When I'm not working with my decluttering and organising clients, I'm thinking about them. I'm thinking about what's going on in their lives; how they got on with that appointment they were nervous about, how their kids got on at their sports day, and how the birthday party on the weekend went. I think about them because I care, and also because I can't help it. When you spend a few hours working with a person in relatively close quarters, the chat often gets deep, fast. So I'm invested, and it means I get to know my clients really well.
So when I was coming up with how Clutter Collect would help people, and WHO would benefit from this service, I had the exact people in mind because I've met them (and their kids, their mum, and their friends, LOL. I honestly become part of the furniture). I'm going to tell you about each of those people in a series of blog posts - they're all real people, but I've changed their names for privacy reasons.
Case study 1: Sam and Pete, the busy, time-poor parents
Sam and Pete are in their 40s, with 3 gorgeous kids under 10. The kids play sports and have hobbies, and the parents love their gadgets. They've passed that love onto their children, so their home is also filled with engineering kit-sets (both made and "in-waiting"). Both Sam and Pete are very sentimental, and have mementos from their childhood, university days, and of course from when they started a family. Making the decision to let things go is not easy; Sam especially wants to make sure her beloved possessions (that have been with her through the most important moments in her life) will go to someone who will use and treasure them, as she has. There are no younger family members to pass things onto, and most of her friends have been-there-done-that with raising kids; this means there is no natural place for things to flow once Sam and Pete's kids have outgrown them.
The home is big, but not bursting at the seams so there is no urgency for them (which can be a blessing and a curse). I'd describe Sam and Pete as project-based declutterers - they tend to focus on a room at a time, and go in a big flurry of activity to make headway, then take a breather for a few weeks to re-group before starting again in a new room.
They have never gotten around to getting the unwanted things out of the home. The weekend comes, and between kids sports, errands, family time and projects around the house, there simply isn't time to make a trip to the charity shop. So the stuff hangs around the house in boxes and bags, and has often gotten mixed up with the stuff the family wants to keep.
Clutter Collect is perfect for Sam and Pete because it satisfies their needs on different levels:
- They are confident declutterers, but time-poor when it comes to moving things along. Having the stuff taken from their home for them would really help them steadily move closer to their goal of decluttering their home.
- They consistently work on their decluttering goals, so having Clutter Collect take the stuff away regularly would support their project-based approach to clearing the clutter.
- They really, really care about where their well-loved items go. They abhor the idea of working items being thrown into landfill, and would love to see their things - especially the kids' stuff - go to another family that will cherish them. Because Clutter Collect places collected items directly into the hands of people in the community, Sam and Pete can be confident that their things will go to the right place.
Sam, Pete and their gorgeous kids are doing everything right when it comes to decluttering their home. They're focused on their goals, they're regularly putting in the work, and they truly care about keeping working things out of landfill. Clutter Collect is the missing link for this busy family; they do the decluttering, and then we handle the rest so they can spend their precious time on what matters most.
