Frequently Asked Questions

Kat owner of Fresh Edit Professional organizing sorting LEGOs by color

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.
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.
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 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.

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.