Ellen is a wizard of clutter and how to organize it. She is a delightful lady and did an amazing job helping me organize closets, a utility room and clothing. I highly recommend Ellen to anyone caught in the maze of disorganized living space. – Wendy, Shelburne
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Ellen comes highly recommended. She helped me organize my living room and kitchen. I moved from a two-story house to a one-bedroom apartment and I was very overwhelmed about how to make my space less cluttered. Ellen did an excellent job helping me. It was the best money I ever spent. – Melodie, Williamstown
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My son and his family came to visit me for a weekend. For more than four years, my large dining room table was covered with mail, magazines, tax returns, etc. Being totally disorganized with ADHD, I was unable to wade through the mess and to get rid of it! With Ellen orchestrating and helping me, after more than a year, the table was empty. My son, who also suffers with ADHD, was stunned: “How could anyone have cleared this table?” – Judy, Hinesburg
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Sometimes, people contact De-clutter Me! to provide gifts for loved ones. They have included several for the holidays, a birthday, Father’s Day, and another one currently in the works for Valentine’s Day. Recently, a client gave her husband two gift certificates. Here’s what he shared about our work in their home office.
As I unearthed and dealt with the piles, I mightily appreciated Ellen’s sense of humor. – Alex, Montpelier
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Ellen helped me finally approach a pantry that needed some organization. I was dreading this task and Ellen made great sense of my “junk” and helped create a more workable space. She’s fun to work with, and I refer to her as my cleaning “trainer,” as this would never have been done without her guidance. – Tara, Burlington
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Thank you, Ellen, for organizing my work truck today. I now have a better sense as to what materials I have in the truck and use regularly. I know I will be able to work more efficiently and not be as frustrated with getting things in and out of the truck bins. You have a great eye for seeing what I couldn’t see with my arrangement. – David, North Ferrisburgh
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The thing about Ellen’s decluttering talents is that when it’s done, you look at your home and you think, “I really do live in this amazing home, where everything is so clean, neat, and well-organized!” Which, of course, was not the case BEFORE Ellen started decluttering. :-(Ellen’s arrival signaled that the procrastinator’s motto, “Never put off today what you can put off tomorrow,” had expired. It was time! Change would happen NOW!
I hate giving things away or throwing things out. I figure you never know when you might need something, so it’s better to keep it. Ellen was gentle with me. She intuited that I could not be pushed or forced. She was so gentle with me, that I deaccessioned stuff without feeling any pain. (The glass of wine helped with that, too.) 🙂
Each change was small, but a lot of incremental changes add up to something significant, and it was a real pleasure watching my home get better every minute Ellen was here.
Ellen doesn’t just change the house – she changes YOU by giving you tools and tips and techniques for how to stay decluttered. No one is perfect, and no one perfectly continues the decluttering, so it’s just a matter of time before I call Ellen and ask for another session. I’m already looking forward to it! – Robert, Lexington, MA
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My husband Jim and I are so happy we found Ellen. We’ve been struggling for years within our cluttered home, trying to find our way out of the mess, even with the help of well meaning friends. As mild and moderate brain injury survivors, bringing order and organization into our home seemed too difficult for us to achieve even with unskilled help. Working with our ‘mess’ was just plain torture. However, with Ellen’s expertise and regular assistance, we are slowly turning our home into the sanctuary/ healing space I’ve always dreamed of. We have even requested homework and do the assignments with joyful anticipation of what the results will be! And the energy that comes back to us from looking at the beauty, order and organization we’ve created in our home so far gives us such happy energy. We are motivated to maintain the newly created order because of the positive boost we get out of it. Our home is being transformed into a beautiful healing space with Ellen’s extremely skillful approach and lovely, supportive personality. She really knows her stuff. We are forever grateful and recommend her without hesitation! – Jennifer, Bristol
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I knew this project would never get done without Ellen’s help. She is a catalyst for me — once I contacted her about helping me and set a date, I started to prepare for her visit so we would maximize the time. The “before” photo shows the start. [See Success Stories page, Bedroom entry posted on November 21.] That was the point where I didn’t know what to do next. Ellen just dived [dove?] into a pile of clothes and started to sort. She’s energetic, systematic, and supportive. She helped me decide which “special” items would be beneficial to keep, and which ones I could pass on to someone else to enjoy. And we had fun in the process! My enthusiasm carried over to finish the job of creating two livable guest rooms! – Natalie, Stowe
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I worked with Ellen Gurwitz for two Saturdays. Under her guidance and logical approach, we turned my depressing basement from Clutter and Grunginess into Order and Cleanliness. It is nothing short of a miracle. Now I take all my friends down to see my basement!
For 29 years, everything that didn’t have a home found a home in the basement, along with drifts of dust and cobwebs. Now only those things that I want and need have a place in the basement. I feel that a breath of fresh air has entered my spirit. – Ann, Shelburne
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It’s easy to think: “I should be able to do this (organizing of my stuff) myself.” I felt the same – and, of course, most of the women I know keep up with their clutter. But it’s also easy to get overwhelmed by too much to do.
I got overloaded when I tried to absorb the fallout from two dear seniors needing to downsize – and I was the ‘lucky’ recipient of many an item.
It could be anything; if you have trouble knowing where to begin, or it just seems the time you have is never quite sufficient, go ahead and book a chunk of time. I didn’t mind saying: “I just have to throw some money at this, in order to get started. It doesn’t mean I can’t keep going, on my own. It just means I needed Ellen to come to my door and say: “OK! The time is now!” It was time and money well spent.
We spend money to increase our serenity in all kinds of good ways. Hiring a professional organizer to get the ball rolling is one of them. Ellen will help formulate the questions that are already there in your head; all you have to do is answer them and take action, as she pitches in alongside you. It feels great.
And believe me, you are safe in saying, “I bet she’s seen worse!” She’s seen…mine! – Grace, Winooski
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Ellen came in and helped me implement a creative organizational system in my closet that really works and required me to spend 0 dollars. She also helped me get rid of things I don’t need, and to put things I do need in convenient, easily accessible places. These ‘things’ in our lives all hold energy. Through working with Ellen I’ve been able to clear out ‘stuck’ energy and make space to attract new and exciting relationships and things into my life. I believe our external environments are representations of our inner worlds. Everything we take in through all of our senses (eyes, ears, etc.) affects what we put out. In achieving a fun, peaceful space to lay my head I’ve finally reaped a certain peace of mind for which I am so very grateful! – Amelia, Montpelier
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Had tucked away Ellen’s contact information for quite some time and finally made it a goal to have her come and help me before summer ended. Ellen helped me to tackle several areas I had been avoiding for a long time. I think of her as a “catalyst” – she helped me create change and work on my laundry area, linen closet and home office to create more spacious, organized living spaces. Even though I am fairly organized the stuff of life gets the better of all of us! I highly recommend working with Ellen. I found her to be personable, motivating and able to be sensitive to the challenges we all face in keeping up with the chaos that seems to constantly need taming! – Suzanne, Charlotte
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Ellen just left and I feel so calm. My space is so organized. Love the energy she brought and working together. Highly recommend her. – Lori, Colchester
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January always puts me in a start-over mood so I hired Ellen Gurwitz to help with my personal Everest, my closet. In less than three hours we sorted through shoes, belts, old clothes, too small clothes, my work wardrobe, never-should-have-bought-in-the-first-place stuff. The best things went off to resale shops. Ellen’s business is called De-clutter Me! She has a web page. She is nonjudgmental, energetic and sensible, and I highly recommend her. She also does files, studies, offices, small spaces, move-in/move-out, etc. – Joan, Charlotte
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Ellen is fast and efficient when it comes to her decluttering services, and also brings a positive energy and great sense of humor to the job! She is ready and willing to take on any task – no matter how large or small – and has a way of making the customer feel comfortable, and the task at hand seem less daunting. In just over an hour, Ellen was able to completely transform our cluttered supply closet which was full of years and years of clutter. We were amazed by how she was able to quickly consolidate our belongings and create so much extra space. Where we once were barely able to walk, we can now easily access whatever we need! We highly recommend Ellen’s services. – Allison, Burlington Emergency Shelter
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Ellen took my kitchen pantry from a chaotic mess to an organized work of art which is now a “joy to my eyes.” Before she came, I dreaded even retrieving something from it as I had no idea if I had what I was looking for or, if I did, where it was hidden. She came in, assessed the “situation” and immediately expressed her ideas. Yet, her goal was also to listen to how I used the items and what would make most sense to me in terms of arrangement. This communication is so necessary and she has it down. When we hit a stumbling block, she would say “Talk to me.” That works!! And, of extreme importance, we found a gallon of water which was slowly leaking and starting to damage the floor. I am so glad that I did not wait any longer to do this. This type of thing could happen any time that clutter “hides” behind other clutter. I love it now when I open the door and there is nothing on the floor and even large spaces of empty shelf showing. I had tuna for lunch today as I honestly did not know I had so many cans :). Thank you, Ellen. My next project is the Laundry Room and I can hardly wait to achieve the same goals there. Don’t wait…De Cluttering your house also “de-clutters” your mind. – Lell, Charlotte
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On two occasions we hired Ellen Gurwitz of De-clutter Me! The first case was of a room totally out of control: both in terms of more “stuff” (the word “stuff” being used properly here) than the room could handle, and the stuff in the room having no organizational arrangements. The second case was a living room – with large numbers of books, CDs, and LPs (yes, those vinyl disks with the hole in the center) – having no free horizontal surfaces, and many of the items we wanted were either too high up, hidden behind furniture, or lost in the crowd. We are not hoarders; we are people who had passed points of keeping an area under control and allowed chaos to reign. In each case, Ellen asked what the results should be, then quickly and professionally worked with us to triage and reorganize the areas. No time and no labor were wasted on unnecessary procedures; she (and we) quickly went to work and finished with areas clean, organized, and usable for their intended purposes. And she provided chocolate kisses for a break. I am now typing this testimonial on a desk that had previously been unusable (first case). Thank you, Ellen. – Roger, Underhill
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Ellen has been a tremendous help in getting our house ready to sell. As we worked on closets, she was sensitive to my wanting to keep certain items, by asking direct questions that enabled me to make the decision about what to save or throw away. She then helped us to improve our home’s “curb appeal.” A multi-talented woman, she pruned, weeded, and cleaned up our property. She is a hard worker, true to her word, and has a delightful sense of humor! – Cindy, Milton
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This spring I was suddenly “going green” in a big way ~ that is, going over the top with greenery! You know how gardening can come in a big rush. I had bought soil and supplies, plus many plants to go into multiple containers as well as the ground. But after several days went by with little happening — I’d strained my back and then the rains poured down as well — the process was going slowly and it had to get done. And there were all the usual little decisions — which plant would go where? Ellen energetically helped me organize the plant choices and get them planted. She kept goals in mind and used time well. And I enjoyed working with her on this, exchanging ideas, putting tools and pots in order. When I was ready to stop on a given day (too soon!), she kept going and motivated me to keep my energy up, too. Having quick and pleasing results was especially satisfying. I’m happy to recommend Ellen, especially for her good ideas, energy, and pleasant persistence in moving work along. – Karen, South Burlington
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I recently had the pleasure of working with Ellen Gurwitz to help organize and de-clutter my home. Her suggestions were excellent, and included very practical and creative solutions (an over-doorway shelf in the kitchen to clear a counter of cookbooks, for instance). We went room to room, and I found just having the company and her generous sense of humor added an entirely unexpected element of lightness to something so dreaded. It seemed that much easier to get rid of things I didn’t even know were bothering me (an ancient VCR player hidden away in a cabinet that was sending a subtle electric hum into the room), and find methods to tackle big projects in small and manageable ways. I highly recommend Ellen. – Patricia, Shelburne
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Ellen puts her heart into her work! She has a knack for deciphering the unnecessary but sentimental from junk that needs to be thrown out. Her feedback is honest but considerate. One of the things I appreciated most about Ellen was the way she kept coming up with aesthetically pleasing and spatially frugal ways of containing the belongings that remained. I also liked the way, after a purge, she focused much of the advice on savvy re-arrangements of things I already own. Ellen is economically minded, highly creative, flexible, and a joy to work with. She will definitely be asked back for any future projects. – Elisabeth, Shelburne
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Thanks to you, I found myself where all the clutter had been. It is a feeling of great emancipation to function as I should have in my study for several years. – Dick, Charlotte
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De-clutter Me! serves Burlington, Vermont, and surrounding areas.
Call or email Ellen today!
802.598.3639 or ellen@decluttermevt.com
or find us on Facebook!