June 23, 2025 • 25 mins
Today’s guest is Allison Converse, ADHD home and systems coach and the founder of Calm Cottage Coaching. With a background in occupational therapy and personal experience downsizing her own home, Allison helps overwhelmed ADHD moms declutter, simplify routines, and create functional, realistic home systems—without the guilt or Pinterest-perfect pressure.
In this episode, Allison shares how she supports moms through private coaching, including virtual room and closet makeovers, home reset programs, and realistic, neurodivergent-friendly strategies. We dive deep into the struggles many moms face with managing their homes, the harmful myth of the "perfect house," and how to start letting go of guilt to build a space that actually works for your family.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re drowning in stuff, stuck in chaos, or constantly behind, this one’s for you.
Connect with Allison:
- Instagram: @calmcottagecoaching
- Website: www.calmcottagecoaching.com
- Work With Her: Learn more about coaching programs and resources on her site!
- Check our her resource: https://calmcottagecoaching.myflodesk.com/laundryhackfreebie
Cheers! Thank you for joining us for another episode. Have a chaotic moment, question, or topic you want us to cover? Drop us a message or leave a review! If you loved this episode, share it with a friend who thrives in beautiful chaos too.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome to Caffeinated Chaos,where business deals happen
between diaper changes andfriendships are fueled by
caffeine.
I'm Whitney GaN, your host, andI'm here to talk all things
business parenthood, and ofcourse keeping up with the BFFs,
whether you're juggling theboardroom, the playroom, or just
here for some coffee fuel chaos.
We've got you covered.
Get ready for real talk, laughsand a whole lot of heart as we
(00:24):
dive into the beautiful messthat is entrepreneurship,
parenthood, and everything inbetween.
So let's embrace the chaostogether.
Ated, of course.
On today's podcast, we haveAlison Converse.
Who is an A DHD home and systemscoach and the founder of Calm
Cottage Coaching, where shehelps A DHD moms simplify their
(00:47):
homes and daily routines with abackground in occupational
therapy and personal experiencedownsizing their own home.
She understands the uniquechallenges A DHD families face.
Through private coaching,including room makeovers, closet
makeovers, and practical homestrategies, she helps moms
create functional clutter freakspaces without the overwhelm.
(01:11):
Allison's approach is all aboutthe realistic solutions that
help that work with A DHDbrains, so moms can spend less
time managing their homes andmore time enjoying life with
their family and more timeenjoying life with their
families.
Let's welcome Allison to thepodcast.
Hi Allison.
(01:32):
Welcome to the podcast.
Hey, thanks for having me.
How are you doing on the eastcoast?
Yeah, doing good.
The spring is here, so we havepollen everywhere.
Are you allergic?
I'm not allergic.
It's just a lot.
It's like covers my car.
When it rains.
It's just like yellow streamseverywhere.
(01:52):
Oh, it's really bad.
You think about that.
Yeah.
That sucks.
But it's nice that everything'sblooming.
That's fair.
It has just finally startedraining here in California for
the last three days.
And to be a typical Californian,I'm always like, we needed it.
And I'm like, my area reallydidn't need it, but, it's still
(02:13):
very nice.
I like watching rain fallthrough the window and
especially when it's like a goodrainstorm.
It's very relaxing.
I like to do most of my podcastediting during that time.
That's great.
It is relaxing.
Plus the, yeah, plus the kidssleep in a little longer when it
rains.
'cause it's still dark.
So For sure, anytime I can getthe kids to nap longer.
(02:35):
That's great.
Yes.
All right.
So Allison, why don't you tellour listeners a little bit about
yourself.
I know they got a little bit inmy intro, but why don't you deep
dive into who you are and whatyou do.
Yeah, so I'm an A DHD home andsystems coach.
Basically means that I can helpyou with any kind of system in
(02:56):
your home, whether it'sdecluttering, organizing, if
you're struggling with hometasks, those kind of things.
I have a background as anoccupational therapist, so I
bring a lot of that into what Ido with my clients.
We work a lot on like, what areyour goals and your vision for
your home.
How can I make this processeasier for you to work with your
(03:17):
A DHD brain?
Problem solving through like thestruggles that you're having in
your home?
Yeah, that's a snippet of what Ido with my clients, but I'm a
mom of two, so I have a five and7-year-old.
We downsized our home aboutthree years ago.
Mm-hmm.
And, went from 3000 square feetto 1600 square feet and whoa.
(03:39):
We also have three animals.
So we did a huge downsize, butit was really nice.
I mean it was stressful in theprocess, but I noticed like our
old house, we just weren't usingall the rooms.
We had more stuff than we reallyneeded and so downsizing has
just worked really well for us.
I feel like cleanup's easier.
(03:59):
That's fair.
I spend less time cleaning thehouse in general.
'Cause there's less to clean andwe.
Know where everything goes now,because we just don't have that
excess overflowing of stuff.
So it's a lot calmer.
And is that why your Instagramhandle and your handles are
calm.
Cottage coaching, that's part ofit.
(04:19):
Yeah.
And I just, I also love thebeach.
So cottage, like I just, ohyeah.
Yeah.
So.
Yeah, that.
Love that.
That is it.
And listeners, don't worry ifyou didn't catch that.
We will definitely go over howto contact Allison at the end
and everything as always will bein the show notes.
So wow, downsizing.
Yeah.
You basically split your livingquarters in half.
(04:42):
Yes.
So did that definitely likereally bring out your systems?
Were you doing systems beforethat or was that kind of the
spark?
No, the spark probably happenedwhen my kids were both under
two.
Okay.
So, we downsized in 2021, theend of 20, 20, 21.
And I had two kids under two at,in 2019.
(05:02):
So before all that happened, Iwas starting to get overwhelmed
with all the toys.
We had two playrooms because weturned the dining room into a
playroom.
We had toys, like I wasn'tcleaning up the toys'cause they
were just dumped everywhere.
And I was just completelyoverwhelmed and I was like, what
in the world?
That's gotta be different thanthis.
I would just keep reorganizing'cause I'm really good at
(05:24):
organizing.
Organizing.
I was like, oh, just keepreorganizing the same things
over and over and it would justspill out and they would just
dump out again and again.
And so, I started learning aboutminimalism and I don't go like
super far minimalism, right?
Like we still have toys and allthe things, but, then from there
I started decluttering our ownthings and just learning how
(05:45):
every time I let go of things,it was like a weight lifted.
I was just like, oh, I feelbetter like inside too, because
clutter can really cause a lotof chaos in your brain, even
though Yeah.
You know, you're seeing it.
So, yeah, so that's kind ofwhere I started.
And then I just really lovedtalking about it.
And then I was like, oh, I,after we downsized and I stopped
(06:08):
working in the hospital systemin my job as an occupational
therapist, I was like, oh, Icould do this as a business
somehow.
And so that's kind how it cameabout.
Yeah.
Isn't it so funny how like wecontinue to learn new things as
we become parents and Oh, yeah.
Yeah, it's insane.
And really, I don't know, Ithink it's, I mean, my kids are
(06:32):
three and eight months right nowand I'm still learning things
like constantly.
And it's so great too becausehaving guests like you and
everyone else I've already hadonto, it's most of.
The guests are parents witholder children than me.
So I'm like, oh yes, please tellme my, your secrets.
It's like being able to ask allthese other moms who've been
(06:53):
there to give me tips because mykids are still so young.
And one of my favorite things isyou were saying about
reorganizing I got my daughteron this kind of like system
where.
We were at Costco and there waslike these clear like shoebox
tubs full of stuff that you canget, and it was a four pack.
(07:14):
And so we got home and ourbusiness makes stickers, so I
made a bunch of stickers of herfavorite things that relate to
her toys and she plastered themall over these clear bins.
And so now she knows.
Oh, I want Barbies.
I go to the Barbie bin, like, Iwant Bluey.
Yay.
I go to the bluey bin.
And then, so we have a simplerule that you can't have more
(07:36):
than one bin out.
And so like you go get the blueybin and then you can play with
all the bluey stuff.
And then once you're done, youcan put it back if you wanna get
Barbie or dress up or anythinglike that.
I've been lucky that she keepseverything in her three big
boxes in her four little boxes.
But now that we have, my littleone Jasmine and she's starting
to crawl around.
(07:57):
Mikayla being a great big sisteris always like, look at this.
And she'll like, bring stuffover to the baby and then the
baby like throws it.
'cause that's the only thing shecan do right now.
And so we have balls everywhere,but at least I'm not stepping on
bluey toys anymore.
Yeah.
I am so impressed that she'skeeping that system like going
(08:19):
so well that's, so awesome.
You're teaching her so young.
Yeah, it's so nice becausebefore I was just like, Legos
were being stepped on Barbie,like heels were being stepped on
and I was just like, Uhuh.
If I get you a box and we canmake as many stickers as you can
fit on that box, you gotta putall the Barbie stuff in there.
(08:41):
So my little version oforganization is right there.
You probably have good, insanesystems.
Because also working with momswith A DHD, you have to think a
certain way, and approach itfrom a different direction,
right.
Yeah, I definitely customize itto each client because every
client, even though majority ofmy clients do have a DH, adhd
(09:04):
mm-hmm.
They all think a littledifferently and they all like
struggle with different things.
So I very much customize it towhat is gonna actually work for
them in their home and whatisn't working?
Or what have they already triedthat hasn't worked?
And I customize okay, well sosince these things haven't
worked, let's try this.
Or let's, you know, like, reallyfigure it out for you.
(09:27):
And yeah, I do have good systemsin my house.
My house isn't perfect.
I don't teach, like your househas to be perfectly clean or it
has to be all these matchingbins or anything.
Mm-hmm.
I do love labels and I do lovethe clear bins, but I find that
once.
My clients have declutteredstuff.
They find empty bins and theycan reuse stuff that they
already have to where it doesn'thave to be like all matchy
(09:49):
matchy unless that's what theywant.
And some want that, so that'sfine too.
Nice.
And then so can I ask you hadmentioned that you wanna help
moms break free from this guiltof not having the perfect house
or not having the perfectInstagram spaces.
I know that our last coupleepisodes about mom guilt and
(10:11):
like keeping up with that quoteunquote Insta Mom perfection
isn't just not suitable.
Do you find that with yourclients and your work.
Yeah, because now there'sorganization shows, there's
Pinterest perfect homes and thethings you see on Instagram of
it has to be looked this certainway and it's really not geared
towards moms with A-D-H-D-I feellike.
(10:32):
A lot of moms come to me andthey feel like failures.
I mean, even if you don't have aDHD, you already have that guilt
feeling of like, I can't evenkeep up with my home.
I feel like I'm a failure.
Those kind of thoughts goingthrough your head.
And I definitely don't agreewith how.
It is put out there of how yourhome has to be perfect and it
has to be mess free, especiallywhen you have kids at home, like
(10:54):
you're gonna have messes.
It's all about making it, it'sall about making it, like, let's
make it simple, easier to cleanup with less stuff.
Mm-hmm.
And make it work as a systemthat works for you and your
family and your kids becauseit's not gonna be perfect.
And even though you might feelshame right now, like.
Let it go because I thinkthere's so many moms struggling
(11:17):
out there.
And yeah, and just know thatyou're not alone and know that,
just because you're havingtrouble keeping up with your
home, it doesn't make you afailure.
It doesn't make you inadequateor we have so much
responsibilities put on usalready as moms, like, we have
to give ourselves a lot ofgrace.
Yeah, 100%.
I definitely agree with that.
(11:38):
I feel like those topics toorelate so much to the audience
and the people who listen tothis podcast where I feel like
no matter who you are, no matterwhat topic we are giving
yourself, grace is always like agreat first step in
understanding one yourself too,because.
You just, you know, it's really,more, to me it's more about
(12:01):
being present with your familyand I think that you would
agree, right?
Oh yeah, for sure.
And you don't wanna spend allyour time cleaning up and
cleaning and reorganizing andall that when you are not able
to actually spend time with yourfamily.
So yeah, I totally agree withthat.
So, okay, so we love actionablesteps here.
(12:22):
What can I do first to likestart chipping away?
Yeah.
Yeah, definitely.
I always teach my clients tostart small.
Mm-hmm.
So even when we're tackling likea whole playroom, for example, I
will tell them start small.
Like start with one bin, startwith the stuffy category, and go
(12:42):
through that.
Break it down really smallbecause when you start small, it
sets you up for success and thenyou're able to be like, oh,
okay, I finished this littlespace.
I can move on to another smallspace.
And then you make your wayaround the whole room and it
doesn't even have to happen in awhole day, like Right.
I don't even teach that.
Like, you start small, likelittle chunks of time that is
(13:06):
feasible for you because you cando it when your kids are napping
or when you have a few minutesto spare.
Starting small is huge.
Awesome.
Yeah.
It reminds me of this quote, Idon't know whose Instagram I saw
it off of, but it was a reelwhere it was like.
If you do nothing else, rememberthis like, quote, it was like,
(13:27):
don't put it down.
Put it away.
And so I always tell myselflike, when I take off my jacket,
okay, don't put it down.
Put it away cause then that'sone less thing that's just like
sitting on my couch or one lessthing that's on my bed.
And so definitely starting smalland figuring out, like you said.
Something that you can do in asmall period of time, will
(13:50):
definitely help.
Like for me, it's okay, I gethome.
I, where do I put my purse?
Where do I normally put it?
Where does it store?
You know, that kind of thing.
And so I always think in my headabout that Instagram reel.
It's like, don't put it down.
Put it away.
I.
I love that.
That's a great reminder.
'cause I'm always like,everything has a home.
Mm-hmm.
And sometimes that overwhelmspeople, but I'm like literally
(14:10):
like everything should have aplace.
It goes back to so you knowwhere it is and you know where
it goes.
So like you said, your purse, itprobably goes on the same hook
or goes in the same spot.
When you come in the door, likeevery time, so like if you know
where it goes, you can find itagain and you're not searching
the whole house for the purse orthe cup or whatever the thing is
(14:30):
because you know where itbelongs.
So I totally agree with thattoo.
Yeah, we've had to, so we'vecheated at our house.
So my daughter, again, stillthree, she gets the concept that
her shoes gonna a certain place,right?
Her shoes gonna a certain place.
She has a little small hook forher jacket, but she'll switch
out which backpack she wants touse.
And so whenever she startsfavoring a certain backpack, we
(14:52):
stick an air tag in it becauseshe'll like take it to the room
or she'll take it to anotherpart of the house.
And so what we do is like whenshe's like freaking out and she
can't find it, we'll like firstprompt her to retrace her steps.
Okay.
Where was the last time you hadit?
Like try to teach her like.
To remember where things are,but then if she really can't
find it, we just start likebeeping it through the air tag
(15:12):
and we're like, okay, now we'replaying hide and go seat.
Go find it.
And she'll like search each roomuntil she finds the beeps.
And then you're like, once she'sover and I'm like, she hasn't
used the Mickey backpack in likea week.
Okay, let's switch it to theyellow backpack.
And so yeah, that's our littlecheat for that.
But you're so right.
They're smart.
Yeah, if we find a home forstuff, it definitely helps
(15:33):
because even when I see it withmyself and my toddler, it's like
I can just say, go put yourshoes and socks on, and she
knows exactly which box by thedoor has her specific shoes and
socks, and then she even hasmemorized where mommy's shoes
go.
So she'll like go and she'll belike, mommy, I got your tennis
shoes.
And I'm like, it's raining.
(15:53):
And she'll like run back and shegoes, I got your rain boots.
And I'm like, awesome.
She's a big helper, big, bighelper ever since to having the
little one, it was so nice tosee her naturally step into the
role because me and my husbandbeing older siblings as well, we
were like, okay, we don'tnecessarily wanna be like, now
you have to help us.
(16:16):
A little off topic, but shenaturally stepped into that and
during that time too, I feltlike she was picking up a lot
more of these systems because wewere like, okay, the baby
bottle's gotta go in the sinkand they have to go certain
here.
And so we were like beingintentional on where the baby
stuff was going because packinga diaper bag, you wanna know
where like the spoons and thebaby food and the milk and all
(16:38):
that is, you know.
So I think she picked up a lotof that, like the systems that
we had for the newborn and waskind of like.
Making her own systems too.
Like where's my shoes?
And I'm like, cool.
We made it really easy though.
Like all of our stuff is, like,all our boxes are black for our
shoes so that, you know, ourmessy shoes can go inside and
nobody sees them.
(16:59):
Yeah, that's, but for hers, weintentionally made them like
it's green polka dot.
So she knows, to teach her, thisis your like, fun box.
This is where your shoes go.
Oh, she sounds like she's reallygood with like routines.
Like she probably does reallywell with like checklists or
getting through a routine too.
Oh, she loves holding thegrocery shopping list.
Mm-hmm.
You know?
(17:19):
Even though most of the time meand my husband go to the store
without a list or it's like atext message string of like me
and him being like, we needeggs.
Oh, we need this.
You know, whoever's at thestore, she'll like, carry a
piece of paper that shescribbles on and she'll be like,
we need five eggs.
And I'm like, oh.
Oh, okay.
Five.
And it's so funny, we had toteach her that they, they come
(17:40):
in bigger sets because she goes,no, we just need five.
And she'll try to open the boxand just take five.
Oh no.
At the store.
But yeah, so I, I love seeingher move into these systems.
So I think it's really also alittle off topic, but it's
really important that when us asparents have systems, we're
basically modeling that for ourchildren as well and setting
(18:02):
them up to hopefully inherentgood systems.
Yeah.
And I think starting them outyoung is awesome, but mm-hmm.
Even if you haven't started yourkids out young, learning about
like, where things ha are homedor decluttering or, learning to
like let go of items, like youcan still start that at a later
age too, and it, it can still bereally successful for them.
(18:26):
Yeah.
Okay.
So since we started talkingabout kids, so I'm gonna ask,
what do you find is yourfavorite and or your hardest
part about being a parent andnow a business owner since
you've left Occupationaltherapy?
Yeah.
Let's see.
Hmm.
My hardest probably just.
(18:47):
Sometimes I have trouble likestopping, like balancing a
little bit.
Mm-hmm.
Because I love what I do so muchand you know, my clients will
check in with me or I'll wannacheck in with them and see how
things are going.
So I try to do most of mybusiness stuff, when they're in
school.
Now luckily they're both inelementary school, so I have a
(19:08):
good chunk of time, butsometimes, you know, something
will come up or I'll be like.
Or I'll think of something, I'mlike, oh, I wanna go do this,
like right now.
So sometimes trying to set thoseBI guess it's more boundaries.
Setting a better boundary ischallenging for me at times
because I'm like, I'm gonnaforget if I don't do it right
now.
Or, or I'm like, hyperfocused ona project and I'm like, I really
(19:29):
just wanna get this part done.
You know?
Or Yeah.
So I would say the boundary partis challenging for me.
So I've been really trying thisyear to like when they're home
and not watching tv, like, I'mpresent, I'm with them, you
know?
Mm-hmm.
So that's probably thechallenging part.
That's fair.
I feel like that's probably themost relatable to everyone.
(19:51):
It's just like, yeah.
When does business stop and likefamily and the ebb and flow of
it too.
Like some days, you know, likeif a project's due some days
it's like mostly business andthen other days with birthdays,
always family more?
Yeah.
That kind of thing.
And yeah, I would definitelyagree.
Okay.
So do you, in that, do you havea chaotic moment for us?
(20:15):
Because, you know, we're caffechaos, we need a little chaos.
Um, we need a little tea.
Or coffee, I guess chaoticmoment.
As in like with parenting andbusiness or just in general?
Just in general.
Anything that, you know, maybesomething that taught you a life
lesson or something that youjust think is funny and you
wanna share.
(20:36):
Hmm.
Well, I mean the downsizingjourney was a little chaotic,
like I bet.
Yeah.
Deciding like.
What to keep and how to get ridof things.
'cause we probably got rid ofhalf of our stuff.
Yeah.
Furniture, like tons of things.
Like that journey and then just,it feeling chaotic'cause the
boxes and the eruptions withtrying to get it done and stuff.
(21:00):
So it was chaotic but it wasgood because it.
Taught me a lot of like mm-hmm.
What we really needed and whatwe really value and what really
doesn't matter as much.
So Allison, so if somebody islike, listening and they're
like, Ooh, okay, tell me alittle bit more.
Can you tell us a little bitmore about like, what you do,
how you work with your clients,like kind of the process.
(21:22):
Since I work with mostly A DHDmoms, I very much keep my
programs like short term becauseI feel like, with a DHD you can
lose motivation.
You get in just a lot of, makingtoo many decisions for too
prolonged time, right?
It's just a lot.
So, I have like a seven day aDHD Home Reset program where we
(21:44):
focus on just like a small spaceand then we work on mostly on
like home tasks and getting youlike a system in your home, like
a quick fix for those sevendays.
Um, my main program is.
Thir, uh, my 30 day roommakeover.
So 30 days we tackle one room,we go from the decluttering to
organizing to more of afunctional design for your
(22:06):
mm-hmm.
For that room.
So I actually will mock up afloor plan of your space and
give you a visual with all theexact measurements and we can
move furniture around and makeit like to where it flows and
functions better for you andyour family for that room.
Mm-hmm.
And I have a workbook we get oncalls together.
Lots of high touch with me,texting access,'cause I do
(22:29):
everything virtually.
So you would send me picturesand, you would work through that
space in any struggles you'rehaving in that space.
That's so cool.
I guess I never thought of itlike, because you do
organization that I didn't thinkthat you would like have like a
moving furniture layout.
I think that's so cool that it'slike all encompassing.
'cause you are right the way aroom flows.
(22:52):
Definitely.
You know, you don't wanna get tothose pinch points in traffic,
that kind of block, you know.
I'm trying to think of what,like HGTV would say it was, but
you know, the the natural likeflow, like, oh, it's easy access
or whatever.
Mm-hmm.
They would say, but yeah.
That's interesting.
'cause I didn't even think oflike that would be a thing.
So that's really cool that youoffer that.
(23:13):
Yeah.
I like to have that as part ofthe roommate ever just because,
I found that a lot of myclients, they do, the way they
have the room set up withcertain furniture, it's like
something's blocking somethingor it's not quite fitting right,
or it's not functional, like youcan't get to it or, so it just
made sense to have, and so it'sreally fun for me to create that
(23:36):
little room and give the clienta visual of yeah, what it can
actually look like and give somedifferent options, and just
where it flows and functionsbetter for them.
Love that.
Oh my God, that's so awesome.
Okay.
Perfect.
Do you have any final thoughtsfor our listeners?
Just.
(23:56):
You know, back to the guilt andthe shame that you might be
feeling.
Just know you're not alone.
That it, the goal is notperfection in your home.
And to have like, no messes atall or to have everything clean
at one time, like, that's justnot possible for most people.
And what you see out thereonline and on shows is not
always realistic to how we liveour lives.
(24:17):
So just to, you know, giveyourself more grace and, that
I'm here for you if you needsupport in your home.
Awesome.
Speaking of being there for you,how can people find you connect
with you?
Where are you at?
Yeah, so, calm Cottage Coaching,if you look that up anywhere,
I'm mostly active on Instagramand Threads.
(24:37):
Mm-hmm.
But my website, you can put itin the show notes, it's just
Yeah.
WW dot, calm cottagecoaching.com.
I do offer a free a curiositycall where you can just jump on
a call with me and we can chatthrough like your struggles in
your home and what your visionis and what your needs are and
such too.
So yeah, listeners, these willdefinitely be in the show notes.
(24:59):
Well, thank you for joining us,Allison.
This was really fun.
Thank you for having me.
You're welcome.
I really enjoyed it.
That's a wrap on another episodeof Caffeinated Chaos.
I hope you're leaving with alittle more clarity, a lot more
inspiration, and maybe even anextra shot of motivation.
If you love today's episode,don't forget to follow us.
(25:21):
Leave a review and share it witha friend who could use just a
little chaos and caffeine intheir life.
Until next time, keep embracingthe mess.
Chase your dreams and make magichappen.
One caffeinated, chaotic momentat a time.
I will see you all soon.
Bye now.
Welcome to Caffeinated Chaos,where business deals happen
between diaper changes andfriendships are fueled by
caffeine.
I'm Whitney GaN, your host, andI'm here to talk all things
business parenthood, and ofcourse keeping up with the BFFs,
whether you're juggling theboardroom, the playroom, or just
here for some coffee fuel chaos.
We've got you covered.
Get ready for real talk, laughsand a whole lot of heart as we
(00:24):
dive into the beautiful messthat is entrepreneurship,
parenthood, and everything inbetween.
So let's embrace the chaostogether.
Ated, of course.
On today's podcast, we haveAlison Converse.
Who is an A DHD home and systemscoach and the founder of Calm
Cottage Coaching, where shehelps A DHD moms simplify their
(00:47):
homes and daily routines with abackground in occupational
therapy and personal experiencedownsizing their own home.
She understands the uniquechallenges A DHD families face.
Through private coaching,including room makeovers, closet
makeovers, and practical homestrategies, she helps moms
create functional clutter freakspaces without the overwhelm.
(01:11):
Allison's approach is all aboutthe realistic solutions that
help that work with A DHDbrains, so moms can spend less
time managing their homes andmore time enjoying life with
their family and more timeenjoying life with their
families.
Let's welcome Allison to thepodcast.
Hi Allison.
(01:32):
Welcome to the podcast.
Hey, thanks for having me.
How are you doing on the eastcoast?
Yeah, doing good.
The spring is here, so we havepollen everywhere.
Are you allergic?
I'm not allergic.
It's just a lot.
It's like covers my car.
When it rains.
It's just like yellow streamseverywhere.
(01:52):
Oh, it's really bad.
You think about that.
Yeah.
That sucks.
But it's nice that everything'sblooming.
That's fair.
It has just finally startedraining here in California for
the last three days.
And to be a typical Californian,I'm always like, we needed it.
And I'm like, my area reallydidn't need it, but, it's still
(02:13):
very nice.
I like watching rain fallthrough the window and
especially when it's like a goodrainstorm.
It's very relaxing.
I like to do most of my podcastediting during that time.
That's great.
It is relaxing.
Plus the, yeah, plus the kidssleep in a little longer when it
rains.
'cause it's still dark.
So For sure, anytime I can getthe kids to nap longer.
(02:35):
That's great.
Yes.
All right.
So Allison, why don't you tellour listeners a little bit about
yourself.
I know they got a little bit inmy intro, but why don't you deep
dive into who you are and whatyou do.
Yeah, so I'm an A DHD home andsystems coach.
Basically means that I can helpyou with any kind of system in
(02:56):
your home, whether it'sdecluttering, organizing, if
you're struggling with hometasks, those kind of things.
I have a background as anoccupational therapist, so I
bring a lot of that into what Ido with my clients.
We work a lot on like, what areyour goals and your vision for
your home.
How can I make this processeasier for you to work with your
(03:17):
A DHD brain?
Problem solving through like thestruggles that you're having in
your home?
Yeah, that's a snippet of what Ido with my clients, but I'm a
mom of two, so I have a five and7-year-old.
We downsized our home aboutthree years ago.
Mm-hmm.
And, went from 3000 square feetto 1600 square feet and whoa.
(03:39):
We also have three animals.
So we did a huge downsize, butit was really nice.
I mean it was stressful in theprocess, but I noticed like our
old house, we just weren't usingall the rooms.
We had more stuff than we reallyneeded and so downsizing has
just worked really well for us.
I feel like cleanup's easier.
(03:59):
That's fair.
I spend less time cleaning thehouse in general.
'Cause there's less to clean andwe.
Know where everything goes now,because we just don't have that
excess overflowing of stuff.
So it's a lot calmer.
And is that why your Instagramhandle and your handles are
calm.
Cottage coaching, that's part ofit.
(04:19):
Yeah.
And I just, I also love thebeach.
So cottage, like I just, ohyeah.
Yeah.
So.
Yeah, that.
Love that.
That is it.
And listeners, don't worry ifyou didn't catch that.
We will definitely go over howto contact Allison at the end
and everything as always will bein the show notes.
So wow, downsizing.
Yeah.
You basically split your livingquarters in half.
(04:42):
Yes.
So did that definitely likereally bring out your systems?
Were you doing systems beforethat or was that kind of the
spark?
No, the spark probably happenedwhen my kids were both under
two.
Okay.
So, we downsized in 2021, theend of 20, 20, 21.
And I had two kids under two at,in 2019.
(05:02):
So before all that happened, Iwas starting to get overwhelmed
with all the toys.
We had two playrooms because weturned the dining room into a
playroom.
We had toys, like I wasn'tcleaning up the toys'cause they
were just dumped everywhere.
And I was just completelyoverwhelmed and I was like, what
in the world?
That's gotta be different thanthis.
I would just keep reorganizing'cause I'm really good at
(05:24):
organizing.
Organizing.
I was like, oh, just keepreorganizing the same things
over and over and it would justspill out and they would just
dump out again and again.
And so, I started learning aboutminimalism and I don't go like
super far minimalism, right?
Like we still have toys and allthe things, but, then from there
I started decluttering our ownthings and just learning how
(05:45):
every time I let go of things,it was like a weight lifted.
I was just like, oh, I feelbetter like inside too, because
clutter can really cause a lotof chaos in your brain, even
though Yeah.
You know, you're seeing it.
So, yeah, so that's kind ofwhere I started.
And then I just really lovedtalking about it.
And then I was like, oh, I,after we downsized and I stopped
(06:08):
working in the hospital systemin my job as an occupational
therapist, I was like, oh, Icould do this as a business
somehow.
And so that's kind how it cameabout.
Yeah.
Isn't it so funny how like wecontinue to learn new things as
we become parents and Oh, yeah.
Yeah, it's insane.
And really, I don't know, Ithink it's, I mean, my kids are
(06:32):
three and eight months right nowand I'm still learning things
like constantly.
And it's so great too becausehaving guests like you and
everyone else I've already hadonto, it's most of.
The guests are parents witholder children than me.
So I'm like, oh yes, please tellme my, your secrets.
It's like being able to ask allthese other moms who've been
(06:53):
there to give me tips because mykids are still so young.
And one of my favorite things isyou were saying about
reorganizing I got my daughteron this kind of like system
where.
We were at Costco and there waslike these clear like shoebox
tubs full of stuff that you canget, and it was a four pack.
(07:14):
And so we got home and ourbusiness makes stickers, so I
made a bunch of stickers of herfavorite things that relate to
her toys and she plastered themall over these clear bins.
And so now she knows.
Oh, I want Barbies.
I go to the Barbie bin, like, Iwant Bluey.
Yay.
I go to the bluey bin.
And then, so we have a simplerule that you can't have more
(07:36):
than one bin out.
And so like you go get the blueybin and then you can play with
all the bluey stuff.
And then once you're done, youcan put it back if you wanna get
Barbie or dress up or anythinglike that.
I've been lucky that she keepseverything in her three big
boxes in her four little boxes.
But now that we have, my littleone Jasmine and she's starting
to crawl around.
(07:57):
Mikayla being a great big sisteris always like, look at this.
And she'll like, bring stuffover to the baby and then the
baby like throws it.
'cause that's the only thing shecan do right now.
And so we have balls everywhere,but at least I'm not stepping on
bluey toys anymore.
Yeah.
I am so impressed that she'skeeping that system like going
(08:19):
so well that's, so awesome.
You're teaching her so young.
Yeah, it's so nice becausebefore I was just like, Legos
were being stepped on Barbie,like heels were being stepped on
and I was just like, Uhuh.
If I get you a box and we canmake as many stickers as you can
fit on that box, you gotta putall the Barbie stuff in there.
(08:41):
So my little version oforganization is right there.
You probably have good, insanesystems.
Because also working with momswith A DHD, you have to think a
certain way, and approach itfrom a different direction,
right.
Yeah, I definitely customize itto each client because every
client, even though majority ofmy clients do have a DH, adhd
(09:04):
mm-hmm.
They all think a littledifferently and they all like
struggle with different things.
So I very much customize it towhat is gonna actually work for
them in their home and whatisn't working?
Or what have they already triedthat hasn't worked?
And I customize okay, well sosince these things haven't
worked, let's try this.
Or let's, you know, like, reallyfigure it out for you.
(09:27):
And yeah, I do have good systemsin my house.
My house isn't perfect.
I don't teach, like your househas to be perfectly clean or it
has to be all these matchingbins or anything.
Mm-hmm.
I do love labels and I do lovethe clear bins, but I find that
once.
My clients have declutteredstuff.
They find empty bins and theycan reuse stuff that they
already have to where it doesn'thave to be like all matchy
(09:49):
matchy unless that's what theywant.
And some want that, so that'sfine too.
Nice.
And then so can I ask you hadmentioned that you wanna help
moms break free from this guiltof not having the perfect house
or not having the perfectInstagram spaces.
I know that our last coupleepisodes about mom guilt and
(10:11):
like keeping up with that quoteunquote Insta Mom perfection
isn't just not suitable.
Do you find that with yourclients and your work.
Yeah, because now there'sorganization shows, there's
Pinterest perfect homes and thethings you see on Instagram of
it has to be looked this certainway and it's really not geared
towards moms with A-D-H-D-I feellike.
(10:32):
A lot of moms come to me andthey feel like failures.
I mean, even if you don't have aDHD, you already have that guilt
feeling of like, I can't evenkeep up with my home.
I feel like I'm a failure.
Those kind of thoughts goingthrough your head.
And I definitely don't agreewith how.
It is put out there of how yourhome has to be perfect and it
has to be mess free, especiallywhen you have kids at home, like
(10:54):
you're gonna have messes.
It's all about making it, it'sall about making it, like, let's
make it simple, easier to cleanup with less stuff.
Mm-hmm.
And make it work as a systemthat works for you and your
family and your kids becauseit's not gonna be perfect.
And even though you might feelshame right now, like.
Let it go because I thinkthere's so many moms struggling
(11:17):
out there.
And yeah, and just know thatyou're not alone and know that,
just because you're havingtrouble keeping up with your
home, it doesn't make you afailure.
It doesn't make you inadequateor we have so much
responsibilities put on usalready as moms, like, we have
to give ourselves a lot ofgrace.
Yeah, 100%.
I definitely agree with that.
(11:38):
I feel like those topics toorelate so much to the audience
and the people who listen tothis podcast where I feel like
no matter who you are, no matterwhat topic we are giving
yourself, grace is always like agreat first step in
understanding one yourself too,because.
You just, you know, it's really,more, to me it's more about
(12:01):
being present with your familyand I think that you would
agree, right?
Oh yeah, for sure.
And you don't wanna spend allyour time cleaning up and
cleaning and reorganizing andall that when you are not able
to actually spend time with yourfamily.
So yeah, I totally agree withthat.
So, okay, so we love actionablesteps here.
(12:22):
What can I do first to likestart chipping away?
Yeah.
Yeah, definitely.
I always teach my clients tostart small.
Mm-hmm.
So even when we're tackling likea whole playroom, for example, I
will tell them start small.
Like start with one bin, startwith the stuffy category, and go
(12:42):
through that.
Break it down really smallbecause when you start small, it
sets you up for success and thenyou're able to be like, oh,
okay, I finished this littlespace.
I can move on to another smallspace.
And then you make your wayaround the whole room and it
doesn't even have to happen in awhole day, like Right.
I don't even teach that.
Like, you start small, likelittle chunks of time that is
(13:06):
feasible for you because you cando it when your kids are napping
or when you have a few minutesto spare.
Starting small is huge.
Awesome.
Yeah.
It reminds me of this quote, Idon't know whose Instagram I saw
it off of, but it was a reelwhere it was like.
If you do nothing else, rememberthis like, quote, it was like,
(13:27):
don't put it down.
Put it away.
And so I always tell myselflike, when I take off my jacket,
okay, don't put it down.
Put it away cause then that'sone less thing that's just like
sitting on my couch or one lessthing that's on my bed.
And so definitely starting smalland figuring out, like you said.
Something that you can do in asmall period of time, will
(13:50):
definitely help.
Like for me, it's okay, I gethome.
I, where do I put my purse?
Where do I normally put it?
Where does it store?
You know, that kind of thing.
And so I always think in my headabout that Instagram reel.
It's like, don't put it down.
Put it away.
I.
I love that.
That's a great reminder.
'cause I'm always like,everything has a home.
Mm-hmm.
And sometimes that overwhelmspeople, but I'm like literally
(14:10):
like everything should have aplace.
It goes back to so you knowwhere it is and you know where
it goes.
So like you said, your purse, itprobably goes on the same hook
or goes in the same spot.
When you come in the door, likeevery time, so like if you know
where it goes, you can find itagain and you're not searching
the whole house for the purse orthe cup or whatever the thing is
(14:30):
because you know where itbelongs.
So I totally agree with thattoo.
Yeah, we've had to, so we'vecheated at our house.
So my daughter, again, stillthree, she gets the concept that
her shoes gonna a certain place,right?
Her shoes gonna a certain place.
She has a little small hook forher jacket, but she'll switch
out which backpack she wants touse.
And so whenever she startsfavoring a certain backpack, we
(14:52):
stick an air tag in it becauseshe'll like take it to the room
or she'll take it to anotherpart of the house.
And so what we do is like whenshe's like freaking out and she
can't find it, we'll like firstprompt her to retrace her steps.
Okay.
Where was the last time you hadit?
Like try to teach her like.
To remember where things are,but then if she really can't
find it, we just start likebeeping it through the air tag
(15:12):
and we're like, okay, now we'replaying hide and go seat.
Go find it.
And she'll like search each roomuntil she finds the beeps.
And then you're like, once she'sover and I'm like, she hasn't
used the Mickey backpack in likea week.
Okay, let's switch it to theyellow backpack.
And so yeah, that's our littlecheat for that.
But you're so right.
They're smart.
Yeah, if we find a home forstuff, it definitely helps
(15:33):
because even when I see it withmyself and my toddler, it's like
I can just say, go put yourshoes and socks on, and she
knows exactly which box by thedoor has her specific shoes and
socks, and then she even hasmemorized where mommy's shoes
go.
So she'll like go and she'll belike, mommy, I got your tennis
shoes.
And I'm like, it's raining.
(15:53):
And she'll like run back and shegoes, I got your rain boots.
And I'm like, awesome.
She's a big helper, big, bighelper ever since to having the
little one, it was so nice tosee her naturally step into the
role because me and my husbandbeing older siblings as well, we
were like, okay, we don'tnecessarily wanna be like, now
you have to help us.
(16:16):
A little off topic, but shenaturally stepped into that and
during that time too, I feltlike she was picking up a lot
more of these systems because wewere like, okay, the baby
bottle's gotta go in the sinkand they have to go certain
here.
And so we were like beingintentional on where the baby
stuff was going because packinga diaper bag, you wanna know
where like the spoons and thebaby food and the milk and all
(16:38):
that is, you know.
So I think she picked up a lotof that, like the systems that
we had for the newborn and waskind of like.
Making her own systems too.
Like where's my shoes?
And I'm like, cool.
We made it really easy though.
Like all of our stuff is, like,all our boxes are black for our
shoes so that, you know, ourmessy shoes can go inside and
nobody sees them.
(16:59):
Yeah, that's, but for hers, weintentionally made them like
it's green polka dot.
So she knows, to teach her, thisis your like, fun box.
This is where your shoes go.
Oh, she sounds like she's reallygood with like routines.
Like she probably does reallywell with like checklists or
getting through a routine too.
Oh, she loves holding thegrocery shopping list.
Mm-hmm.
You know?
(17:19):
Even though most of the time meand my husband go to the store
without a list or it's like atext message string of like me
and him being like, we needeggs.
Oh, we need this.
You know, whoever's at thestore, she'll like, carry a
piece of paper that shescribbles on and she'll be like,
we need five eggs.
And I'm like, oh.
Oh, okay.
Five.
And it's so funny, we had toteach her that they, they come
(17:40):
in bigger sets because she goes,no, we just need five.
And she'll try to open the boxand just take five.
Oh no.
At the store.
But yeah, so I, I love seeingher move into these systems.
So I think it's really also alittle off topic, but it's
really important that when us asparents have systems, we're
basically modeling that for ourchildren as well and setting
(18:02):
them up to hopefully inherentgood systems.
Yeah.
And I think starting them outyoung is awesome, but mm-hmm.
Even if you haven't started yourkids out young, learning about
like, where things ha are homedor decluttering or, learning to
like let go of items, like youcan still start that at a later
age too, and it, it can still bereally successful for them.
(18:26):
Yeah.
Okay.
So since we started talkingabout kids, so I'm gonna ask,
what do you find is yourfavorite and or your hardest
part about being a parent andnow a business owner since
you've left Occupationaltherapy?
Yeah.
Let's see.
Hmm.
My hardest probably just.
(18:47):
Sometimes I have trouble likestopping, like balancing a
little bit.
Mm-hmm.
Because I love what I do so muchand you know, my clients will
check in with me or I'll wannacheck in with them and see how
things are going.
So I try to do most of mybusiness stuff, when they're in
school.
Now luckily they're both inelementary school, so I have a
(19:08):
good chunk of time, butsometimes, you know, something
will come up or I'll be like.
Or I'll think of something, I'mlike, oh, I wanna go do this,
like right now.
So sometimes trying to set thoseBI guess it's more boundaries.
Setting a better boundary ischallenging for me at times
because I'm like, I'm gonnaforget if I don't do it right
now.
Or, or I'm like, hyperfocused ona project and I'm like, I really
(19:29):
just wanna get this part done.
You know?
Or Yeah.
So I would say the boundary partis challenging for me.
So I've been really trying thisyear to like when they're home
and not watching tv, like, I'mpresent, I'm with them, you
know?
Mm-hmm.
So that's probably thechallenging part.
That's fair.
I feel like that's probably themost relatable to everyone.
(19:51):
It's just like, yeah.
When does business stop and likefamily and the ebb and flow of
it too.
Like some days, you know, likeif a project's due some days
it's like mostly business andthen other days with birthdays,
always family more?
Yeah.
That kind of thing.
And yeah, I would definitelyagree.
Okay.
So do you, in that, do you havea chaotic moment for us?
(20:15):
Because, you know, we're caffechaos, we need a little chaos.
Um, we need a little tea.
Or coffee, I guess chaoticmoment.
As in like with parenting andbusiness or just in general?
Just in general.
Anything that, you know, maybesomething that taught you a life
lesson or something that youjust think is funny and you
wanna share.
(20:36):
Hmm.
Well, I mean the downsizingjourney was a little chaotic,
like I bet.
Yeah.
Deciding like.
What to keep and how to get ridof things.
'cause we probably got rid ofhalf of our stuff.
Yeah.
Furniture, like tons of things.
Like that journey and then just,it feeling chaotic'cause the
boxes and the eruptions withtrying to get it done and stuff.
(21:00):
So it was chaotic but it wasgood because it.
Taught me a lot of like mm-hmm.
What we really needed and whatwe really value and what really
doesn't matter as much.
So Allison, so if somebody islike, listening and they're
like, Ooh, okay, tell me alittle bit more.
Can you tell us a little bitmore about like, what you do,
how you work with your clients,like kind of the process.
(21:22):
Since I work with mostly A DHDmoms, I very much keep my
programs like short term becauseI feel like, with a DHD you can
lose motivation.
You get in just a lot of, makingtoo many decisions for too
prolonged time, right?
It's just a lot.
So, I have like a seven day aDHD Home Reset program where we
(21:44):
focus on just like a small spaceand then we work on mostly on
like home tasks and getting youlike a system in your home, like
a quick fix for those sevendays.
Um, my main program is.
Thir, uh, my 30 day roommakeover.
So 30 days we tackle one room,we go from the decluttering to
organizing to more of afunctional design for your
(22:06):
mm-hmm.
For that room.
So I actually will mock up afloor plan of your space and
give you a visual with all theexact measurements and we can
move furniture around and makeit like to where it flows and
functions better for you andyour family for that room.
Mm-hmm.
And I have a workbook we get oncalls together.
Lots of high touch with me,texting access,'cause I do
(22:29):
everything virtually.
So you would send me picturesand, you would work through that
space in any struggles you'rehaving in that space.
That's so cool.
I guess I never thought of itlike, because you do
organization that I didn't thinkthat you would like have like a
moving furniture layout.
I think that's so cool that it'slike all encompassing.
'cause you are right the way aroom flows.
(22:52):
Definitely.
You know, you don't wanna get tothose pinch points in traffic,
that kind of block, you know.
I'm trying to think of what,like HGTV would say it was, but
you know, the the natural likeflow, like, oh, it's easy access
or whatever.
Mm-hmm.
They would say, but yeah.
That's interesting.
'cause I didn't even think oflike that would be a thing.
So that's really cool that youoffer that.
(23:13):
Yeah.
I like to have that as part ofthe roommate ever just because,
I found that a lot of myclients, they do, the way they
have the room set up withcertain furniture, it's like
something's blocking somethingor it's not quite fitting right,
or it's not functional, like youcan't get to it or, so it just
made sense to have, and so it'sreally fun for me to create that
(23:36):
little room and give the clienta visual of yeah, what it can
actually look like and give somedifferent options, and just
where it flows and functionsbetter for them.
Love that.
Oh my God, that's so awesome.
Okay.
Perfect.
Do you have any final thoughtsfor our listeners?
Just.
(23:56):
You know, back to the guilt andthe shame that you might be
feeling.
Just know you're not alone.
That it, the goal is notperfection in your home.
And to have like, no messes atall or to have everything clean
at one time, like, that's justnot possible for most people.
And what you see out thereonline and on shows is not
always realistic to how we liveour lives.
(24:17):
So just to, you know, giveyourself more grace and, that
I'm here for you if you needsupport in your home.
Awesome.
Speaking of being there for you,how can people find you connect
with you?
Where are you at?
Yeah, so, calm Cottage Coaching,if you look that up anywhere,
I'm mostly active on Instagramand Threads.
(24:37):
Mm-hmm.
But my website, you can put itin the show notes, it's just
Yeah.
WW dot, calm cottagecoaching.com.
I do offer a free a curiositycall where you can just jump on
a call with me and we can chatthrough like your struggles in
your home and what your visionis and what your needs are and
such too.
So yeah, listeners, these willdefinitely be in the show notes.
(24:59):
Well, thank you for joining us,Allison.
This was really fun.
Thank you for having me.
You're welcome.
I really enjoyed it.
That's a wrap on another episodeof Caffeinated Chaos.
I hope you're leaving with alittle more clarity, a lot more
inspiration, and maybe even anextra shot of motivation.
If you love today's episode,don't forget to follow us.
(25:21):
Leave a review and share it witha friend who could use just a
little chaos and caffeine intheir life.
Until next time, keep embracingthe mess.
Chase your dreams and make magichappen.
One caffeinated, chaotic momentat a time.
I will see you all soon.
Bye now.
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The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.