Less Is More

Coaching you online to be clutter free

Home: Welcome

My Own Decluttering Journey

The Early Years

Having lived in eighteen different houses (six in three foreign countries), I have plenty of experience of organising, packing and setting up home. We acquired things along the way and ended up moving far more stuff than we really needed, from country to country, before returning to the UK.

Sadly, in 2015 both my parents passed away and my sisters and I had the difficult task of clearing the family home of thirty years.

I felt I wanted to give a home to as much of their furniture and carefully chosen household items as possible, as a result, our own house became even more cluttered! This presented my husband and I with a bit of a dilemma, because much as we appreciate good quality furniture and items that hold fond memories, we have a strong sense of our own style and are fans of quite a pared down, Scandinavian look. I'm also very keen on order and tidiness around the house!

There was clearly a mismatch to be reconciled and so began my personal decluttering journey.

Fast forward three years, by 2018 we'd given away, donated, sold, refurbished and repurposed both our own and items inherited from my parents; and at the same time reclaimed space and re organised our house.

I discovered I loved the whole process! So much so, that I found myself constantly talking to my friends about decluttering and passing on my enthusiasm for living in a pared down space, surrounded only by the things I love.

I started to help my friends with their decluttering projects and realised that I had found my vocation, Less Is More - Decluttering & Organising was born!

More Recent Developments

By 2022 I had worked with many lovely clients on decluttering and re organising hundreds of rooms and staging rooms for optimal house sale photographs. Much of this work had been "in person", working alongside my clients in their homes, but back in mid 2019, I had started to guide some of my clients through their projects online. This came about as people who were not local to me started to ask if I would be willing to work with them, but of course it proved to be a fortuitous step once the pandemic struck! It meant that at this time I was already used to working with my clients online and we had already achieved fantastic results, equally as good as when I was there in person.

I mentioned 2022 because it proved to be a year of dramatic change for my family. Faced with the prospect of becoming empty nesters as our daughter was due to start university, we decided to change our nest and embark on a downsizing project.

This entailed a whole new layer of decluttering for us as we decided to move from a four bedroomed house to a much duplex apartment in a new city.

At first I imagined that I would continue to work both with clients in person in our new location and online anywhere in the world, until I had my light bulb moment, realising that our move represented the perfect opportunity for me to develop online working, in ways that I just hadn't had time for up to that point.

By the end of 2023 I had added to the range of online services I am able to offer, including the successful first running of my online group decluttering and organising course, Transformation to Tidy, Together.

Please click HERE for more information on the services I offer and please get in touch if you would like to fix up a no obligation chat with me, about your project.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Home: About

Why choose me?

I believe that a living space should be uncluttered and organised, but that you should surround yourself with objects that are meaningful to you.
Your home environment should be comfortable rather than stark.

It's not about depriving yourself, more about reaching a level of possessions that you are comfortable with.
I like to hold on to memories, but I'm interested in exploring the best ways to do that; using the best techniques available today, be that restoring, reframing or repurposing.
I firmly believe that decluttering is a journey not a destination.

It may start with a defined decluttering project, but it is also about adopting a new way of thinking about our possessions and the organisation of our living space on an ongoing basis.

Decluttering & Organising - Online Sessions

Whole house or single room
Bedroom & Wardrobe
Kitchen, Pantry & Utility Room
Re purposing a room
Preparing for a move or downsizing
Preparing a property for sale (including home staging)
In sickness or old age
Preparing to share your house with others (including new baby arrival)
Paperwork, printed photos & memorabilia
Maintaining the decluttered house
Preparing your house for Christmas

Home: Services

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Sam, Fulham

Jo is amazing. She has changed my life!

I now have a totally calm house and can account for every single item and where it is.

Jo is an incredibly calm, inspiring, organised and creative person. She came up with some brilliant ideas and meticulously guided me through all the many decisions.

Suzanne, Emmer Green

(My Eyes on Your Room)

Jo's services were invaluable. Wanting to sell our home I approached Jo to help me make it more appealing. Jo had done extensive prep for our video call and we quickly worked through her recommendations.

Jo has an amazing eye for detail and style. She works with what you've got already rather than asking you to go buy more things. I was amazed by the difference her input made.

Helen, Sheffield

(Transformation, to Tidy, Together)

This is a great course for anyone feeling, as I was, overwhelmed by the amount of stuff in their house.

There were practical tips, psychological insights, bags of encouragement and good ideas for finding new homes for unwanted items.

I'm now well on my way to having a different attitude to my possessions and a much tidier home. Jo was very knowledgeable and understanding and made the Zoom sessions fun and interesting.

An unexpected bonus was getting to know my fellow attendees - a group of really lovely, encouraging, non-judgemental folk. 10/10

Heike, Cox Green

Transformation to Tidy, Together

I’ve just finished Jo’s course - and absolutely loved it.

Having a group of people that are in the same boat and taking this journey together has been wonderful and eye opening and super encouraging.

I’ve had several lightbulb moments during the course and it’s set me on the path for a clutter free home.

I can highly recommend the course. It is SOOO helpful!

Clare, Maidenhead

What a superb service Jo offers!

Jo works really hard to help sort out messes you thought couldn't be tackled. She is a hard taskmaster, but still shows empathy and sensitivity when unexpected items come to light.

Michelle,
Blogger Fifty & Fab

Jo is so calm and reassuring and has really supported me to declutter my son's room which was long overdue for a sort out.

I honestly would never have achieved so much without her help - she kept me focused on the task - definitely worth every penny.

How does Online 1:1Decluttering & Organising Work?

A little bit of pre work - I'll ask you a series of questions in order to help us both understand what you'd like to achieve in the room or rooms that we're going to be working on

Show me your room - next I'll invite you to send through photos of your room in advance of our first online session. I'll then make detailed notes on your photos ready for our first call

Initial session - during the call we'll talk about what you would like to achieve and make a step by step for tackling your project. We'll cover process, fresh ideas and timeframes. Detailed notes will be sent to you at the end of each session.

Keeping in touch - Between calls we'll keep in touch via What's App.