I used to hoard things, though not in the egregious way viewed on the A&E show. I kept clothes from 1988, I still had my childhood frog collection, I had files of paperwork, and kept every book I ever acquired (including an economics book from 1984).

During my divorce I started reading fung shui books and since fung shui isn’t keen on fake plants, one day I donated all my fake plants to a haunted house. Fung Shui isn’t keen on cluttered closets (then there’s no room for a future partner’s clothes) so I dumped half my clothes to a women’s resource center. As a parent of two boys I routinely took my children’s too-small clothes to Goodwill.

But what started as an occasional event turned into a mission. Eventually, I was hauling car loads of old, dated, and unwanted things to Goodwill, missions, and centers for women. I liked to see only a few boxes in my storage room instead of a few shelves full. My bookshelves used to be packed full of books until I de-cluttered them to look like book shelves in Architectural Digest. One day I bought 35 expensive wooden hangers and vowed to only keep as many clothes in my closet that fit on my hangars.

My best girl friend, Patricia, lives across the street. One day her neighbor called and asked to take out her trash. “Mary” had recently abandoned her house for a better paying job in Ohio.  Patricia and I opened the garage for the trash, but instead found a garage full of household items Mary intended to be thrown away. Patricia and I couldn’t do it. Eventually we donated items to Goodwill and had a garage sale. My business with Patricia was born that day – it’s called Athena simple.

Athena simple offers a variety of services including organizing, de-cluttering, packing/unpacking, and cleaning. Its an affordable Grand Rapids decluttering service for people who need help with that.

Most of our clients are moving. Rick sold his cottage, so we helped him relocate everything in it. Felicia relocated to Wisconsin, so we packed everything. Sue needed to sell her house after her divorce, so we de-cluttered and cleaned for the listing video. Catherine moved from a rental to a new condo, so we packed her items.

One client needed help organizing her basement after her kids moved out.

We have also worked regularly with a client who owns a construction company. He hires us for post-construction cleaning.

One service we’ve added to Athena simple is to list all their household items into a database to be included with their estate planning documents.

Our greatest achievement at Athena simple is always completing the current job we are working on to quality standards for our client.

We offer a free consultation to meet clients and talk about their unique needs. We offer to take manageable items to a favorite charity for free (i.e. whatever fits in my SUV). The reason why are service costs come in way below other moving and packing companies is because we might clean, mend, and re-sell unwanted items after we’ve completed the job.

What makes Athena simple unique is Patricia and me. We genuinely love people and want to help them find peace in their chaos. We’ve both de-cluttered and organized our own spaces, storage rooms, garages, and closets and have the experience of persevering through the mess one box at a time. Let us help you.

Athena simple wants to help you simplify your space which will ultimately simplify your spirit. When you need a Grand Rapids declutter service, give us call.

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Blog post author Jennifer Cordelier is owner of Athena Simple, a Grand Rapids declutter, organizing, and cleaning business. Costs for all services is $30/hour; $50/hour if cleaning is involved. Contact: (616) 302-7474 and jennifer.cordelier@yahoo.com