The Secret Life of Clutter: Stories of Home and Healing

by Helen Sanderson

'A thoughtful and surprisingly emotional account of our complex relationship with stuff ... If you don't want your possessions to possess you, then this is a book you must read' Graham Allcott

When you get clear about why your clutter is holding you back, you can finally let it go and create the home you love.

Our homes have fascinating stories to tell. The spaces we inhabit and the objects within them reflect many aspects of our lives and our inner selves. In The Secret Life of Clutter, ten intimate and touching stories take you on a profound journey as people discover what their cluttered homes reveal about their lives, and make life-changing shifts when they start to let go and move on.

The secret to creating a calm and nurturing home is to uncover the psychological reasons that lie beneath your clutter, and to understand that what is blocking you in your home and your life is often the key to moving forwards. Unlocking some of the meaning your possessions may hold can free you to say goodbye to what you no longer need, whilst keeping your precious memories intact.

The insights revealed in this book will help you understand some of the factors that may be sabotaging your efforts to make more space. It will inspire you to take action and create a home that you love, that loves you back - a home that reflects who you are and the life you want to live.

You'll never look at your clutter - or your home - the same way again.

304 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 12, 2022

Reviews

[Nisha Kini · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up at the library coz the cover looked nice (note to self, remember the saying never judge a book by it's cover).

The author believes in a psychological reason behind clutter and when we clear clutter good things happen in our lives. While I may, reluctantly, get on board with this notion, the book delivers neither on the psychological nor the tidying end.

Lets tackle the tidying portion first. There's no real tips for clearing clutter. You keep getting directed to her website, or her to-purchase kit. So the book feels more like a marketing campaign. She describes the messy room and says she moved furniture around to create a flow but you don't understand what really was done. Some animated photos would've been nice but I guess that's part of the paid kit?

Next, the psych portion. The book is a collection of short stories where some psychological problem leads to the clutter but most of them feel short and abrupt.

Overall, the book is okay. Borrow it from the library like I did if you wanna give it a read!

[Cathal Ó · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a somewhat interesting series of anecdotes from the author, whose job it is to organise peoples' homes. Most people who picked this book up from the shelves probably thought that it would have practical ideas as seen in Marie Kondo's works, but that's not really the subject matter. There are a few ideas in there, I guess. But primarily, the book is about the psychological reasons for why people hoard things and live in squalor.

If that's what you want from this book, then you could easily give it 5-stars, but for me this book is repetitive and the revisionist dialogue makes the main character sound like the Gandalf of tidying up or something. It's not terrible, though. Some of the observations are poignant and then some others seem like a stretch. It was fine. I read about 100 pages and gave up when I discovered that I wasn't going to get what I wanted from this book, but the part I read was entertaining at least.

[Adele · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book, I’ve read a few different types of books about stuff & how it can block up our lives both literally & metaphorically. I’m fascinated in the psychology of collecting & hoarding & why some people do it, as there is a severe tendency to hoard in my family. This isn’t just a how to declutter book, it’s much more thoughtful & interesting than that. I do wonder though, why none of the numerous books that I’ve read ever come out & say, hey, accept some of your clutter & hoarding problems are caused by the fact that you just don’t care enough to get organised, you are a bit easy going, a bit lazy & that after years of this behaviour pattern, this is the result. No biggie, there are worse traits you could have.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of helpful clutter tips!

[Beth Kelsall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not what I expected at all, but loved it! A lot more of a focus on the psyche behind clutter using clients the author has had.