry us any more because we know exactly what to do to de-clutter when we can make the time. It’s liberating!’