1.  Are your Specialists contractors or employees?  Employees.  Do your research before hiring a professional organizer.  Is this person an employee of the organizing company you're putting your trust in, or are they a contractor?  While many organizing companies claim to have employees, most actually sub-contract the work to another professional organizer.  This means the company you hire has no control of the outcome of your project.  If you determine that the person who will be doing the work is a sub-contractor, be sure to verify that they have their own insurance, so they are properly insured to work in your home.

2.  Are your Employees Certified?  Yes.  Three of our Specialists have earned the CPO^® (Certified Professional Organizer) designation.  In fact, we are the only company in the world with three CPO's.

3.  How long will it take to organize my home?  The amount of time it will take to complete your project depends on two things:  The amount of "stuff" you would like to have organized, and your ability to focus on the project and make decisions.

4.  How much does your service cost?  We view the cost of our service as an investment in the way you choose to live an organized life.  The cost of each project varies based on the scope of your project.

5.  Do you charge by the hour or project?  Our services are billed in ½ day (4 hour) or 1 day increments (8 hours).  If your service falls somewhere in-between the ½ day and the full day, we bill by the hour in 15 minute increments.

6.  Do you charge for Travel?  No.  The only time we charge for travel is when the Specialist you are working with is located outside of the area you're located in.  Because we have a large team of Specialists throughout the Greater Seattle, Tacoma and Eastside areas, we can usually place one of our Specialists to work with you so you can avoid any additional fees.  We do however charge a flat travel fee should one of our Specialists need to shop for product for your project or deliver donations.

7.  What can I expect when I hire you?  Eliminate Chaos Specialists are Employees, not Contractors.  Each one of our Specialists are trained professionals that have spent time in the field working on client projects with Laura in order to learn the Eliminate Chaos processes and methods.  Your first session with a Specialist will include review of an in-depth questionnaire, needs assessment and a walk through of your home to identify the goals of the project and how you are currently using your space.

8.  How do your residential organizing services work?  The first time a Specialist meets with you in your home, they will do a walk-through of the areas to determine what is working and what is not.  They will ask you about your goals for the project and what you'd like to see as a result of our work.  After the walk-through is completed you and your Specialist will discuss your priorities and time frame for your project as well as your organizing product budget.  You are now ready to begin the hands-on organizing process using our proven 10-step process as documented in Laura Leist's book:  Eliminate Chaos...The 10-Step Process to Organize Your Home & Life.  Some of the critical steps your Specialist will work with you on are:  sorting through your treasures - helping you make the sometimes difficult decisions on what to keep and what to let go of.  The remaining items will be organized.  We will re-assess the existing space in order to determine if that space is still serving its intended purpose and if not, what needs to be done in order to make the space usable.  Sometimes, this requires us to work with another one of our vendors in order to design the space and sometimes it just requires the use of organizing product that we will either recommend to you, shop with you for, or provide you with a list so you can shop on your own.  In the end, the result will be that you will have a "home" for your things in your home - so that you know where they are when you need them.  We will teach you how to "maintain" your new organizational systems - which is the last step in the 10-step organizing process and one of the most important steps.  Finally, you will be enjoying the benefits of organization when you no longer feel overwhelmed or stressed and are able to live a more peaceful life.

Each time your Specialist is at your home, they will be there for a minimum of 4 hours or longer.  Most of our home projects are not able to be completed in one day and require follow-up sessions.  When additional sessions are needed, you will be provided with a list of action items that you can work on in-between sessions in order to keep the project moving and help keep your costs down.

9.  Do you have Insurance?  Yes, we are Licensed, Bonded and Insured.  

10.  Do you have a Contractor's License?  Yes, we do have a contractor's license - #ELIMICL933Q1.  In fact, we are 1 of only 2 organizing companies in the state of Washington that have the appropriate licensing.  Because we have the appropriate contractor's licensing, insurance, and surety bonds, you are guaranteed that we are properly insured to be working in your home.  Did you know that most professional organizing companies do not even carry basic business liability insurance should something happen when they are in your home?  Furthermore, if you hire another professional organizing company and they make any modifications to your home, including a simple nail in the wall or drill a hole - they do not have the proper Contractor's license to be performing this work and if something happens to your home - you as the consumer will have a hard time getting payment for your loss.

11.  I am concerned about what you will see in my home. Do you guarantee confidentiality?  Yes, all of our work is confidential. We will provide you with our confidentially agreement prior to our first meeting with you. We may take pictures of your project, however no names will be released and people will not be included in the photos. You can feel confident that you can trust our Specialists with your personal information in order to complete your project.  

12.  How far in advance do I need to schedule my first appointment?  Because we have the largest team of Employee Specialists in Washington State, we are typically able to begin your project the same week you contact us. During busy periods, we may be booked two to three weeks in advance; however we do have a waiting list that we refer to daily.

13.  How do your services compare to other Professional Organizing companies?  The Eliminate Chaos experience you will receive working with our Specialists can't be compared to other Professional Organizing companies.  We have a full-time Client Services Assistant that is available Monday-Friday to coordinate your project with our Specialists.  Most Professional Organizers are a one-person company which means they cannot respond to your needs immediately, like we can.  While we offer a wide-variety of organizing services, our Specialists are assigned to your project based on their area of expertise - which means they know exactly "how" to create the perfect solution for you.  We are often called upon to re-do or complete projects for home-owners because the initial Professional Organizer they hired lacked the expertise needed for the project.

14.  What other resources and vendors can you recommend for my project?   Eliminate Chaos has a technology infrastructure like no other organizing company in the nation.  Our full-time Business IT Strategist, Robert Leist, has implemented our own Exchange Server and SharePoint utility providing remote access for our Specialists, to all of our resources, vendors, calendars - from any computer in your home with an Internet connection.  These utilities also allow our team of Specialists to be able to share project notes and files about your project with other team members using our secure site, which can also be accessed from any computer with an Internet connection.  These resources and vendors have been accumulated over the past nine years we have been in business and we update them regularly to provide you with this value-added service, for no extra charge, that other Professional Organizers would need to take time to research and charge you for.

15.  Why don't all of your Specialists have the CPO designation?  The rest of our Specialists will be sitting for the CPO exam in November 2008.  They were unable to sit for the exam when it was offered in June 2008.

16.  How does one of your Specialists earn the CPO designation?  Each Specialist must pass a legally-defensible exam.  Before they are even eligible to sit for the exam, they must complete a minimum of 1500 hours of hands-on client projects.