Panic! We have to move overseas for my husband’s work. Packing up a messy house with years of accumulated clutter was not easy. So we called LessMess less Stress. Our house was also needing some renovations before we could rent it out. LessMess gave us practical advice on decor and color schemes. LessMess then took over the supervision of the renovations after we had left. Susanne supervised new carpets, painting inside and outside the house and various odd handyman jobs. She then organised the house to be cleaned, the rubbish taken and the garden done. Susanne from LessMess is down to earth but totally professional. Everything was done to our absolute satisfaction. The bill was very reasonable too!
Carolyn, Singapore

Dear Susanne,
Thank you so much for travelling to Brisbane to help me sort out my storage units. I really couldn’t have faced it on my own and your enthusiasm and excitement from the very beginning was very infectious. The process was very satisfying, especially nearly filling a rubbish truck with “stuff” that I had been PAYING to store! Another highlight was having the driver of the charity truck THANKING me for the huge donation of goods I was just glad to be relieved of! I have continued utilising the skills I have learned at home and am, for the first time, actually enjoying tackling new areas that need “organising” without being overwhelmed by the thought of it.
I must share with you an unexpected serendipity of this process. During the sorting of papers in the storeroom I came across several warranties I hadn’t seen in four years. One was for an expensive DVD recorder that no longer recorded and the other was for a leather sofa suite that now has a tear in it. Both of these items were over five tears old but I had forgotten that at the time of purchase, I had paid extra for extended warranties and, for the sofa, a protection plan. I am pleased to report that the DVD recorder I thought I was going to have to replace, was picked up yesterday to be fixed and… today I selected my BRAND NEW leather sofa as apparently mine was faulty!
I’m thrilled with this result as well as my new found confidence and skills taught by LESSMESS.
Thanks again Susanne.
Julie-Anne

“350 parts per million is what many scientists, climate experts, and progressive national governments are now saying is the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere.
Accelerating arctic warming and other early climate impacts have led scientists to conclude that we are already above the safe zone at our current 390ppm, and that unless we are able to rapidly return to below 350 ppm this century, we risk reaching tipping points and irreversible impacts such as the melting of the Greenland ice sheet and major methane releases from increased permafrost melt.” http://www.350.org/about/science
Everything we buy has a carbon footprint – and it doesn’t matter whether we use it or just store it. I have written before about food wastage- which is a very obvious waste.
But what about the things we acquire and then never use, the stuff that accumulates at the bottom of the wardrobe, the shoes that don’t and never will fit? The novelty toy we bought a winging kid at a theme park? They have all cost the earth something to get produced and shipped.
Most of my clients have too much stuff (otherwise they wouldn’t be my clients) but they are still buying more. There are several reasons for that: some people can’t find what they have because of all the clutter, some people like shopping. Both categories end up having unnecessary things lying around their home, costing us dearly.
On the other hand most people nowadays are very conscious about how to dispose of their belongings – which is great. But when it comes to the carbon footprint, as soon as you buy something you are responsible for the energy it took to produce and get it to you. In regards to the carbon footprint it doesn’t matter whether you chuck it into landfill, or you have your own little “landfill” in a cupboard or in your garage.
When getting organised you will be able to find the things you have and by seeing the amount of objects you acquired over the years on shopping sprees, and realizing that it ultimately cost’s you money to get rid of them (yes, Professional Organisers do cost money – and so we should!!) maybe next time you want to buy something you just take a second to consider the impact this item will have on the environment, the global as well as your personal one (house/office) and you will find that most things don’t have to be bought in the first place.