Immense satisfaction can be gained from the processes of rediscovering the ‘good’ things in our homes.
What is FLot?
My name is Sophie. I created For the Love of Things. I’m committed to helping you and respecting your own decisions. I recognise that this is your own ‘clutter’ and will not strip you away from 90% of your things to find yourself left with one bowl, two spoons and two t-shirts in a gloriously empty home but regretting getting rid of the purple top you bought ten years ago that would go well with your two remaining t-shirts.
For the Love of Things has full insurance cover (Westminster Insurance Ltd);
For the Love of Things is registered with the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office);
ICO registration number ZA789717;
I am a certified member of and volunteer for APDO (Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers);
I have received professional organising training from APDO
I have completed the course: ADHD for Organisers (Sept/Oct 2021)
I have received professional museum training in Conservation Aspects of Object Handling.
For the Love of Things will help organise and make belongings visible so you know what you have and will pass on tons of tips on how to store some things and pass others along. I also volunteer at a local children’s clothes bank, so I’ve seen first-hand how much can be shared and re-used, and the help that that can offer someone in difficult circumstances.
A bit of background:
If you’re going to invite me into your home and share your personal space and belongings so that I can help, you might want to know what sort of person I am first.
My partner and our two kids relocated from a small flat where I had lived for 20 years to south London. We all moved into my parent’s spare room for 6 months during renovations and went from regular declutters (in the small flat) to sorting and putting all of our things in and out of storage (twice!) before finally unpacking. At the end of the process it felt good to know exactly what we owned and that none of it was excess. I have learned from this and am conscious of things building up. I’m also half French and my favourite ‘sophie-time’ things are pyjama days, ice cream and Nutella, binge-watching series, rearranging the furniture and looking at art. I have a PhD in Museum Anthropology and worked as a museum curator researching varied collections – from 18th c currencies in Sierra Leone to the provenance of world collections or documentary portrait photography. I love investigating objects and understanding peoples’ relationships with material culture.
I am a fan of clever and simple designs – from bags with nifty pockets to cool storage cupboards. I daydream about good solutions to keep the kids toys neat but accessible, or my husband’s t-shirts off the floor and my toiletries from going gunky. And I really really love spaces, thinking about a particular room and how to present it at its best. As a child I re-drew floorplans for my ideal bedroom and as an adult, I love a good sofa-table-chairs-move around. I like thinking about how people use spaces and applied this to my doctoral research into gallery orientation and museum visitors. I subscribe massively to the view that our surroundings have an effect on our mood and influence how we feel.
Objects bring comfort along with good memories. I have over 15 years’ experience speaking with different people about their belongings. I also worry though about ‘over-consumption’ that comes with the lure of discounts, sale items, closing down deals. In my own experience, the endless stream of gift toys means that too often, the objects that really do mean something special can get lost, literally, in piles of things that we don’t look at, don’t want and don’t even like anymore. The process of rediscovering the good things – by sorting through our possessions can give – to quote declutter guru Marie Kondo real ‘joy’. It can really help to commit and to go through this chore with someone who will motivate you, help to ‘get the job done’ – make sure that the job does get done – once and for all. I set up FLoT to help people through this process to achieve a sense of order in their own homes and free up time to spend on other things.
