FAQs | Align Home Organizing | Salt Spring Island, BC

Frequently Asked Questions

When Hiring a Professional Organizer on Salt Spring Island

How long is your initial consultation?

Align extends a free one-hour in-home consultation, which serves as an informal tour of your home and an opportunity for us to meet one another. This peek into your world helps us determine your organizing needs and priorities, and give you a time estimate.

Do I have to be there when you’re working?

We often work for clients when they’re at work or away. There is much we do on our own, however it is essential that you are available for stretches of purging. Beyond decision-making, your level of involvement is up to you. Some questions can be answered via phone, text or video conversation. Once we assess your space in the consultation, we’ll choose the best scenario together.

What happens to items we no longer want?

We do our best to keep items out of landfill so we distribute your no longer wanted items in good condition between donation and recycling. If applicable, we can also help with online marketplace sales and set up furniture and clothing consignment accounts for you.

Do you haul away junk?

Yes, we partner with a local junk removal company.

How long will it take to get our home organized?

Project timelines vary, with some completed in 3 to 5 days and others unfolding over several months. Factors that contribute to project length include the size of the space, how much stuff you have, your readiness for decision-making, and your expectations on depth of organizing.

Do you provide storage items?

We take the guesswork out of finding perfect storage items by doing the shopping for you. We deliver bins, baskets, hangers, shoe racks, and storage solutions for your specific needs. We note your current organizing solutions and determine what we can reuse or repurpose from items you already have before buying new. We do not purchase furniture pieces but can help with suggestions.

What areas of the home do you organize?

Align can organize every single space in your house, from whole home projects to smaller cluttered areas. This includes garages, sheds and offsite storage units. We'll organize inside your refrigerator, purse, and vehicle if you ask us to! We also organize for small businesses, organizations, offices, and larger commercial spaces too.

Do you work alone or with others?

Align offers one skilled professional or a dynamic team of two. We’ll decide together in your consultation how many organizers make the most sense for your project. Some projects require only one organizer, while a team in a larger space benefits from more work done in less time with well-rounded expertise and the flawless ability to tackle complicated tasks.

Do you have confidentiality agreements?

Yes. We will happily provide you with one upon request.

Do you provide moving services, such as packing and unpacking?

We help with pre-move decluttering to ensure the only things you’re taking with you are the things you really want, although we don't provide packing services prior to your move. We're happy to show up the day the truck arrives to unpack and put things away - getting you organized right from the start.

What forms of payment do you accept?

We accept e-transfer, cheque or cash.

Do you offer gift certificates?

It's very important that the person receiving home organizing is READY to tackle their project and is WANTING to invite a Professional Organizer into their home to go through their belongings. It is an intimate experience to invite a stranger into our homes to see inside our every door and drawer, so depending on our unique beliefs and personal history, it can be a big step to take. Anyone hiring an organizer will want to feel fully supported, seen and heard. If your giftee is a yes for hiring an organizer, we will require them to schedule time and space into their calendar to work alongside us for stretches of purging. Beyond decision-making, their level of involvement is up to them.

If hiring a home organizer is something they are eager to do, reach out to request a printable e-card for a complimentary consultation (we offer a free in-home consult to all new clients) with a field for you to write in an amount of hours, or dollars, that you'd like to cover for their project. When it comes time for us to invoice, we'll bill you directly for the portion you'd like to gift.

Why choose Align?

I am a strategic, process-oriented systems thinker who is informed by nervous system states and the psychology of relating to our spaces and belongings. I'm attentive, non-judgemental, and after 20 years - I've seen it all. I've learned the dynamics at play within relationships that contribute to maintaining order and peace, and how to apply the 5 organizing brain types to set up collective spaces that work. I'm attuned to the "shoulds" we can place on ourselves to do it all alone, and believe that reaching out for help is worth celebrating. After working with me, you'll have a new perspective on how to approach organizing. "What would Paula do?" is something my clients say when faced with an organizing decision, days and months after I'm gone.

Professional Organizers are most like "therapists in disguise." We support people through big life transitions such as preparing for a new baby, the death of a loved one, a career change, divorce or relationship status change, becoming an empty-nester and more.

Housecleaning is very different from home organizing, and cleaners who add decluttering to their services at low rates may not have the training or experience to properly set clients up for success, which can leave homeowners and families without the support they need.

In summary, my method tackles your space in a thorough and focused manner, so you gain clarity in decision-making, customized solutions that fit you and your family, and tangible new habits to maintain order into the future.

How soon can I get started?

Contact Align