Hello Reader, There's a particular kind of wardrobe clutter that has nothing to do with clothes. The suit from a job you left a decade ago. The jeans from ten years and two sizes back. The going-out dress from a version of your life that doesn't exist anymore. None of it's really about the item, it's about what letting it go would mean. I write about this in my latest blog, How to Organise a Cluttered Wardrobe: 7 Mistakes to Fix. I go into a lot of wardrobes for work, and that's one of seven...
15 days ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, Whether you have just finished decluttering your paperwork, you are partway through the process, or you are simply thinking about getting it more organised, at some point the same question comes up: once you know what you are keeping, where does it actually live? Not just stuffed into the nearest drawer, but somewhere logical, easy to find, and easy to maintain so it stays that way. Most of us inherit our paperwork system rather than choose it. One thing I have noticed across years...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Somewhere in your home - or maybe in more than one place - there is a pile of paper quietly growing. Letters you meant to open, a form from school, a receipt you might need one day, a leaflet from a restaurant. It never seems to be anyone's fault. It just accumulates. Paperwork is unusual as far as clutter goes. It does not just take up drawer space, it seems to demand attention every time you see it, which is part of why it drains so much more mental energy than its size would suggest....
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, Does any of this sound familiar? A friend doesn't reply to your message for a few hours, and you're convinced you've upset them. Someone gives you gentle, well-meant feedback, and you can't shake it off for the rest of the day. You ask for a favour, and the pause before they answer fills you with shame before they've even said a word. If you recognise yourself in any of that, there may be a reason: it's called Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria (RSD), and it's a common trait linked to...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, Most of us imagine that getting on top of clutter requires a big push. A free weekend, a burst of motivation, a complete clear-out. And often it does, which is why I work with people in three day intensives. But underneath all of that, there is another layer of work that happens in the small moments. The tiny decisions you make as you move through your day that either feed the clutter or begin to dissolve it. These habits can help maintain order once you have done a big...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, As the year begins, you may be thinking about what you want this next chapter to look like. Some people choose a word for the year. Others set goals or themes. And some quietly resist the whole idea. There is no right way in, but I want to offer you one simple question. What do you want more of this year, and what do you want less of? I’ve been thinking about travel recently, and Greece keeps calling to me. In particular, Delphi. At the ancient Temple of Apollo, three short...
7 months ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, People often say to me, “I can’t get rid of this. It’ll just end up in landfill.” It’s a fair point, and one I take seriously. But it’s also a little more complex than it seems. Of course, we should all do our best to recycle, donate, and repurpose wherever we can. And it feels good to know something you once valued is being used by someone else. But what about the things that can’t be reused? The truth is, if you don’t let them go now, they’re still likely to end up in landfill...
11 months ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, A client recently told me that living with her clutter felt like being Gulliver in Gulliver’s Travels – pinned down by countless tiny ropes, unable to move. It was such a powerful image. Clutter rarely arrives in dramatic heaps. Instead, it creeps in one small, seemingly harmless item at a time – until suddenly we realise we’re stuck. She also admitted that, before we started working together, she’d imagined the process would feel like lying on an operating table with strangers...
about 1 year ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, Recently, some of you joined the fantastic webinar with architect Jane Leach about refurbishing your home. It really got me thinking about how much more successful the project outcome is, when storage thought about… So often, the planting stage of a decluttering project – where find a place for everything and organising and styling your home – goes so much more smoothly when a few smart storage solutions are already in place. Here are some of the bigger home investments I wish...
about 1 year ago • 2 min read