The Clutter Fairy Weekly

Emotions play leading roles in the habits and routines through which we acquire stuff, decide what to keep, and face the challenge of  clutter buildup. In episode #135 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, unpacks positive and negative emotions that influence our choices and suggests ways to leverage emotions in managi...

Decluttering feels like working your way through the maze of your relationship with stuff. Wouldn’t it be easier with a map? Our five-part series will guide you through drawing that map—your personal philosophy of decluttering—by examining your relationship with stuff in terms of values, priorities, positive and negative emotions, habits, behaviors, ethical and social questions, and practical appr...

Digital clutter is a paradox—it takes up virtually no space but can disrupt our lives as profoundly as physical stuff. Excessive and disorganized emails, voicemails, digital photos, videos, music, and other electronic files can raise stress levels, waste time, lower productivity, and even damage the environment! In episode #133 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer an...

Many of us accumulate “incompletions”—unfinished DIY, art, or craft projects; coupons or recipes to clip; papers to file; laundry to fold and put away; and so on. Stale tasks and unfinished projects add to our clutter load and can take a costly psychological toll. In episode #132 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, e...

The bedroom should be a quiet, peaceful sanctuary where we recharge ourselves and enjoy intimate moments. But when clutter invades, visual distractions and mental noise can sap our energy and erode the quality of our sleep. In episode #131 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, offers tips for transforming your main bed...

Most homes have at least one space shared by the whole family—the living room, sitting room, family room, great room, den, etc. Whether formal or casual, these common rooms see lots of traffic and may serve many roles, so they’re prone to clutter collection. In episode #130 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, examine...

Working from home created unique clutter challenges even before the pandemic. But now, between sharing home workspaces with spouses and housemates, Zoom studios, and kids’ classrooms, the rooms and spaces in our homes we dedicate to “office work” are under more stress than ever. In episode #129 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Ho...

When your main clothes closet is stuffed to capacity, every day starts with an archeological expedition in search of something wear. But a trimmed-down, organized closet can make getting dressed a delightful act of self-expression. In episode #128 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, excavates clutter issues in clothe...

The bathroom is typically an undersized room that plays an oversized role in functions that are vital to our health, hygiene, appearance, and relaxation time—in other words, a hot spot for clutter accumulation! In episode #127 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, delves into the sources of restroom clutter and offers...

In most homes, the kitchen is a center of activity, but all that traffic can lead to confusion and disagreement about how it should be used and what belongs in this critical space. In episode #126 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, examines the problem of kitchen clutter and suggests strategies for streamlining the h...

Have you been looking forward to summer as your chance to relax, spend time with the kids, or enjoy a staycation? This is the perfect time to declutter spaces dedicated to creative and recreational activities! In episode #125 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly , Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, shares strategies for organizing creative and play space...

Marie Kondo made a huge impact on the organizing world with bestselling books, two Netflix series, and an unconventional approach to “tidying.” Her once-and-for-all method with its emphasis on handling categories in a prescribed order has made her a star—but it doesn’t seem to work for everyone. In episode #124 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clu...

Our first Marie Kondo episode generated so much conversation that we've decided to extend this topic to a three-part series. Kondo’s bestselling book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up , upended the conventional wisdom about organizing and introduced a new approach to decluttering: The KonMari Method. In episode #123 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and o...

Marie Kondo helped kick the decluttering movement into high gear with her bestselling book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up . The “KonMari Method”  tossed out a lot of the conventional wisdom of the organizing industry and introduced a new approach. In episode #122 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, examines th...

Sometimes we recognize the negative impacts of clutter on our lives, but still feel powerless to manage the conflicting feelings that keep us stuck. So we give in to the panicked impulse to defer decisions for another day. In episode #121 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, returns to the topic of decluttering algorit...

There are many ways in which clutter keeps us from living the lives we want, and an effective way to assess the present state of our homes is through the lens of peace of mind. Is there stuff in your space that stands in the way of your feeling rested, relaxed, and serene? In episode #120 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston,...

To those of us who struggle with clutter, it can feel as if Time itself is our one insurmountable obstacle. As we work to declutter our lives and spaces, we have difficulty balancing and allocating our time—and there’s never quite enough. In episode #119 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, discusses procrastination, e...

Whether you’re managing a long-term clutter issue or starting fresh in a new space, a critical part of designing your organized life is maintenance. Well-designed habits can stop a tough situation from getting worse or keep an organized space in tip-top shape. In episode #118 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, explor...

Graduation season is about to start, and parents everywhere will be scrambling to launch their graduates into college life, often with little cash and strict space limitations. Even if college isn’t in the plans, your kids may need help establishing a space of their own. In episode #117 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Te...

Some of us approach organizing projects with our heads stuffed full of myths, legends, and baldfaced lies that we’ve heard—the product of popular TV shows, mass-market books, nagging parents, and other people’s confusion. In episode #116 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, uncovers the realities hiding behind some of...

How we talk about our stuff reveals a lot about the emotions and memories that influence our choices. Words like enough , junk , and value are loaded with history and meaning for each of us, but they also possess power to keep us stuck or move us forward. In episode #115 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, examines wo...

As life unfolds, we may find ourselves in circumstances that require us to deal with a lot of stuff in a short time: an unexpected move, an illness, a death or disaster. You can’t prevent these crises, but there are steps you can take to help your loved ones or yourself manage better when trouble turns up. In episode #114 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner...

Spring in the northern hemisphere is here, bringing warmer days, more sunlight, and a burst of fresh energy. Let’s take advantage of an early-spring day to “spring forward” on a few household organizing tasks. In episode #113 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, looks at often-neglected corners of our lives and shares...

Many of our homes contain black holes that are easy to pack with clutter and even easier to ignore—spare closets, basements, attics, crawlspaces, the cabinets under sinks, etc. In episode #112 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, unpacks the mysteries of hidden spaces and offers strategies for keeping them in our aware...

Cluttered space impacts and complicates every other aspect of our lives—our physical fitness, emotional health, productivity, family, financial wellbeing, happiness, sense of satisfaction, you name it. In episode #111 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, reframes decluttering as a form of self-care and offers tips for...