Let it go: How Indian tidying-up experts help with desi decluttering

Indian clutter hits different. So, Insta hacks aren’t enough to clear it out. See how local experts make room for the stuff you need

For as long as we’ve had things, we’ve had to organise them. Harappan pots? Stacked neatly, by the hearth. The end of Medieval winter? Cue spring cleaning in every town home. Messy modern life? The Association of Professional Organizers has been around since 1983. Marie Kondo didn’t invent tidying up. Those fridge restock Reels, the mason-jar pantry, the colour-coded stationery drawer and the 5/5/5 decluttering rule – it’s just a new chapter to an old story.

Professional organisers say younger folks hoard clothes, makeup, footwear for a future version of themselves. (SHUTTERSTOCK)

But it’s a chapter that’s overwhelming us enough that we’re willing to pay for help. Even Indian homes, where house help do the cleaning, are now hiring professional organisers to help sort out household and wardrobe chaos. It’s more than Keep This - Chuck That. Getting people to say goodbye to their prized possessions is an art. See how they get people to reassess their buying habits, and urge them to make room for the things they really need.

Rohini Rajagopalan says decluttering helps people curate the life they want.

Hoard mentality

What we hoard offers big clues to who we are. Older people hold on to objects out of sentimental value, and as contingency plans. “They lived in a world where they didn’t know which shortages would inconvenience them,” says Rohini Rajagopalan, founder of Mumbai-based decluttering service Organise With Ease. Younger folks, on the other hand, fall prey to overconsumption – stocking footwear, makeup, clothes and accessories for a future version of themselves. Rajagopalan once worked with a compulsive shopper, who had delivery parcels at her doorstep every day. When things are within budget and easy to procure, but home sizes stay the same, “that’s where the dissonance sets in.”

It’s mostly women who sign on with professionals for kitchens, kids’ playrooms and husband’s offices. (SHUTTERSTOCK)

Both men and women tend to hoard. But it’s mostly women who sign on with professional organisers for closets, kitchens, kids’ playrooms and their husband’s office spaces. Working through stacked-up stuff can take an hour to even months, and can cost between ₹7,000 and ₹10,000 an hour.

Safe space

Some cases are challenging. In Delhi, Gayatri Gandhi, founder of Joy Factory, has worked with a woman who had OCD. “She felt as if she couldn’t trust anybody in her family with her possessions, and anything that someone else touched had to be washed,” says Gandhi. Working with her felt almost like a counselling session, and required a lot of patience. It took five years to declutter the woman’s house.

Clients call us once they notice they’re living in the same outfits, say Bijal Thakkar and Kruti Shah.

But mostly, Indian homes declutter differently. While American women typically fly solo, here the whole family gets involved. That makes decluttering tougher. “Some of these items have been in the family for generations, maybe 30, 40, 50 years,” Gandhi says. “We have to open them up to the idea of letting go.” In some cases, the woman of the household wants to get rid of certain things, but her mother-in-law has a different opinion. Most of the time, Gandhi spends an hour or two just talking to them. “We tell them that we’re not here to throw away their things. We’re there to give them more control over the possessions they own.”

Even when there’s no room for things, people find it hard to let go. Kopal Dhir, who runs Organise with Kopal in Delhi, once worked with a person who booked her team just for a few hours. It eventually took two days to complete two wardrobes, because she was indecisive about every little thing – down to hairclips and receipts. “My team started getting frustrated too.”

Some people can’t let go of the littlest things – down to hairclips and receipts. (SHUTTERSTOCK)

Breathing room

Impulse buys, celebratory spends, pick-me-ups – everything adds up. A good organiser should know what to throw away – a great one should know what’s worth keeping. Thakkar of Methodise Organize doesn’t fight clients who are resistant to the idea of generations-old items leaving the home. “We give them a box or a basket in which they can keep the things they feel they can’t get rid of, and ask them to keep it somewhere they can’t see it,” she says. “If they’ve not touched that box for a year, it means it’s never going to be used.” It delays the inevitable, but takes the sting out of it. Rajagopalan also asks clients to think about whether they’d buy the bag or the shoes or even the designer outfit again, at full price. “This trick always comes to our rescue – because they can use it to evaluate whether it deserves space in their lives.”

Gayatri Gandhi says that an organiser gives you a sense of control over your possessions.

Professional organisers say decluttering instantly clears up room mentally, giving you a new beginning of sorts. “It’s similar to entering a hotel room. You feel instantly relaxed, not just because you’re on holiday and away from your responsibilities, but because there’s nothing there to distract you – no crowded laundry baskets, messy bedside tables, or utensils piled high in the kitchen,” says Gandhi.

Decluttering is almost like a therapeutic audit, say organisers. It shows you what’s taking up dead space in your life and “it reduces the time spent making unconscious choices every time you sift through 20 lipsticks, 10 omelette pans, 30 souvenir boxes”. Rajagopalan feels happiest when customers revel in an organised, manageable home and pause their indiscriminate shopping. “It’s really about curating the life you want, and choosing the objects you want to be surrounded by.”

From HT Brunch, January 31, 2026

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