Frequently Asked Questions

Kat owner of Fresh Edit Professional organizing sorting LEGOs by color

A professional organizer does more than make your pantry look pretty or find matching bins for your closet.
I help you sort through what you own, make decisions about what stays, and create practical systems for what remains. Sometimes that means tackling years of accumulated belongings. Sometimes it means figuring out why the same space keeps becoming a mess no matter how often you clean it up.
We work together, because I want you to understand how your home is organized and be able to maintain it without me.
The goal isn't a home that never gets messy. It's a home you know how to put back together.
A house cleaner cleans your home. A professional organizer helps you figure out what belongs in it, where it should go, and how to keep it manageable.
I help clients sort through belongings, make decisions about what to keep, and create organizing systems that work for their households. A cleaner might leave your kitchen spotless, but if you still can't find the lid to your favorite saucepan, that's where I come in.
Both services are valuable. They just solve different problems.
I’m a decluttering specialist first. Organizing things you don’t need, use, or even remember owning just gives you better-organized clutter.
I work alongside my clients to make decisions about what stays before we start finding homes for everything. Then we build simple systems around what’s left, based on how you and your family actually use your home.
I’m also not interested in creating a system that only works while I’m standing there. Your home will get messy again. The goal is for you to know what you own, where it belongs, and how to put your home back together without needing to hire an organizer every time life gets busy.
We’ll start with a category that feels relatively easy for you. The KonMari® Method traditionally begins with clothing because making decisions about less sentimental belongings helps you build confidence before tackling harder categories. But clothing isn’t emotionally neutral for everyone, so I don’t follow that rule blindly.
We might start with office supplies, expired cosmetics, kitchen tools, or something else you can evaluate without agonizing over every item. Decluttering gets easier with practice. I’d rather build your confidence before we open the box of baby clothes you haven’t looked at in ten years.
Fresh Edit offers individual sessions at $90 per hour, or $80 per hour when you purchase a package of hours.
You're paying for more than an extra pair of hands. I bring professional training, experience, and a fresh perspective to the decisions and spaces that have been giving you trouble. We'll work through what you own, create systems that make sense for your household, and build the skills to keep things manageable long after our sessions are over.
Every project is different, and you decide how much time and money to invest. We'll discuss your priorities during your consultation and make a plan that fits your needs and budget.
We’ll get to know each other! I’ll take a look at your space, hear what’s frustrating you, and talk through what you’d like to change. We’ll discuss where to start, what working together might look like, and make sure we’re a good fit.
Decluttering involves a lot of quality time together, so I want you to feel comfortable with me in your home.
There is no need to tidy up before we meet - I want to see how you live day to day, not how your home appears when you know you’re having company.
If we’re working on clothing, make sure all your laundry is clean. No need to fold it or put it away. We need to be able to see everything you own so we can evaluate it all at once.
If it’s a kitchen session, do your regular shopping so we are assessing a typical stocked pantry.
When finding a home for every item, we need to have every item.

Absolutely. But I don’t recommend buying anything until we’re finished decluttering. How can you know what storage you need if you don’t know what you’re storing?
Once we know what’s staying, we can see whether you actually need anything. Sometimes the storage you already own works perfectly. Sometimes the right bin, basket, drawer divider, or other product makes a spaces easier to use and maintain. If we need something, I can source it for you.
No. I will never make you get rid of something you want to keep. There is no perfect home with a perfect number of spatulas.
That said, going through everything almost always turns up things you’re ready to let go of. We’ll find expired food, damaged clothing, duplicates you didn’t know you owned, and things you simply don’t want anymore.
My job is to help you make those decisions, not make them for you. If something has earned a place in your home, we’ll find a place for it.
I’ll take up to one carload of donations after each session to a nearby donation center. If you have a specific charity or organization you’d prefer to support, you’re welcome to handle those donations yourself.
Trash and other disposal are your responsibility.
For parts of the process, absolutely. But I can’t decide what you want to keep.
Decluttering requires your participation because the decisions are yours. Once those decisions are made, there are plenty of things I can handle independently, like organizing what’s staying, checking expiration dates, setting up systems, or putting a space back together.
You don’t need to stand beside me every minute, but I do need you available when there are decisions to be made.
Sessions are between 3 and 6 hours, depending on your project and schedule. We’ll decide what we’re tackling that day and work through it together.
If we only have three hours, but have started a larger project, we will reset the space before our session ends. I’m not going to dump your entire closet on the bed and leave you with chaos when the clock runs out.
That depends on how much we're tackling, how much you own, and how quickly you're comfortable making decisions.
A single closet or pantry might take one session. A whole-home project could take several visits spread over weeks or months. Decluttering usually takes the most time because we're making decisions about what stays before organizing what's left.
We don't have to tackle everything at once. We'll prioritize the spaces that matter most to you and work at a pace that makes sense for your schedule and budget.