Stephanie Spencer - Narrative decluttering guide.
- Isobel Arden
- 9 hours ago
- 5 min read
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Meet Stephanie Spencer.
In this interview, Mark invited Stephanie Spencer to create her own fantasy cultural year from the answers to some easy questions where there are no wrong answers. Enjoy her journey below.
Stephanie Spencer is a narrative decluttering guide, founder of Blue Lemon Living, and a seasoned space-story translator who helps women in transition turn the clutter in their homes into clarity in their lives.
Rather than offer another set of tidy-up tips, Stephanie listens — literally — to what a person’s space is telling them about identity, history and the next chapter. Her approach, narrative decluttering, blends grounded feng shui, practical decision-making and a side-by-side process that makes change feel possible, not impossible.
For two decades Stephanie worked with major brands — including Microsoft, MoMA and The Container Store — spotting patterns and meaning in behaviour and choice. When major life shifts struck her own life — divorce, grief and the relentless backlog of decisions that clutter everywhere seems to shout about — she realised that clutter isn’t just stuff. It’s emotional residue needing interpretation, not just removal. That insight became her signature method: The Listening Method.
At Blue Lemon Living, Stephanie works with women navigating divorce, career reinvention, burnout and loss — the moments when life feels heavy, unmapped and “in limbo”.
Together, they decode what the physical remnants in wardrobes, drawers and rooms mean, what stories are holding them back, and how a home can be reset to reflect who someone is becoming instead of who they were.
Stephanie’s work isn’t about perfection; it’s about progress. Her calm, engaging style turns what feels like life’s messiest moments into a narrative shift, using space to help clients decide, release and move forward with intention.
Stephanie's Fantasy Cultural Year ... with a magic wand and time machine to hand.
Mark introduced the idea of a “ fantasy cultural year” - a way to get to know each new full member that's far more spontaneous than a traditional interview — allowing imagination, travel, culture and Stephanie’s creative vision to collide.
Mark kicked off by asking Stephanie her favourite building. She chose the Flatiron Building in NYC — partly because its name literally describes its shape, which she finds amusing.
Mark then invites her to imagine:
She is sitting within sight of the Flatiron Building
It is 6pm on a June evening
It’s warm and sunny
She is at a pavement café
On the table he asks what drink would be there. Stephanie responds: “lemonade.”
He then asks what book would be at her elbow — favourite, impactful, or recent. Stephanie says: anything by Terry Pratchett, and specifies “The Color of Magic” for the scenario.
Mark asks what is playing on her Spotify. Stephanie initially hesitates, then says: Paganini, explaining it feels fitting for New York.
💼 The Year-Long Job
Mark explains Stephanie is feeling pleased because she has just come from a meeting in the Flatiron Building with a wealthy New York family foundation who are:
keen on minimalism
prepared to hire her for a year
spending first class all the way
sparing no expense
They have heard of her experience helping people declutter psychologically, emotionally, and physically. They want her to create a league table of decluttering around the world, identifying where it is strong and where support may be needed.
Her year includes:
first-class travel
a TV crew
a book deal
a TED Talk
a global university lecture tour
morning TV appearances
being the US go-to person for decluttering
selling books
all personal admin handled
family/friends allowed to visit
Her task at that café in New York is to decide which country and city she would begin in.
🇸🇪 Starting Point Chosen
Stephanie answers: Malmö, Sweden.
She gives two reasons:
the concept of Swedish death cleaning
it’s part of her heritage
She says she wants to start at “the epicenter of what has made me me and part of my story.”
✈️ On the Plane
Mark says she is now on the plane from New York. A steward brings her a lemonade. He notes she has turned left (into first class).
There is also a note from the foundation assigning a challenge:
She must limit her musical listening for 12 months to one genre to the exclusion of all others.
Stephanie finds this difficult but chooses: classical. She comments that there is “so much variety in there.” Mark mentions someone else once chose “live music,” which he calls cheating.
💃 Arrival in Malmö
A group of young students greets her at the airport and take her into the city centre.
She has a loft apartment overlooking the city.
Mark asks if Malmö is coastal; Stephanie says it is somewhat, across the water to Copenhagen
Therefore she has a sea view
The students tell her to settle in before they return to take her to a dance performance and then dinner.
🩰 The Time Machine Moment
Mark explains he can use a time machine + magic wand to put any dance-based performance on stage, with:
any dancers (living or dead)
any dance style or group
not limited to local culture
Stephanie chooses: New York City Ballet and specifies she would see original George Balanchine performing, if she could time travel.
Hero Lunch
During the journey, Stephanie attends Hero Lunch, where she can invite anyone living or not for a 2 hour leisurely lunch. Stephanie chooses her mum. Adding a twist, Mark asks who Stephenie's mum would choose, with her answering Jesus or Martin Luther.
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Mark Walmsley FRSA FCIM AGSM
Chief Culture Vulture
Arts & Culture Network
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