I have to say, creating this podcast has been such an unexpected adventure.

When I emailed you all in July asking if you would listen, I didn’t expect that simple question to send me on a 3+ month journey of creating a podcast this summer. And yet, I’m so glad it did!

I wanted to invite you into real organizing sessions so you could see what actually happens when we look beyond the clutter.

Not the perfectly polished before-and-afters. Not the quick fixes or organizing hacks.

I wanted to explore the real conversations. The emotions. The resilience. The unexpected discoveries. And those little moments when something finally clicks.

And wow, did our guests deliver!

We’ve explored offices, garages, refrigerators, storage spaces, and so much more. But what we’ve actually been exploring is what it means to make space for ourselves, our relationships, and the lives we want to live.

I’m grateful to every guest who trusted us with their story, and to every one of you who has been listening along.

And if you’ve been waiting for the whole season to be available so you can binge it, your moment has arrived!

All of season 1 is ready for you. Listen from the beginning, jump around on the topics that speak to you, or bring me along while you tackle an organizing project of your own.

If you’ve been listening, I would love to hear from you!

Was there a moment that really stuck with you? An episode that made you feel seen? Something you learned that changed the way you think about your own clutter?

Hit reply and tell me! I would love to know what resonated with you, and your feedback will help me shape Season 2.

And speaking of Season 2…want to be a part of it?

I’m looking for people who would be willing to invite me (and our listeners) into their organizing journey for season 2.

You don’t need to have the messiest house, the biggest project, or even know where to start.

You just need to have a space you’re struggling with, a willingness to explore what’s getting in your way, and an openness to sharing your experience with others who might be going through something similar.

And one last little favor…

If you’ve been enjoying the podcast, I would be so grateful if you would leave a rating or review on your favorite podcast platform. It helps other people discover these conversations and supports the continued growth of the show.

Icons for Apple Podcasts, Spottify, YouTube (with links to my podcast on each platform…just like we did with the launch)

Thank you so much for being a part of this adventure. I can’t wait to see what we make space for next!

The post That’s a wrap! Celebrating Season 1 of What Are You Making Space For? appeared first on Star Hansen.

That’s exactly what we’re exploring in this week’s episode of What Are You Making Space For? And I can’t think of a better wrap-up for Season 1!

On this week’s podcast, we meet Chelsey & Eric.

Chelsey has ADHD, strong emotional attachments to her belongings, and a family home filled with generations of memories. Eric is a bit more comfortable letting things go and would love nothing more than to come home to a peaceful, organized space.

And somewhere in the middle of all that is their home office, which has slowly become what they lovingly call their Room of Doom.

How do two people with different needs, different ways of thinking, and different relationships with their belongings create a home that works for BOTH of them?

Together, we explore ADHD, anxiety, sentimental attachments, and some practical strategies for tackling whole-home clutter.

But what I love the most is where the conversation takes us when we start talking about what home really means.

Thank you so much for being a part of this first season. It’s been an incredible experience, and I’m excited to share more about it with you next week.

The post When Clutter Styles Collide: How to Get Organized When You and Your Partner Are Different appeared first on Star Hansen.

You can see all the little decisions, all the steps, the tasks…all the things you need to research, sell, donate, or figure out. But before you’ve even touched a single thing, you’re exhausted. 

Things just feel too overwhelming to even begin. 

This week on What Are You Making Space For?, we’re heading into Shelby’s garage to tackle her mountain of clutter. 🏔️ 

Shelby is an avid camper, so she’s no stranger to mountains. But this particular mountain has been a little harder to climb.  

Between generations of inherited belongings, unfinished projects, and a whole lot of good intentions, there’s plenty to work through.  

And as much as I wish we could, we can’t organize her whole garage in one session. So instead, we’re going to explore how to make a project that feels impossible start to feel possible.  

Because sometimes the biggest obstacle isn’t the clutter itself. It’s figuring out where to begin.   

Here’s to taking that first step! 

The post Making the Impossible Possible appeared first on Star Hansen.

Not simply cleaning it out and purging expired condiments, but really thinking how your fridge is organized…and whether it’s actually set up to support the way you and your family eat?   

Our refrigerators are workhorses. We’re in and out of them all day, every day, but we rarely think about setting them up with the same intention we might give a closet, pantry, or office.  

Refrigerators just happen to be one of my favorite things to organize (nerd alert 🤓), and I’ve been dying to organize one on the podcast.  

This week on What Are You Making Space For?, we’re tackling Mica’s fridge. 

Mica is a working mother of 5, with kids ranging from 9 months to 13 years old. Her hands are full (literally and figuratively), and she needs her fridge to support the whole family.  

But as we start digging in, we discover something else… 

Some of the clutter in Mica’s fridge is actually pointing us to what she needs. 

Because sometimes the stuff that’s getting in our way is also trying to tell us something. 

Take a listen to find out what was hiding in Mica’s fridge, and pick up some ideas for setting up your own fridge to better support you and the people you feed. 

Here’s to more nourishment and less mystery leftovers, 

The post How to organize your refrigerator so it actually works for you appeared first on Star Hansen.

The post Why The Last Pile Of Clutter Feels So Hard appeared first on Star Hansen.

On this week’s episode of What Are You Making Space For?, we meet Lanie.  

She’s tackling a bedroom-turned-storage-room that is overflowing with stuff. There’s no garage in her house, so this one room has slowly taken on the job of garage, storage space, craft area, donation center…and everything in between.  

It’s filled with household paper goods, party supplies, appliances, art supplies, sporting goods, toys, donations, cardboard to break down, bags of clothing to sell, and more. 

And when you have that many different kinds of things competing for your attention, even figuring out where to begin can feel overwhelming. 

As Lanie and I started working through the room, we realized that the best way to make progress wasn’t what either of us expected. 

In fact, we needed to pivot. 

And sometimes, that’s the most useful thing you can do when an organizing plan isn’t working. 

In this episode, we explore: 

• What to do when a room feels too overwhelming to start 

• How to triage a cluttered space before you organize it 

• Why not starting a new project can be a helpful organizing rule 

• How to make decisions when getting rid of something isn’t so simple 

• Why 70% accuracy can be enough to keep you moving 

• How to recognize when it’s time to rethink the plan

I hope this episode helps you look at your organizing projects a little differently this week.  

Sometimes progress isn’t about doing more.  

Sometimes, it’s about figuring out what actually needs your attention first.

The post When the Best Organizing Plan is to PIVOT appeared first on Star Hansen.

 This week on What Are You Making Space For?, Cece does just that. 

Cece got her first storage unit during a downsize. A few years later, another life transition led to a second one.   

But after years of rising storage prices, trying to sort through her belongings awkwardly inside the storage units, and an AC leak that damaged some of what had been stored…Cece was done. 

She recently purchased her own home and was ready to get rid of the storage units and bring everything home. 

So, she did! 🎉 

There was just one problem. 

She moved everything into her backyard and covered it with a tarp. Life happened, eight months passed, and the tarp-covered pile was still there. 

With hurricane season in full swing, summer bugs are out, and the possibility of more things getting damaged, it was time to deal with what Cece affectionately calls… 

The Monster Under the Tarp 

In this episode, we explore: 

• What happened after she emptied the storage units 

• How an eight-month-old pile became the “monster under the tarp” 

• Why storage units aren’t inherently good or bad 

• What happens when you’ve already pared down a category, and the remaining decisions get harder 

• How Cece emptied one of the hardest boxes in less than 12 minutes 

 After years of keeping these belongings somewhere else, Cece is finally bringing the pieces of her life back home and deciding what belongs in this next chapter.  

The post Emptying Your Storage Units: Bringing It All Home appeared first on Star Hansen.

I’m not the kind of person who doles out organizing advice to friends and family…unless they ask.

Much like a doctor at a party who has a random rashy wrist thrust in their face asking for treatment advice, I occasionally get asked to “read” someone’s space when I’m out in the world.

I’ve had several dates with guys who wanted me to “get a read” on their house (No, you don’t, my guy, no you don’t…I shouldn’t know that much about you on our third date).

There have been dinner party hosts who are curious about their “room of doom.” And I’ve had many friends who solicited furniture placement advice when they moved into a new home.

I never mind these quick bids for insight. But honestly, I don’t go around “reading” your rooms…unless you ask me to.

It’s a gift I only activate when asked.

So, it’s not often that I get to do a deep dive into a friend’s house.

But this week on the podcast, I get to do just that.

I sit down with my dear friend Kelsey and dive into her office. Along the way, we explore:

• Why beautiful homes can still hide invisible overwhelm.
• The surprising importance of a “dumping ground”
• The missing systems that cause clutter to keep coming back
• Why some people need their house to feel beautiful in order to feel calm
• The pressure to get everything “done” before we let ourselves enjoy our life

Kelsey and I had more fun creating this episode than we probably should have.

But my favorite part might be what happened after our session.

She had such a strong reaction to our session that, within 24 hours, she ripped her entire house apart to put what she’d discovered into action.

Listen to Kelsey’s Office: Making Space for the Messy Middle wherever you get your podcasts.

The post What Happens When You Organize a Friend’s House? appeared first on Star Hansen.

I honestly thought a few people would respond and hopefully share some ideas for what they would be interested in listening to.  I figured I would make a note of suggestions and then maybe start the podcast in the new year.  

I did NOT expect the reaction I got.  

So many of you reached out wanting a different kind of conversation about clutter…one that was supportive, shame-free, and actually talked about what’s going on behind the stuff.   

Reading your emails inspired me. I cancelled everything on my schedule for the following week and dove in. (If you know me, you know this is very on brand for me. 😂) 

Five courageous people signed up to do an organizing session with me for the podcast.  

Together, we worked on their actual clutter and started untangling whatever was keeping them stuck. 

And what came out of those sessions was really special.  

It’s less of an “organizing podcast” and more like a series of mini documentaries about what happens when we start going through our stuff and discover what’s really going on behind it. 

We start with offices, garages, paper, dishes, shoes…and somehow end up talking about grief, identity, perfectionism, relationships, life transitions, and who we’re becoming.  

I’m so excited to share that the What Are You Making Space For? podcast is officially live!!! 🎙️ 

Each episode, someone invites me into the room they’ve been avoiding most. Together we sort through the clutter. We make big decisions. We fill donation bags… 

But what we’re really uncovering is the story behind the stuff. Because clutter is almost never just clutter.  

Our stuff is tangled up with who we’ve been, what we’ve been through, what matters to us, and where we’re going. 

Today, the show is launching with three full episodes, because I know some of you are going to want to binge. 😊 

You’ll meet: 

🗒️ Erin, who is ready for her office to catch up with the life she’s living now. 

🎨 Susan, who is digging herself out of generations of family clutter. 

🚘 Anya, whose garage raises a bigger question: How much space am I allowed to take up?  

These three people trusted me with their homes and their stories, and I hope you’ll love them as much as I do.

This podcast has been one of the most creatively fulfilling things I’ve ever made. It’s also one of the most vulnerable. 

Thanks for being here, for encouraging me all these years, and for reminding me that this was something worth creating. 

The post A Different Kind of Podcast About Clutter appeared first on Star Hansen.

…only to get back together a week later? 🤣

We have a surprisingly complicated relationship with our stuff.

Clutter is tricky because we hate it, but we also love it. We want it, but we also never want to see it again. We want some of it, but we really don’t want to suffer through the hard work and emotional pain it takes to let the rest of it go.

So, the question becomes…

Do you need to make peace with your clutter, or break up for good?

Sometimes we don’t need to break up with all of our stuff…

We just need to break up with the unhealthy relationship we’ve developed with it.

Most people were never taught how to face their clutter head on in the most practical ways. And almost no one was taught how to de-code the deeper meaning of their clutter.

If you don’t know how to decode the deeper layers of your clutter, all the organizing bins and systems in the world won’t get you organized.

The real question isn’t, “How do I get organized?”

It’s:

Why is my clutter still here?  

In this week’s video, I’m sharing one of my favorite classes on understanding the deeper meaning of clutter:

Together, we’ll explore why clutter sticks around, the practical questions that help get you unstuck, and how to decide whether it’s time to make peace with your stuff, or finally break up with your clutter for good.

The post How to Break Up with Your Clutter (Without Regretting It) appeared first on Star Hansen.