#60 The Home Reset - Staying Organised and Decluttering After Renovation, with Hazel Burton

Renovation might be finished - but the real challenge starts when you move back in. In this episode, we’re joined by Hazel Burton from The Home Reset to talk about how to stay clutter-free and organised throughout a renovation.

What we cover

•  How renovation creates a rare blank slate opportunity
•  Why decluttering should happen before you move 
•  A simple system: keep, donate/sell or discard 
•  Designing storage around your real habits - not Pinterest ideals 
•  How to invest in the right storage for your home
•  A step-by-step approach to moving back in without chaos 
•  How to maintain a clutter-free home long-term 

Key takeaways

•  If you wouldn’t buy it again, don’t bring it back 
•  Where you use something is where it should live 
•  One-in, one-out keeps your home from overflowing
•  Simple systems beat perfect systems every time 

About our guest:

Hazel Burton is the founder of The Home Reset, helping people create a "Hassle Free Home"

This episode is your guide to not undoing all the hard work of your renovation by bringing the clutter back in. 

Follow the podcast on Instagram @ripitup_podcast_official, or follow us - Jenny is @workerscottage and Kate is @victorianrathmines

Transcript

# Decluttering after a renovation


## Intro

**Intro:** [00:00:00] Welcome back to a brand new season of Rip It Up. Every renovation teaches you something, but it's only after you've lived through the dust, the delays, and the decisions, and then done it again like me, that the real lessons appear. This season, we're revisiting our biggest renovation topics, not with theory, not with optimism, but with hindsight.

Process planning, lighting, kitchens, bathroom windows, what worked, what didn't, and what we'd never do the same way again. This is what we wish we knew then. 


## Episode

**Jennifer:** Welcome back to the podcast. Hi Kate. 

Hi Hazel. Welcome to Rip It Up. Thrilled to have you.

**Hazel Burton:** Yes, I'm delighted to be here. Thanks so much. 

**Jennifer:** so for anyone who doesn't know Hazel uh, Hazel Burton, the home reset, home organizer extraordinaire, um, the Irish Marie Kondo. Is that fair to say? Marie Kondos not. Does she just start to organize it now?

it now? 

**Hazel Burton:** I actually met her 

No 

**Jennifer:** Irish doesn't do it anymore.

**Hazel Burton:** kind of wrote back a little bit on just how strict she was about it. 'cause she had her own 

children and I think she 

realized 

**Jennifer:** Yeah, Yeah,

**Hazel Burton:** hard to be organized when you have kids. So she [00:01:00] just

**Kate:** is 

nothing 

**Jennifer:** I respect that. I massively respect that.

that. 

**Hazel Burton:** relatable and I think, yeah, absolutely. When you have kids, 

like all the reels kind of go out the window but she is a real force we reckon. Like when she walked into the room, she's very small little lady and very, very quiet and calm, and there was thousands of people in the room and everyone just was totally silent 

and let her 

**Jennifer:** Oh wow. Wow.

**Hazel Burton:** fab but she just had this kind of aura. I thought she was brilliant.

**Jennifer:** wow. 

Some people do have that kind of presence, don't

they? 

**Kate:** yeah, there's just nothing more humbling though than having kids. 

Like, I feel like I owe personal apologies to everyone's house that I've been to that had small kids, and I judged that it wasn't tidy.

**Hazel Burton:** Yes.

**Kate:** I feel like I should say, I, I should I write them a handwritten letter to say, I'm sorry I judged your house.

It was messy. Now I have two kids. I realize how possible it is.

**Hazel Burton:** And also, I apologize to lots of my friends who had kids before me for like the horrible toys that I bought that were very, 

very 

**Jennifer:** Oh God.

**Hazel Burton:** and hard to store. I was just bringing in these massive teddy bears and be like. 

You're welcome then [00:02:00] I was gone, so now I'm more Yeah. Thoughtful about what I'm buying.

**Jennifer:** I copied one of our friends and bought one of my godchildren, a set of drums, uh, for his birthday,

third birthday, the other, uh, the other month, and not like electronic ones that you can turn off, like I'm talking wood.

Metal symbols. So I knew what I was doing. I knew what I was

doing 

**Kate:** You knew what you were doing for 

**Jennifer:** He loves it. 

He absolutely loves it.

Not the parents though.

Okay. We are.

**Kate:** like, yeah. Go Jen. Sorry. 

**Jennifer:** We are talking about, uh, staying, staying clutter-free home organization. And is there any better time than before, during, after renovation to, to get this done? Because the move out of your house, probably into a rental home during your renovation, and then the move back in a new place for everything, um, it is like, it's huge, isn't it?

Like it's for like. My I'll, I'll come out and state my position on this. I'm a dumper. I am ruthless. I have no problem getting black sax and [00:03:00] throwing everything into it and like just getting rid of stuff. But even for me, there's a few bits and pieces where I'm like, this is so, this is so hard so many. decisions. 

I.

**Hazel Burton:** It is so many Listen I think what you said is correct completely correct I think the more organized we are in all those different stages that you mentioned and we've done that with our clients quite a bit. You know, out to a rental, trying to set that rental up for the kids especially 'cause people don't want so much upheaval for them.

Trying to set that up and thinking, what do I need in that home? But actually, we'll still need later when I come back to this home. But maybe there's things that need are only needed when you come back, when you fully renovate. Like there's so many decisions and then it's like, well actually, can we let these things go and sustainably, how do we let go of them?

So I know you're saying black sax, I'm sure we're talking when we say that we mean to charity or to sell or to 

give 

**Jennifer:** The Oxford the, the, what's it? The Post back bag the Oxfam post back bag is my best friend. I love it so much.

**Hazel Burton:** Such like such a great initiative like to 

make 

**Jennifer:** It's unreal. It's unreal.

**Hazel Burton:** doing guilt you're making guilt-free decisions But I think,

**Kate:** [00:04:00] Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** it's, it's 

critical that you're thinking in advance. I know lots of people are like, okay, I've just finished my renovation. Uh, we're just about to move back in. Or they might say, we're back in, can you unpack me?

But they've done zero declutter before. So that's when it's super chaotic, when there's been no pre-plan around, well, what do I actually need when I get to that last stage of the journey? Um, and is there things that we could be doing all along to 

kind of 

**Jennifer:** Mm-hmm.

**Hazel Burton:** from the crazy madness at the end? And there definitely is.

**Jennifer:** So this might be a good time, Hazel for Listener, if they're not familiar with you and they can find you on Instagram or in the home reset. But maybe just take a step back and talk us through like what is it that you offer for clients at a high level and what is, uh, you know, what do you find that they need the most?

**Hazel Burton:** So I'm a CPD certified professional organizer In my business like you said it's the home reset and what we do our bread and butter really is decluttering and reorganizing people in their current homes. So maybe they, they're feeling overwhelmed with stuff. They don't have sufficient storage or maybe just too much stuff and.

A lot of times people have [00:05:00] some sort of thing, something happens maybe in their lives that they just get to that point of overwhelm and then we come in and we physically do the service. Some people think I just talk about it 'cause I talk about it a lot and I'm very passionate. But no, I'm physically with my team every day in clients' houses. Empty and categorizing it. Cluttering. But what we found was a huge, Part of our business now over the last kind of two years has been house moves. So whether that's post renovation, pre-renovation, or just moving from house A to B people that's a hugely stressful time in people's lives. So where we come in, what we do is, and I'd love to work with a client before, during, and after, obviously for multiple reasons, but for me, it makes the end point much more like. Less stress. So I'm not gonna say it's completely stress free. 'cause you guys know a move, you know, by its nature is one of the most stressful things that we can do. if you were working with us throughout, from before you've moved out to your rental, like you said, or before you go back into your newly renovated home to. what you don't need to remove sustainably, [00:06:00] the things that you are no longer gonna serve you, then it makes that whole thing so much easier. So that's where we come in. So we actually come in, help you make those decisions, help you remove the items, and then in like my favorite part is send setting up the new, so let's say kitchen as an example.

So you're brand new, installed kitchen, literally putting everything into those presses. Making sure that you're utilizing the space, optimizing it as as best you can, and if there are products or additional things that we, you know, baskets, nice hangers, the things that help those systems to be, you know, maintainable. Because obviously what's gonna work for you, Jenny, what's gonna work for you, Kate may not work for me. So I need to quickly get to know the clients quickly, realize how they live or want to live in their spaces and help them set up systems then that are going to. Coincide with that. So make sure like whatever their habits are daily, that I'm aligning with that in terms of how I set up their stuff in their homes, because it's a very personal thing.

Um, so I

**Kate:** It is, yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** get to know, well, what's gonna work for you and what didn't work for you before? Like what lessons have we learned in our previous homes that we can take into our [00:07:00] newly renovated home and make sure we don't make those mistakes? And, um, so that's essentially how we help solve a lot of those issues.

**Kate:** That's really, it's really interesting because it's, it is different for every renovation as well, right? Because some renovations, people are moving back in, repairing, some people are moving into a rental. Some people are putting everything in storage and 

moving away all together. So like it all requires a different, I suppose, approach probably for you.

Like, because like, uh, when we were moved out of our house, we were moving out of a relatively like big house or whatever to uh, small enough rentals that had a tiny kitchen. And when I say we have a kitchen appliances, like we have kitchen appliances coming outta our no. So like, I was like, what the hell am I gonna do with all my kitchen stuff?

So like, it took me like. Weeks of thought beforehand to be like, what do I really need in this rental for this nine or 12 months that I'm gonna be in there? And like, what can I box away and store in a garage somewhere, or wherever I was storing it versus what am I bringing with me? And then am I putting stuff in storage that's just gonna stay there and then I'm gonna dump it when I move back in?

So like doing that [00:08:00] kind of process as early on as possible in your renovation is really important. No.

**Hazel Burton:** of like, so I have only done very small kind of renovations here. We got a new kitchen, things like that. But this is before like I even did this job. Obviously it's just inherent. That's my personality or whatever, but like I really. Went into the minute detail of where's everything gonna live.

So I think if you can do a mapping exercise and listen not to overwhelm people, like in an ideal world, you're mapping like you had to do, Kate, what do I have here? What's gonna actually fit? So that that will answer the question of what needs to be stored. But then you need to review, well, what I'm saying, I'm storing to, to then map it to your new home to think. Actually, do I need a pancake maker anymore? Are we actually

**Kate:** Yeah, yeah,

**Hazel Burton:** that? Do we need to, you know, and like, but that's very minute detail. I did it here. I was literally saying to the kitchen designer, like, where does my Kling film live? And his

**Kate:** Yeah. 

**Hazel Burton:** with

with 

**Kate:** It's so 

**Jennifer:** But that's important to use King film all the time or, or kitchen roll or p like that has to go somewhere.

**Hazel Burton:** know 10 years ago we did our kitchen or nine years ago at this [00:09:00] point They didn't have like now you have, all your inserts for your CL fill and it's 

either 

**Jennifer:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** about it more and obviously we, we were just doing what we could afford at that point in time. 

But I made sure and it doesn't matter about pricing really. 'cause you can make sure there's a place for everything.

And that's the crux of it all. 

**Jennifer:** Mm-hmm. 

**Hazel Burton:** oh God I just can't get on top of my home. I just can't organize it. But the crux of it is that you have a place where everything, and you put everything into that place, you know. nothing else to it. It's, it's a very simplistic way of saying it, because when you don't have the place, like you wouldn't have Kate in your rental, what do you do?

And it is about storage and sometimes you just have to let things go. But we don't wanna be wasting money by paying for storage, and we also don't wanna have to rebuy things. So

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** it's a very, it's a difficult process for a number of reasons. And you touched on it at the beginning, Jenny saying. You get decision fatigue.

So I 

find 

**Jennifer:** Oh God, totally.

**Hazel Burton:** we're keeping a lot more that by, you know, four or five o'clock in the afternoon. People are like, do you know? 

I just let it go But they're, they're,

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** overwhelmed [00:10:00] with having to make those constant decisions and really, really tired. Lots of my clients will say the next day after we've worked together, do you know I slept really well 'cause I was just 

so 

**Jennifer:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** from

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** that went into it.

So you do have to allow yourself like. Go easy on 

yourself and maybe not. Like the earlier you can start to try and think about those mapping exercises for the spaces that you're renovating. better you'll like, the better decisions you'll make, the more informed decisions you'll make. Um, and the likelihood is that later on in the process, it's gonna be 

less stressful I'm not gonna say stress free, 'cause I think that's, 

gonna 

**Jennifer:** Impossible 

**Kate:** in a renovation.

**Jennifer:** So do you have a 

**Kate:** Sorry, 

**Jennifer:** on.

**Kate:** can I ask you one thing? Just talking about the purposeful, 

like kling film drawers and all that kind of stuff and 

like that's why I think things like kitchens, utilities and stuff, and just built in storage in general, but mainly kitchens and utilities are so important early on to be kind of deciding on a home for everything.

Do you allow for a junk drawer in the 

kitchen 

**Jennifer:** knew you were gonna ask that question. 

**Hazel Burton:** wish I could like carry you over to my, my junk drawer. I actually just shared a 

thing about it online [00:11:00] People think that they need these drawers for things to land in and like the po like, so for me, no is a quick answer. No, I don't think you need 

a junk 

**Jennifer:** Oh. 

**Hazel Burton:** I have a drawer in my kitchen that has, I'll send you a picture after it has, uh, 

you know the screwdriver, the Allen key, the thing to open my electricity box. Tape command hooks. It's where we

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** like used batteries until I take them to

**Jennifer:** Hmm.

**Hazel Burton:** and that's it So when post comes in, so people always go, where's my post gonna go? 

much as possible I don't have posts like the utilities, all the bills, like nothing 

comes 

**Jennifer:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** And the odd thing that does come, like whether it's for the car or whatever, you just, I just action it at that time, like. It might sit in the counter till that day, but I try action the things I think it's about, some people need an actionable drawer or a certain inbox. We used to do like, you know, the, like

**Kate:** Oh 

yeah. The 

**Jennifer:** Yeah. The inbox. tray. 

**Kate:** You know? Yeah. 

**Hazel Burton:** put those in to, people have, like, some homes have had like desks 

in that kind of living kitchen space where homework happens, but also admin, life admin happens as well.

But if you [00:12:00] can hide it, put it. It like things have a place, so there's definite inbox and outbox situation. Um, we're moving away from paper a lot more, so I think it is easier to say to people like, you actually don't need this junk drawer. You actually, you need as well organized door for the things that you need at hand in your kitchen. Like I said, those couple of things for changing batteries and in toys and fixing the whatever plugged sockets, if they go. Reams and reams and tons and tons of tapes and

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** in a regular drawer. I don't think it needs now actually like kitchen design. They are putting those kind of dividers into a separate drawer.

Uh, they're almost like building or like charging drawers to me. I dunno what your thoughts are on these charging drawers.

**Kate:** No,

**Hazel Burton:** They're, just turning into a dump drawer again, like a

**Kate:** no.

**Jennifer:** Yeah. 

**Hazel Burton:** to 

**Kate:** I hate tech. I hate tech in general built 

into 

cabinetry.

**Jennifer:** Mm-hmm. 

**Kate:** feature walls fitting a specific TV because your TV will be outdated in about three 

years. I hate chargers [00:13:00] because usually they end up being a slow charger 'cause the charger changes again for the phone in two years. Do you know? So like I think generally tech built into 

**Jennifer:** Yeah, it does go outdated pretty quickly.

**Hazel Burton:** well there you go. And so sometimes people are like, look what I got this lovely 

drawer but I'm like no one's leaving their device in the drawer. 

Nobody 

**Jennifer:** Yeah.

**Kate:** Yeah. 

**Hazel Burton:** gonna

**Kate:** Or the dog? The dog. What do you think of the dog bowls in the kitchen? 

Kicker. 

**Jennifer:** It built in dog bowls. 

**Kate:** to kick it and open it, and I'm like, but my dog needs it all the 

time, 

so it's open all the time. 

**Hazel Burton:** so I saw, I sent this to my friend, she's in the middle of it, but she's just about to 

start her renovation And I was like, isn't this so cool? She's, obviously dogs will be here in her future, or their kids are too small. But she was like, the smell, she was like. not the whole thing just gonna smell.

And I was like, oh, I never actually

**Kate:** Dog nuts,

**Hazel Burton:** of cool. I don't have pets though, so

**Kate:** but like 

your 

**Jennifer:** No. Yeah, 

**Kate:** decide to kick the thing open. So I think 

get 

**Jennifer:** I don't mind having like a designated space. where it makes sense to put them or something like that is fine, but you also need to take them out and clean them. I just feel like that area would get dirty[00:14:00] 

'cause like

my dog is not like he likes to kind of eat and then like puts, he'll got like a

mat around his bowls as it is.

Yeah, exactly. Like

kinda experiential eating experience.

**Hazel Burton:** had like visiting dogs because

**Kate:** dogs. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

**Hazel Burton:** dogs are here for visit Yeah because for me, I'd fall over 

that 

**Jennifer:** Fair.

fair.

**Kate:** Same. 

**Hazel Burton:** dead. That's essentially why I'm organized so things aren't on the floor and I won't 

fall

**Kate:** Yeah. 

Yeah, 

**Jennifer:** I think this, that, this is all such a good area though, about like, 'cause someone listening is gonna be like, I would love that. That would really make sense for me. I want to in out evenings, whatever. So like, I feel like a lot of what you're saying is so specific to the persons. Like how do you go through that process Been like, what is your life like?

Like how do you figure out what's gonna work for someone versus not?

**Hazel Burton:** I do and people say this smell because like you could be working with a client I could be working with a client who's just lost someone very close to them who like is in that transitional maybe separation or something's changing in their lives. Kids are [00:15:00] growing up, kids are leaving, kids have arrived.

Like brand new babies are coming into the world like. It's, it's so many like transitional times in their lives. That's the word I was trying to find transitional times in their lives and like I'm a total stranger at the door all of a sudden and I just very quick, I dunno if it's a skill or what, but I just very quickly need to figure out like some clients need me to be a bit stricter.

Maybe say, you know what, you really actually don't need that other clients. need me to tell them or don't want me to tell them what to do, and absolutely don't need me to be strict. They need a softer approach, but I, I keep reminding 'em, by the end of the day, we're looking, so we talk a lot about what their goal is for the space at the beginning.

So I know some clients will say, look, I don't want it to be perfect. I just need to know where everything lives. So I know they're not interested in the aesthetic of a Kim Kardashian type pantry, which I'm not interested in. Because it's not realistic for us in our normal day-to-day lives without a staff 

of 

**Jennifer:** Yeah. 

**Hazel Burton:** to

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** it.

And I don't want to put in something that I know within weeks 

it will have failed because it will look like [00:16:00] we haven't done our job properly. 

**Jennifer:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** know like, so are you full-time? Work? Like, are you working full time? Are you both working 

full time Is how many people live here? Who lives here? How often are they, long in the day are they here?

If we're in a kitchen, 

**Jennifer:** Hmm. 

**Hazel Burton:** old are your kids? Do you want them to feed themselves? Do you want them to get their own breakfast? Do you hate them to get their own breakfast? 

Do you have a dog? Where does he or she live? How did they like literal Spanish Inquisition, but we speak 

on the 

**Jennifer:** Okay.

**Hazel Burton:** in advance Like I, I, I ask a lot of questions and I take in. And I can kind of 

assess how their per, like, I know a person will want me to be stricter or look, we really need to be where another client just wants maybe a bit more of an arm around to say, you're doing really well. I know it's really

**Kate:** How many have started crying when they tell you this?

**Hazel Burton:** loads of people cry.

**Jennifer:** oh I say you get that all the time. do you? It's because it's so stressful. 

**Kate:** people say some of that stuff out loud, they're like, oh my God, I do so much, or someone else does so much and I don't do anything, or whatever the, 

**Jennifer:** They're probably feeling [00:17:00] so overwhelmed and just it's, it is really stressful.

**Hazel Burton:** the guilt as well because 

like when I'm sort of when they when they say oh this is what I want it to look like and this is our goal for the space and I really wanted to work in this way. And I'm sort of like, I, like, I actually don't think that's gonna be manageable for you for X, y, and Z reason, or you know, I think you just need to either lower the expectation a little for what other people in your home.

So I have certain expectations, but I can't have my whole family follow like my. it's their home as 

**Jennifer:** Yeah. Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** I turned this camera around. You'd see four coats, jackets. They're sitting 

on the back of chairs in the kitchen, but like, whatever, it's, it's a home. We're trying to live here and be comfortable and happy.

Ideally for me, they wouldn't be there, but I have to, and like my clients, I say to say, they're like, I can't get my husband to row in with getting organized or staying on top of the system where you just need to try and appeal to some sort of like, some sort of compromise. Sometimes I say, maybe just swap him out, maybe declutter him and then everything will be resolved.

**Kate:** Yeah. Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** But you know, like some, you have to meet people halfway. Like he has to help. She has to help. It's [00:18:00] not mom's job to keep everything organized. The kids have to understand and respect that as well. But they're still kids, so it's, it's. To answer your question, how do I do it? How do I very quickly empathize?

Like we end up crying, laughing. Definitely. My client, I, she lost her sister. It was, it was really, really tragic, it was 13 years until she felt able enough to have someone come in and help her. But she knew she could do it by herself even after that 

**Jennifer:** Yeah. 

**Hazel Burton:** we honestly laughed and cried and she was like, look at the stuff she kept, 'cause she just 

kept everything in a box and never opened it again. Until we worked together, and I'd never met her before that day and I'd never met her sister, obviously. And I don't know her kids or her husband. And be honest, we text all the time. I feel like she's one of my pals now. 

I'll send her this and she'll be laughing, but we, we, we talk a lot and she's, really quickly connected because we were, I was in that really important time for her where. 

**Jennifer:** Hmm. 

**Hazel Burton:** the next part. We didn't get rid of a lot of things, but we organized them and we kept the best of the 

best um, and stuff for her sister's children. It was just such a, like a real privilege for [00:19:00] me to be there at that time. And I think days like that will sort of help with the other days where you're like. your hands and knees, like just truing through kids' artwork and just trying to get to the unknown. Similar. Whilst it's not as tragic as that, I know by the end we're really helping people. So by the end, 

**Jennifer:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** even if it's not the perfect way that you would want to be in your house.

But for our 

clients everyone wants something different. Everyone's in a different environment and nobody is like, once they think they want this perfect home, what they just want is to be happy in their homes and calm.

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** and I love to be able to bring that to people.

**Kate:** Yeah. 

**Jennifer:** Because you were saying earlier about like sleeping so well after a day like that and yeah, I'm sure you're tired 'cause it is hard work, but also your mind is so much clearer and.

Like that. I can only imagine that sense of relief. Like it's so nice and it's, yeah, it's so handy to have someone to do it with you as well.

It's, it's a massive,

uh, a massive

support. 

**Hazel Burton:** your stuff So while I can see and be sentiment and understand and empathize with how sentimental it would be [00:20:00] to get your kids first piece of art to work from school, I also am practical, right? So if that's a poem that the teacher printed out 30 times that they scribbled on it, it's not really a personal thing.

**Jennifer:** Yeah, Take a photo of it,

Move on. on.

**Hazel Burton:** even for me, I'm like, well that's someone else's poem. Like where if you're a kid, 

like my son talked about being in the morgue because there's a pub close to us that we had dinner in and he was like, I spent the weekend at the morgue. 'cause we ended up going 

there a couple 

**Jennifer:** Yeah. 

**Hazel Burton:** like this is kind of funny.

'cause his teacher probably didn't realize it was a pub close by that we had dinner in. 

It sounds like we just take our children. So the morgue at the weekend. So we sort of kept that funny thing. He drew a picture of my mom and she looked like insane. You know? But like these printed out things, I'm like guys.

The kids won't thank you for the maths book from their

**Jennifer:** Yeah. Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** class when they're 30 and they're trying to get to their own home. They're like, mom, uh, you know, 

they won't want it. They won't have space for it, and they probably

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** with us. So is they don't need, like, so I think I try to be practical as well, but I can empathize and it's difficult, but we have to have a realistic goals here about how we're gonna get 

rid of 

**Jennifer:** So I, I'd loved, I'd love to know your process [00:21:00] for how to figure, like, what's your line about, like ke keep versus dump and it won't Must be different for everyone, but like that. 

that decision Because that decision is so difficult, I find if I'm going through decluttering, right, my process of like, I can quite easily throw a whole bunch of stuff into the donate bag, and that's fine. There's stuff that's like broken, torn whatever that goes into the bin, that's fine. But then there's this little kind of zone in the middle where I'm like, oh, do I wanna like this? It's like, I know it's like a concert ticket or, and I'm, I wouldn't be particularly sentimental, so it's usually gone. But there's, there are a few things like that that I'm like, oh, well, maybe I'll wear it again, or

I might get back down to that size at some stage.

I dunno, like, that bit is so difficult to work through. Like how, how do you, how do you

plow through that kind of messy middle?

middle? 

**Hazel Burton:** Our methodology is always the same when we go into homes regardless of the space regardless of what's happening whether it's like pre-move, post move, just a regular wardrobe kitchen, empty the whole space and we categorize everything. So you're not just looking at one concert ticket, you'd look at [00:22:00] 50 concert tickets or so.

Every category is like, so all of your shoes are there. That's like a, a good example, the shoes we've taken from your bedroom, the porch under the stairs, the spare room. wherever they are. And so you're looking at everything and you're making informed decisions then about what can stay, what can go. to if you just looked at one concert ticket, you might say, Ash, that was, we'll keep that. Where do you keep that? Where if 

you're looking 

**Jennifer:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** realistically or maybe you're looking at 50 and going, actually I have enough to make like a book of them 

now Or 

take 

**Jennifer:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** turn it into something or make frame it and make it a piece of art.

If there are really special times 

in your life I think Without looking at it all as one category. I think that's where it's critical. People just look at the one or two pairs of shoes and go as I'll keep them. Sure, they're fine. But actually 50 pairs of shoes are going well, actually, they're not actually overly comfortable.

I don't really wear

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** They're never gonna come back into fashion. Even if they don't fit me now, you know, like people are keeping jeans because who knows Is the skinny? Is it, is it leg Are we barrel? Or what are we wearing?

**Kate:** Yeah. Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** know? And people are like, well, if I hang onto those skinny jeans, it's gonna come back around.

[00:23:00] But either they're, they're gonna be a slightly different style. They're not gonna fit. I'd be more inclined. No. Now I currently, I'm a different size, right? So I did keep one pair of, of Target jeans, but I know if like six months time I'll be able to go, listen, I've not made that just bought a new size.

I'm up a size and I've let them go because you just can't keep everything. We have this obviously finite, um, space. Um. for me, the key to like making informed decisions is that you're looking at the full category. So you're looking at everything from that 

one 

**Jennifer:** That makes so much sense.

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** okay, that is, uh, you know, 

excessive or actually 

this is fine And I have space for 50 pairs of shoes, so I'm keeping them all perfect.

**Jennifer:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** knowing how many, and I think this is the mistake people make when they try and contain, so 

they're like all about the baskets. 

**Jennifer:** Hmm. Hmm.

**Hazel Burton:** like. Beautiful baskets spend a lot of money, but they don't fit. They're not fit for 

purpose don't match, you know this because you

**Kate:** yeah. Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** in the order of empty it. Categorize it. Declutter. Then what we call it, the [00:24:00] reset. 'cause obviously that's the company. Like that's the bit of, now you can buy the beautiful baskets 'cause you've measured, you know it's gonna fit, you know what's going in there. So you know the type of basket that you need, which is also very important. Or in a kitchen, you know, the type of jar that's gonna work. it gonna be the kids using, like who's using the jar? Like there's so many questions about the containers and everything and people think, oh, should you just walk in with a load of plastic and, and fill stuff for people?

And, and that's your job. At the end of the day, it's not, we've done so many things before we've gotten to even thinking about buying a container, um, and whether or not that's even the right thing in that space. So there's a lot more to do pre the purchasing, um, of, of containers to make the systems work.

Um, and I think that people tend to do it in the wrong order.

**Kate:** Everything you're making, or you're saying makes so much sense to me, but I think it makes sense to me because I've gone through so many moves in the last few years. Like as in I've renovated three times, we've moved from Galway to Dublin, whatever, and we've moved in 

and out of maybe seven or eight properties in that time.

So I've done [00:25:00] that move so many times I've done that. Kind of reset that. I've come to the realization that you just have to do that every time. But like, I wouldn't have been able to get there unless I had gone through those moves. And like, you know, that that idea of just taking everything out and categorizing and going through it, like now I find it therapeutic.

Like a while back I probably didn't do that 'cause I hadn't moved and I didn't see the pain and having all that stuff with me. And I think like that's. Fucking tenfold for me now with two 

small kids, because like the toys send me into overdrive at night. Like, so I am like so religious that like, if they're not playing with it, it's gone.

I have one like rotation box of toys up in the attic that it's like their toy shop. They want something from the attic. They bring up something of equal size and something else comes down and that's, that's like their little, and they play with the stuff they have, you know, it's not just sitting there in a massive basket.

So like. like I find it, oh, it just makes me so much more relaxed. It's so worth the whole process.

**Jennifer:** Yeah. 

**Hazel Burton:** be the same So we talked [00:26:00] with the cer. you're in a space, like if kids are, like people 

say all the time about the, the playroom situation and you know whether or not they have a playroom or should it be a different, like a den, more so than just a place for plastic to kind of die in. And so they have these massive rooms full. kids don't go in there and they're like, the kids won't even play in there. It's because they're overwhelmed. It's because there's too much in 

there 

**Jennifer:** Ah,

yeah, that makes so much sense.

**Hazel Burton:** They can't see the wood from the trees either. They, they have 

no interest in being in that space They wanna like play in a calm space that they can see what they want. You know? See, like, and like Kate, you've described a little rotation, but not, not a whole room of rotation, but one

**Kate:** Yeah,

**Hazel Burton:** wooden one out, because inevitably there's gonna be birthdays, Santa's gonna arrive. Grandparents are always great.

One out for bringing the random, know, so if

**Kate:** stuff.

**Hazel Burton:** you know and listen and 

**Jennifer:** Godparents. Sorry guys. 

**Hazel Burton:** Yeah. Ev, yeah. 

**Jennifer:** We're so bad.

**Hazel Burton:** bears drum sets all sorts 

But 

**Jennifer:** Sorry. 

**Hazel Burton:** They want to play. Like my 

daughter she's nearly 10 so she [00:27:00] doesn't have so much plastic left 

now but when she goes to a friend's house or younger kids, like, she'll happily play away with kitchens and different bits and random,

**Kate:** yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** uh, you know, my husband's like, oh, she's really enjoying that toy there.

She doesn't play like that at home, but like, no, because it's new, it's different. It's

**Jennifer:** Hmm. 

**Kate:** Yeah. 

**Hazel Burton:** it's you know, it's different to them. And so that's grand. But they don't need, like, buying them all the 

stuff isn't gonna make them have a better childhood by any means.

**Kate:** No, or happier or anything. They just play with bits and then they end up dumping everything out just to see it. Do you know, to try and make sense of it themselves. I think.

**Jennifer:** They're trying to organize. 

**Hazel Burton:** Yeah. And so kids will often be there when I'm working and sometimes the kids are like, when 

is that woman leaving Who's throwing in all my toys? And I try and avoid. So I do like, I do say to my clients like, we can't just be throwing it all out when they're not here because that's creating a mini hoarders.

Like you're, you're

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** making a problem for yourself. I had clients who've would openly say they're hoarders and they know it's because their parents just chucked everything out, had no care or thought in the world for their favorite

**Kate:** Okay.

**Hazel Burton:** she'd come home from school and be sitting in the top of a [00:28:00] skip because she was more like also the get rid of a type and she was the youngest of three girls.

And so every toy she held in her hand, her other sisters would say, well, that was mine. That's mine. She said, I never owned anything that was just mine

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** was a hand me down and that's fine. I do that all the time with clothes and my friends, and of course we do it, but it's lovely that they had their own ownership over their own things as well.

So that again, later we need to be thinking about later and not creating this like hoarder type mentality. If you throw things out. Break that trust with your children, they will have an issue. So you need to involve them. We, I talk about the fact that I bring toys to charities for children who don't have any toys or as many 

toys or do you know what, are you a bit big for this toy now?

Maybe younger kids will get more. You said that. And what's your favorite toys? I ask them all the time. You tell me. You tell me what your favorite things are to play with. 'cause it's all out, right? So it's every, you know, it's emptied already before they've come home and they'll pick maybe three or four things.

And so we'll prioritize getting those in good space. That, and we'll. They'll row in with the idea. And actually a lot, miss Hazel, some of 'em [00:29:00] call me like I'm a teacher and they'll be like, mom, send Miss Hazel a picture. I've put everything away because whatever way they're gonna get on

**Kate:** Oh, that's so cute.

**Hazel Burton:** know, cute.

Like whatever way they're gonna get on board with 

trying to help mom and dad maintain a system and, you know, it's okay to, to say, I told you've done, it's, it's fine. It's okay 

to 

**Jennifer:** yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** with playrooms, with kids rotation is good, but just not, 

it doesn't need to be everything less, there's more a hundred percent with them.

**Jennifer:** Mm-hmm.

**Kate:** Yeah. So like if we go back to like our renovation process, could you give us like a little bit of a top line kind of blow by blow of the pre kind of renovation move out process and then the move back in and maybe how to, you'd recommend keeping it organized longer term?

**Hazel Burton:** Yes. Okay. So I think with the pre house or pre-move declutter, we do this before the renovation begins. Before you move into that rental,

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** will tackle the high use rooms. So we focus on kitchens because what's likely is, especially if you're renovating your kitchen. The next version of that [00:30:00] kitchen's gonna be completely different.

So

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** the top priority for a renovation and kids. Um, and so we'll spend time in each space. out do you need in the rental? So it's like phase one, what do we need? Like that mapping exercise, like what do we actually need in the new rental? It's smaller. Okay. So we need to cut by 50%.

Sometimes we'll put a number on it 

**Jennifer:** Mm-hmm. 

**Hazel Burton:** the 50% all the time. And so when we're looking at, you know, four wooden spoons, 

two can go very quick. And I think when people have a number, they know, yeah, actually I don't need four wooden space. So we very quickly can remove and we're, it's not about pretty, at this stage, it's not about looking gorgeous.

By the end it's about. reduction by

**Kate:** Functionality.

**Hazel Burton:** and functionality and what you're using every day. some of my clients are very keen chefs and bakers and I, you know, we talk about that I'm not, right. So it's very, like, it's not my forte. One of the girls on the team is a food stylist, so she's there a lot of the time when it's anything to do with a kitchen. Um, because she'll know very quickly, well, actually these things you don't need, whatever. [00:31:00] So it's about figuring out the mapping of what you need in the rental, but keeping in mind all the time, well. I don't wanna get rid of things that I will need eventually when I come back in. So we talk about storage at that stage, and we

**Kate:** Do you work with interior designers at this stage? Hazel, like if there's plans, like,

**Hazel Burton:** I've, yes, we have worked, I've worked with

**Kate:** okay.

**Hazel Burton:** of interior designers who will, for example, we had a client who gorgeous wardrobe built, and she didn't have any long hanging. 

**Jennifer:** Oh God. God.

**Hazel Burton:** that she had very long coats, very long dresses like that was part of her day to day 

wardrobe And it wasn't baked into the plan. Now, it wasn't the interior designer's fault. They're looking at symmetry and 

**Jennifer:** Mm-hmm. 

**Hazel Burton:** it looks, but not usability for this client and like. Or I worked with 

Vogue quite a lot She's a lot of knee high boots. They didn't fit anywhere in her wardrobes that were there, but they were designed, I guess she wasn't involved at that time, but, know, you need to think about what it is that I have and how is my design going to support that. so we have, I've definitely looked at plans and, and helped opine on, you know, maybe drawers not being deep enough for [00:32:00] kitchens where I know there's a lot of pots and pans or very keen bakers, like where is the food going? On a practical level like. A back kitchen is great, but actually that's a lot of steps just to cook.

Like can we have

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** close to the ho? Like how are we gonna integrate that? So we're thinking on a more practical level

**Kate:** Okay.

**Hazel Burton:** designer who's obviously thinking about beautiful aesthetic and the finish and they're trying to think about function of course. But I think sometimes independently we're, we're adding it in.

And we do look at plans quite a bit, I think the pre-move declutter needs to focus on high use areas. And a real, like I said, it's not about pretty, so it's a quick one. It's a quick. Dump or like donate or, or keep or store. Um, so that actual pack up for the move into the rental is so much easier.

And then we do the same process again in the rental again, we're at the rental. Kids have gotten older, things have changed, seasons have moved on. It's time to move back in. It's been six months since we, or nine months, or 18 or two years, you know, so depending on the size of the reno we're going back in now we need to do the same process again. [00:33:00] A mapping exercise for what's gonna live where, like, I have clients who are building renos and the, now have no storage for toys. So toys now need to move out of where they were downstairs into the kids' bedrooms. So we're, we're looking at storage in bedrooms, but also trying to reduce a lot and think about rotation.

There's a huge amount, um, for the move back in, but generally because you've at that point built in sufficient storage and we've talked about storage, um, you have a place for everything. It's the move out to the rentals. Probably more difficult than the move into the Reno. 

**Jennifer:** Oh, interesting. I wouldn't have thought that. that.

**Kate:** When you're moving out, like do you have a particular system in terms of like 

boxes or hanging bags or stuff like that? Like is there anything that you've come across that's like, it has to be clear moving boxes or it has to be whatever, so you can see everything like, or is it different every,

**Hazel Burton:** it, it

**Kate:** every time.

**Hazel Burton:** it is. Um, so I

**Kate:** Hmm.

**Hazel Burton:** using a professional moving company, I love this. The wardrobe boxes with the bar,

**Kate:** Hmm. 

**Hazel Burton:** but I think they make then the unpack. Especially if you're stored and stuff, you're just literally taking it off a bar. It's already on a hanger, just putting it into a wardrobe. But then if you're doing it [00:34:00] yourself, just a big black sack. did it on my Instagram again, I'll send it to you. You just bring the bag up over the clothes and tie a little knot at the top, 

**Jennifer:** Oh yeah.

yeah. 

**Hazel Burton:** again, it's keeping it free from dust. And again, you're able to just. Open the 

bag and it's in the wardrobe it's on the

**Jennifer:** Mm-hmm.

**Hazel Burton:** mess But if you're changing your wardrobe configuration from hanging two folding or vice 

versa then it's not gonna be a a perfect one. Things like the plastic boxes, again, if you're putting very heavy things in there and storing them for a very long time. can crack. It depends on

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** so it depends if you're using professional movers or if you're trying to do it all yourself. I would say people underestimate that. They

**Kate:** Yeah, for sure.

**Hazel Burton:** Dick, I could do this myself. Just throwing a few things in boxes. But the actual volume of things that you have, you've 

completely 

**Jennifer:** Oh my God. It's, it's like every time I've ever moved from anywhere, like into 

A rental or into, into a house I bought or whatever, like it's three times more stuff and three times longer than you think it's gonna take. I, you're like, grant, I'll pack up this, whatever. I'll get it done this [00:35:00] weekend. No way like it is. Even for me without kids, it is, it

just takes so much longer.

There's so much more stuff. The last bit. 

**Kate:** like 60, 80% of the time 

sometimes. 'cause 

**Jennifer:** God.

**Kate:** you 

**Hazel Burton:** by then 

**Jennifer:** Because you can do like the books going here, the clothes going here, the whatever going here, and then you're like, where does the VAs go? Where does the,

Like, it's so frustrating. 

**Hazel Burton:** And how do I store it so it doesn't break if I'm trying to do it by myself Like so investing in boxes I think is a good idea on paper and, and, and bubble wrap it all. So 

if there's really expensive items, maybe you just need some professional movers to 

help 

**Jennifer:** Yeah. I'm all about getting professionals. I can afford it. afford it.

**Hazel Burton:** Yeah, but I think the more you do in advance, the easier it is 

for them So again we'll work 

obviously with 

**Jennifer:** Yeah, 

**Hazel Burton:** then the movers will come in and they are like brilliant like locusts, right? But they're gonna move. If you've 

left half a Turkey, this happened half a

**Kate:** It goes in a 

box. 

**Jennifer:** no. Did it? Did it?

**Hazel Burton:** it 

was Christmas, we, they moved to Turkey from the fridge to the Turkey 

across and I said these guys are on holidays.

This Turkey is going to like it's gone. It's for the bin lads. 

They 

**Jennifer:** [00:36:00] Oh, I have like massive respect. No, that is, that's brilliant. I love that.

love that. Because they could have had the opposite. They could have come back for the Turkey that night and been rag that like, wow, okay, Oh, it's Christmas Eve. you threw away my Turkey.

**Hazel Burton:** this No, no, it was, I was post-Christmas, they, it was half a Turkey.

uh, and they weren't coming back till New Year. And I was like, lads, this is a bin job. This is like. Compost this bad boy, we don't need the Turkey to move across the, were moving them across the road mirror image of a house and we had photographs of each room and we were setting up the kids' rooms, like to the point where it, they wouldn't have really known that they were in a different house. And because everything they like was just so on their lockers and everything was, you know, perfect. But that's where the movers were great. 'cause they did all the muscle, all the heavy lift. 

**Jennifer:** Amazing. 

**Hazel Burton:** and make it look perfect on the other side. But what made that easier was that we've worked with that client so 

much in the, you know, before, and we're actually working with her now again to. The opposite way to go back across the road. So 

**Jennifer:** Oh gosh. 

**Hazel Burton:** be Christmas time for her this time. But, um, yeah, I think it depends. I do 

think that the, the more difficult one is [00:37:00] before you even leave free renovation. I think the next part is easier 'cause you've likely put in good storage. Um, and the way that you store it just, it depends on budget, but also what it is that you're stored in the boxes where they're gonna be stored.

Right? So if you're. Using a garage or somewhere that's gonna be damp in any way, like any, obviously you're not putting good stuff in there, but you know, clear like boxes with lids covered is, is probably the best way. Like cardboard's not gonna survive in a damp environment. So it just is thoughtful about where it is gonna be stored and price of it.

'cause it's professional storage is isn't cheap, but it might be worth it longer term if it's good 

stuff. 

**Jennifer:** Yeah. And then Hazel, how do people keep it going after? So like, you're back in, you've got your move, or maybe you ha, maybe, maybe it's not a renovation, maybe you've just come in and done,

you know, a life reset,

um, and a home reset and then you're gone. And obviously people can stay in touch to you, but like how do you put those systems in place to keep work?

Maintenance? Yeah, that's it. that's it.

**Hazel Burton:** So I think the first [00:38:00] piece is that the system that we put in is simple enough for everyone to follow, right? So if, if, the simple, if the system is simple enough, it's, it, it should be maintainable, but then of course life happens, new things will enter your home. Um, people will say, oh, just so much stuff.

But we're in control of what comes in. So. 

**Jennifer:** Hmm. 

**Hazel Burton:** Most of the things that are there, we've brought in. So we can't blame, I dunno, the invisible man. 

So like sometimes clients will be like, Hey, so are you bringing your stuff? 'cause this isn't my stuff. I don't have this much stuff. This isn't mine. Like, are you bringing stuff in because there's so much. So I think it's about the go forward. Maintenance rules for me are one in, one out, okay. Across the board. So whether it's in your kitchen, you've got a new set of plates. 

**Jennifer:** Mm. 

**Hazel Burton:** bowl of vase. Look at this lovely new vase. What a, let's look at the vases we already have. 

out, like I say, Simon Kell, my kids, dunno what I'm talking about.

But you know, like judges houses where they had to like eliminate. 

**Jennifer:** Yeah. Love it.

it. 

**Hazel Burton:** don't even know who Simon Kelly is, but I'm like Simon Ke, it's time to eliminate a teddy bear. 'cause 

new [00:39:00] teddy bears have to come in, or a new pair of shoes or a new pair of trainers. My husband bought me trainers for my birthday last year, which was a surprise and I was like, oh, I don't really have another pair of trainers though. wanna get rid of. 'cause this wasn't my choice. 

**Jennifer:** Yeah.

Yeah. 

**Hazel Burton:** like a pair of heels or something else. I, I 

did a 

**Jennifer:** Yeah. 

**Hazel Burton:** and I threw one of his 

pair of runners in the bin. But then I had like, people 

coming on to me saying, that's very wasteful. I was like, I know that's a joke. Obviously I'm not showing

**Kate:** They're not gonna go to 

the 

**Jennifer:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** to the bin. But it it, okay, even if it's not the exact same category, I got rid 

of a pair of heels that I wasn't gonna wear, or, you know, another pair of shoes in a different category.

**Jennifer:** Mm-hmm.

**Hazel Burton:** rid of a coat. It's okay. It's just about trying to stay on top of volume. 

**Jennifer:** Yeah. 

**Hazel Burton:** um, um, love it or let it go.

So things that I 

loved, like last season, it's okay to not love them again now, or a picture that I used to love to see in a frame. Now the kids are a bit older. I'm actually gonna change that up and actually that frame, but it's okay to. Decluttering 

isn't a 

**Jennifer:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** it's, it's a low, like things change.

Your taste will [00:40:00] change. And it's okay to go, actually, 

I know I spent a lot of money on that, but I'm actually gonna donate it, or I'm gonna try and sell it on

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** or whatever.

**Jennifer:** Mm-hmm.

**Hazel Burton:** one to not to go easy on yourself, but also it is a constant thing. We have to be thinking about how 

our, our tastes and, and lifestyle will change.

And then the third thing, which again. I love it as a rule in general, is put back not down. So people will just put things down on flat services like the, the post will just land. Art will just land. It's about actioning at the item and putting it back to where it lives. Now

**Jennifer:** Mm-hmm.

**Hazel Burton:** it's not strict, okay?

We're in our homes. We're supposed to be relaxing, join ourselves, but actually 

the next morning when you come down, if you've put the things away, if you've spent that five minutes to do the dishwasher or whatever, to have those clear surfaces, it makes a huge difference to your

**Kate:** Yeah,

**Hazel Burton:** as you enter that space the next day.

**Kate:** I love the action of the item. I'm, I'm gonna foot one in my kitchen because my husband tends to open mail and then leave it on the kitchen island open.

**Hazel Burton:** Yeah.

**Kate:** I dunno what the point of it is, but I'm like, just do something with it 

**Jennifer:** Yeah, is it, is this my problem, Sheila, right now? I put that away. 

**Kate:** yeah, yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** my [00:41:00] husband, he

**Kate:** I love the in out.

**Hazel Burton:** but he has shredder right in his office. So I'm always like, I just put it in his work bag. 'cause I know the next time he's in the office, he'll know the stuff in his bag to be shredded because we

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** it necessarily in our recycle bin. Um, so there has to be a system to get rid of the stuff when it's confidential. So either having a small shredder in your house might be the solution. Maybe you have a small office or maybe it lives in a press in, you know. The playroom area, or even in the sitting room somewhere, that you can then action the item in the best way.

Not hanging around like, what am I gonna do? This is actually quite confidential. I dunno how to get rid of it, Um, it's, it's about building the system out. So that, and I think by taking a step back and just looking at the things that happen, like in your house, things are landing, your husband's not like, why is that?

Is there, he need a shredder? Does he need. just start putting it back or putting it down or, or recycling

**Kate:** Yeah. Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** what are the things that land and why is that? It's because there's no home. 

**Jennifer:** Mm-hmm. 

**Hazel Burton:** there's no place for it to live. So I think, hallways are, are, are one that I find again, if there's nowhere for [00:42:00] shoes and bags and coats and stuff to land because you've no room or there's no option, then come up with a solution that's gonna help. whole family with that issue. So you're not falling over runners coming in 'cause it's, again, it's the first thing you're seeing coming in the door. If you're already quite stressed after a busy day and then you're like falling over 16 pairs of runners, it's not gonna help your mood. So, 

**Jennifer:** Yeah. 

**Hazel Burton:** there's lots of ways you can just take one step back and go, what, what are the problem areas here?

And how can I tackle them? How can I 

give them a place 

**Jennifer:** I love that. 

**Kate:** nuggets in there. I think like I feel like I just wanna go declutter again 

now, although I do it too much, I'm probably like a one in four out kind of person, 

so I'm 

**Jennifer:** Yeah, me too. I need my, I need my wardrobe done now I need a wardrobe reset, That's my next, uh, my spring cleaning tackle. 

**Kate:** I need wardrobes, and then I'm gonna do a wardrobe reset, I think.

**Hazel Burton:** lovely. 

**Kate:** That was amazing.

**Hazel Burton:** Thank you 

**Kate:** yeah. Go on 

**Jennifer:** So many nuggets. I love it. I was gonna ask you, my last question I was gonna ask you before we let you go is is there anything you, is there anything that you're always, like, you walk into someone's house and you're like, oh my God, [00:43:00] they've done it again. That you just like, that you'd leave a listener with to be like, this will make your life so much easier if you just do this.

Do you know? Do you know?

**Hazel Burton:** Now this is more of a des a design one. I think I'm, like I said, I'm not a tier designer, but I do find, and I, I dunno, hopefully now I'm not contradict well this is for me personally, you know, with, and I don't have one, but you know, like the boot rooms or the utility spaces where people keep coats.

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** Why when we open those those wardrobes 

essentially doors, are we going with hooks in there of a bar?

**Jennifer:** Yeah. Yeah. Rail makes so much more sense. Yeah. you fit so much more in, I in, I suppose. 

**Hazel Burton:** know, the beautiful, where it's just three hooks on a wall and it's, oh, we're all supposed to sit on these lovely benches and take our shoes off and put them into the 

drawers. 

**Jennifer:** Yeah. 

**Hazel Burton:** act, those hooks are just gonna be chaos. I know one or two things hanging can look like so 

beautiful, but in the reality, if you have, okay, you can have that.

But if you also had a door, like a wardrobe, instead of putting hooks in there, just put a, just put a pole and just hang your coats in

**Jennifer:** Hmm.

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Jennifer:** [00:44:00] Yeah.

Yeah. 

**Hazel Burton:** Access them. And everything that I'm talking about is making sure that 

everything's visible and accessible 

for everyone that 

needs them. 

**Jennifer:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** can't reach those hooks, or if your kids have 17 coats, 

every coat's just gonna go on top, on top, on top of this

**Kate:** Hmm.

**Hazel Burton:** everything's gonna fall.

And all they'll wear is that top one. 'cause they can't see what's 

**Jennifer:** Yeah. 

**Hazel Burton:** the hooks I just think are wild. And I think what I see, the hooks, I'm like, well this is 

not working for anyone. 

**Jennifer:** Yeah. 

**Hazel Burton:** And for me, I 

**Jennifer:** It's so true though. 'cause with the best will in the world, like with so many the temperature variations in Ireland and like the weather

changes so much. We all like, we all have loads of coats. I'd love to live in a country where I can just throw on my winter coat and my summer coat, but we

have to have like rain jackets, short jackets, long jackets, coats, like, do you know, we do need like a million coats This is what it is what it is.

**Hazel Burton:** who's Swedish and like it'd be minus 30, you know, and she's like, every

**Jennifer:** Yeah, 

**Hazel Burton:** with enough storage for a lot of coats, a 

lot of 

**Jennifer:** yeah. You need, we 

need them.

we need them. 

**Hazel Burton:** and we need something similar. So does that For me, I just think wild how people wanna 

store coats when we have so [00:45:00] many. And

**Kate:** Hmm.

**Hazel Burton:** the buying of the storage before the declutter. I think that's the common,

**Jennifer:** Oh, that's brilliant. Yeah. 

**Kate:** buying stuff like you said earlier with that measuring space.

**Jennifer:** Yeah. Yeah.

**Kate:** not buying the purposeful baskets. Like I, I bought a media unit when I moved 

back in after my renovation. It's a pretty long media unit, but I measured all of the shelves and I went out to home store more and bought exact plastic bucket shelves that fit them.

And it fits all the kids' toys pretty much,

**Hazel Burton:** And I think what's

**Kate:** but like it uses every inch, like,

**Hazel Burton:** you use every inch, but you've bought a product that you can probably rebuy. And I think people see these kind of one-offs, you know, in some of the

**Kate:** yeah. Yeah.

**Jennifer:** Yeah. 

**Hazel Burton:** they look good for a point in time, but you can't replace them.

You'll never be able to find the one that matches it again. 

And if again, I just think the wrong size and not measuring, for 

me, 

**Jennifer:** Yeah. 

**Hazel Burton:** needs to happen way later in the process.

**Jennifer:** Yeah.

you have to remember that store has been styled and it looks good there for a reason. It's not necessarily gonna look good in your house.

**Kate:** Yeah.

**Hazel Burton:** It's not

**Kate:** Yeah. Pro [00:46:00] shit out. 

guys. 

**Jennifer:** Throw shit out. Let's just get rid of it. Luck 

**Kate:** Throw shit out. Oh, 

that was 

**Jennifer:** today. That was brilliant. 

**Kate:** good. 

**Hazel Burton:** So welcome. It was 

so 

**Jennifer:** I actually feel more organized already,

even though I haven't actually done anything yet. yet.

**Kate:** And if anyone wants to avail of Hazel's services, go to the home Reset. Uh, 'cause I feel like I want to get you into organize my wardrobe as soon as we have wardrobes.

**Hazel Burton:** Oh 

yeah, you 

**Jennifer:** Same.

**Hazel Burton:** We'd love to have a look,

**Kate:** Yeah. that was great. Thank you so much, and we'll 

see 

**Jennifer:** Thank you so much. 

**Kate:** a week.

**Jennifer:** See you next week.

**Kate:** Bye.


## Outro

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