https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/luxury/article/house-organisers-declutter-times-luxury-q3bvpp37c
How the super-rich keep their homes so tidy
It’s not that affluent people are more organised. They just employ the services of some very talented house declutterers — and now you can too
Adult life is an endless loop of rushing around the house inadvertently cluttering up every inch of space followed by tedious hours of tidying the mess you’ve just made. Wake up and repeat. Fortunately there are professionals who have dedicated their lives to the art of decluttering and organising, ensuring that everything has a place and nothing is extraneous to requirements. Here are some of the tidiest minds in the business.
Ankersen Drake
Picture your house but an Architectural Digest version of it. Logically arranged with everything in the places they should have been all along. Aesthetically organised with classy (and labelled) bespoke storage baskets that fit perfectly within your space. Immaculately organised to suit your style, whether you are into all white minimalism for your four-storey Chelsea townhouse or rustic country cosiness for your mansion in the Cotswolds. This is what Ankersen Drake offers. The company was founded in 2023 by Amalie Ankersen and Arabella Drake, who met when they were freelancing in the industry, and it has a simple ethos: to be the benchmark for quality home organising. They offer a personalised, no-stone-left-unturned service.
Having previously worked for another luxury company, they have dealt with many high-end clients. “We work with clients for a long period of time and really get to know them so that we can figure out everything that will simplify and streamline their lives but in a beautiful way that doesn’t feel fussy to them,” Ankersen says.
After an initial phone consultation, the duo build up an image of the project — the client’s vision, their ideals, the space and their desired aesthetics. Step two is a planning and measurement session where they assess the property and measure up for bespoke storage supplies. Alternatively they will compose a list of recommended products from companies such as Cox & Cox or The White Company before the organisation begins. The final stage is the implementation of the plans.
Depending on how big the project is, they will bring in junior organisers who assist with the job. One room can take anywhere between four hours and four weeks.
Longevity and sustainability are important to them. So, once the decluttering and reorganisation has finished, clients often request an inventory listing the locations of all their possessions (and staff manuals when required). Having built up relations with the clients, they also stay in contact — often getting called back annually, quarterly or even monthly to help keep the space up to scratch.
Prices vary depending on the project —starting at £80 per hour, ankersendrake.co.uk
Helen Constantine
All parents tend to be on the same page about one thing — kids create clutter in the home. It is part of the cute-but-chaotic territory of having babies. For Helen Constantine, it was when she set about reorganising her house after the mess of a newborn baby that the idea for her home organising company hatched. Although she had previously worked as a manager of an online marketplace, she now offers her organisational skills on anything from wardrobe fixes to complete house decluttering. Constantine empties the space, strips it back to the bare bones and then reorders it logically, helping you to determine what your habits are. For example, whether the tea station in your kitchen should take pride of place, or whether you are more likely to go for a smoothie first thing, which would mean prioritising the blender. The good news is that Constantine is also a lot of fun, so she’s able to make these kinds of questions a jolly activity rather than a daunting one. She is also non-judgmental when it comes to going through the contents of a clear-out.
Her services include a home refresh (clearing any problem area you have), wardrobe edits (helping clients to decide what they do and don’t need so that they no longer have an overflowing wardrobe) and a new mum refresh (helping parents with the overwhelming task of decluttering). She also helps out with house sales by offering home staging (elevating the appearance of clients’ homes to make them more appealing to buyers) and a quick pre-viewing refresh (a speedy staging session if you have a house viewing but haven’t the time to tidy it up). Her goal is to declutter without regret-filled chucking. She recommends useful organising tips and products that make it easy to keep things neat after she’s gone. The best part is she also offers removals and donations as part of the service, so all the things you’ve cleared out will be out of your home at the end of a session.
She wants her clients to have homes filled with items that bring them joy while simultaneously being organised in a logical and personalised way.
Prices start at £185 for a half day, £300 for a full day and £50 for removals, helenconstantine.co.uk
Isabella Knatchbull
New to the professional tidying scene is Isabella Knatchbull, who was previously a teacher. As the mother of five children and four dogs, and hostess to 30 at Christmas, she is profoundly qualified. If you simply need someone who is passionate about organisation to sort you out, she’s the one for you. “It started because the kids were getting furious with me — every time they came home things had been tidied,” Knatchbull says.
Her clients fall into distinct groups. There are those who can’t say no — “someone who really struggles to give away anything they’ve been given, because it makes them feel ungrateful”. Or someone’s mother has given them endless things and they’re not strong enough to say no.” She has tackled some extreme cases. “I once saw a man who had over 10,000 books in his house. A friend bequeathed him another 10.000, plus all his clothes, and he felt he had to take them on.”
Then there are people who can’t say goodbye. “Calling me is the first step,” she continues. “One woman had ten pairs of the same gym leggings. There’s a pile for charity, a pile you can sell, a pile you can keep for the children — but there’s a limit to how much you can store.” Tact is a big part of her job, “You have to judge whether you can say, ‘You shouldn’t wear that,’ or not.”
Knatchbull does have extraordinarily positive, can-do energy. “I will stay till I’ve finished the job, I can’t bear a job left undone.” She had one huge job of combining three homes. “The client thought it would take six months, but it took two and a half days. She really got into the groove — it’s an energy thing.”
Knatchbull is fascinated by the relationship between possessions and emotions. “Sometimes people say, ‘I can’t do this, I don’t know how to begin.’ But once you start, you’re already halfway there.”
She doesn’t care how big or small the job is. “Or whether it’s clothes, furniture, books, kitchens — it can be anything, even outbuildings. I just roll up my sleeves and get on with it.” A combination of a fabulous attitude and apparently inexhaustible energy is just how she’s made and now those attributes are harnessed in the service of tidying the rest of us up. “I absolutely love the active part of decluttering — I get home and think, ‘That’s a good day’s work.’”
Prices start at £400 a day. To book email isabellasdecluttering@gmail.com
Homefulness
Homefulness was founded by Caroline Caron Dhaouadi in 2019. A Parisian, Caron Dhaouadi worked in consulting for 14 years everywhere from Paris to New York and Singapore before moving to London. After taking time off to have her two children, she realised that there was a gap in the market in the UK for the organising services that were taking over the US. She started Homefulness, which has now grown to a 15-person team.
The Homefulness organisation process always begins with a consultation visit from Caron Dhaouadi herself, who brings a measuring tape and a notepad. She sizes up the space that needs organising and also learns what kind of organisation you are after. She will make recommendations for specific pieces of kit like chic linen organisers, specialised hangers for knitwear and sunglasses trays that make maximising your space much easier. Caron Dhaouadi’s eye for detail means that the materials she chooses are picked with the design of your home in mind. She’ll then hand the project to a team of her organisers who will turn up with all the required materials and get to work.
Projects will typically be looked after by no fewer than two people, which means they work fast. There is always an appointed team lead, typically a more experienced organiser, who makes sure things stay to plan. You can be as involved or hands off as you like. Hands off could mean answering a few questions about what category an item might fit into or whether something might be worth donating. It also helps that everyone on the Homefulness team brings a friendly attitude, so you never have to worry about feeling judged for wanting to keep that “MYKONOS 2018” T-shirt filled with holes.
Caron Dhaouadi trains every person on the team, with a particular focus on the best way to manage people’s complicated emotions around decluttering. “I always make sure that they will be able to assess when to push and when to stop,” she says. The organiser also visits the How To summit in the US every year, where over 400 organisers convene for three days to swap top de-cluttering tips and the most up to date trade information.
The whole team can be deployed if the project requires it, which Caron Dhaouadi says is common with the bigger properties she’s helped organise in places like South Kensington and Hampstead. But, she says, the team is so efficient it has never taken more than three to four days to complete a project, even when doing a full move in, which can be organised in such a way that you can arrive to your new home and find everything ready in its place.
Consultations begin at £95. Three hours with one organiser for £290, homefulness.co.uk
The Wardrobe Edit — Bridget Bailey
Bridget Bailey did a career 360 at 50 years old. After years working in the television industry, she took a different direction after discovering that she could combine her love of fashion and organising into a full-time gig. “I’ve always loved clothes. I’ve always loved giving advice to friends and family about clothes. And I’ve always been quite tidy,” Bailey says. Enter, The Wardrobe Edit. Specialising in wardrobe organisation, Bailey offers a half day (4 hours) for £280 or full day (6 hours) for £420. After a video consultation and extensive questionnaire with the client, she turns up to your house prepared to transform your wardrobe.
Clients can choose to be as hands on or hands off as they please. Many meet somewhere in the middle. They spend an hour (or however long they need) going through clothes and dividing them into piles of yes, maybe and no. The maybes often get a fashion show to determine which section they should move to (with Bailey’s stylistic and kind-natured assistance). The no’s are taken off your hands and shipped off to Shelter Boutique, a charity that Bailey volunteers for. The yes pile is returned to the client’s wardrobe in a more logical manner than the shove-in-and-hope-for-the-best method. “If it’s autumn and you open your wardrobe and all you see is strapless dresses, you’re immediately going to think you’ve got nothing to wear,” Bailey says. It is all about sectioning off clothes, so you know where to look.
And she is there for anyone in need. “My main clientele has been women in the 40-60 age bracket. However, as my business grows, I’ve realised my services are genuinely useful for anyone — busy professionals, parents, people about to make a move, returning to work, or simply anyone with an overflowing wardrobe.”
Prices start at £280 for a half day, £420 for a full day the-wardrobe-edit.com
Total Wardrobe Storage
For over 15 years, Total Wardrobe Storage, founded by Julia Murley and now run by Lauren Vega, has been the biggest name in the business, helping clients (including fashion investors, designers and musicians) to store and manage their clothing. Storage methods are approached systematically: via a wardrobe rotation service enabling clients to move between seasons while retaining on-demand access to individual pieces. Pieces are kept off-site at a secure temperature and humidity-controlled facility, the location of which is kept secret due to the value of pieces and high-profile clients.
The service starts with a visit from two wardrobe experts, who problem solve according to individual needs and teach organisational techniques along the way. Jeans are rolled to save space, for easy visibility and to minimise creasing; cashmere is covered in acid-free tissue to prevent creasing and protect from moisture; underwear is folded and lined up by colour, and shoes are presented according to heel heights and material.
The magical part is their specialist moth prevention, using products from their sister company, Total Wardrobe Care. The natural anti-moth products contain deterring pheromones and the natural insecticide pyrethrum with essential oils such as may chang, lavender, cedarwood, patchouli, laurel, rosemary, thyme and clove bud to help interrupt the moth life cycle. For outbreaks, clients can ask for the full decontamination service. Vega’s team visit the home and look at every room — it isn’t just clothes that attract moths, it’s carpets, sofas, bedding, anything made from natural fibres. The company create a moth prevention pack, advise on next steps and kit out homes with the necessary moth prevention products. (Products last for six months, and prices start at £300.)
Beyond this, the company offers archiving and digital cataloguing for fashion collections and investment pieces, applying museum-standard practices to pieces of lasting value. This includes preservation materials for package and storage, such as padded hangers, forms for shaping structured pieces and glue-free storage boxes.
Total Wardrobe Storage incorporates clothing storage, archiving, cataloging, wardrobe organisation, moth prevention, help and advice when designing a new wardrobe space and organising house moves, as well as third-party services (dry cleaners and repair and alterations service). The result is a one stop shop when it comes to wardrobe management.
The company employs experts who have worked in the industry for many years. For instance, the head of archival services spent a decade in wardrobe departments for television, film and theatre. Archived pieces are accessible via same day or next day delivery. The result is a wardrobe that remains protected and carefully managed: clothes will remain moth free and easy to find for years.
Prices start at £150, including storage and insurance. The foundation package includes storage of up to 70 items and insurance; totalwardrobestorage.com
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