Meet west Cork’s answer to Marie Kondo

Pulling up to the dairy farm that doubles as the headquarters of White Sage Home Decluttering run by Anne Marie Kingston, I’m suddenly seized by a rather terrifying thought; what if she sees the inside of my car?

Water bottles, sweet wrappers, parking tickets, a pair of high heels, chewed up biros, a blackened banana skin… and that’s just the passenger seat. I think I still have some Christmas presents in the boot too.

Fortunately, I’ve nothing to fear from west Cork’s answer to Marie Kondo.

“I don’t judge anyone when it comes to clutter,” says Anne Marie, who lives just outside Clonakilty with her husband John and their children, Ryan and Caoimhe. “It’s just supporting them to let go.”

Because Anne Marie understands better than anybody that “clutter” can be very personal; and often accumulates as a result of stress or sickness hitting close to home.

Indeed, she traces her own appetite for organisation to her childhood on a dairy farm in Newcestown, after her father was diagnosed with cancer in his leg and subsequently went on to have an amputation and rehabilitation.

“My mam took on the family farm as a result, I took on the household duties as an only child and that’s where my passion came from,” she explains.

“From five and six, I was always cleaning and taking the hot press apart and wardrobes and putting structures in place, organising everything.”

Not that she ever imagined a career in decluttering back then. Instead, Anne Marie went to business college and worked in the bank for 11 years; though 14 transfers in that time took their toll, as did the introduction of technology.

“The personal touch was gone,” reflects Anne Marie, who took voluntary redundancy in 2012 shortly before she found out she was expecting Ryan, who was followed 18 months later by Caoimhe.

Initially, Anne Marie looked at returning to finance, but every job she saw was “five days a week”, which she did not want to commit to with two small children.

One day, however, while decluttering an old bedroom to turn it into a walk-in hot press, “the lightbulb went on”.

“I was like, ‘Oh, could I do a business out of this?’” recalls Anne Marie, who within 24 hours had found details of a 12-month decluttering and start-your-own business course in Limerick.

If a year seems like a long time to study decluttering, she explains that it was not just learning about organisational techniques, but also understanding what can “trigger” clutter and how to deal with it in an empathetic way.

Decluttering for our health

“Clutter comes up for different reasons; the arrival of a baby, sickness in the house,” says Anne Marie, who adds that it can often reach a point where it starts to overwhelm people.

“Clutter affects your health, your wellbeing, the running of your house and it’s been linked to anxiety and depression. I’ve met women at the door and they literally want to cancel me, they are just so overwhelmed.

“I suppose their life has got to this point where they actually have to get someone to help them, that they needed that support and again I don’t judge anyone when it comes to clutter, it’s a fully confidential service and it’s just supporting them to let go of their clutter.

“Letting go is a huge thing and that’s what decluttering is; it’s the ability to let go of clutter.”

Since setting up her business in 2017, Anne Marie has come across everything from houses with farm accounts going back to the 60s to one client who had 26 different sets of ware.

And very often, there is an emotional reason why somebody finds it hard to let go.

“I had one lady and her father had passed away,” explains Anne Marie. “She would have come across his handwriting and that would have just triggered emotions straight away.

"So we’re very sentimental, and do you know what? At the end of it, we’re only human.”

Anne Marie says that she never tells people what to keep or give away, but is there to “support and motivate and guide them” through the process.

With clothing, for example, it’s often a question of going through each item to check its condition (rips, stains etc) and whether the client is getting value out of it, and if not, can they sell it, pass it to a friend or family member, donate it to charity or send it for recycling.

At the end of the process, therefore, they should have a wardrobe of pieces that “fit, flatter and make you feel good”.

“They see their wardrobe in a new way and they can get ready in five minutes, no stress in the morning and love everything,” says Anne Marie.

As well as decluttering, Anne Marie helps her clients to put new organisation and storage systems in place and also takes away anything to be donated to a charity shop or sent for recycling, including electrical goods.

Her minimum package is €850 for three days – which she says should cover two to three rooms in a house- but there is also a six-day programme and tailor-made packages available in Cork.

“I’ve gone up to programmes for 28 days,” says Anne Marie, who also offers business and office decluttering, as well as workshops and talks and regular tips on her Facebook page.

And the results?

It’s such a relief – they feel lighter, they feel motivated, energised, their shoulders are back, they’re standing prouder, they’re coming back to themselves

“They can actually breathe,” says Anne Marie of her clients’ reactions.

“It’s such a relief – they feel lighter, they feel motivated, energised, their shoulders are back, they’re standing prouder, they’re coming back to themselves.”

As well as the business and family commitments, Anne Marie is also involved on the farm, where she and John have a 100-strong herd, along with keeping beef cattle on her family’s farm in Newcestown. Though being a professional declutterer comes in useful there too.

“If you came at the weekends, I’m there with the power washer,” she laughs.

Anne Marie offers her service to clients throughout Cork, but also outside of the county, within a reasonable driving distance. For further information, visit whitesagehomedecluttering.com

1 Every item in your wardrobe should fit, flatter and make you feel good. If you have not worn it in the last 12-18 months, does it need alterations? Or should it be donated/recycled? We all have those mistake buys, but if there are items of clothing with tags still on, either let them off with love to family/friends or charity or sell. Check the condition of clothing also and bear in mind we are not going to wear clothes if there are stains, holes etc. These items can be recycled back into clothing, together with footwear. When it comes to arranging the clothes that you are going to keep, I like to hang one item per hanger so that I can see everything clearly and group by item (dresses, skirts etc) and colour. To utilise space, I recommend separating your summer and winter wardrobe by vacuum packaging and storing the clothes that you don’t need until the next season. Consider investing in a shoe rack to display your footwear.

2 To keep on top of paperwork for the farm, I use a simple black folder marked “2019” and use colourful sub-dividers to separate out the different categories eg creamery, veterinary, machinery etc. Then, any time a relevant document comes in, I “punch” and file it in the folder in the correct category. This can save so much time down the line.

3 To keep on top of post, I have two trays; one for post that needs to be filed away and one for post that needs to be followed up on (eg make a call, reply etc). Anything else can be shredded and recycled.

4 When it comes to kids’ toys, I always do a clear out before birthdays and Christmas of things they have grown out of/no longer play with and donate those that are good quality to charity. The rest can be stored in clear boxes or baskets. Artwork from school can also accumulate, so I keep pieces in a folder for each child and “thin out” every few months, keeping the nicest pieces. Us mammies can be very sentimental, but you have to be a small bit ruthless or it will take over!

5 For special items, however, I recommend buying a big “keepsake” box for each child and using it to store things like their first baby outfit, baptism candle, certificates etc. This way, everything is in one place and easily accessible.

6 When storing bed linen, I fold the matching duvet cover and pillow case into the second pillow case to keep the set together.

7 Consider putting up hooks where kids can hang up their coats and bags when they come home from school.

8 I keep a big “flexi tub” by the back door for wellies from the farm, checking from time to time for leaks, shiny soles etc. I also keep a tub where “wet gear” can be discarded for washing, and a box on top of the dryer for the fresh farm overalls etc.

9 To avoid food waste or over-buying, consider a “stock-take” of what is already in your freezer or your cupboards and make a plan to use it.

10 Laundry time is a great opportunity to check for clothes not fit for purpose eg holes in socks, elastic gone in underwear, underwire coming out of a bra etc.