The Everyday Style School - Episode: Reset Your Home with Ingrid Jansen
Release Date: February 20, 2025
Introduction
In this enlightening episode of The Everyday Style School, host Jennifer Macchi Mary welcomes Ingrid Jansen, a renowned decluttering expert and co-founder of DeclutterHub. Together, they delve into effective strategies for managing and overcoming household clutter, drawing insights from Ingrid's new book, Reset Your Home.
Guest Background
Ingrid Jansen brings over three decades of professional experience in helping homeowners achieve organized and clutter-free spaces. Alongside her business partner Leslie, Ingrid has authored Reset Your Home, which offers a step-by-step approach to decluttering grounded in emotional understanding and practical organization techniques.
Key Concepts
Five Clutter Personalities
Ingrid introduces the concept of Five Clutter Personalities, a framework designed to help individuals identify their unique clutter behaviors and tailor their decluttering strategies accordingly. One notable personality discussed is the Happy Heaper:
- Happy Heaper: Typically juggling multiple responsibilities, Happy Heapers accumulate clutter as home management falls down their priority list. They often seek perfection in organizing systems, leading to procrastination. Ingrid explains,
"Happy Heapers want to do it perfectly, so they just don't have the time to find the perfect system" (04:16).
Understanding one’s clutter personality is crucial for developing personalized and sustainable decluttering methods.
Strategies for Effective Decluttering
Thinking Before Doing
A central theme of the conversation is the importance of mindset in decluttering. Ingrid emphasizes,
"You need to do the thinking before you can actually ponder the project" (05:40).
This involves:
- Identifying Your "Why": Understanding the underlying reasons for decluttering, such as creating space for hobbies or inviting friends over.
- Setting Clear Goals: Defining specific outcomes to guide the decluttering process.
Start Small and Build Progressively
Ingrid advocates for starting with manageable tasks to build what she calls the decluttering muscle:
"Start off with small manageable drawers... build it up" (21:06).
By tackling small areas, such as a single drawer or cupboard, individuals can achieve quick wins that reinforce positive habits and gradually prepare them for more significant decluttering challenges.
Roadblocks to Decluttering
Flitting
Flitting refers to the lack of a structured plan, causing individuals to jump from one task to another without completing any. Ingrid describes it as:
"You flit from one thing to the other to the other. There's no plan" (26:50).
Solution: Stay focused on a single room or task at a time, using timers to maintain concentration and prevent distractions.
Churning
Churning occurs when items are moved from one storage area to another without being truly decluttered. Ingrid highlights:
"As long as something has not left your house, you've not decluttered this" (31:50).
Solution: Establish a clear process for disposing of items, prioritizing donations to ensure items leave the home promptly.
Sentimentality
Dealing with sentimental items is one of the most challenging aspects of decluttering. Ingrid advises:
"Find the quality over the quantity... keep items that truly give you that warm, fuzzy feel" (34:25).
Strategies:
- Create a Sentimental Box: Collect all sentimental items in one place to evaluate them later.
- Limit Keepsakes: Retain only those items that hold significant emotional value.
Specific Area Tips
Kitchen
- Accessibility and Visibility: Place frequently used items at eye or hip level for easy reach. For example,
"Glasses and mugs for a coffee or tea need to be close to a kettle" (45:36).
- Transform Junk Drawers: Convert cluttered drawers into organized spaces by using containers to categorize useful items.
Bathroom
- Use First Containers: Allocate containers for items to be used up first, ensuring that unused products don't accumulate.
"Put them in a 'use first' container so you can just finish them" (47:09).
- Declutter Regularly: Regularly assess and donate unused toiletries to prevent buildup.
Bedroom
- Manage Wardrobes in Chunks: Instead of emptying the entire closet, start with specific categories such as pajamas or gym wear.
"Take out your pajamas or your gym wear... let me just look at this" (50:33).
Maintaining Clutter-Free Spaces
Ingrid emphasizes the importance of daily non-negotiables to maintain organization:
"If you don't do anything during the week, it will all fall down to the weekend" (51:43).
Examples:
- Daily Routines: Allocate 10-20 minutes each day for tasks like loading the dishwasher or managing laundry.
- Consistent Habits: Develop simple, consistent habits to prevent clutter from reaccumulating.
Final Takeaways
Emotions First: The core message is that decluttering is not just a physical task but an emotional journey. Ingrid asserts:
"It's always about the emotions first and the stuff second" (53:31).
By addressing the emotional attachments and understanding the motivations behind clutter, individuals can create lasting and meaningful changes in their living spaces.
Conclusion
This episode offers valuable insights into the art of decluttering, blending practical advice with emotional intelligence. Ingrid Jansen's approach underscores the significance of thoughtful planning, starting small, and addressing emotional ties to achieve a harmonious and organized home. Listeners are encouraged to explore Ingrid's book, Reset Your Home, for a deeper dive into sustainable decluttering practices.
For more resources and to connect with Ingrid Jansen, visit DeclutterHub.com and check out Reset Your Home available now.
Transcript Reference: The timestamps mentioned correspond to the provided transcript sections, ensuring accurate attribution of quotes and concepts discussed during the podcast.