David and Laura were angels in helping me declutter my lounge room and then my new kitchen. They have taken photo’s of things I want to sell and give away and have taken on all the responsibility of all of this, it’s so good to know that they are happy to do all that as I just do not have the inclination or the knowhow. It has taken a lot off my mind and it’s so good to have them on my side with this. I cannot recommend them enough on so many levels. A blessing for me. If you need a good clean out, clean up, get rid of and sell, house and animals sitters I cannot speak highly enough of the Simplifarians.

David and Laura saved us. We were about to move house for the fourth time in four years with four children of varying ages, while also running our own business. We’re time poor and I come from a long line of hoarders, so our garage was full to the brim with things we still hadn’t unpacked from our last move. We didn’t want to take it all into our newly built home so we needed help urgently and had no idea where to start.

David and Laura came to our house while we were working from home and got to work pulling out and categorising all the items in the garage so we could see what was in there. When they were done, they brought us out for 30 minutes of supported and guided decision making about what should stay and go. Then they sent us back inside to work while they redistributed everything, sorting everything into rubbish, donation, rehome and resell. At the same time, David was posting ads online to sell our unwanted items and people started rocking up at the house to take them away, leaving us with a bundle of cash.

By the end of the day we had sorted ½ of the garage. The feeling was amazing and I actually felt a bit guilty that I had a feeling of pride because I hadn’t really done that much and definitely not the hard work!

“I’d wanted to tackle the storage unit for a long time but it felt daunting on my own and I was dreading it. But not Laura and David! They were actually excited to see all my stuff and help me through the process of deciding what to keep and get rid of without any pressure or judgement. I’m 69, so it’s not easy to shift everything around on my own but they took care of everything. I started out with a storage unit full from floor to ceiling, wall to door. Now I have a functional space I can walk into to access everything I need and, between the three of us, it only took a day to do what I’d been putting off for two years.”

Whenever we need something sold online, we call David. That man can sell anything — even the rubbish we thought we should just throw away!

When we were moving house during the Covid-19 lockdown, we had a number of items left over at the last minute we couldn’t take with us. We messaged David photos of the items and he immediately went to work putting them online for sale or “free to good home”.

Within an hour, people started turning up in utes and hatchbacks to take all sized furniture and bits and pieces, sometimes for $100 or more. David communicated with all the buyers and would send us a message saying “Paul is coming at 3.30pm for the pink toy box and drawers”. Then Paul would arrive, pay us and take it away.

We chose to give some things for free rather than drive to the tip and the people receiving these unwanted items were so happy and grateful.

At the end of the day, EVERYTHING went. Everything. A trampoline, swing set, 3 sets of shelves, toy boxes, drawers, outdoor furniture.

Now whenever something needs to be sold, we don’t even think about it. We just call David.

David made us over $1200 while we were on holiday in Perth! We were planning to move house in the following months and needed to get rid of some big items of furniture. Before we left, we documented together everything we wanted to get rid of then we hopped on a plane. While we were away having a relaxing break, David and Laura made sure the house was taken care of, the bins were put out, the mail came in and the outdoor furniture cushions were brought inside during a bad storm. They also sold all our unwanted items so we came home to find $1200 in cash sitting on the kitchen bench.

Laura and David house sat for us in Tonga for a month. What made the event so commendable was that at the time we were living in a shed, prior to building our home, 20 kilometres from town in an isolated location with two dogs and two cats to care for.

Additionally, it was cyclone season, and a cyclone warning was issued for Tonga. Laura and David took the impending disaster in their stride and before the weather picked up, they evacuated themselves and our dogs and cats to a far more sturdy location to wait out the cyclone.

We were most fortunate to have David and Laura so willingly undertake the task of caring for our home/shed and our pets and will always be grateful to them for their friendship, honesty and dedication to the task at hand. It was such a comfort coming back home, after such a concerning time, knowing that our property and pets had been so well cared for and loved.

We cannot recommend David and Laura highly enough to any prospective couples, or families requiring house/pet sitters.

The first time we met them was when they came to housesit for us but they’ve since become friends. Over the years we’ve known David and Laura to be a very gracious, honest and friendly couple who are a pleasure to be with.

Laura and David were brilliant! We clicked immediately via Skype before they arrived and they kept us informed of their travel plans all along until they arrived. We were away for three months and they couldn’t have been better ‘sitters,’ as they kept in contact with us through the whole period. They looked after everything wonderfully and left the house clean and tidy and just as we’d left it. Even our dogs Foxy and Spas missed them; so we know they did a great job as they’re harsh critics! We have remained friends since which is lovely. A charming, fun, considerate and very competent couple; who we’d recommend with out hesitation to anyone, anywhere as house sitters.

Laura Maya and David house sat for us in our home (Casa Tersalle) in Umbria, Italy from 7 December 2014 to 31January 2015 while we were away in New Zealand for two months. They stayed in our holiday letting apartment and looked after that, our apartment and our cat ‘Pip’ during our time away. We found them to be honest, trustworthy and reliable. They kept the property in good order and left it in a clean and tidy state when they left. Pip got lots of attention and love and was well cared for in our absence. They communicated with us regularly during that time and we felt completely free to enjoy our holiday knowing that our home was in their hands.

During the ‘orientation’ week before we left and the week we spent together after we returned, we found them to be enjoyable and interesting company. We would be happy to have them back as house sitters on some future occasion and would have no hesitation in recommending them to others looking for house sitters. We would be happy to be contacted for any further information.

I brought Laura on board at a critical point — I was failing at building and managing a team in my online business and needed help.

She immediately went to work to build a much better system for sourcing, vetting, hiring and onboarding new team members and helped us grow from three to ten staff. Her role morphed to include team leadership, training our new staff, helping them to learn the ropes of working remotely, and being there as a leader whenever they felt lost, both emotionally and from a practical standpoint.

I could tell Laura was an A-Player soon after hiring her. She could see all the different aspects at play in a project, from the practical, financial, and human elements, and would prepare accordingly. This left me the space to do what I needed to — to be creative, build marketing campaigns and create new products.

If you’re looking to work with someone with high emotional intelligence, who is calm under pressure and has a broad understanding of how online business works, Laura is a great choice.

We’d made quite a few bad hires before we got Laura to take over recruitment for the office of our island resort. Until then, we just asked candidates to send a CV and resume then we spent hours sorting through them and interviewing the best candidates. They looked great on paper and said the right things when we interviewed on Skype, but when they got to the island, it didn’t work out.

Laura created a really smart recruitment system that didn’t just screen the applicants, but tested them. So before we even offered these candidates a job, we had an idea of their technical skills, how resourceful they are (very important when you live on an island!) and how they solve problems. Laura found red flags we wouldn’t normally see and saved us so much time, money and frustration.

Laura knows just the right questions to ask so I can tap into the answers I need from within. She also has a great way of keeping me on track but not too strict like a sergeant — just a happy medium.

She listens and understands me but doesn’t pity me and still gently pushes me forward — which I really needed. I was also able to cut the procrastination crap and just get on with it, to stop making excuses and projecting things so far into the future that I don’t get on with the things in front of me.

This coaching process has been liberating, enlightening and empowering, and my family have said they can see I have more clarity and confidence.

I think anyone who has Laura as a coach in their life is so blessed! I know I am!

Before working with Laura, I thought I had to have my $#!% together – that I had to pick one thing that I was good at and stick to it. This has been a never ending battle for me and the reason I’ve jumped from one thing to another.

However, Laura’s incredible insight gave me so much clarity and made me feel confident that I CAN do anything and everything I want to do, and there are so many ways my dreams and passions can come together. It was a huge A-HA moment for me.