Clutterbug - Real-Life Hacks and Tips to Declutter, Organize and Clean your Home Fast - How to Make Your Home Feel Like YOU (Without Spending Money) | Clutterbug Episode #341

Episode Date: August 31, 2026

Want interior design tips that actually reflect your personal style — not just another Pinterest trend? In this episode, I talk home decor, storytelling through design, and chasing big dreams with Olivia Westbrooks, interior designer and star of Hallmark's Home Is Where the Heart Is. Olivia has been designing for over 22 years, and after her show gave her a taste of what's possible, she got real with me about what came next . . . and why she finally pulled her podcast equipment out of the box after three years of letting it collect dust (be honest, is yours still in the box too?). We get into: ✨ Why the best-designed homes tell a story instead of following a trend ✨ How to figure out your personal style when you don't even know where to start ✨ Why doing something badly on purpose might be the fastest way through perfectionism ✨ Small, low-cost ways to make your space feel more like you today — no renovation required ✨ The moment Olivia posted her most "imperfect" video ever... and it became her best-performing post If you've ever shoved a dream to the bottom of your list because life got busy, or you're stuck buying stuff that never quite feels you, this conversation is your permission slip to take one small, brave step today. Follow Olivia on Instagram @OliviaWestbrooksInteriors and stream Home Is Where the Heart Is on Hallmark+! Want to get organized? Learn 6-Step The Clutterbug Method: https://clutterbug.thinkific.com/courses/Clutterbug-Method You can find more Clutterbug content here: Main YouTube Channel: @Clutterbug Website: http://www.clutterbug.me TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clutterbug_me Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clutterbug_me/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Clutterbug.Me/ #clutterbug #podcast #OliviaWestbrooks #hallmark #homeiswheretheheartis #perfectionismrecovery #perfectionism #melrobbinspodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A few weeks ago, I posted a video just randomly about my dog and the fact that her head was dyed yellow. She jumped into bed in the morning, woke me up, and it was like neon highlighter bright yellow. And my first thought is, what did you do? And then my second thought is, I should video this, especially because my husband's out of town so I could, like, show him my reaction when I found the disaster that is definitely somewhere in my house. Like she has ripped apart and ate something yellow and it's probably everywhere. And I was so scared, but I grabbed my phone and I filmed just walking around my house, hunting every room looking for this yellow disaster. And when I posted the video, I was so shocked because what I received was definitely a lot of wonderful people giving me advice of what could have been on Penny's head.

but an alarming number of comments that my house obviously was fake, that I had spent hours and hours and hours and days cleaning it and I colored my dog's head on purpose to show off having a clean house or that my house looked like empty and no one lives like that and like, why is your house so perfect? And something inside of me, first of all, I was like, oh, that's so sad that someone assumed I purposely did this. and they must think that having a clean house is crazy, but also is my house so barren that it invokes, like, negative feelings and other people? It made me reevaluate my space a little bit and start looking at it. Not that I want to be cluttered and messy, but I do want my home to have my personality. I wanted to reflect my family, and I want someone to be able to walk in or see a random video and know me by looking at my stuff. Does that make sense? And so I've been on a mission ever since

to not cluttered up, not that I'm letting crazy comments from people who obviously need to declutter their home badly affect me. But it did make me look at my home a little differently and notice, yeah, I do want my home to be more of a reflection of me. So the point is that got me thinking about interior designers and how I can incorporate. And it led me down a rabbit hall to the amazing Olivia Westbrooks. This is Olivia's specialty. Her specialty is making your home a reflection of you, bringing in your history, your family's history. She literally has a show, home is where the heart is. And that's because she has a gift at doing just that. Olivia has been an interior designer for 22 years. Her specialty is making your home feel like you. Also,

yeah, undiagnosed ADHD and super perfectionist. So buckle up because let's hear words of wisdom from Olivia. Before we get started, just like always, you are not allowed to just listen unless you're driving, then please just listen and pay attention to the road. But if you're at home, use this time. to multitask. Not only are you going to be super entertained and you're going to learn something, you're going to be inspired, but I want you to also be really proud of what you accomplished. So, if there's dishes in the sink or dishes in the dishwasher, it's time to finish them. Empty that dishwasher or load it or hand wash the dishes. And if you don't have dishes, today's a perfect day to clean out the fridge. You don't have to go like crazy pants, but let's get rid of the expired food. Let's

wipe down those sticky shelves. Where's the condiments? Does the top of your ketchup bottle look like mine? It's disgusting. Give it a little wipe. That's what we're doing today. We're just getting these little tasks checked off our list while being super entertained by Olivia. Welcome to the Clutterbug podcast. Hi, Cass. Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here. I'm so excited to have you. I always am very intimidated when interior designers come on and I talk with them. because I do feel like I hold you up on a pedestal. Oh, gosh, I don't know why you do that. You have skills because it's hard.

It's hard to make a space beautiful and also reflect you. This is the challenge I'm having now. I can go to a home store and buy a bunch of crap and it never quite looks right. But what is definitely missing is my personality, my family's personality. And I find that so hard. you your your show home is where the heart is it does exactly that i i'd love to hear you tell me and my listeners how you kind of fell into this i know you've been doing it 20 years so you certainly didn't fall into it but this is like your specialty it's been a journey for real and and let me say

that um just because i can do this for other people doesn't mean that i can do it for myself i am like the cobblers like you know the cobbler's kids have no shoes that sort of thing yeah that's my life. So don't think that my house is perfectly put together and tells the story of my family like it does on the show. I'm getting there. And I actually was really inspired to do that by posting Home is Where the Heart is on Hallmark. Okay, so how did I fall into this? It was a slow burn. You said, I've been designing now for over 20 years, so 22 years. I have a background, my degrees in interior design from Louisiana State University. There's my tiger in the back. That's my Mike the Tiger back there. And so it's been a long journey. But in terms of how I landed on Hallmark,

Home is Where the Heart is, I literally just got an email. I mean, you have a show. You had a show and you know casting directors will reach out to you. And that's exactly what happened to me. I just got an email about a show that was being filmed here in Atlanta. And it didn't say a lot. You know, they don't give you a whole lot of information on the front end. but it said enough to make me interested and I reached back out to the casting director to get a little bit more information and once I found out the premise of the show

I was like on board. I am down. Yeah, amazing. And so you're saying it like, is the show no more? So it's one season and done. You know, Hallmark, this was a very brand new thing for Hallmark. Hallmark has done scripted shows since the age of forever, you know, your favorite holiday shows

where the small town girl moves to the big city and then she gets engaged and then she goes back to fix up the barn or whatever it is. Somebody owns a Christmas tree farm. Yes, Christmas tree bar or like a bed and breakfast and she runs into her old boyfriend. Like, you know the story. Okay, so that's the Hallmark brand.

Unscripted television was something very brand new for them. They tried it out. I think they decided that they, you know, wanted to stick with what they knew, which is totally fine. But the show is still streaming on Hallmark Plus, which is amazing. So it's still up and it's still available for people to check it out, which I would love. But yeah, it was fun.

It was fun. It was hard. I mean, you know filming a television show is extremely challenging. But, you know, I really fell in love with the families and I fell in love with the stories. And that's really what sets the foundation for the design. It's all about storytelling. I also we can cry together only got two seasons and did not get another season and afterwards I was like well that was my peak it's all downhill from here what am I going to do my you know and I had a little

I don't want to say midlife crisis but it was such a cool opportunity and then when it was over I think I was left feeling like are my best days behind me. Yeah. Not to say, I'm asking if you feel that way, but did you feel a little bit like, well, now what? Well, yeah, I mean, it's a letdown, you know, and you know filming a show, you put your whole heart and soul into it. And whenever I take on a project, I jump the whole body in. Whole body is in the pool. And so, yeah, when I found out that it wasn't going to return, it was, it's heartbreaking.

because you know how it's so hard to get a design show, right? I feel like that's a lot of designers' dreams, and they feel that once they get the show, they've reached the pinnacle, and that all these other opportunities are going to happen, a la Joanna Gaines, if you will. But that is such lightning in a bottle. And so, yeah, I mean, I was heartbroken.

I would have loved to see a second season. I didn't necessarily feel that like my life was done. I didn't go into full existential crisis, only because maybe two years prior to that, that I had gone through my existential crisis. So I was prepared. I was prepared. I was prepared. I've already had that moment. Yeah. But I, but you do have that feeling of, oh, man, was that my one and only shot? You know, is it going to happen again? Because I did enjoy it and I would love to do it again. And it's, it's kind of hard to be able to get another. So yeah, I went through that whole cycle.

But you know what, Cass life goes on. You know, life doesn't stop. the show stops and your business doesn't stop because the show stops. Your client still needs you. Your children and your husband still need you. And you just, you pick it up and you keep going. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, absolutely. I think I'm a little dramatic. It's just a step to the next thing, right? I'm a little dramatic. But what I really took away from that was after the show, after I had a cry, you know, and then I was like, and then I was like, you know what? That was like so ridiculously cool and I'm just some like girl making videos in her basement like the fact that I even had that opportunity and could do it was yeah it kind of it made me broaden my horizons in life a little bit more

and I started thinking like what else is possible for right right where you just wait when you filmed it were you like man I'm a badass to have gone through that to have gone through that and look back at and say man that was that was incredible challenging because for me, for our show, we did 12 spaces, so six houses, two spaces per house. I had 10 days to design all 12 spaces, 10 days. And on day 11, I was on camera, something that I had not done in that capacity before. So I had to show up as this personality while still running a business, while still being mom and wife. And then we filmed it in five weeks. So it was incredibly just like mind blowing, right? And when I look back at that at that experience, I think to myself,

man, I am, I'm a badass. Like, I can do anything. Bring it on. So that experience just, it just reaffirmed what I knew about myself, what I knew I could do. It pushed me beyond my, my comfort zone. And so yes, just like you said, what else is possible now? Yeah. So what's, what is next for you then? Because for me, like having the show, I went back. I'm like, my business is so amazing and I know you feel the same way. You're like, I'm already living the dream. But I could do that while also doing a television show, which was like crazy and hard and still be a mom and still do all run my business. What else can I fill in my life? Like what else? And I started, I became a firefighter. Listen, it's a long story. But I really did.

Because I, it really took it to the, what else can I do? I can run into a burning building. There's some ADHD in there too. But it became, it became like, wow, life is so cool and so short. And there, I can, I think maybe I'm not dreaming big enough. That's what I walked away from, I guess it was like this crushing defeat, but it wasn't. It was like the phoenix rising from the ashes. with a new feeling of like any literally anything is possible.

Yeah, it opens up that field of possibility for you. So what's in your future? Do you have like something in the horizon besides helping people make their home not only beautiful, but a reflection of themselves? Of who they are. I guess so much like you, ADHD brain, I have not been diagnosed. I've self-diagnosed, but I have so many passion. and there are so many things that I want to do.

And like you said, that show showed me, okay, well, what else can I get out here and do? How else can I make an impact? You're right, life is short. My mom passed away, it'll be 16 years this year, 16 or 17 years? I lost count. But I was at her bedside when she passed away,

and she left me with these words. I don't think she was intentional when she said this, intentionally meaning to impact me in a huge way when she said this, but she said, I knew this day was coming. My mom had cancer. She said, I knew this day was coming. I didn't think it would be today. I still have so much left to do.

And I'm like, man, if every day I get to wake up and take a breath, that's an opportunity for me to do the things that I want to do. And the show showed me that you can really dream big and things can happen for you. So what's up for me right now? I'm still running my design business. I honestly have decided to take things at a little bit of a slower pace since the show because I ended that year with hip injury and I think that was the universe telling me to sit down. You're doing too much.

Have a seat. And so I'm being very intentional about what I do with my time, who I spend my time with. So I have my design business taking it at a little bit of a slower pace because I'm also an artist. I love to paint. So I want to make space for that. I would also love to start a podcast like you. And I was talking to Heidi, your producer, about this, when she was saying that you were exploring, having conversations about what are you afraid to do? What did you always want to do?

But you're afraid to do it and what's stopping you. I would love to start a podcast. I bought the equipment three years ago. It's been sitting in the box for three years. No. Don't judge me. Stop. Don't judge me.

I'm judging. I feel the judgment. judging. I'm judging, but also how normal. Yes. So I love that you brought this up because I have this group of people who have taken my course. And inside the group, we just started organically talking about big dreams that people have. I don't think we talk enough about this. And I think as a human, I even know myself, I had dreams. I would like shove them down. Like that's that in the next life, maybe someday, maybe when things slow down or, you know, that's, you know, that's, just wasn't meant to be for me. It would have been nice, but here, I'm living this life now.

Yeah. And what I've learned probably because I had a midlife crisis is that I can have a little piece of my dream. I might not be able to have the whole entire thing. My core dream was like, I always wanted to save a life, like be in medicine. And I'm obsessed with just medical diagnoses and this is what I've done for so long. I'm also dumb as a stump, though. And a high school believe that whatsoever. Don't be so hard on yourself. And I don't like school. So I'm not going back if you want to go into medicine. Can you not just give me a doctorate and let me do surgery? Do I have to actually like do the work? I believe so, Cass. I think you do. But instead of saying, well, like, in another life, I'll do that. I was like, what can I do that's adjacent? You know, like, what can I do that that's

a piece of that and I started volunteering for St. John Ambulance and eventually that led to being a firefighter which is so cool. Have you saved the life? I have I have not but it's only a matter of time. We're working towards it. Yeah. I mean just keep putting it up on the vision board. It's on the vision board. It's on the vision board but um see I'm going off off topic here but in the group I just asked people I was said what was your big dream? or what's you kind of daydream your life could look like now? And the comments I saw, people were like, I wish I could be an artist, I wish I could write a book,

I wish I could start a podcast. That was one that a lot of people said. And to me, hearing them, it was like, well, those are things you, those aren't even ridiculous dreams. You could go to the dollar store and get a canvas and be an artist today. You could literally sit down and write a sentence and be a writer in this moment. You could right now, look at you, you're doing a podcast. You could today be a podcaster, but even bigger dreams.

So one girl in the group named Holly, she said she always wanted to be a voice actress. But that's so hard, right? And she said, and when I was a kid, I wrote this book and I always wanted to publish it. And maybe someday, I don't know, I'll like read that and put that out there. So I challenged her. I was like, Holly, why don't you just record? record that book like right now and posted on the internet. She panicked at the thought, freaked out. I was like, I bet you Holly's a perfectionist. All the fear of the what if. And I said, Holly,

you don't even have to make it public. Just do it for yourself. Still crippling fear. Well, I would have to illustrate it. And I would have to learn how to, and I would have to get the right equipment. And I'd have to buy a better mic. And I'd have to all these things. And I was like, Holly, you have seven days, girl. And we're all going to wait with, she was messaging me for days. Like, I can't do it, Cass. I can't. I can't. And in the comments and in the whole group, everyone started using the hashtag be like Holly. And like, you know, I'm getting emotional. But like, come on. You can do it. To inspire to motivate her. Yeah. Yes. And then she did it. Olivia, she did it. And everyone else started posting in the group things that they. we're doing. Oh, I love that. I'm getting goosebumps. I know. That's amazing. Sometimes it's just

like one brave moment. Yeah. Like, I know it's scary, but I'm going to do it anyways because I have nothing to lose and life is short. And maybe, Olivia, this is your moment. This is the moment. You're absolutely right. And I would tell you probably what Holly was going through and what a lot of people go through. This is what I went through was I have this dream. I want to be an artist. I've drawn my entire life since childhood. And like you said, it was one of those things I packed away because life took hold and I became an adult and had responsibilities and had to pay the bills. And then I got married and had kids. And so, you know, those passions and those dreams and those things that we used to love to do when we were kids just get shoved down to the bottom of the priority list.

And so it wasn't until I went through my existential crisis like you did. That it's like my soul was reaching for something that felt familiar to me. It's like, girl, it was shaking me to remember who I am. And so I just decided to take an art class. That was it. I said, you know what? I've always wanted to learn how to paint. I don't have to become a huge public painter or artist right now.

I'm just going to go and sign up for a class. And that's what I did. And I ended up being the only person in the class. And my teacher was very adamant that we draw before we paint. And that's I already know how to draw. And she was like, well, the foundation of a good painting is a good drawing. And when I started to sketch in that class, it's almost like I remembered. I don't know if you've ever seen the movie Ratatouille.

Have you seen Ratatouille? Like years ago. I'm a bit of a Disney fanatic. So there's this scene where this food crows. critic is in a restaurant and he takes a bite of this food and then all of a sudden he like the memories of his childhood start flooding in when his mom would make this dish for him and that's how it felt when I was in that class drawing it's just like I felt like a kid again in art class and so I decided to draw something and just post it on Instagram hugely scary because I had never told

many people that I had this talent this gift and wanted to do this thing so I followed a tutorial on YouTube, I sketched out an eye. I'm fascinated with eyes. Don't ask me why. We can we can go down that rabbit hole another time. So I sketched out this eye and I did a time lapse video and I put it on on Instagram. I'm like, ah, something that I just did. And then all of a sudden, all these people that have known me for years said, I didn't know you could do this. I didn't know you had that that talent and that gift. And that just like encouraged me. It made me feel really good. I'm like, okay. I mean, I am still good at this. And then I posted another one. And I another one. And then eventually what happened is a designer friend of mine saw that I could draw.

And she commissioned me to create an art piece for a designer showhouse. And it all started with, hey, I'm just going to, I'm just going to sketch this thing and put it out there. I don't know what's going to come of it. It's just kind of fun for me. And so for what Holly, you know, I understand the fear of not wanting to put something out until you feel that it's great. but nothing comes out initially just great you know anything great that you see in the world an artist an athlete a podcast host a chef whomever had to start somewhere and I'm pretty sure the beginning was shitty you know you just you got to practice and build on it it's like a muscle you have to build it and I think what's holding a lot of us back is that fear one of being judged

Oh, if I put this out, what are people going to think if it's not good? And then if they say it's not good, then I feel that's a reflection of who I am as person and we wear that as identity. And that's all such bullshit. Oh, my gosh. I wish we could all just like throw that away, you know? So to anybody out there who's listening, who may be in a position that Holly was in or that I was in when I first started, when you decided that you wanted to, you know, save a life,

all you got to do is take one step. do the next right thing. That's from Frozen too. Again, another Disney great. I love it. Just let's just quote Disney quotes. Just do the next right thing. One small action. You don't have to publicize it. It can be just for you. But when you start to get those feelings, those those those goosebumps on your arm and those feelings that you had when you were a child, you know, that is affirmation. That's your soul telling you, hey, you're supposed to be doing this. So keep going. And it doesn't have to be. all of it. I think that's the other thing. I know even for myself was such a roadblock.

It was like, well, if I'm going to do this, I have to quit my job. And this has to be like my whole, you know what I mean? Like I can't. But we can just do a piece. We can borrow like a tiny bit of it. We can dip our toe in the water and show up and just have fun and see what happens with no pressure and expectations of it being like this success. So Holly posted her self-reveyor. a story and it was just like an image she didn't show her face it didn't blow up she didn't get millions of views but she's so freaking proud of herself there it is there it is and once you do it it becomes less scary to do it again you've almost proven to yourself hey actually can do this thing it was intimidating and it was it was scary but I moved beyond that it shows you that

you do have the courage to put yourself out there. You do have the courage to follow your dream. So do that one step and then build upon it and then build upon it. And then when you look down a road from a year from now, you know, you will have seen how far you came and how courageous you were to take those steps. And then you're you're probably at the place where you wanted to be or that you were afraid to be in the very beginning. So just start. Just start. And I know that's hard, but man, just just start. And I think as a community, sometimes, like, other people can help you see something that perhaps you didn't see for yourself.

So Holly was like, I want to be a famous voice actress, but didn't see that just recording a story and posting it out there was a baby piece of that. So my listeners, I want you to be brave right now and put in the comments a dream you have or something you daydream, a life you wish you had someday, or. or in another life. And maybe you can read these comments, my friends, also, and offer a suggestion of how they can get a piece of that. What's like a small step they can take?

100%. So for me, the podcast is they want to start a podcast, right? Posting an Instagram video of me just sitting and talking in front of the camera. That's a step. It's not a full episode. Maybe I'm just sharing an idea that I have a piece of advice, something that I learned. But it's like, it's like a flicker, right?

Before the flame. Are you committing to doing that this week? So I have, I have done some things already. Let me tell you what I, let me tell you what else I did, Cass. Wait, hold on. I have an art little studio corner upstairs. We have like a loft area and I've dedicated a corner to all things, all passions of Olivia. So I have my, I have my canvases and my easels.

And I have a little altar with all my spiritual things because that's also a passion of mine. And then I created a little corner to record my podcast. And I set it up. I have a chair. And I have to go and get the light. And but I have my tripod. So I've already started laying out the space. I drew it in AutoCad.

So I know. You are perfectionist, aren't you? Oh, girls. Listen, I'm breaking it up into pieces like you said. So I'm setting it up and the next step will be to get my light and I'll get my light and then I'll record my first episode. I do have an outline of all the episodes. So I'm the type of person that it makes me feel more comfortable if I know that I have it planned. Yes.

I know. Also, just do it. So I'm writing this book and because you are so freaking talented and amazing. and have all these gifts. And I meet so many people. I'm like, you are just so amazing. And they're like, yeah, but I need a perfect plan before I show the world my amazingness. And I'm just like, so what I've found, because like I'm going to put some of my age wisdom here on you,

just working with clients, sometimes I challenge people to do things really shitty on purpose. So when I have a perfectionist and I'm helping them organize their home, I'll just say you're not allowed to fold your underwear for a week. Or I want you to dust your house, but you're not allowed to move anything and you just have to use an old sock to do it. That's like your challenge for seven days. So like for you, if you were my client, I'd be like you have to record a podcast, but you're not allowed to use a mic and you can't have a light on. So just really terrible lighting, no microphone, no script, no nothing. Just sit down and talk.

Because there's something like it, it, it, it, it, It's catapult you forward when you purposely do something badly when you're a perfectionist because it kind of proves like, oh, yeah, that kind of sucked and it's uncomfortable, but the world didn't end and I can only be better. Right. Like I can only go up from here, which is because if you start out amazing or trying your absolute hardest and best, I know they tell us this in school, but in adult, real life, this is terrible advice to always try your best when you first start something because

that's a lot of expectation and pressure. is a lot of pressure. Yeah, and that's what keeps a lot of people stuck. Like you said, okay, well, if I can't get this perfect scriptor, let me give you an example that will illustrate the point that you just made. All right, let's take Instagram, for instance. So for the longest, you know, us designers, we we have to present this perfectly packaged idea, a picture of who we are with the brand and the imagery on our Instagram has to be so beautifully put together and curated. And so what kept me from posting a lot of either talking head videos or any sort of videos

of videos on Instagram that showed my face and myself was, okay, well, what's my branding message? Does this match my branding message? I mean, I was driving myself absolutely insane. So recently, I decided, screw that, I'm tired. you know, I'm in perimenopause. I have a lot of things going on. I'm hot.

I'm irritable. I have to pee 20 times a day. I can't be stressed out about perfectly curating my Instagram feet. So I was at a project in a basement, super dark, no lighting. I captured myself grabbing some measurements. And the quality of the video is god awful. Okay. It looks like one of those paranormal videos that you see.

on TV. There's really grainy and you can barely see the person moving through. I think I saw this on your Instagram. It was like a, yes. And I was, I was measuring with a laser. So I took that and I came back and I said, I wonder, let me try and turn this into some sort of content that I can use. And when I started editing it, I looked at it and I was like, I can't post this. The video is terrible. And like, it won't even look good on my page. And so I sat on it. And then I remember, Liv, you promised yourself, forget it. Just put it out there and see what happens. So I wrote a caption on top about me being a paramedopause.

You know, I'm at the stage in life where I don't know if I'm sliding into menopause or pregnant. I don't know. It could go either way, right? And so I posted on Instagram, and it was the highest performing reel that I put up of just me in it without a collaboration or, you know, my co-hosts from the show or anything else. Got more views than all of the perfectly polished put together, you know, videos or reels that. that I took hours to edit because I was trying to be so perfect. And that just showed me that people are looking for authenticity. People are wanting to see you on your journey, even if you stumble because that lets them know it's okay.

Like you said, nobody dies. And it helps them to feel a lot less alone in their journey. So that sort of illustrates what you just said. Just put the thing out there. Yes. And that is the one that stood out the most to me when I was like going through your Instagram. I was like that. I was like, yeah, I feel.

the same way. I mean, I can't be pregnant. I know that, but it's just what is happening to my body. Right. What is happening? I could relate so hard to that. I absolutely love it. Okay, so I would be not doing your talent justice. If we didn't take this and help my listeners, because I always love to give them challenges, overcome some of their perfectionism when it comes to making their home a little more beautiful. So I'm going to put you on the spot because do you have advice of one thing? Can you give them a challenge of something they can do today? That's quick. That could make their space a little bit more beautiful. And let's encourage them to let go of perfection. They don't need to go new pillows. They don't need to paint the walls. They don't need new furniture. A lot of the times people

say, oh, one day when I have the money, I'll redo my kitchen or one day when I buy a new house. then I'll decorate one day when I have more time I'll make my home feel more beautiful. Yeah. What if today's the day we just do it a little crappy and we dip our toe in the water? What would you suggest is a place that my listeners can start or something they can do that can really make us a dramatic change in their space? Yeah. So I am your listener.

I'm a designer, but it doesn't mean that I live in the type of house that I design. I always say I can't afford myself. you're like a perfectionist so you want to do it all and i and i specify really nice things and you know so i struggle with that myself right one day i will give my home the time and attention that it needs um you know but i'm also giving time and attention and love to to many other homes throughout the day and weeks and months and i'm just i'm tired a lot of times to be honest this is what I would say. I feel like a lot of people struggle with identity, to be honest. And to be able to make your home reflect who you are, you need to know who you are, first and foremost. And that's a hard

thing for a lot of people, because for so long, we wear a coat of other people's expectations and projections and obligations from our titles as moms and, you know, wives and whatever our job title is. And so doing the work to uncover all that to really get to understand what is it that I actually like, you know, and not what's trendy, not what you see on TV or on Instagram or TikTok or whatever. What is it that actually resonates with you? So I would say start one with building some sort of mood board.

vision board. I like to tear, I mean, I know you can see these things behind me, but I like to tear magazine pages out. I'm a very tactile person. So I would say start there, start curating what your look is if you don't know what it is with going through Instagram or Pinterest or wherever you find your visuals and put together a board of what reflects you as a person. It can be interiors. It could be photos of materials. It could be photos of fashion. It could be inspirational. phrases, it could be your hobbies and interest. And as they start there, because that builds the foundation of the story that your space is going to tell about who you are and who your family is. Okay. Now, I know that's not like one thing they can do in their house, but I think that you have

to start with understanding who you are first. I think this is such good advice. And it just got me thinking, too, like, what's their favorite color? Like, maybe they don't even know. Yeah. Maybe they don't even know or even afraid you know a lot of people get stuck in that um well if my favorite color is eggplant or my favorite color is hot pink for instance um well i can't paint a room that color because what about resale? What are you selling your house in the next year? If not, who cares? Like paint the room or get the sofa that's eggplant or hot pink or emerald green or whatever your favorite color is. Or a pillow, a single, like one pillow. Exactly. If you want to start small, get a pillow. Get a pillow. If you love animal print, you know, try it on, try it on an ottoman, try it on a pillow.

You know, paint is something that's a very easy way to transform a space in a very dramatic way and for not a lot of money. So grab a can of paint of a color that you love. And if you're afraid to put it on the whole wall, test it on one. Just try it. Like you said, take one brave step towards the interior of your dreams. I think, you know, that's the advice that I would give. I'm thinking about my house and what needs to be done in here. Child, everything needs to be done in my house.

You know a good designer I can hire? I do, actually. I think she'd give you a discount, too. She better. Yeah, you know, I've started painting photos of my family or portraits of my family, not photos. So I have a portrait of my husband that I paint. I have a portrait of my daughter that I painted for that showhouse. And that's in my foyer.

So the first thing you see when you walk in are portraits of my own family that I painted. Right? So that's adding my own, like very personal touch to the space. If you love collecting things, just go out to an antique store, go to a store and grab one of your favorite collectibles if it's a vase or a bowl and display it proudly. You know, just those are small things, but don't care so much about it. about what other people are doing, what people are telling you you should or shouldn't like, do what you like. Do what you like. And the best spaces I feel are not these perfectly put together like catalog looking, bed in a bag type spaces. They are the collected, eclectic

spaces that have been curated over time from your travels and from an event that you went to or just like I said, a fabric that you love. And it's all thrown together. And this is all thrown together. one space and that tells the story. And that's the whole point. Your home should tell the story of you. That's so good. And maybe your home, if you're listening, already has all of these little elements, but they're hidden behind the mess and clutter. Yeah. And this happens sometimes too. Like maybe you have some pieces that you absolutely love. But when you look at your space, your eye isn't being drawn to them because everything is everywhere. There's excess. So that's like, what if I love that you're doing a mood board, friends, I think you should totally like make a

mood board and find images that you like. And then maybe the next step is to look at your space and see if you can pinpoint some of those pieces that are like, this is me? And ask yourself, is it buried? Is it? Is it buried? And I remove the other stuff. Yeah. You know how we get so used to looking at our homes, you could walk by. I have a candle holder. I'm just thinking about that's on my coffee table. And I walk by the living room every day and I just don't even see it anymore because it's been there forever. So what if you took some time to intentionally move things from one room to another? Give it a new home because sometimes giving it a new home gives it a new life. You see it in a different light. So there may be things in your home. You probably do have

things in your home. You know, that can work. Try moving it to a different room. Maybe the pillow in your primary bedroom can move downstairs to your living room sofa. See if that works. Do a little bit of musical chair with what you have. I love it. I love it. Yeah, I've been really inspired lately to try because my house looks like just some bargain basement clearance home goods thing. Why is that? Well, because I'm cheap, first of all. And second of all, I lack confidence. I love that you're taking accountability and that you're honest. I'm not going to spend a lot of money. I'm going to say cheap.

No, I'm cheap. In expense. Frugal? No. I'm trying to help you out here, K.S. Yeah, sure. No, but I'm pretty cheap. I'm just like, oh, that's 20 bucks.

That'll work. Oh, okay. So are we buying it just because it's 20 bucks? Are we buying it because we really love it and it's 20 books? Yeah, there's not. Yeah, that's the whole thing. There wasn't anything that I love. I was just trying to put rooms together so it looked,

okay, good enough, doing it shitty, which, I mean, it has worked and my house looked nice, but now I'm to the point where I'm like, is it me though? Can you walk into this space and is it my family? Do you know us by being in this room? And so I'm trying to be a little bit slower now and more intentional. I have these like stacked coffee table books. Never read any of them. They were just white and beige. So I was like, these are special. And I was like, what if I replace that with like a beautiful box and put love letters from my husband in it. Oh, I love that. So now I have love letters from your husband? I've kept every. Oh, you know what? He loved Bami only in the beginning. So it was like I have like the first year and then that's sweet. I was going to say my husband's got some work to do. I'm going to say Cass's husband writes her love letters.

Not now. Not now. He doesn't have to know that unless he listens to this podcast. No, but I love that. That's super. That's very sweet. That tells the story. of your relationship. And now instead of looking at a stack of books, because you have to have something on a coffee table, that I don't have no meaning, I'm on the hunt for, like, a beautiful box that I can put these little special notes in. And I put this little elephant from my grandmother's house

after she passed away. And I went to antiquing, and I got an antique fire extinguisher, which is like... That's apropos. But I'm really serious about this firefighter thing, aren't you? It's my current, it's my current whole personality. So, but, but you know what?

It did all of those little tiny things. I haven't even done the love letter just thinking about it. It, it's like bringing in a piece of me and I think that's what was missing. Yeah. And you know, I agree with you. And if you haven't seen the show already, I would encourage you and your listeners to watch the show because that's really what it's all about. So let me give you, let's see.

one was my favorite one, the sister's episode, which I believe was episode two. And it felt very personal to me because our stories were very parallel. They had a dad who loved music. And when they were little, let me, let me back up a little bit. They bought their childhood home. So they had lived in this house. They grew up in this house. When their parents divorced, the house got sold. And they're adults now. It's Erica and Simone. and they went back and purchased many, many years later, they purchased their childhood home. So that in itself is already a really cool story, right?

So they wanted to pay homage to their family. They wanted to bring back some of the memories that they had when they lived there. And we talked to them about what that was like. Hey, so tell me, what was it like when you grew up here? What types of things did you do? And they said, when we were little, we would dance on the mantle. They had a raise, not a mantle, I'm sorry. The man, so that would be, that would be hilarious on the heart.

That would be like a stripper show. That sounds unsafe as kids. The hearth. They had a raised hearth and they would dance on the hearth while their dad would play the piano. And my dad played the piano and we would dance and sing and do the same thing. So that story felt very personal to me. And we turned her lounge into this 70s inspired lounge area that paid homage to her dad's love of music. And so we framed these records and that became the artwork and we printed out his his favorite sheet.

It was sheet music from his favorite songs and we turned those into coasters that they had in the space. So just like little details like that. Yeah, that makes the space feel very personal. Simone's favorite color was green so we painted the room green and we have lots of moments like that throughout the entire season. episode one, oh my God, that one was so teary. It makes me want to cry now just thinking about it. It was Rebecca. And, oh, my gosh, Leray. Leray and Rebecca was a mom-daughter duo,

so that really touched my heart. And her dad built the home that they lived in, and he had since passed away. And Leray inherited the home, and she raised all five of her kids there. So it was truly a, like a generational home. And so we kept the bookcases because her, dad literally built those with his own hands. But we refreshed it for who La Re is today and

how she lives. So, you know, I would encourage your listeners to go back and watch the show. It's on Hallmark Plus. It's streaming. You can get a free week trial, period, binge watch the whole thing. So it's not going to go cast. Since you're cheap, that works perfectly for you. Watch it for free. You said you were cheap. That's not me. I don't want your listeners coming after me. I am so cheap. No, I'm excited. This is amazing. Yes. Yes, because we can watch this and get inspired. You could get some really good ideas. Yeah, I think I think like maximalism is a big trend right now and everybody's trying to find what they think their home should look like. But I think what I'm discovering in my old age is a home should look like you and your family and your history and the things

you love. It should be a reflection of your best self. a function for you too, Cass. And this is what I, this is what I say to that. Maximilism is a big trend right now and bold color is a big trend right now. And it's beautiful. I have an appreciation for it. But for the way my brain functions, because I am undiagnosed or self-diagnosed ADHD, I am very, I get very overstimulated very easily because my mind does not shut off. It's constantly going, going, going. So I know. need a space that's very clean. There's pops of color because I do love color, but the foundation of the space, the lines of the furniture is not too fussy. And I design that way too. You can see

that through line through all of my designs. But that's because I understand who I am and what I need to feel at rest and at peace. And I'm not trying to force which trendy or what other people are doing onto me. Because just because it's beautiful and it works for somebody else doesn't mean that it'll work for me. Preach it. Yes. I love that. Okay, listeners, I hope you're feeling motivated to, first of all, find yourself a little bit. Yeah. We gave them a lot of challenges today. That is step one. Find a mood board. Find what you love. Think about a dream you want to have. Put it in the comments and, you know, make your space look a little bit more like a reflection of you. A lot of challenges. But remember, if you're feeling overwhelmed,

just this little piece of advice just try doing it shitty make it like a shitty shitty mood board I'm not going to tell y'all to do that okay this is what else I'm going to

tell them to do I'm going to tell them to follow you I'm going to put links to your Instagram and your website and I want them to follow you so they can watch your first podcast episode in my first videos I'm just going to make a whole bunch of them and say cast made me do it

I cannot wait to see them. Now we're going to do a new hashtag, Be Like Olivia. This is going to be. I love it. I love it. And listen, and don't wait until you are in your existential crisis to start like me and cast. You can start today. Today.

So good. Olivia, thank you so much for being here. Let my listeners know how they can find you, how they can follow you. And you've already shared about your show, but I'm going to put a link to that in the description as well. So yes. Yes, I'll repeat it again. It's Home is Where the Heart is on Hallmark Plus.

It's streaming there. My website is olivia westbrooks.com. You can find me on Instagram at Olivia Westbrook's interiors. I do have a TikTok. I'm not on it much. I can't even tell you what the handle is. But those are the places where you can find me. I love it.

Thank you so much for being here. I'm feeling real excited. I'm not going to go antiquing again because I can see how that could be a day. But today I'm going to find a box and bring out the love letters. What am I waiting for? There's no, there's no need to wait. Just go for it. Just do it. Just do it. We're both going to do something today. Just do it. Thank you so much. This was incredible. I hope to have you back on and we can chat again. Thanks for having me cast. This was a lot of fun, a lot of fun. It was. Thank you. Let's take a second to thank today's podcast sponsor, Carraway. I switched to Carraway Cookware.

a year ago now because I had these non-stick teflon pans that were covered in scratches, and I just happened upon a reel that talked about the microplastics and the toxins that were being released into my food from these scratches in my dishes. Plus, they were really hard to clean, so I switched to care away because it's non-toxic cookware. Also, they're beautiful, heavy-duty. I especially love the sauce plan so I can fry and then immediately put it right in the oven and cook. I've had these now, like I said, for over a year, they're heavy duty, luxury-feeling cookware at an affordable price, safe for me and my family. If you want to give Caraway cookware at try, go to carawayhome.com slash clutterbug, and you can take an additional 10% off your next purchase. This deal is exclusive for our listeners, so visit,

carewayhome.com slash clutterbug or use the code clutterbug at checkout. I really loved that interview. And I think my takeaway is that I've just got to take action. I got to take some of my own medicine. But specifically with my home, every day that I look at that silly fire extinguisher, I feel like, I feel a little happy. But is my husband reflected in my living room? Are my kids? Why haven't I just got a box and put the love letters in it? Like, what am I waiting for? I've got to just do something small today to make our living room specifically more of a reflection of us as a family, right? Not so cookie cut or boring box. I'm not painting and going crazy pants. Just something small that is like a memory or a moment of, oh, yeah, this is the thing I love about my life.

life. I want to see that in my living room. So that is what I'm taking away from this. I'm feeling super inspired. Let me know what you've taken away and what you're doing today. I gave you a ton of challenges and Olivia did two mood boards and putting the thing in the comments that is your dream. But also, I hope you're really proud of whatever you accomplished today because you were amazing just the way you are. Now it's time for my favorite part of the podcast, which is Talk to Cass. And first we're going to hear from Kayla. Hey, Cass, this is Kayla. I have a few questions.

So how do you create systems in a home? How do you zone it when every room has multiple purposes and there isn't a clear place for everything? Our house is really small. Every room has like multi-purpose and it's a little overwhelming. and but also we have lots of decluttering and unfinished projects and too many functions and not very many clear systems. And I think my biggest problem right now is like finding a drop zone. Our entry goes straight into our kitchen and there really isn't any wall space to create a drop zone and it's just really difficult trying to figure out where to put things

and zone it when the space is so small and each room has multi-purposes in it. So do I try to cut back on multi-purposes or do I guess I can't really cut back. I don't know how to phrase my question. I just want to know how do you organize a really small home for a large family when the problem isn't just clutter, but it's like every space has to do three or four different jobs. Yeah, that's so tough, Kayla. So here's what I would suggest right off the bat. For anyone listening who's feeling this same way is we always start with paper. So go to a room that's multi-purpose. And I want you to like kind of just rough sketch it. Listen, perfectionist. We're literally just a scrap piece of paper here. We're rough sketching the walls where the window are.

And then what is the storage that's currently in there? Is there a closet? Is there a dresser? Is there a bookshelf? We're working with what we have today. And we're thinking about zoning and organizing for the space, not the stuff. So once you kind of map that out, the basic structure, then I want you to literally list. the things that this room has purpose. Like give it a name. Is it a guest room and an office and a craft room and a homework room? Is it all of those things? Cool. And now circle the one that's the most important. Like, well, my kids need a place for homework. That is the most because we can't have everything. That's the reality. And so when we can prioritize the top things, then look at our map and say, okay, where are my kids' homework supplies going to go?

I'm dedicating this shelf. It doesn't matter what's on there now, Kayla. It doesn't matter. Ignore the stuff that's in there. Where's the homework stuff going to go? Okay, what's the next most important? Well, I love to craft. Cool. Is it the second most important? Cool. Where is the craft stuff now going to go in the framework that I have? And what this does is it creates the foundation and it allows you to use the container concept, which is Dana K. White's theory that your home is a container, every shelf is a container, every bin is a container, and we make our stuff fit that, and that's the limit. You, Kayla, without a map of your containers, without a clear map of what's the most important in this room, and where does it have to fit, of course, organization is hard.

You will have to declutter a lot, but your first step is prioritizing. Now, when we're talking about your landing zone, take advantage of that hallway, really narrow shoe sorters. lots of hooks. The side of the fridge, you can have magnetic hooks, a magnetic, like, paper thing that you can stick on the side to put paper. There's lots of small space solutions. There's just not going to be a perfect solution. And that's okay. Start small. Start with hooks. You got this, Kayla. Now let's hear from Alyssa. This is Alyssa from Long Island. I absolutely love your podcasts and have been listening every single day for the past couple months. totally addicted. I love all of the separation into the different clutter bug categories as well as

the podcast I just listened to. I'm kind of working backwards about the different sleep types. So I know that there's lots of different categories you can divide people into and I was interested to know with your clutterbug quiz if you would be able to maybe also have a quiz to see if any of the clutter bug categories correlate with astrology signs. I am a ladybug and very organized on the outside, but definitely my closets and my cupboards are a mess. But I am very detail-oriented as well. I happen to be a Virgo, which also aligns with those details, detail-orientedness, I guess. But I thought it would maybe be interesting to see if everybody that has taken the quiz, maybe each of their categories that they fall into, is there a correlation with any of the different astrology

signs and maybe to look further into that to see what else we could discover? Thought that would be a fun side quest. Thank you for everything. You're literally my personal therapist on my drive to work and you have really inspired me to declutter my home. I have a donation truck that is scheduled to be picking up all my garbage of unused stuff to donate in the next couple of. a couple weeks and I really feel like I've been making progress in my life much, much more happy

and feel definitely more motivated in my life in general. So just wanted to say thank you. And yeah, look forward to continuing to listen. Alyssa, this is cool. I'm going to be honest, I don't know anything about astrology at all. So how cool is that? But I have seen people have messaged me where they did the correlation between the clutterbug types and like your INFP thing personality and those shockingly kind of overlap. So you never know. I mean, this might be a question for AI, but I'm curious. Also, can we just say with the astrology thing, my entire life reading, I'm a Capricorn, I would always read my horoscope and I'm, I always was like nothing

like a Capricorn because I'm free-spirited and I was just like, I'll just go with the flow. And it was like Capricorn are like business girl bosses or boy bosses and blah blah, blah. But then I woke up one day and realized, holy crap, am I a Capricorn after all? Like, yeah, I don't, I'll go with the flow as soon as I know when the flow starts and when it ends and exactly how long the flow will be. Not a perfectionist, friends, but I like to be prepared. And I like to just, and also I run a business now. Did I become a cat?

Did it know the whole? I don't know. Does your sign match your sign? Let me know in the comments. Also, I don't know anything about astrology. But it's interesting. Last but not least, let's hear from Sabine. Hi, Cass, this is Sabina. I'm originally from Germany, but I moved to the UK 11 years ago, and I had tons of stuff. I moved with a big van, and I almost had a single person household because I met my husband here in the UK. And there was a lot of stress over the stuff I owned and when I found you you saved my life you changed my attitude towards material things and as you know it's an ongoing process

but I really want to thank you for helping me declutter my stuff letting go of things and changing my attitude but although I'd been following you for about eight years I had a revelation about last year when you started talking about your ADHD and I realized all of a sudden that that is what my husband has. He's undiagnosed. He's 62 now. And I sort of saw all the symptoms that you described in him. And that helped me to change my attitude towards him because I always felt like he was a bit ungrateful and disrespectful for not helping me with all the stuff. all the chores and the decluttering and all of a sudden I realized it's not his fault. He can't help it.

He kept forgetting things and yeah, I got really resentful. And when you talked about this and I saw the symptoms, it helped me change my attitude and I think it saved our relationship. I stopped to stop nagging. Well, at least not as much. And yeah, it really, you know, may change my attitude. him and yeah we're you know we're a happier couple no thanks to you and I really wanted to thank you for that as well it made our lives so much easier and yeah so with no further ado I send you my greetings from the beautiful sunny

Llanditno in North Wales and yeah thanks for all you do bye bye oh I'm so happy to hear that I'm actually really happy for your husband because as someone who had undiagnosed ADHD for so long, it was a lot of like, what's wrong with you and why can't you just do this and why can't you follow through and why? And I judged myself, but also everyone, all my loved ones also judge me. How could they not? And since I've had my diagnosis, not only is everyone a little gentler with me, but I'm gentler with myself. And we don't use it as a crutch. I think sometimes you can use it as a crutch. I'm like, I can't it because instead I found it like so empowering and I hope your husband does actually get a

diagnosis because it gives you instead of being like I'm so bad at this and these are all my faults my whole life I started thinking like I have a real medical condition and I overcame those challenges and I'm doing so well in all these other areas despite that and that gave me a lot more confidence and self-love and self-price. and forgiveness and I really hope I see you're feeling that towards your husband but I would love it if he was feeling that way towards himself as well. Thank you so much for hanging out with me today. I hope you are like so proud of whatever you got done and please in the comments seriously let me know a big dream, a daydream, a what if someday wouldn't it be nice thing that you wish

you had and then go to the comments, friends and support each other by giving advice. on little ways that they can dip their toe in the water. Anti-perfectionists, just starting badly. I would love to read your comments. This is like the best part of this community is how supportive you are of each other. Together we are leveling up our lives. Together we are becoming the best happiest versions of ourselves

without having to be perfectionist or, yeah, worried about what other people think. We're just getting to a point where we're truly content together. So thank you for that. I can't wait to read your comments. Hope you got at least the dishes done and the fridge emptied. Work on that mood board and I'll see you guys next time.