The Clutter Fairy Weekly

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...

Creating a home that supports the life you love is what organizing is all about! But if you’re working to clear a backlog and cultivate habits to reduce future clutter, it can be hard to find the time and energy for much else. In episode #110 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, suggests strategies to balance the compe...

Sometimes the work of organizing is too overwhelming for one person to tackle, so we ask for help. But helpers who aren’t sensitive to our goals, priorities, and emotional needs can create more problems than they solve. In episode #109 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, offers guidance on asking for help with your de...

Do you have an office that doubles as a guest room, a Zoom studio, a library, a craft room, and a gift-wrapping room? How about a closet that doubles as a pantry, or maybe a spare bedroom that doubles as an overflow closet? In episode #108 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, examines the organizing issues of multi-fun...

Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, welcomes Ellen Delap of the Attention Deficit Disorders Association–Southern Region to share information about “ADHD Across the Lifespan,” a symposium for anyone interested in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, including those with ADHD, parents, partners and spouses, caregivers, educators, counselors, a...

“Sandwich Generation” refers to middle-aged people who shoulder the responsibility for both their own children and aging parents, while still trying to enjoy a life of their own. In episode #107 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, explores the unique clutter challenges facing the Sandwich Generation and suggests strat...

More often than not, the stories that people who struggle with clutter tell start with the words “I feel….” Even emotions with little clear connection to our stuff can muddle our decision-making and impede progress. In episode #106 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, examines negative feelings that complicate declutte...

January was Get Organized month—a time when many people embark on new decluttering goals or try to revive projects where they’ve gotten stuck. If you’re not sure where to start—or restart—we’ve got you covered. In episode #105 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, offers pointers to set yourself up for decluttering succ...

Not everyone has the resources to install custom storage solutions, field a team of professional helpers, or make unlimited supply runs to expensive stores. But a modest budget shouldn’t stand between you and the organized life you want to live! In episode #104 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, shares a collection o...

The world of decluttering can be a confusing realm of competing philosophies, methods, strategies, books, courses, webcasts, podcasts, and apps. But how do we cut through the “decluttering clutter” to find an approach that works for us ? In episode #103 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, explores several popular appr...

Are some things objectively clutter, or is calling something “clutter” just a personal judgment? It’s hard to solve a problem that isn’t clearly defined, so it’s important to get clear about what we mean by clutter. In episode #102 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, examines several definitions we can use to identify...