Our Mission
As you embrace a new life chapter we partner with you to provide respectful, kind, supportive and
bespoke
services in all phases of the decluttering to downsize and relocation journey.
What Do We Do?
Caring and understanding is at the heart of Decluttering Solutions, offering assistance and a new
perspective for those in need. Jennifer and her team work with you to develop a plan and strategies for
achieving your goals in a timely and efficient manner. Our decluttering services include relocation
management, support during sale of your current home, deceased estate, and downsizing.
Meet Jennifer
( Organising Professional )
My name is Jennifer Manefield and I’ve been an Organising Professional for over 10 years.
I specialise in assisting you with your decluttering and organisational projects during major life
moments like retirement and downsizing.
Especially when sorting through a lifetime of memories and possessions seems an
overwhelming hurdle that stops you living your best life.
I am an Expert Accredited member of the IOPO.
Our Services
Preparing for the next stage of your life? Downsizing for retirement to reduce your workload and streamline your life? With a home full of memories, possessions, and treasured items, decluttering can seem like an impossible task. Where do you begin?
One of the most challenging times you can face is having to clear out the home of someone you loved. The challenges are many and no two homes or situations are the same.
Personal possessions and home contents often overflow and go to one of two places. Either the garage, or off-site storage.
Is the clutter and disorder of areas of your home impacting you living life in a happy and productive way? When decluttering and organising can seem like an impossible task, where do you begin? Offering decluttering services in Sydney and beyond, take the first step with the experienced and friendly team at Decluttering Solutions.
There can be a variety of decluttering and organising situations that can be deemed more complex. The NDIS, the Aged Care sector, workplace injury claims, to name a few. Especially if there are multiple stakeholders involved.
The Decluttering Experts in Sydney
Declutter Your Life
Over a life well lived, our homes can become filled with memories, treasured items, and furniture
which can
take up both mental and physical space.
Whether sentimental possessions, useful supplies, or items you may be able to fix, the home can
quickly
transform from a relaxing space to a cluttered one.
No matter what stage you are on in your journey, Decluttering Solutions are here to offer professional
support, understanding, and hands-on organisation.
Who Are We?
Decluttering Solutions was started in 2014 to provide compassionate and effective organisation and
downsizing services for residences. Run by Professional Organiser Jennifer Manefield, Decluttering
Solutions brings its expertise to Sydney and the Greater Sydney region.
With an initial focus on new retirees and busy professionals, Decluttering Solutions was soon
providing
assistance to the Disability and Aged Care sectors. Today, our dedicated team offers decluttering
services including home relocation, deceased estate organisation, and project management.
Deceased Estate
Whether processing grief, dealing with family conflict, or struggling to be onsite, deceased
estates can be physically and mentally draining. Jennifer and the team at Decluttering
Solutions can efficiently organise and handle every aspect of the Estate, including:
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- Working with the family and/or Executors to assist in whatever tasks need to be completed.
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- Locating important items including jewellery, wills, and memorabilia.
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- Collecting, collating, or disposing of paperwork.
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- Removing and disposing of the home’s unwanted contents.
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- Identifying items of potential monetary value on behalf of the Estate.
As part of our service, we strive to find points of ethical donation for items that are not of interest to
the Estate. In this way, items can find renewed uses or new homes rather than being thrown away.
Downsizing
Preparing for a move and require a physical support network to assist? As experienced declutter
experts, we offer the organisation and stamina to accomplish what you need. This can include:
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- Removing unwanted household items including furniture, decorative items, clothing, and more, in preparation for a move.
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- Assist with layout planning of your new home and any necessary purchases.
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- Findi appropriate avenues of sale for valuable items, whether an auction house orother platforms.
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- Communicate with Coordinators and Managers of Aged Care villages or complexes in order to streamline the move.
Relocation & Property Services
Decluttering Solutions provide packing, unpacking, and styling services for your local moves or international relocations. Our extensive network of colleagues ensures your move is streamlined and timely. Our declutter experts can even communicate with your real estate agent as required, maximising efficiency and organisation.
For property sales, Decluttering Solutions can clean, stage, and style your home in order to present it in the best possible light for potential buyers.
Why Choose
Decluttering Solution
1
Professional
2
Qualified
3
PL & PI insurance
4
Experience with HCP
5
Covid-19 Safety Trained
6
Full discretion
Jennifer Writes
Then let me ask you a question or six.
- Is your house a storage unit for your children or other relatives?
- Have you inherited other people’s stuff?
- Hard-to-reach cupboards and no idea of their contents?
- Drawers in your house that have not been opened for five years?
- Do you look at the clutter in your garage, and think “I’ll get round to it”?
- Resentful of the time required to keep on top of it all?
It’s a tsunami of pain, grief, anger, joy…and every emotion in between.
Though overwhelming, that sort-and-purge can be an important part of your grieving. Especially if you can share it with family, or an empathetic friend.
You work your way through cupboards and wardrobes. Bits and pieces surface that remind you of long forgotten holidays and dimly remembered elderly relatives. All bought sharply back to vividity. Surges of love and laughter start at the clothing fashions of your childhood displayed in family photos. You lose yourself in your old school reports. Reminisce about when you went camping or ran away with your teddy bear. Were allowed to play in the streets as long as you were home by the time the street lights came on. That time you fell out of a tree and ended up in hospital. That time you weren’t allowed to go to a party or a school excursion and it wasn’t fair!
Shock, anger or disbelief aren’t to be excluded either. Family scandals or long hidden brushes with the law. Memories that bring up long buried anger and resentment.
Drudgery and sheer boredom as you work through drawers and filing cabinets of paperwork looking for the Will or the shares or the Title Deed to the house…because who knows where that is?!
Never mind the jam-packed, dusty and rusty, garage contents.
So, what do you do when you can’t be there? Maybe you are the Executor? Far away because of work and family commitments. Your health means you just can’t do this, though you must be involved somehow.
Or…you just can’t face doing it by yourself.
That is where a Professional Organiser like myself comes in.
We plan with you what we will and will not be responsible for, with agreed upon rules. We can sort and cull the non-personal items and responsibly dispose of them. Things like household chemicals, and food stuff.
We help you dispose of furniture, clothing, books or artwork in a thoughtful, nuanced way. What might have monetary value that benefits the Estate? Time-spent verses the return, when selling items. What can be ethically donated or recycled rather than going to landfill?
Sort all those flyers, request for donations, catalogues, bank statements, old bills, family history and important legal documents for you to make decisions about. We can recycle or shred the rest.
Above all, we can work for you, alongside you, or with other people involved. Both in person or with digital technology.
Reduce that huge volume of apparent household junk to a manageable quantity of significant and important items, then complete what needs to be done after you have finished your part. That you can deal with when you are ready.
Is it a scary or exciting thought letting people into your home?
We are all tired of this isolation and sick of our own company. Sick of the same old walks. Missing friends and loved ones. Worried about children’s education and our finances.
Wanting out but afraid for our health and safety.
You may have been postponing the inevitable but the time to declutter has come. You need to move house. You can’t really get around safely inside your home. Maybe after months of being stuck inside, you are just sick and tired of the sheer volume of things you possess and have no use for…let alone love.
How do we at Decluttering Solutions prepare for “Covid-normal” work?
- By being double vaccinated and able to show you proof. Did you know the Medicare App let’s me show you in person?
- continuing to wear masks and socially distance as appropriate. Decisions about how we work are based on the health needs and vaccination status of the people involved in each job. We want you to feel safe!
- Covid testing as required. As I write this, self-testing kits will shortly become available and will be a useful tool in keeping everyone safe.
- Using virtual sessions to meet people and check in. Update people on work that is ongoing. Coach and guide people if they want to declutter themselves.
- Above all, we will follow current health orders. Designed to keep us all safe, we all understand they can and will change.
It’s the 11th October 2021, there were long lines aplenty outside of barber shops, boutiques and other non-essential stores, but no lines were longer than outside of KMart! As confirmed by the nightly news, people were queuing from midnight on Sunday to buy new clothes and replace or stock up on everything and nothing. I’ve spoken to a few desparate parents keen to replace clothing their kids have outgrown during lockdown.
I know myself that the urge to hit the shops was strong after 100+ days in lockdown, but frenzied shopping like this can often mean one thing – the purchase of things that we don’t really need or love. Particularly when we are purchasing clothing, the bargain mentality can be very hit-and-miss in terms of quality, fabric and sizing. Nine times out of ten, we are left short term satisfied but long term disappointed.
Before you race out and purchase a quick-fix item to satisfy that urge, let’s discuss an useful concept that I use with my clients.
COST PER WEAR
Simply put, Cost Per Wear is a way of determining the value for money of each item in your wardrobe. It helps me explain to my clients the importance of spending the right amount of money on the right items that will serve us well, long term. It also helps us clarify what items are important to keep as we undertake the sometimes mammoth task of culling a wardrobe.
Here’s the Math!
Item Cost ➗ The Number of Wears = Cost Per Wear (Value For Money)
5 WAYS TO GET CREATIVE WITH YOUR WARDROBE!
Rather than simply, throwing out clothes that you no longer love, why not read on and discover five interesting ways for you to recycle your clothes. You never know, you just may find a hidden gem or two that will compliment your wardrobe and style perfectly!
1. Donate your no longer needed corporate wardrobe to Dress For Success. Their declared mission is to empower women to achieve economic independence and provide a network of support, professional attire and development tools for women to thrive in the workplace.
2. One of my personal favourites – The Remote Opshop. Remote indigenous communities run their own Op shops which ensures a supply of clothing in districts, often vast distances from shops. These small businesses then invest back into their local community.
3. Do a Google search on Pop Up “Clothes Swap Events” in your area. You’ll be amazed at what you can swap to rejuvenate your wardrobe. Not only do you extend the life of a piece of clothing that helps keep textiles out of landfill, you will replace them with useful pieces that you absolutely love!
4. Check out websites like Poshmark or Depop for new digital ways of selling and acquiring pre-loved clothing, shoes and handbags. You can sell items that you no longer need to create a piggy bank for items that you will love!
5. Google “sell my clothes on consignment”. There are Facebook pages and physical shops which will do the hard work of promoting your items for a percentage of the sale price. They have strict rules about what they accept and condition but again, you sell something and gain, not spend.
END UP WITH A WARDROBE THAT WORKS FOR YOU!
Racing out to buy something quickly and without a lot of thought, is not the best idea. Take time to think about what items you need to curate your perfect wardrobe and fill it with key pieces that really feel like you.
Tapping into the circular economy to source new items from unusual places will not only help the environment, it will also keep a few coins in reserve for those bigger ticket items that will make your heart sing every time you wear them.
With a little guidance, you will end up with a wardrobe filled with functional pieces that play together nicely as well as reflecting the interesting, eclectic and unique style that is individually yours.
Happy Curating!
WHAT OUR CLIENTS HAVE TO SAY…
Matthew
I deal with an enormous number of people. Rare to see people with your level of professionalism
Charles
Outcomes were achieved 'in spades'. Jennifer Manefield is a Modern Day Marvel.
Sarah, Reclaim Your Space
Jen took me under her wing in 2017 giving me my first paid opportunity as a professional organiser. She has a knack for quickly evaluating people’s strengths and offering carefully considered feedback, advice and suggestions. Her passion and dedication to the organising industry can’t help but rub off on the people she mentors. Jen makes everyone feel valued and is a wealth of knowledge, making her a fantastic mentor to have in your corner.
Melinda McAuley, Your House In Order
Right from the start Jen included me as a valued member of her team which gave me a level of confidence in what I could offer her clients. I have now been part of her team on a wide variety of jobs which has helped me clarify the types of jobs and clients I feel I can offer the best service to.
Jen has always encouraged me and at times has given me the push I have really needed for me to step up and out of my comfort zone for example shadowing Jen on a house move job where I had the opportunity to approach the job as if I was running it. This was such a valuable learning experience and really gave me the confidence to take my business to the next level.
Jen has a lovely, straight forward manner and she is always clear in her instructions when working with a client. She is generous with feedback and always acknowledges a job well done. Jen also encourages your input which is also a great way to test your knowledge and understanding.
Jen’s willingness to share her vast experience and point you in the right direction and her ability to trouble shoot and really clarify a particular issue you may be having with your business have impressed, motivated and ultimately been of huge benefit to me. I have a clear direction for my business.
Roxanne, The Space Specialist
“Standout operator” is what comes to mind when I think of Jennifer Manefield, of Decluttering Solutions.
In the last two years I have had the benefit of working as a team member on a number of Jennifer’s small and large-scale professional organising projects and have observed, firsthand, her ability to deliver results, under tight timeframes, often in high stress environments.
Jennifer’s capacity to handle complex situations and address the needs of multiple stakeholders enables her to win repeat business in the competitive Professional Organising Industry. She knows how to manage expectations and is talented at creating teams with diverse skill sets to best match the needs of each client.
A natural leader, Jennifer sets high standards, provides direction and shares feedback. She is compassionate, considerate and cultivates the best in others.
I highly recommend Jennifer as mentor to any professional organiser seeking to deepen their skills and knowledge and develop their business.
Maria, Organise My Life
I was brand new to the industry when Jennifer started mentoring me. Her wealth of knowledge on professional organising is superior to any of the other mentoring programmes I had looked into.
Her manner, her patience, and the work experience Jennifer provided was much more than I ever could have imagined. I learned how to deal with clients with difficulties.
I now have a successful business of my own with a three-month waiting list, in which I owe so much to Jennifer, whom continues to be my mentor. She is a very inspirational person.
brothers cleaning
The best de-cluttering business we have gotten chance to work and colab with. Jenny is a sweet heart. De-cluttering is a very tough task but not for Jenny. She is so easy to work with.
Hope we will work together again.
Cheers
Jennifer Lawson
Jennifer and her team were a tornado of efficiency and effectiveness. They sorted through 30 years of items that reflected career changes. Although much was discarded my needs were considered at all times. They were a pleasure to work with and I'd recommend them to anyone. Many high levels skills were utilised and I felt grateful for all of them.
Gabi Muhlheim
for the past 10 years i have been thinking about de-cluttering and sorting my storage unit. Could not face the task until i found Jennifer's de-cluttering solutions service. Its all done now!
thank you Jennifer and team you did a brilliant job.
louise Austin
Quite simply, we could not have made the move without the wonderful organisation and willing help provided by Jennifer and her fantastic team of helpers. It was a massive job. With Jennifer's Decluttering Solutions we managed to leave a large home, lived in for 50 years, to a much smaller apartment. A huge thank you to Jennifer and her assistants - all brilliant!
Henry The First
I used Jennifer’s consulting services for a move within Sydney in early 2020. I was moving from a large, two-bedroom garden apartment to share a house for 6 months, before moving back to a place of my own. I needed to work out what to move, store, sell, donate and dispose of, as well as coordinate how to make all that happen.
Jennifer coached me patiently through a series of questions about my current and future situations, before providing clear and actionable feedback and guidance. By the end of the session, I had an action plan and schedule, including contingency options.
The move was a success, I didn’t overspend on storage, made a bit of cash selling things I hadn’t used in years, and I haven’t regretted getting rid of things I would have kept if not for Jennifer’s guidance.
One phone session was all it took. Jennifer’s a natural communicator and was able to use her deep specialist knowledge to set me on the right track. A true professional.
Ross Wellings
INVALUABLE
Jennifer Manefield runs an excellent business. Her services over the past few months have been invaluable.
I asked Jennifer to meet an elderly friend with dementia and Alzheimer's whom I was about to help move into an apartment which offered Assisted Living.
EXPERIENCE
Jennifer's experience with Aged Care and with people who have dementia meant that my friend warmed to her quickly and they began to plan the process of decluttering a house in which she had lived for more than 40 years. This was never going to be an easy task, but Jennifer's very careful approach made it possible for my friend to make her own decisions and trust Jennifer's suggestions.
CARING AND CAREFUL
Jennifer was painstakingly careful, caring, thorough and entirely trustworthy.
When it became apparent that my friend needed to move to Assisted Living before the sale of the house, Jennifer's assistance was as immediate as her time allowed. She understood the need to reduce the stress which would have increased during the final preparation of the house for sale and the anxiety caused by house inspections and the auction.
ENTIRELY TRUSTWORTHY
When my wife was diagnosed with an aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma I had no hesitation in asking Jennifer to take care of all the associated business of getting a house ready to sell, which I could no longer do. She more than capably managed the selection, packing and supervision of the loading and transfer of furniture and personal items. Jennifer took my friend to the apartment on the moving day and was at the apartment to manage, with the removalist's team, the unpacking and relocation of all belongings, staying until everything was in place; she saw the need for some missing items, made a list and sent me off to get them. A fabulous eye for detail.
Not only had Jennifer arranged for and liaised with the removalist, she also had been to the apartment at Westmead Uniting to meet management and to measure the apartment to ensure that the furniture and possessions would fit. Jennifer also took my friend on shopping trips to select new furniture.
THOROUGH and WELL ORGANISED
Furthermore, Jennifer organised the disposal or storage of items not needed in the apartment and the interstate transport of goods to a niece. She was on hand for other people involved, such as the Real Estate Agent, the stylist, the house cleaner, the gardener, rug cleaner and more.
DEPENDABLE
Jennifer never failed to do what we had planned to do. She was always in communication with me by phone or by email and after discussions I knew that I could depend on her to act on her own initiative when necessary.
INDISPENSABLE
In short, I could not have achieved the move to the new apartment or the sale of the house without Jennifer's assistance. My friend would not have had the relatively seamless transition to the apartment without the excellent work of Jennifer and her team.
I am completely comfortable with recommending Jennifer for any assistance people might need for decluttering and moving house, especially in situations with elderly people or people with dementia or Alzheimer's.
I am immensely grateful that I contacted Jennifer who has been exceptional in her work.
Fiona Sullivan
I feel very fortunate I contacted Jennifer's Decluttering Solutions
to manage the decluttering, downsizing move of a lifetime of possessions. She engaged an amazing team that at all times were professional, empathetic and flexible throughout a difficult move for my mother. With Jennifer's expertise and knowledge, we had a total solution including clearing, donations, packing, removalists, cleaning & restoration contacts . We couldn't have managed the move without Decluttering Solutions.
Len Mahemoff
Jennifer executed our project in connection with a deceased estate in a most professional manner, still managing to go "the extra mile" in a few small matters which were not part of her quote. All in all, I have no hesitation in recommending her services. Len M - Bondi Junction
Gabi Bywater
Jennifer and her Team turned a stressful situation into an organised transformational process. They reminded me that decluttering is not just about physical stuff - it's also about creating a sense of calm whilst acknowledging personal history. They applied just the right amount of "push" to get me going without creating an unhappy situation. I can't recommend Jennifer highly enough and I'm very happy with my new decluttered home!
Peter O'Connor
I unequivocally recommend Jennifer and her Declutter Solutions company having had extensive time with Jennifer and Co while we worked to "declutter" my Aunt's home and eventually "style and prepare" for sale .
Thank you Jennifer for showing such thoughtfulness, kindness and empathy .
Your willingness, availability and communication made the process very straightforward.
Your ideas and suggestions about how to style the home and were always thoughtful but style perfect.
Thank you for so beautifully allocating my Aunts property to places, agencies and people that really make a difference. The gift to Parramatta Mission really resonates and I feel so proud that my Aunt could posthumously help a family - such an important cause and so thoughtful. That really warmed my heart and brought tears to my eyes ...
Sincerely thank you Jennifer.
