The TRUTHS and LIES about home organization | Clutterbug Podcast # 169
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- Опубліковано 20 кві 2023
- In today's podcast, I'm joined by Kay from @TheOrganizedSoprano as we discuss the TRUTHS and the LIES about home organization. We dig deep into our insecurities as Professional Organizers, and we chat about how social media creates a false narrative about what it means to truly be organized.
You can learn more about Kay at www.theorganizedsoprano.com/
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I would like to encourage everyone to think about alternatives to the expensive organizing bins. When I started organizing, I used the containers that my food came in like tofu trays, mushrooms containers, and I cut cereal boxes into small trays or paper organizers. Organizing can be inexpensive.
I covered the boxes that 5 reams of office paper come in the same fabric so they are uniform in appearance. And I use shoe boxes on shelves to create "drawers" and electronics boxes as drawer dividers.
I did something similar.
I had 3 stackable unit under my outdated vanity ( one side for sitting while doing your makeup & hair)which could have been more storage space .
But I found it very frustrating to just have everything thrown into a drawer and having to hunt for blush , makeup etc.
So before I gave up on it , I went into my kitchen and got into my Tupperware cabinet and gathered up different sizes of containers and searched my house for anything I could use to separate items in those big open drawers.
That made all the difference for me being more functional in my bathroom!!!
I’m the only one who sees inside the drawers anyway 😉 8:05
Great interview! And #realfreakinghomes….lol…l was the person who could never find the scissors. They had a home but were always left here and there. And one day years back I bought 3 more pairs. One lives in the laundry room (basement), the other in the kitchen (main floor) and the third one in the bathroom upstairs. And the original has since stayed in the home office. And for many years I have never had lost scissors in their travels. They always get returned to their assigned spots. I got tired of climbing flights of stairs for the one pair that never seemed to make to-its home. And you know I have an organized home and tendencies to be a minimalist but at the end of the day my four pairs of scissors are an arrangement of #realfreakinghome 😅
Same here, I have multiple of things with a home where used because that is FUNCTIONAL
same with me. scissors in every room, because i am too lazy and too practical to walk into another room.
Real homes is a little frightening to me because I have lived in my house for 36 years and have a huge amount of stuff to de-clutter that belonged to my mother and mother-in-law as well as my husband. I have enough patio furniture to hold a party for 25+ outside and 2 BBQs as well as a smoker. And I am ONE person! I need to go through all of this stuff and decide what to do with it at some point. So, I am doing it one piece at a time. Thanks for your videos Cass!
I remember seeing one so-called-minimalist interior. More than anything else it resembled a home improvement store demo section. Everything was new, modern, shiny, trendy, it smelled of a furniture workshop or a storehouse. I almost could see price tags and affiliate links here and there. WHY is it minimal, girl, you've bought the whole truck of stuff (maybe even two), you've spend a fortune (on credit card) and you've thrown out another truck of (maybe not so bad) stuff just because it's not new and insta-worthy. No sentimental items, no handmade items, no art, just some very neutral and very trivial posters. I look at that and I cannot say, who is living here, how many of them, what do they like for a birthday present, what are they doing at home at their free time. They had a dog in a condo, but there was no sign of it, no mattress, no bowl, not a hair anywhere. (I hope that woman just lied about having a dog, cannot imagine poor creature living in that space)
That. Was. SCARY.
Maybe she feels safer hiding her true self from the internet, many stage their homes for photos
Function is much better than "pretty"!!!! I'd rather see a well-organized and functional pantry and kitchen than a pretty one that is unrealistic any day!!!!!!
Keep it real Cas!
Thanks for being real ladies, I'm not a minimalist but most stuff has a home. It is truly a maintenance issue. Controlling what comes into our homes helps equally.
Biggest truth is that I don't really have to organize now that I've downsized so much and only kept what I need and love! 👏
Two of my fave organizers in one video - YAY!!!! For me, because I am just too lazy to search for things, it will always be function over form. But I DO love to feel my flat give me a warm hug when I walk in! Still: function over form, for me....
I like the mention of minimalism the aesthetic vs minimalism the practice.
I'm a designer, so this seriously resonates with me! "Before" and "After" lies are so dysfunctional and debilitating! Please keep keeping it real!
I never heard of your guest, Kay, but you two are magic together! Please, keep telling the truth, -together, you have an attentive audience! Thank you!
Cas, I'm glad to see you do this podcast. I was starting to get a little worried about you with The Container Store sponsorship and the push for buying stuff to get organized. The Clutter Coffins concept has really rang true and helps me set boundaries.
ALSO, your house, in all it's simplicity, is beautiful~ please don't be wary of showing it.❤
#realfreakinghomes
14:19 “your home is not a set.” All the words I’ve been needing to hear!
18:56 Thank you, I don’t want to be a minimalist! I like stuff! I USE my stuff! So freeing to hear that I don’t need to be a minimalist to be organized.
“Life can fall apart… but you can just pick it up..”
Love that. Literally what life is. lol 👏😄
Thank you so much for introducing me to Kay. I checked out her videos simply because I liked the cabinet behind her and wanted to see more of her decorating style. (People have actually recommended her on another site but I haven't had a chance to look her up until now.)
Kay posted a video about a month ago on "toxic minimalism" and this is "a thing" that people have been talking about. I actually had to find a support group (which is where I found out about Kay) to cope with all these people who keep"popping up" and demotivating me. Kay mentioned that one person she watched implied that you are either a minimalist or hoarder, and that there is no in-between. I think that may be the person I blocked to save my sanity.
So great to know there are other styles out there that might be more compaptible with our own.
Seasons of life dictate what's essential. I "Kondoed" my life, then I did Swedish death cleaning. Now my goal is to get the hubby to declutter and sell his home. Also my goal this year is to start my own business as a professional organizer for "end of life". I've helped so many friends & family de ~clutter, organize and downsize. This might be my solution to "give back" from my Airstream life. Love this video from two of my favorites. 🥰 Yes to #realfreakinhomes
I love Kay and her dog Clover! She is one of my favorite UA-camrs. You have the best guests on this Podcast. Great conversation.
Can't tell you how excited I was to see you two together! Love watching you both!!!
This!!! I can’t tell you how good this made me feel. Don’t get me wrong I love the many minimalist influencers out there but every time I would watch them the narratives of getting rid of all your possessions was coming through whether they said it or not. Honestly I consider myself an essentialist and love keep items that are essential to every day life along with some sentimental things. As a child of pack rats, having stuff around is comforting but after seeing the benefits of decluttering and feel a clearer mindset :)
Nice going on the term essentialist! Love it.
I also love "essentialist" so much. I really liked the concept of "realistic minimalism", but always felt like I wasn't going far enough because I have two spatulas or something. I adore your comment!!
Real minimalists say control your stuff-don’t let it control you, keep what you use and get rid of excess you don’t use…they don’t say give away your possessions.
@@denisea3465minimalists don’t mean to get rid of 2nd spatula if you use both, I have a kitchen scissors at each end of the kitchen where I use each. They mean get rid of the spatulas you don’t use
Love Kay and her doggie Clover. Her voice is also so calming. She’s a real life organizer. I appreciate real homes that most ppl have. Those are the inspiration. McMansions and super expensive systems is not what the average viewer is looking to do IMO. Nobody should feel bad about not having “big fancy spaces” a lot of those ppl are not happy. Trust that… Great vid!
They're talking all about organizing and decluttering while I frantically google "women's tank top with pink fish". 🤦♀
LOL! Great idea! Really cute outfit!
But did you find it? Do you have a link? I have a mighty need.
Wow, you two are so pleasant to listen to together and so affirming, and I loved hearing about the goal being ease and practicality.
I was waiting for that magical word, "functional"! That's where I am. If if it works for you, in doesn't matter how it looks.
I have home edit clear bins, dollar tree bins, crates, totes. I don't care. If it contains what I need it to, it works for my family and I. I'm a label girl. Not just on bins, but on the cabinets. Zero effs given. Some of meds have affected my memory. So it makes it easy to find.
I don't own a cricket. I order premade labels. So?!?! It works for us.
I'm still in the process of working on it all. My ADHD plus OCD, tend fight each other. (Squirrel) lol. But I'm a list girl. I don't use my Google calendar. I use white board calendars. And set my alarm for each appointment or task.
I love this conservation! Real life organization looks different for everyone. And i love that, "organizing is a maintenance activity."
For me, organization is having a home for your stuff and having it easily put away. I don’t need home edit fancy. I’m not spending a fortune on plastic. Once you declutter, you don’t need all of those bins.
When I re-did my kitchen a couple of years ago, I put everything that needed electricity, in cabinets low but near two electrical sockets. I only keep what can fit in those cabinets. I even have decided the spoon rest doesn't need to be out unless I'm cooking. Thanks for this!
I love Kay and Clover! ❤
Appreciate the honesty and a little saddened that you feel your stuff is not worthy of posting. I don't consider myself a minimalist, but my friends will definitely say I am. The biggest thing is my chaos threshold is a lot lower. I have the smallest house ,but we all get together here because it is open and relaxing...I prefer having closets that are functional for my life, not ones that are Pintrest worthy. I get excited seeing videos of organization that you can see will work for that person, not that is perfect for a pic.
I don’t tic toc for the same reason I quit tv 15 years ago - don’t need it - don’t want it - my walk in closet shelves hold Staples and other office cardboard boxes to hold my hand bags - toilet paper- etc - if people have money for pretty boxes by all means - to each their own I guess 🤷♀️I am still going through my place to declutter - maybe every weekend some corner or revisit a drawer - then there is the moment when I opened my silver ware drawer and smile at my 2 of each - I live alone and if friends show up we’ll manage - thanks for taking the time to always share useful information - 👍💕
In Kondo's follow up book, Spark Joy, she clarifies the difference between "putting your house in order" and "daily maintenance." Once youve done her 2 steps "putting your house in order" process of decluttering and storing, all that remains is the daily maintenance where you put belongings back to where they are stored. Then decluttering is a one time thing and daily maintenance becomes a more streamlined process and not a giant struggle. 💙
So funny! #realfreakinghomes. I'm in a small apt with 6 kids in one bedroom (ages 1-15). Maintenance is huge (and so is keeping up with and putting away laundry). I have a little help with daily pickup and I'm still needed to fix missing things, find missing shirts... Without having fixed it to be pretty, I see several items in wrong places. At the same time, I'm surviving with the container store Elfa shelving, I installed 2 shelves on top, hanging below with 4 drawers on the bottom. Each family member got 2 feet of it. It was expensive to start but so is the furniture that would have held all the similar items.
Foster care?
When you mentioned collaboration suggestions recently I wanted to say Kay but know you don't live near each other. Glad to see this podcast!
I think a majority of people realize that all the beautiful clear containers lined up looking perfect, etc., is not very realistic. However, I do believe that one of the main reasons, at least for myself, that many people love watching organization videos is because of the ideas that professional organizers put out for everyone to see. While I am aware that my home will not look instagram-worthy, I am always looking for ways to cheaply come up with great ideas that I can try to accomplish that same "feeling" in my home. When someone talks about being organized, I think it is all inside the person's head--some people feel that they are very organized yet another person might deem that other person to be extremely organized. Loved this video because it got me really examining myself and thinking very deeply about the topic of organization.
I love the idea of #realfreakinghomes! When I first started watching pantry organizing videos my question was, “Where are the cans of green beans, corn, tomatoes, …?Am I the only person who uses canned goods?” My pantry is organized, and you can see the canned green beans and such. I do decant certain items, baking needs and pasta and such, but it is a real freaking home that I live in!
Love both of y’all, and try to never miss your videos! ♥️♥️
Not a minimalist, but neither am I a maximalist!
This was fantastic! Totally honest and I so love how you tried to explain how the phase of our life can make your organization style change - it really bothered me when people started to attach Marie Kondo. You are both awesome!!
I love the idea of showing real homes. I consider my house pretty neat and tidy. My kids wood tell you that my clothes organization, jewelry and shoes in my closet is overboard. Even my underwear is folded and sorted by color. but at the same time my dresser top is full of stuff that doesn't have a home. Yes real life. When I do manage to get it cleaned off it never seems to stay that way for very long.
Everything on dresser surface needs a permanent home where it is used. If not used near dresser how does it end up there? If home should be in dresser, declutter dresser. If not used at all, offload it.
Freakin’ awesome! I’m a bee with a bit of cricket. Knowing why I do what I do is the best way to find the best solution for me no matter what the trend. I don’t understand how trendy pantry organisation works as the groceries are constantly changing. I only cook twice a week means I don’t need a full pantry and re-use the same containers for different foods week to week so labeling them doesn’t make sense.
I'm the same! I'm not a big fan of labels. Decanting things into identical containers with identical labels seems like a lot of work when the products come in containers that look different at a glance, so you don't have to read the label.
Thank you so much for being so real. Being organized doesn't have to cost a fortune. I can totally relate. You-re awesome.
I label only things that I know I'll forget what's the contents once some time has passed, like spices and similar.
Thank you for talking about this. I am anything but a minimalist (and wouldn't want to be), grow up dealing with abuse from a hidden organizer because I'm a butterfly (big shock an artist who's visual lol) and he couldn't handle anyone having another organization style even with a doctor's note saying the kid with ASD isn't going to be able to do that. Was very confused about the subject of organization for several years from that abuse as a result of lies like this even before social media. Once leaving that environment and living with how I'm really wired I'm probably more organized than he is, and watching videos and TV shows on the subject taking the parts that I thought were useful and functional for me and leaving what wasn't has been part of the reason, and I still struggle with having to stage my home not for social media but because I have been threatened so many times because of my medical situation that while I'm no professional I'm just trying to avoid further abuse and feel pressured took like I can keep my dwelling looking like it's to that level. I wish more people knew and understood exactly what you are talking about with looking pretty mattering less than being able to find my stuff.
So what platform will #realfeakinghomes be on? People need to see the truth on this subject from people in your industry for a lot more reasons than we're discussed here today.
Me and my mom. Where I needed my coat and shoes to be versus where she thought they should be. Constant shouting matches over things like that.
Thrive in spite of the abuse by making your home function for your lifestyle. Aspire to your own standard
Yes let's post real homes! Real bodies and real life... I found you saying that really emotional... Not sure why but thank you ❤
You ladies don’t have to worry about what you are putting out on your podcasts.
Just listening to your podcast while I have been decluttering these last few days has been enough to help me regain control over my long neglected clutter.
It has been exhilarating to load my trunk with donations and I use whatever containers or , even cardboard boxes to organize drawers and shop areas in my house for organizing tools.
I don’t have to label everything, but I do have labels in my linen closet.
I took your advice Cass and organized a system for my husband.
Clear drawers with big labels within arms reach of where he sits to get dressed( he is disabled and it will be more helpful to him to be able to reach everything without getting up.
Also put his hamper( took lid off) right next to his chair too.
We’ll see how well it works.
Thank you for explaining how opposite organizing styles can live together 😘9:05
You are such an inspiration to me. Thank you for being real. Keep it coming!!!!
How did I miss this from 3 days ago? I watch both of y'all ❤
I Love you both and Dawn for the minimal mom because you are always real and let us know life is not pinterest perfect and don't have to be. You make us feel not like your better than we are but that you fully understand and are just like us. Thank you for that.❤️
Looks like I found a new channel! This is my first time hearing if the Organizing soprano
Cas, Kay is my absolute fav Prof Organizer yayyyyy
This was a fantastic podcast. I would love to see videos like you're saying on real homes. Because I battle like I'm sure so many unless it looks like that perfect thing. There's that pressure and sometimes you just can't stop and breathe. And it makes you feel like your stuff isn't good enough. Thank you for this podcast as I was listening actually was organizing my dresser drawers
Never give others power over you to make you feel you are not good enough, judge yourself by a standard you set for yourself
I totally get what you mean about needing to be mentally prepared to do things. I told my husband "let's go buy you some shorts on Tuesday." Tuesday comes and I was like "we can't do that because I hadn't thought about it the whole day, so I'm not mentally prepared.
Thank you for laying it out in a real world way.
Loved this collab! You sound like 2 friends letting us listen in on your chat. Very helpful too!
Also I never expected access to my schedule to be my favorite feature on my Apple Watch! It’s a loose schedule but my must-do’s go on my Google calendar😊. Or get moved to the next day 🤦🏻♀️🤣
Yes Real Home posting/videos
My favourite podcast yet, amazing flow of chat and so fun and funny.
What a beautiful individual she is...both of you are....really enjoyed this session.🙂
Cas and Kay - so much fun!! Love both of you amazing ladies!!
When you live in a small space you need to consider your space. We buy paper towel 2 rolls at a time and toilet roll 6 rolls at a time because that’s what we have room for.
Growing up, my mom and I would take shoe boxes and all sorts of other boxes that we could repurpose, and cover them with contact paper or wrapping paper (which we needed to purge anyway).
I still use some of those contact-papered shoeboxes, 40 years later, so they last! And they looked a lot prettier than a lot of generic containers that are out there.
Love it! Been watching both of you while I’m at work for months now.
Does you supervisor allow you watch at work??
@@marylut6077 I work at an art studio and most of the time everyone is listening to audio books or watching youtube while working with their hands :)
Love both of you. Even more so because you are real and normal!
Love you both! Excited to hear you together!!🎉
Same with the comment '' you can't be a minimalist, you have things like books and video games '', minimalism is also a spectrum and you can apply minimalism principles to your life without wanting to live like a monk. I have adhd and I need minimalism principles and a good organisation system, everything need to be easy or I can't function. If it's beautiful it helps me because i feel attracted to the space (like the kitchen) and it's easier for me to engage in cooking activities that way but no pressure about the Pinterest perfect picture. I learned to create my own practical system to make my life easier. My home is far from perfectly clean but everything has it's place so I'm not constantly waisting my time searching for things or moving them around and I can spend this time doing things that matter like having quality time with my husband.
2 of my favourite organisers.
Thanks to both of you for beeing so honest and hearty at the same time! 🥰 So good to hear the truth and knowing I am not alone 😉
Thank you both so much for your honesty.❤
This is my struggle! I need real life organizing solutions and i go to Pinterest and none of it works for me. I appreciate when you share real life solutions and organizing. Watching you go into real people's houses gives me hope 😂
Stay off Pinterest, photos are bright-lighted and staged for photo and not for real life
I feel I have actually started to follow more realistic people, on social media, because I can't keep up with (financially or otherwise) with the unrealistic "minimalist" or tiktok organizers. I initially tried and I found it made me feel worse or I could have never gotten to where I am now, if I kept trying.
“Organizing porn” 😂 I can sooo identify!
Thank you both 💓 I am guilty of stuff shuffling so I enjoyed listening today, taking on board your advice. ❤
Hooray! 🎉❤ Two of my favorites together!!
Cas your channel has helped me so much!! I’ve been trying to get a handle on this clutter and have been so overwhelmed. Your methods & teaching has literally been the only thing that has helped me. I think it’s because you keep it real. It’s also been a tremendous help to know my organizing style and my husband’s too. Now I have a much better sense of what organizing products to buy. I can’t even tell you how many systems I’ve tried that haven’t worked or just added to the confusion. Thank you so much
I love Kay! My favorite organizers chatting!
You are doing podcast w almost everyone ive watched on yt. I love kay from the organized soprano. ❤
I love seeing you two together 🥰
Can’t wait to watch! Love Kaye!
Thanks so much ladies ❤
I love Kay! Oh, what a fun video. ❤
Real life organizing!!!!
Love you two together!
Loved this! So good! 🙏🏻💕
How I wish my spouse would understand, he is so negative about the mess, although it’s been messy for years.
Just so you know, I do NOT want fake. I want real! 💓
I loved this podcast. I've been watching Kay for a while, and Kay, I watched part of your house tour in your new house and loved it. And I love Clover.
I use Google Calendar and go from there. I tried a few apps, task apps, etc but gave up on those, they just didn't work for me, so I stay pretty much in the Google environment now. I've been using Google Calendar for years, and everything goes in there, even which day is street sweeping day. I've also found it helpful to use multiple calendars and I use reminders all the time. I just tell my phone "hey Google, remind me at 10:00 am to take the cat to the vet. I set reminders for when my favorite authors are releasing a new book. She announces my reminders and I can look at on the reminders calendar. I have all my events color coded. If it's something I need to do, it goes in the calendar which is easy now that I've figured out how to use the voice commands on my Android phone. I've been messing around with the task list program and have decided to use it a little differently than I have. Daily stuff, like clean the cat box, I don't need reminding, but when I last washed the sheets on the bed, I need to have that written down.
Thanks for a great podcast.
Luv u guys! but for me minimalism brings me peace. I cant keep my house clean and organized if I have to much things. And I can better control my money. Cause I luv cute things and Im impulsive and than I will buy funko pops, anime figures, tamagotchis and so on. Now I still have a few funkos but I dont need need more. I can finally really save money and I dont feel the need to buy everything. Im satisfied now. So for me minimalism is breathing.
But please! You do you!! Luv your contens❤
This was a great conversation ❤
I too love to see you both together! I get cricket Vibes from Kay, but I may be wrong!
I love to clean and tidy too. #real freakin homes.
Totally want to know if there is an app that would share a to do list like Kay mentioned, over android and iPhone so everyone in the family could participate.
I’m a functional over pretty girl. Pretty is all fine and dandy, IF you have the space, but I need my space to be a workhorse, not a fashion model runway. ADHD girl here… I tend to be pretty much split between Bee & Butterfly. Though just a hair more on the Bee side of things. I need it to be in my sight. Out of sight, out of mind & where did I put… oh wait, WHAT was I doing? Oh well, let’s go do… ummm what was I thinking about? Yeah. Distracted might as well be my middle name, but I have noticed that IF I go back to where I was when I was thinking I needed to go into a certain room for XYZ, I’ll usually be reminded of what I was doing in the first place & as soon as I lock eyes onto what I was going to do/get/etc., Unfortunately that more often than not is my daily life. SO IN MY SIGHT is a MUST for me! Functionality is way more needed than pretty. Pretty just doesn’t get the job done for me. Functionality does.
Kay, I'm a singer too! And I did it... I decluttered my gowns. 😅 Because let's face it, I was just wearing my favorites over and over anyway! That's not to say you have too many though. Gowns are expensive. 😅
Hahha! That's awesome! I have my favorite 4 or 5 but they are so poufy and are such space hogs LOL
minimalism is a very subjective and personal interpretation. unfortunately it has been regurgitated by social media and became this 'style'. i consider myself a minimalist, because less things mean more calm to me. however, i do have certain collections that bring me joy - dozens of polka dotted cups that i rotate in my kitchen, drawers full of fancy socks. i use them and they make me smile. could i live without them? sure. do i want to? no. it is a conscious decision. minimalism can be be 5 black t-shirts and only beige colored home interior, but it doesn't have to.
We like to look at beautiful things, but it's healthier for our minds to look at real things.
I follow both! Loved the video!!
Loved this podcast so much!
Cass, i have stopped watching some UA-camrs because they have big homes that I will ever have. Thus the decor and organizing does not apply to me. Beautiful but it does leave me feeling sad/down.
Thank you for this conversation about making organization accessible to all despite bank accounts. #realfrickinhomes
For me, the question is "is the volume of your stuff interfering with your life? And is it preventing you from living the life you want to live?" then you move on to "can you find things? can you easily tidy/maintain your home?" And I believe that my mess has something to teach me about how to specifically organize MY stuff - where it needs to be, how detailed or general the storage solution needs to be, etc.
#realfreakinhomes
Love it!😁
Very interesting podcast! One thing I noticed in the format though that bothered me a little bit is the host-to-guest talking ratio. It felt as if you talked more than the guest. Maybe that’s something you’d want to consider for your future interviews, but maybe not as that is your podcast and you’re sharing this wisdom for free with us, so the direction your interviews take is completely up to you. Thank you for your wisdom, I really enjoy watching your content!
Yes yes, post real “freaking” homes!!! Real life
I’ve never looked at Pinterest or Instagram.
It would have been nice to have heard Kay talk more.
I keep forgetting to put an event into my calendar...