Do I need a professional organizer?
Many people try to get organized on their own; sometimes they can accomplish this themselves or with a friend or family members’ help, but often it’s too overwhelming without professional support. A professional organizer can help you stay focused, motivated, and keep your energy up throughout the entire project, whether it’s one room or the entire house. We never judge or shame our clients and we work together to help you make decisions. On top of helping our clients during our sessions, we offer guidance on things to do to keep the project going on their own time and we always suggest ways to maintain the new organizational systems we help put in place. With help from The Little Details, we can achieve your organizing goals together and have fun while doing it!
Do you organize my space for me or do we work together?
It’s important for you to be present and participate during our sessions. We suggest having proper childcare arranged ahead of time so that you can focus and get the most out of our time together. Once we get to know our clients we can work on your space without you.
We want your participation for a number of reasons:
1. We need to learn about you; what you like, what you don’t like, what’s important to you and what’s considered junk so that we can help navigate your space better.
2. We want you to be part of the project so that you feel the satisfaction at the end of each session.
3. It’s important for you to know what decisions are being made and where things are in your space.
What happens once I realize I need help?
The Little Details is here to help tackle your organizing project with you.
If you’re interested in working with The Little Details, we will schedule an initial phone consultation to introduce ourselves and discuss your organizing needs, our services, and pricing options. Next, we will schedule an on-site needs assessment where we walk through the entire space together to get the lay of the land. During this appointment we assess the various needs of your space, ask you questions about the systems you may have in place currently and create a plan to start the project. Once package pricing is discussed and purchased, we schedule our sessions for times that work with your availability. Don’t worry about getting any supplies – we come fully prepared for each organizing session. If specific products are needed to complete the organizing project, we will make recommendations and can assist by shopping for you or provide a list of exactly what to purchase.
How often will we meet for an organizing session?
Most of our clients book packages with us, which will give you several sessions to work on a project. Depending on the nature of the project we might work with you once a day for 3-5 days in a row, once a week for 5-10 weeks in a row, or once a month throughout the year. When a project is “done” we check in with you to see if you need any follow up maintenance or additional services. Often we start working with a client to help them organize a specific space in their home or office and then by the second or third session we’ve decided together to branch out into other areas of the home. There’s always more that can be done!
Is the goal to get rid of all my stuff?
We don’t force our clients to get rid of their things. We often suggest consigning, donating, recycling, or throwing away things that you don’t use, need or want anymore, but it’s a decision that is made by YOU. We are there to help you make those decisions, but never to make you feel like you have to get rid of your things.
What areas do you serve?
The Little Details is located in Cambridge, MA and we service the Greater Boston area including the Cape and Islands. Please don’t hesitate to contact us to see if your location is within our service area or we can refer you to someone that is in your area.
Do you share what we do during our sessions with anyone else?
The Little Details takes client confidentiality very seriously. We will not be sharing any information that we learn about you with anyone else. We take photos of each space that we organize for our own records, research, and quality control. Sometimes we ask permission to use photos on our website and social media platforms but we have agreements that must be reviewed and signed by our clients before we share any images. We promise to keep your sessions and personal details confidential.
How much does it cost to work with you?
Hiring a professional organizer is an investment. It’s an investment in your space, your time, and your quality of life. We work with clients with various budgets by offering organizing packages to fit your specific needs. We charge by the session, which is 4 hours of organizing time. For more information about our services and packages, please contact us directly. We accept checks, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express.
What if I know someone who could use an organizer’s help?
The Little Details is happy to schedule an initial phone consultation to discuss someone you know that could use our help. We require a phone call with the potential client prior to scheduling any organizing sessions. We also offer gift cards that you can purchase for a one or two hour consultation or for a number of organizing hours.
Should I go out and buy organizing bins, boxes and containers before our session?
We strongly suggest NOT buying products before you start an organizing project. We use the acronym SPACE when working with our clients. Sort, Purge, Assign, Containerize, Equalize. We always start by Sorting through the area we’re focusing on – creating different piles of categories to differentiate what belongs in this space and what needs to find a new home. Then we start the Purging phase – asking our clients to decide what’s trash, recycling, and what can be donated. Next is Assigning items a home – basically deciding what goes where. Then comes Containerize – this is when you can search for and find the bin, box, container, or storage solution for your space. Equalize is the last (but not least) step in this process – finding balance in the space and making sure you’re using the space and containers to their full potential.
How did you learn to organize?
We are all members of NAPO and NAPO-New England. NAPO is the National Association of Professional Organizers and NAPO-New England is our local chapter. We all participate in regular online training programs, giving us the opportunity to learn more about the organizing industry, along with organizing philosophies and skills. Once a month we attend NAPO-NE chapter meetings in Boston and network with other organizers in the area. Every month a guest speaker attends and shares their experience and expertise on a specific topic, such as working with OCD, ADHD and hoarding disorder. Our team of organizers have always had a knack for organizing but most of us learned to be this way based out of necessity- we either grew up in a disorganized home or struggle with ADHD ourselves and had to find ways to cope.
How long does it take to organize my ________?
The answer is really simple – it depends on YOU! A lot of our work really depends on how fast our clients can make decisions. When sorting through paperwork and making decisions on what’s important to keep versus what can be recycled or shredded, some clients can go through a banker’s box full of paper in 15 minutes, while others might take 3 hours. Everyone has their own pace and their own process for making decisions. Once we know how quickly you make decisions we can give an educated guess on how long a specific project will take. We have found that a good starting point for estimating how long it will take to organize a moderately disorganized space is approximately eight hours per room.
Paper – This can often be one of the hardest items to get through with our clients. Most people will want to read the entire document and then take time to think about keeping it or not. Often, when working with paper organizing, we try and start by helping people get through large piles quickly by skimming the documents and categorizing them into piles (taxes, receipts, medical, bills, memorabilia). Once they are categorized it’s easier to look through and make decisions when you’re focusing on one category at a time.
Clothing – Most clients will want or need to try on clothing before making decisions on what to keep and this can take up a considerable amount of time. Just like with paper organizing, some clients can make decisions about the pile of 100 blouses in ten minutes, while others will take ten minutes on each shirt. A lot of our clients trust us to help them make decisions about what clothing to keep and what to donate as we declutter their wardrobe. We’re happy to help!
