My business and work combine a variety of disciplines, including professional organising and decluttering, the psychology of people’s relationship to their home, and interior and spatial design. As a result, the range of people who have influenced and inspired me are also quite a diverse bunch.
One of the first people to inspire me in the early stages of my business development was Steve Jobs. A hard hitter, his commitment to excellence and high standards, along with his sincere conviction that great design can empower us all and transform people’s lives deeply resonated and motivated me. He was not known to have particularly good social skills, but his vision for creating products that were innovative, beautifully functional and had the highest of design values struck a powerful chord with me. His persistence and belief in the face of setbacks, buying back Apple after being forced out and turning it around into a titan of industry was extraordinary. I love how his determination and vision that all Apple products seamlessly marry sophisticated design and user-focused function became so embedded in the corporate culture, that it continues since his death. In my own way, this is what I aspire to do when redesigning and organising people’s homes.
Another inspiration was designer and creator of Habitat, Terence Conran. His vision to revolutionise the way we live and use our domestic spaces, and to make modern design accessible to more than just the few, had such far-reaching impact. This matched my aspiration to make living spaces simpler and more functional. As part of his interior design process, he famously advised people to take everything out of the room and put it in the garden in order to properly assess the space: something that is routinely done today on TV programmes. I share his belief that clearing a space is essential part of gaining clarity about how it can be. I know from experience, working with hundreds of people, that under their piles of clutter are rooms and homes that have endless possibilities. It is my passion and calling to liberate my clients and their spaces from clutter and to help them to re-vision and redesign them. I love transforming homes from places that drain people’s energy, to ones that empower and inspire them each time they walk in through the front door.
In my early days of business development, I had the opportunity of working with Daniel Priestley of Dent Global. His masterful way of explaining business concepts in a very accessible way helped me grasp the steps I needed to take to build a solid business. His work and teaching were instrumental to setting up a company that was ultimately to grow into something I never imagined possible. Daniel talked about the importance of developing the 5 P’s! Pitch, Profile, Partnerships, Product and Publish. This inspired me to create my Home Declutter Kit, a product that people can use to help themselves, or a friend to declutter. And to publish my book ‘The Secret Life of Clutter’, a way to connect with people about how deep the need is to understand personal stories around the significance and meaning of our home and our possessions. I would add another P: purpose. I found through the process of writing my book that my purpose was to break down the wall of shame that surrounds clutter, and to educate and empower people to have more compassion for themselves and others, as there is always a reason why we get stuck.
Oprah Winfrey has continued to inspire me as a powerful and successful woman. She demonstrates that it is possible to be both strong and vulnerable, and to lead with ambition and passion. I love how throughout her working life she has delved deep into the peoples struggles and consistently shown such compassion and care for the human experience. In her later years, interviewing great writers and bringing revolutionary ideas and concepts to everyday awareness has been a continual inspiration to me. I Iove this quote, because it reminds me to value my own unique mix of skills and interests: “Nobody does it like you, and understanding that what you have to offer, what you’ve come to give to the planet is your gift, your offering in a way that nobody else can, and how much that matters.”
Lastly, as a working psychotherapist, whose practice feeds so much into my other work, I have to mention the depth psychologist Carl Jung whose life’s work was based on his fascination with the archetypes of the psyche. His exploration into his own dreams and how he bridged those concepts into reality, was a profound influence on my approach to understanding how people relate to their home and what deeper factor are at play when they struggle to create spaces that truly nurture and support them. I feel so often that when I am working in someone’s home and with their possessions in some profound way, I also enter into their inner world, their psychological space. I am constantly amazed as the story of their life unfolds before me. I attribute this depth of understanding to my studies and work as a therapist. I have been particularly influenced by Jung’s own profound inner journey constructing his home, Bollingen Tower, at Lake Zurich. One his many insights that spoke most powerfully to me, was the concept that our home is an expression of our deep self. The main living areas being the face we present to the world; the lower ground floors or basement, revealing our cultural influences, history and unconscious; and the loft and attic space, or in his case the tower, reflecting our spiritual life and aspirations.
I believe it is the diversity of these influences that have led organically to the development of my unique business, the way I work with both people and their homes and dance between the sacred and the everyday. I truly love my work, each day is an adventure and every client a privilege to work with.
Helen Sanderson
Helen Sanderson MSc, is the author of The Secret Life of Clutter. A Home Organiser, Psychotherapist and Interior Designer, and the UK’s leading expert on the psychology of clutter, she provides the ultimate holistic decluttering service.
Helen helps people create beautifully organised, clutter-free homes and live more mindful and meaningful lives. She works with her clients holistically, to uncover what their homes reveal, whilst supporting them to let go and move on.
Her ethos is to work with compassion, and to empower people to take positive action to support change. This leads to life-changing shifts that leave people with a new-found clarity, and homes they love, that love them back.
