113: The Two Stories of Every Cluttered Space with Ingrid Jansen of the Declutter Hub

If you’ve ever stood in the middle of your house and thought, “Where do I even start?”… you are absolutely not alone.

But what if the problem isn’t your lack of discipline… it’s your approach?

In this conversation, I sat down with Ingrid Jansen from The Declutter Hub, and she completely reframed how I think about clutter. We didn’t just talk about getting rid of stuff. We talked about why it feels so hard in the first place—and how to make it feel doable (even in the middle of real life).

Because here’s the truth: clutter isn’t just about things. It’s about emotions, habits, identity, and sometimes even guilt. And once you understand that piece, everything starts to shift.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Why “decluttering your whole house” is actually the fastest way to get stuck
• The simple mindset shift that makes decluttering feel lighter and more positive
• Why starting with what you want to keep (not what to throw away) changes everything
• How to break any space into small, manageable chunks you can tackle in minutes
• The surprising advice Ingrid gives about what to do when you feel unsure about an item
• What the “messy middle” is and why so many people quit right there
• How clutter and emotions like guilt, stress, and overwhelm are deeply connected
• The hidden ways new clutter keeps sneaking into your home (and how to stop it)

Resources We Mention for Easy Decluttering

• Ingrid and Lesley’s book: Reset Your Home: Unpack your emotions and your clutter, step by step (Amazon/Bookshop.org)
• Get started in the Declutter Hub!
• Take the clutter quiz
• Dig more into the mental load of clutter with Katy Wells
• Organizing styles for families with Cas from Clutterbug

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