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What if the secret to getting your home in order wasn’t just about having more storage—but about asking better questions? That’s what I discovered in my latest conversation with artist and author Whitney English. She joined me on the Christian Habits Podcast to talk about her book Organize First, Decorate Second: How to Go from Clutter to Creativity—and the deeper life lessons behind our desire to get organized.
Getting Organized at Home, Life, and Work
Whitney English may be best known for her art, but she also has a gift for systems—and for simplifying the big picture so you can take your next small step.
“When I started writing this book,” she said, “I thought it was going to be about decorating. But the phrase organize first, decorate second came to me while I was trying to tackle a project in my own home. And I realized, if I couldn’t teach people how to organize, I couldn’t really help them decorate either.”
That honest realization led her on a journey of self-examination: how do we form habits that actually work? And more importantly, how do we live them out?
As Whitney shared, “I had to analyze my own habits. Because what good is a plan if you never get around to executing it?”
Whitney is the first to admit that she’s great at dreaming and planning. “I love being in the messy middle,” she said. “That’s where all the discoveries happen. But it’s also where I tend to get stuck. Hitting ‘publish’—or putting the paintbrush down—is the hard part for me.”
So what changed?
“I had to learn how to finish things,” Whitney said. “Now, on days when I don’t feel like doing anything, I just ask: What can I finish today? That one question gets me moving.”
Three Questions That Can Change Everything
Whitney shared the simple questions she asks herself when she’s feeling overwhelmed. These aren’t just productivity tips—they’re mindset shifts:
- “What’s not working?”
- “Has this served its purpose?”
- “What would this look like if it were easy?”
“What’s not working?” It’s a question that helps us step back from the chaos and see the big picture. And as Whitney pointed out, asking questions like these brings us back to the present moment—where we can actually do something about it.
That shift in perspective helped her identify a pain point in her afternoons: “The after-school hours weren’t working. So we started the tradition of having 4:00 tea. It gave us a moment to breathe, and it totally changed the rhythm of our day.”
Whether it’s clutter on your desk, chaos in your calendar, or an idea that’s stuck in your head, these questions can help you move forward. “They make you reverse-engineer your reality,” Whitney said. “Instead of focusing on the end goal, you come back to the now. And clarity lives in the now.”
Systems, Stories, and the Beauty That Grounds Us
Even though Whitney is deeply practical, she’s also deeply creative. She loves beauty—especially the kind that tells a story.
“You get into meaning when things are beautiful,” she said. “It adds story, and story adds meaning. And that’s something we’re all craving right now.”
But that doesn’t mean you need to spend a fortune to create beauty. Whitney encourages her readers to start with what they have: rearrange the furniture, thrift something unique, or simply look at your space with new eyes.
As she says in the book, “Sometimes, it’s not about organizing more. It’s about recognizing the systems you already have—like your morning routine—and deciding whether they’re actually working for you.”
And when they’re not? You tweak them. You finish what you started. You live the life you planned on paper.
More Than a Book on Decluttering
Organize First, Decorate Second isn’t just a guide to get organized—it’s an invitation to look at your life with fresh eyes, to tell a better story with the things you keep, and to ask the questions that lead to clarity, freedom, and peace.
If you’d like to see more of Whitney’s beautiful work—both her art and her practical wisdom—you can check out her website and blog at whitneyenglish.com.
🎧 Listen to the full episode on the Christian Habits Podcast!
Resources Mentioned on the Podcast
- Barb’s Transformation and upcoming “How to Stop Procrastinating” classes
- Organize First, Decorate Second: How to go from Clutter to Creativity by Whitney English
- “Shop My Favorite Organizational Products” blog post on Whitney’s website
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About the Author
Whitney English believes that anyone can live a beautiful life. She believes that gratitude is the birthplace of joy, that people matter, that love is the answer, that if you’re real you can’t be ugly, that everyone is creative and some of us have just forgotten, and that it’s worth trying to be a better version of yourself today than you were yesterday. She has boot-strapped two businesses to seven figures, has a degree in interior design, studied management at Parsons in New York City, and has had her work featured in O magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and on the Today Show (twice). She was featured as one of Country Living magazine’s Women Entrepreneurs in 2008. One of her favorite dreams-come-true, though, is her husband David, and their three children.