Let me start with the fact I don’t write reviews (yeah, yeah I know I should but I don’t). I read them! Having said that I feel I must with this one. Perri is an absolute joy to work with. There is an order to my/our STUFF now that allows me to do the things I want to do instead of spending so much time either looking for, worrying about or putting off tasks that need to get done. Whatever project there is, Perri dives right in with a smile and determination that is infectious. We even put a scenic wallpaper up one day! A first for both of us. Finally, a lot people want to come across non-judgmentally, Perri actually does.

What a gift Neatfreak has been to me! Perri and Mary Beth are fabulous! Having used Perri for several years, I can vouch for her unbelievable skills in organizing, decluttering, and recycling while making it fun and positive. I promise you – you will not feel like a slob!

Recently Mary Beth joined the business and added her technological savvy. Needing a new computer to replace my fading 9 year old one, I asked Mary Beth to take me shopping. What a great experience! She arrived at my door with her Consumer Report printouts in hand about recommended models. She knew what to look for, the questions to ask, and how to bundle purchasers for possible discounts. But that’s not all! She unhooked my old computer, made arrangements to recycle it, and hooked up my new one and its software. Wow! I didn’t have to do anything! (Good thing.)

This professional duo is unbeatable! They’re totally customer focused and a joy to work with. Run, don’t walk , to take advantage of their services. It’s like giving your mental health a massage.

Perri is a natural organizer and possesses a unique combination of insight, focus and energy. I really appreciate her realistic, inexpensive solutions that work for our busy family with two kids and limited storage space. Working with her was like spending the day with a good friend. With great skill and humor, Perri helped me tackle overwhelming projects methodically — with her step-by-step approach and roll-up-your-sleeves energy, we got rid of the boxes that were cluttering up our small house.

Over the course of several sessions, Perri and I systematically went through our chaotic backlog of paperwork and memorabilia and created order. I was so grateful to send most of my junk off with her to be recycled and shredded, and to find the important items that were previously lost in piles. Now we’re set up to manage our mail, finances and taxes in a streamlined way that I never would have imagined possible.

It’s like a “breath of fresh air” every time Mary Beth Grealey walks into our house. She has helped us with computer and printing issues. She organizes my yoga business. She helps with banking. She helps us with my husband’s book publication (setting up a Facebook page and creating a web-site page). She meets with workers at our house for sale and deals with difficult challenges that arise. She helps with travel plans. She is intelligent, gracious and accommodating in more ways than I could ever express. I cannot live without her! In essence, she is someone that we trust with just about everything that is going on in our lives.

I had hired organizers before, but they had a kind of superior attitude—if I was having problems in a few specific areas, they assumed I was having problems everywhere. My kitchen cabinets are basically okay—what I needed help with was paperwork and my workroom/home office. Perri is never judgmental, but listens carefully to what I say—what specific areas I needed help with, what areas are okay and don’t need organizing. Perri is supportive in my quest for organization—she “gets” that I’m doing okay in some areas, and therefore I already have some organizational ability. Her concern is finding a system that builds on that, and extending that to the problem areas. Perri will help you find your strengths and show you ways to use your innate skills to develop a system that works FOR YOU. Thank you Perri, for the ongoing help and support you provide!

Mary Beth and I worked together on a mountain of financial filing and preparation for the future, after my husband was suddenly hospitalized and disabled. She is clear-sighted, knowledgeable, unflappable, and most of all, charming – I never felt patronized or judged for my non-mathematical brain – and we have become friends. She has been a life-saver!

We were thrilled to have Perri join us for our most recent client luncheon. Her wisdom, energy and candor is refreshing and her presentation “8 Habits of Highly Organized People Who Get Stuff Done” was highly motivating and enjoyed by every one of our team and our clients. By the end of the hour we were all ready to tackle a new project. Many thanks to Perri for sharing her insights and approachable methods – changing habits and working towards a more organized life seems much more attainable and enjoyable now!

I just wanted to say what a WONDERFUL class this has been.  Although I have my own company, I am finding a lot of great new information in your course and can’t wait to share it with clients.  It has opened my eyes to an area that I think I may want to specialize in….”time management”.  I look forward to our last session next week.  Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to teach this invaluable course! 

Perri visited our Fellows Program at the NC Biotechnology Center in RTP to offer a presentation on time management. Everyone who attended was really engaged and put a lot of thought into the topics she covered. Rather than offering a “one size fits all” approach, trying to force everyone into the same system, Perri offered an overall approach of building on each person’s strengths, and finding a system that works for each individual. And, while I can only speak for myself, I definitely picked up a few tips that I look forward to trying out. The only thing I would change if I could would be to give her more time—there was just too much good content for 90 minutes! 

I invited Perri to speak at a monthly VIF staff gathering thinking that a session on ‘How to Organize Your Life’ would be an interesting and timely topic to kick off the new year. I don’t think we had any clue how much we actually needed help. Perri was a lively and confident speaker and her tips were creative and best of all…immediately applicable. Perri came well prepared and immediately got down to the nitty gritty of organizing principles and strategies. Her session was interactive and fun – and her suggestions were adopted by many staff around the office. Two thumbs up!

What a GREAT experience we had working with Perri Kersh of Neat Freak Professional Organizing. Perri provided an informative, lively and entertaining discussion about a topic that doesn’t always inspire enthusiasm…organizing paper! We had our largest crowd yet for a Learning Lunches discussion and everyone walked away ready to tackle their piles and stacks and drawers full of paper. Perri’s tips and ideas were creative and practical and she made the topic enjoyable…even fun! Perri encouraged us all to return to our desks and homes and reduce stress by living with a little less mess. I highly recommend her as a speaker for businesses or individuals looking to get organized.

Perri Kersh’s training session, It’s About Time, provided incoming UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA Students with tools and recommendations for prioritizing daily tasks, creating organized workspaces, and overcoming the inclination to procrastinate. Kersh’s session gave students an opportunity to consider their time preferences, energy cycles, organization preferences, and goals for their MBA experience before the stress of classes began. Students were so impressed with her helpful suggestions, that there was a line of students asking for her business card at the conclusion of the session.

Back by popular demand, Perri Kersh presented tips on simplifying our lives to the Moms of Multiples group of Chapel Hill/Durham.
Far from a guilt trip, Perri’s talk delivered real inspiration! She clearly understands the challenges of balancing work, home and family–and offered creative ideas and practical advice (along with a sense of humor) that promise big impact for a small effort.

I just want to follow up to last week and thank you for an awesome presentation to our MOPS group in Indian Trail. Your approach was just perfect. I have talked to several moms in the last week and they all seem to have been spurred on to better organization in some area of their lives. Personally, it was just what I needed. You didn’t encourage me to be a perfectionist. You encouraged us all to focus on our priorities by de-cluttering, simplifying, and organizing the things that are necessary in our lives. Thanks again!

We can never thank you enough for presenting at our Womanship meeting last night. Your topic and presentation brought a diverse group of our women together and some women for the first time. So wonderful! Your presentation was just fantastic, very interesting, informative and also fun. You could tell by the various questions and comments that everyone felt very engaged with the topic. You had some wonderful suggestions and really helped us all think about our things and to recognize that less can really be more. I am very impressed how you have carved an interest into a business — you must meet some interesting clients along the way and the service that you provide is essential to all of us. Hope new contacts will come from your presentation last night and again, thank you SO much for being so gracious to come meet with us.

Perri (Neat Freak) totally changed our lives. She was so thoughtful and patient to make sure she understood our asks and then truly delivered on them. Our home is so much more livable now. Should have used her a long time ago and will definitely use her services again!

Perri is an absolute miracle-worker.  She transformed several of our most intimidating spaces into spaces that look fantastic and which – due to her forward-thinking approach – stay organized, despite our huge family and the entropy that tends to entail.   And it is not just what she does but how she does it.  Perri is one of the most efficient people I have ever worked with – she moves lightning speed, but is also incredibly careful and precise in her methods and communications with us.  She always made me feel comfortable and perfectly informed, whatever she was working through.  Finally, she could absolutely be depended upon to follow up on everything – no loose ends – which we valued immensely given our busy lives!  Finally, she is like a ray of sunshine – an absolute pleasure to work with.  She has my highest recommendation, and I truly will look forward to working with her again in the future.

I’m so excited to see the results of my hard work with Perri, who is AMAZING – patient, kind, validating, supportive, and excellent at working with me to generate sustainable systems tailored to ME! While the process of sorting and going through my things was painful, Perri’s style and approach made it more than bearable – we had fun! Now I can safely say that I have a home for all of my items and way more confidence in myself and motivation to maintain my new systems and invite people over to my “new” home.

I cannot thank you enough.  It was so nice to meet and talk with you and you gave WONDERFUL advice and help.  It has provided me with a level of comfort that I didn’t have before.  In fact, I didn’t have much of a comfort level, having to try to search out so much on my own.  You provide an excellent service.  There are no words strong enough to show my appreciation.  I’ll sure say again, thank you.

I can’t believe that you took the time to give me this very thorough list of what I need right before going out of town.  Thank you for doing it.  And the list is so wonderfully detailed, down to showing me the bookends and not having me hunt and peck to find them on the site.  That is so thoughtful in that it saves me a lot of time.  Maybe a small detail, but not for me.  My life is filled with a myriad of details right now, so every single thing helps.

I also know I can call you if I need to.  That is so much comfort also.

Hardly a day goes by that I don’t think of you and this morning I decided to take a minute and tell you just that.

When I first reached out to you, I questioned my logic in contracting someone to help me with organizing my home. I can say now, unequivocally, that our time together was one of the best investments I made this year.

Working alongside you, order, peace and purpose has been brought to so many areas of our home. Months later, I still get a gut reaction of appreciation and calm when I look into a drawer, closet or even a room that we worked on. I am wearing jewelry that I had not used in a long time – because I can see and consider it now. The same can be said for kitchen items, office etc.

Thank you Perri for sharing your gift and I hope to continue our partnership as I continue to tame any chaos we can, here within our four walls at least!

I was concerned about moving into a historic home with a smaller kitchen, but with Perri’s magic our “minor league” space is even more convenient to use than our old “major league” area.

Who knew that going through things and cleaning stuff would be so much fun! I absolutely LOVED working with you and felt I could have kept you with me all day!! Thank you, thank you for everything you did to help today! I promise to keep working – I just needed the slightest push (and positive reinforcement) to take care of some things today, so thank you so much! I’m eternally grateful!

Over a year after moving into a new house, I had to concede defeat – many boxes remained untouched, shoved into various corners and closets. My husband and I both work full time, and have two small children as well as eldercare responsibilities. After helping to remove decades of clutter from the home of an elderly family member, we were motivated to reduce what had accumulated in our own home. Even so, it was clear our living situation was unlikely to change without some help.That’s where Perri came in. Our appointments with her forced us to set aside time during the week, when no children were home, to organize a few key areas in need of immediate attention, primarily the kitchen, family room and carport. The end result of these sessions has been incredibly gratifying – not only is our home more pleasant to live in, but we can find the things we need and actually use them.

Alphabetizing our spices and reorganizing the pantry helped me know what was in all those cabinets and keeps me from making duplicate grocery purchases. Organizing and reducing the number of toys in the house made it possible for our kids to play with their toys more, since they can now easily find the toys that remain. After putting up shelves and reducing the number of items dumped in the carport, we can go back to parking our cars there.

Since attempts to work with my husband to reduce his clutter often became contentious, Perri became our Switzerland and worked with my husband herself. The outcome was a little less stuff and more marital harmony. Although we could have easily spent several sessions with Perri in every room of our house, that’s not a realistic option for us. Fortunately, our sessions with Perri helped us establish a framework for tackling clutter and managing other organization projects on our own.

I admit I once wondered how personal organization could be a profession, until I realized I needed a personal organizer in my life. I can’t say enough good things about Perri and how she has made our home a place in which we truly enjoy living and entertaining.

It has been a pleasure to work with Perri. She is reliable, knowledgeable, and adaptable. She can accomplish an amazing amount of work in three hours! Perri has helped us to make decisions that we could never have made alone. She finds new homes for the things we no longer need and takes them there. We highly recommend her.

Perri Kersh and Mary Beth Grealey were life-savers as the date of our downstairs renovation loomed ever closer in May of 2014. Almost 1000 square feet (3 rooms, a bathroom and deep crawl space closets) had been virtually untouched for more than 25 years when Neat Freak came into my life. Our architect, Sophie Piesse, had gently, and then more insistently, suggested that before we could begin renovating our downstairs, we needed to demolish and clear out everything in those rooms and closets. The thought was overwhelming; any sense of how to approach the “demolition chore from hell” absolutely absent from my mind. After all, I worked full-time; I had a husband who worked way more than full-time, when he wasn’t traveling, and both bedrooms were filled with 25 years of my sons’ belongings, although “the boys” were long, long gone from the house. I knew, however, that these men in my life, though having little to no time to help me with the purging and throwing out tasks, would have precious objects that they simply could not bear to part with. What to do, how to cope?Sophie said, “Call Perri now. You’ll see. She will help you deal with it. It will all be better once you talk to Neat Freak”. And so it was. Working together, Perri, Mary Beth and I threw out tons of stuff, boxed up tons of books for giving away, arranged for TROSA to come for the furniture we no longer wanted, advised me on, AND ARRANGED for it to happen, what could be recycled, what given away, what should go to the dump, to an auction house, to friends. And then she and Mary Beth actually loaded their SUVs with 25 years of “precious junk” from my basement and took it to the various places: recycling, the dump, the Scrap Exchange, the PTA. They were so knowledgeable about charities that needed or wanted or could use many of our old things, and so comforting and reassuring about sorting those “gems” from the “trash”; they convinced me, with their soothing manner and light-hearted senses of humor, that I would really feel MUCH BETTER about if I got rid of much of “my precious”. They did the dirty work (that closet under the stairs had dust and crickets and who knows what else from 25 years ago in it); they did the sorting work, all the time reassuring me that I would be okay, that I could save what I wished but “wouldn’t it be nice to have all this space cleaned out and look and feel great after so many years of being ignored”. They were easy to work with, very professional, super knowledgeable, psychologically supportive and not afraid to get their hands dirty. As one of their other clients wrote, “Their philosophy fit my values”.

And, once they’d finished with my basement, they “took over” more than half a century’s worth of photo albums, more than 50 of them, some ancient and precious, most not, many duplicates saved by the two sons, and arranged for the pictures to be archived in a chronological manger, digitized and put on flash drives, the photo albums given or thrown away, the photos now immediately accessible on my computer (with flash drives for each of the boys). This was a major undertaking; a huge number of pictures organized and available in a way they never would have been had not Perri and Mary Beth, and Neat Freak, come into our lives. Obviously I can’t sing their praises more highly, nor recommend them for any organizing task more strongly.

Here is why working with Perri is fantastic: First, she is great at what she does! She works hard and efficiently, listens to my needs, offers helpful suggestions, and of course, things look, feel and function better after she leaves. Second, she is upbeat, friendly, and fun to work with. And finally, she is truly non-judgmental and does not pressure me to get rid of anything or organize things any certain way. It really was just about what I needed and what would be best for me. I feel “lighter” after our sessions and the systems we’ve created have helped me keep up with things better than before. I can’t recommend her more highly!

Neat Freak was so amazing to work with. Our family needed help getting a game plan in place for a variety of organizational strategies throughout the house. Perri generated concrete ideas that took into account our organizational needs, our lifestyle and what would realistically work for our family, and even our decor. After our session together, Perri emailed a concise summary of our session that outlined all of the ideas we discussed and included multiple options for products/storage furniture, etc that suited those needs. I was so pleased with the outcome and Perri made it such a pleasant experience the whole way through. I can’t recommend Neat Freak highly enough.

Perri is the absolute best! We have worked together on multiple occasions to de-clutter and organize our basement, home office, garage closet and kitchen. Perri makes tough jobs seem much more easy. And a big bonus is she helps you to donate all those items you need to get out of your house but others can use. She has so much knowledge about local charities in need and how to recycle. Her organizational skills are amazing. I highly recommend Perri and look forward to working with her on projects in 2012 and beyond.

Words cannot describe what Perri Kersh and her Neat Freak business has meant to me and my husband -we recently moved from our ‘dream-house’ of 20 years to a much smaller town-house in a Retirement Community. I will sing her praises for the rest of my life ! Both of us are convinced this move would have been impossible to achieve without her invaluable assistance. She was instrumental in helping us purge possessions from the past 50 years – and finding ‘new homes’ for each item. Perri has truly been a ‘gift from God’ – – she can never be repaid!!

I realized that the biggest thing keeping me from making changes to our house was the fear of disruption to our home life and my work. I couldn’t bear the thought of living with our house turned upside down. I hatched the plan to have a bunch of work done during a week when we were at Disney World, and I needed someone to lead the project in my absence. Perri was perfect for the job. She recommended a great painter, plumber, decorator, and electrician. Months in advance, she had a detailed project plan for what needed to be done before we left and during our trip. Perri sent me text messages at the end of each day letting me know how things were progressing. We came back to a beautiful, freshly painted, organized home, with everything put away in our closets and new lighting and hardware. It was like magic!

Outsourcing the archiving and digitalization of an entire family photo collection (30,000++ photos) is not an easy decision nor an easy task. However, the Neat Freak team made every element of the project doable and most importantly handled all aspects with confidentiality and professionalism yielding high-quality results. Our family now has easy access to all the photos and we are entertained daily with photo screen savers on our computers and TVs.

Please know that it is no exaggeration when I say that when Perri arrived at my house I truly had to wonder if it was the worst she has ever seen (though Perri would be too polite to say so). As the mother of 8 year old twins – one of whom by temperament has required a tremendous amount of energy and the other of whom has special needs and has required a lot of time – just getting through day to day left me NO time for my house. The paperwork and “stuff” that accumulated over those 8 years was truly OVERWHELMING. If you have ever had that heavy weighed down feeling by it all then you know what I mean. Perri came first to help me tackle paperwork and it took her 3 hours to do what it would have taken me 3 months to do and would never have found time for anyway. Perri even hauled much of it to recycling herself. Perri returned another day with a helper to clean out my front room which had become a repository for tons of “stuff” – you couldn’t even walk through the room. Again I was AMAZED by what she accomplished in 3 hours and this time she made a haul to the dump with what could not be recycled to others. We are a family who has to watch our pennies, and it has been a long time since I felt that I had gotten my money’s worth and then some which is the way I felt after Perri had been here. And she is a great person to boot – very professional. If you need help the way I did – CALL PERRI at NEAT FREAK! You will get the help that you need!

Are you ready for peace of mind? That is what Neat Freak and Perri Kersh gave to me. Who would have ever thought that an organized pantry, clutter-free cabinets and downstairs bill center would have brought peace of mind? I certainly did not expect this feeling. With a demanding full-time job and family, I was feeling overwhelmed and at odds deciding which project to tackle first. There was so much “stuff” in my life and I needed to purge. I agree with Suze Orman when she says to clear the clutter and clear your mind. I couldn’t think clearly with all of the disorganization and clutter.
My kitchen was so unorganized and packed with tons of items I’d had for years that were not used regularly and just took up space. Desperate for help, I found Neat Freak on the internet. I loved the website and the fact that it was not packed with lots of useless pictures. The philosophy fit my personal values and just made sense. I found the initial consultation to be cleansing and solution based. Perri went away with all my problems and devised a plan to help me gain control of my kitchen. She told me exactly what to buy and she helped me do the work. It’s that simple! Not everyone is blessed with the organizing gene. Admitting that I needed help was the first step to peace of mind.

Dear Perri, I wanted to take a moment and put in writing how genuinely life-changing and transformational it was to work with you. Ever since the birth of my son two years ago, I had been feeling so trapped in what I called the Bermuda Triangle of chaos, with my mind (my home office), my body (my kitchen), and my soul (my bedroom and closet) in such a state of disarray that I felt I simply could not pursue anything of value or joy for me because of all these home projects hanging over my head. Even more stressful was the fact that I had a reputation professionally for being highly organized, but yet these vital areas of my home had become totally dysfunctional, which added an element of secrecy and shame of not wanting friends and family to know how bad it had gotten. I had literally tried almost every weekend for a year to make progress on any of these areas, but for the first time in my life felt too overwhelmed to even take a first step, until I realized that first step could be asking someone for help.I believe certain people are put in our lives at just the right time when we need it most, and choosing you to be the one to help me through this major life hurdle was one of the best decisions of my life. Not only did you work at lightening speed to produce results that will be so clearly sustainable, but the energy you bring toward simplifying your life, caring for your possessions as well as the world around you, the complete absence of any judgment, and the support I felt from you toward reaching my goals had effects on me far beyond the now beautiful spaces in my home. As a result of your work in my home office I have now completely restructured my job to free-up more time to spend with my family. As a result of your work in my kitchen I have now started cooking with whole, fresh foods and preparing regular meals for my family for the first time in my life. And having a spotless, functional closet has reduced the money I spend on clothes down to nothing at the present time, but even more importantly I feel so much better about myself when I can dress myself in clothes coming from a clean and ordered space.

If someone has never experienced being truly stuck, they may think it is far-reaching to attribute a life transformation to having an organized home, but for those who have ever even considered all the other things they could be doing instead of alphabetizing spices I would unequivocally recommend utilizing your outstanding services. I know for me you have played a pivotal role in starting a new chapter in my life, and I am so deeply grateful. Hopefully the evidence of my brand new label maker sitting right by my laptop will convince any doubters that you can convert anyone to an organizational powerhouse. It would be an honor for me to serve as a reference for anyone interested in learning more about you.

I knew I was not the most organized person in the world and was a little skeptical about working with someone whose website is neat-freak.com but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed working with Perri. She built me up and reminded me that part of the reason I was disorganized was because I had so much going on. She was very complimentary and offered realistic solutions to some of the time management issues I was dealing with. I still continue to use them and it has given me the opportunity to devote more time on the thing that is the most important in my life: My family! Thanks Perri! I will always have your number on speed dial.