Curious Freedom with Kirsty Farrugia & friends

This week we celebrate our 100th episode by interviewing the incredible Brooke McAlary! Brooke is a podcaster, author, and minimalist and shares with us what the catalyst for her lifestyle change was and how that has evolved over the years. We hear about how their family was able to sell the family home, move overseas for 15 months, and go on a book tour and family road trip. Brooke shares what is on her heart now and what is coming up for her.

As always, we hope you have a giggle with us (is swapping your possessions for iTunes reviews a good business plan?) and enjoy the conversation!

Thanks for the iTunes review Kmilha!

Connect with Brooke on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slowhomepod/

Listen to Brooke's podcast: https://slowyourhome.com/the-slow-home-podcast/

Things mentioned in this episode:

Zen Habits: https://zenhabits.net/

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Thank you to our sound engineer, Jarred, from Four4ty Studio Productions.

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This week we chat about containers! We know so many of you love to dream of and buy containers to store all your things, so we wanted to discuss why containers are not the solution to all of your problems. Just by getting the correct container, you will not magically fix your clutter issue. We always recommend decluttering first and organising second; never organise what you can discard. The great thing about containers is that by storing items correctly, you can keep them in good condition, and it’s easy to find what you are looking for when you need something quickly. We firmly believe that if storage isn’t purposeful, functional and utilised, it does not add value to you or your home. This episode highlights Kirsty & Amy's differences and preferences regarding repurposing containers and labels. We give you tips on what to consider when deciding what type of containers you need around your home. As always, we hope you have a giggle (especially when we talk about Romper Room!) with us and enjoy the conversation!

Thanks for the iTunes review, Mintyminx!

Things mentioned in this episode:

Sistema: https://sistemaplastics.com/

Tupperware: https://www.tupperware.com.au/index

Decor: https://www.decor.com.au/

Ikea Samla Range: https://www.ikea.com/au/en/catalog/categories/series/12553/

Ikea Variera range: https://www.ikea.com/au/en/catalog/categories/series/24984/

Ikea Drona: https://www.ikea.com/au/en/catalog/products/10219282/

Tubs from Bunnings: https://www.bunnings.com.au/search/products?q=plastic%20tubs&redirectFrom=Any

Romper Room: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ThNqFmtLAA

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Thank you to our sound engineer, Jarred, from Four4ty Studio Productions.

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This week we chat about the joy of LEGO! We talk about ways of decluttering it, from selling it to donating it and the difficulty of missing pieces! We also give loads of tips and questions to ask yourself when deciding the best way of storing and organising Lego. We chat about the way we declutter, store and organise in our own homes and how we have helped others in different ways. We both love Lego and know that so many of you do too. As always, we hope you have a giggle with us and enjoy the conversation!

We are so thankful for our review this week from Wendy Richdale!

Links mentioned in this episode:

Episode 001: Children's Toys

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Thank you to our sound engineer, Jarred, from Four4ty Studio Productions.

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We had a request to do an episode on cancer, and so we decided to interview our friend and course participant Amy Kelman. You can tell from this episode that we are friends as there are lots of smiles and giggles mixed into this serious topic! Amy K is so vulnerable and honest as she shares her journey as a breast cancer survivor. She gives some fantastic tips for when you receive a diagnosis, during treatment and as a survivor as well as tips for decluttering during the process. Amy K is super inspirational, and we hope that as a community, we can all take on the challenge of #dailylovelies and value your relationship with yourself! As always, we hope you're inspired and enjoy the conversation!

Our Facebook review this week was from Milly Anderson!

Links mentioned in this episode:

Episode 88: It's all my husband's and kids fault

Amy's blog https://accordingtoamynet.ipage.com/

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Thank you to our sound engineer, Jarred, from Four4ty Studio Productions.

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This week we chat about the most common word we hear from people we work with, Overwhelm. We all feel it at times, so we give you some suggestions and strategies on how to reduce this feeling when dealing with clutter in your home. We provide tips like start small, KISS, ensure you are fed and hydrated, the Power of 15 minutes and the Micro Declutter. We also discuss how sometimes something else is causing the overwhelm, and you feel stuck because of that issue. We suggest sitting with those feelings and working out what is going on; it will help you deal with the clutter over the long term. As always, we hope you have a giggle with us and enjoy the conversation!

Our iTunes review this week was from SilverTP!

Links mentioned in this episode:

Episode 86: Mental Load

Episode 87: Micro Declutter/ Declutter Bingo

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Thank you to our sound engineer, Jarred, from Four4ty Studio Productions.

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This week we chat all about living in share houses! We chat about the challenge of only having that one room to store all of your things in and different ideas around this concept. We encourage you to make the most of your space and think creatively and vertically about where and how to store your things. We chat about the role that storage units can play for short-term storage and the concept of renting out your belongings to others if you have multiple everyday-use items in one home. There is so much joy and learning to be had in a shared house, so we hope those living this will enjoy it, and others can reminisce about the time in their lives when this was your reality. As always, we hope you have a giggle with us and enjoy the conversation!

Thanks, Elly Unicomb, for the topic request and Jjjodynz, for our iTunes review this week!

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Thank you to our sound engineer, Jarred, from Four4ty Studio Productions.

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This week we have our first international guest, Laurie Palau! She is our great friend and fellow Professional Organizer from the USA (yes, we are using Z, where we usually use S's today in homage to our guest). Laurie is the author of the book HOT MESS: A Practical Guide to Getting Organized, the host of the weekly podcast, This ORGANIZED Life, and the founder of simply B organized, where she speaks, teaches and works one-on-one with clients to help them reduce clutter and increase productivity. We chat about the four categories she sees as causing clutter in our lives, her partner program, and her struggles with within her home. We love that Laurie has the same philosophy as us that we want people to live in organised homes so that they can have the freedom to do the things they love to do, which brings them life. We adored having Laurie with us, and as always, we hope you have a giggle with us and enjoy the conversation!

The many things that were mentioned in this episode:

Laurie's quiz to figure out what area of clutter is your biggest nemesis: https://simplyborganized.lpages.co/clutter-quiz/

Our partner's around the world: https://www.simplyborganized.com/find-a-partner/

Laurie's episode interviewing us

Laurie's article about being the CEO of your home

Laurie's podcast about being the CEO of your home

Episode 19 | Digital Life

Episode 88 | Social Media

Episode 86 | Mental Load

Thank you to our new Patreon supporters, Amy K & Jen!

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This week we chat all about decluttering and organising your picnic gear, thanks to the request made by Geraldine Van Oord! We laugh about getting older and needing cushions and chairs to go on a picnic! We discuss our opinion that, as a culture, we have moved from a picnicking culture to a cafe culture and how we are so incredibly middle-class! We chat about big heavy old-style picnic baskets and menopause! We give tips on where to store your picnic things, plastic versus metal utensils and question just how many napkins you need to keep, just in case! As always, we hope you have a giggle with us and enjoy the conversation!

Our iTunes review this week was from Dinosad!

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Thank you to our sound engineer, Jarred, from Four4ty Studio Productions.

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This week we chat about home offices! We have two each in our homes, so we share what they look like and how they have changed over time. We'd like to encourage you to set a vision for your home office and challenge you to consider the amount of furniture you need in your office space. What storage do you need for your office? We'd like to ask you to think about the function of your office, what is frustrating you in the processes and the layout of your home office. We chat about how a decluttered and organised home office will help you increase your creativity and productivity, and this space is where the KISS principle is essential! As always, we hope you have a giggle with us and enjoy the conversation!

Thanks to LizInBriz for the iTunes review :-)

The Space Cube https://thespacecube.com.au/ sponsors this week’s episode.

Things we chatted about:

Episode 53: Small Business

Episode 39: Office Desk

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Thank you to our sound engineer, Jarred, from Four4ty Studio Productions.

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This week we answered Jarred's question, can you declutter too much? Our answer is no, but perhaps yes! We talk briefly about obsessive behaviours and that people can get the bug for decluttering and removing things they regret. However, in our professional experience, the opposite is more the case. People often need help remembering what they have in boxes, and we discover long-lost loved items. The power of decluttering is that you will find things that you thought were lost, and you will find something that you hadn't remembered you had and know you no longer need. We also ask if you can declutter too slowly or too quickly. We believe intentionality and wisdom are essential in all things decluttering. Sometimes we even have to slow our clients down! Our heart is for you to work on your habits and mindsets to stop the yo-yo dieting effect of splurging and decluttering. As always, we hope you have a giggle with us and enjoy the conversation!

Jarred requested this week's topic. Our iTunes review this week was from Closet Cleaning; thanks!

Things we chatted about:

Episode 55: Death

Episode 48: Sentimental items

Join our community

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Thank you to our sound engineer, Jarred, from Four4ty Studio Productions.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.