Marie called me when she decided she couldn’t continue living as she was living and needed help.

There were times, she said, when returning home from work she’d sat outside, in her car, for almost an hour dreading the thought of walking through the front door.

Marie had lived in her home for 40 years, had renovated it in the past few years, but had never got on top of her clutter.

Having tried and failed to declutter on her own she was having a crisis of confidence that change was even possible – I was able to reassure her that it was.

Every home has a ‘trash’ and ‘teasure’ and Marie’s was no different.

It didn’t take us long to work out that her professional life as an administrator meant that Marie kept and filed ALL her paperwork.

Payslips, bank statements, defunct policies, shopping receipts, postcards and photos going back decades were filling filing cabinets. While long forgotten training course materials and redundant paperwork filled boxes, all of it taking-up vaulable storage space.

We decided to start with a paper declutter to free-up storage space for the ‘treasure’. In the process we found Marie’s Will, important legal documents and correspendence from her mum who had recently died – these we consolidated into clearly marked files.

The paperwork declutter was a huge success and Marie could see that change was possible.

Going through the process and having the help to get the job done meant she was able to experience the benefits that clearing your clutter brings.

After decluttering the filing cabinets and boxes of paperwork we moved on to the living room, spare bedroom, kitchen and laundry. It took four sessions to clear forty year’s worth of clutter from Marie’s home, re-organising cupboards and drawers as we went.

Last, but not least, was the creation of function and flow together with ‘beauty spots’ in Marie’s home. Treasured items are now on display, the living area is a place to relax and the kitchen and laundry are ‘tip top.’

Marie now loves her ‘new home’ of forty years!