5 Minutes with Professional Organiser, Vicky Silverthorn

• Meet Vicky Silverthorn, the UK’s favourite celebrity declutterer and star of our new TV ad.
• "Well-being starts at home, if your home is in shape, other elements of your life will follow."

Meet Vicky Silverthorn, the UK’s favourite celebrity declutterer and star of our new TV ad.

Helping people from all walks of life to declutter and organise their homes, Vicky became a professional organiser over 13 years ago, after working as a PA for names including Lily Allen.  A member of APDO UK (Association of Professional Declutterers & Organisers), Vicky has been featured in publications including The Daily Mail, The Independent and ITV's This Morning, to name just a few. Her book:  Start with Your Sock Drawer: The Simple Guide to Living a Less Cluttered Life is an Amazon bestseller. 

We sat down with her to hear all about her life as a professional declutterer, which celebrity home she'd love to get her hands on, and the valuable, unused household items she comes across the most. 

What made you want to become a professional organiser?
I felt like it was quite a common thing for people to get help with their housework, admin and childcare but nobody seemed to have help when it came to decluttering and organising. Yet it was something that seemed to make people so happy.

I would frequently organise my home and knew how good it made me feel. In my role as a PA, I would often declutter and organise spaces in my client's home and seeing the reaction was enough to make me think there could be something in it. In America, it was already a huge thing so why not the UK?

"Well-being starts at home, if your home is in shape, other elements of your life will follow."

What would you say are the main reasons that people want to declutter?
People get overwhelmed with life and all that comes with it. We collect ’stuff’ over the years, whether it's things we’ve inherited, bought or been given but the one thing the majority of us have in common is we are time-poor. This means a good clear-out often gets put to the bottom of the list.

The amount which comes into our homes is so much more than the amount that leaves our homes daily, so the result is that we are slowly filling our home up (picture a box slowly getting filled over the years until it’s bursting at the seams!)

Elvis Presley's Graceland home, Vicky's ideal fantasy client. 

What is the best thing about what you do?
Seeing our client's faces at the end of the day is a wonderful feeling. They look lighter and happier, and I know the benefits of what they feel will outweigh the items they have said goodbye to. The feedback we get about increased productivity, more energy and enjoying their homes more is the reason I do my job.

What kind of items would you say people tend to have lying around the house, unused that they don’t realise could be worth some money?
There is so much people don’t realise could be worth some money in their homes! Unused cameras, silver, costume jewellery, old toys, clocks - the list goes on and on. I don’t think people realise so much of what they have lying around could be sold so easily.

How did you find being the star of the Vintage Cash Cow TV ad?
What a thrill! I honestly enjoyed every minute. To be connected with a brand so aligned to mine couldn’t have been more perfect and thinking back to when I first spoke to their office back in 2016, it's brilliant to think that a company I had genuinely followed the progress of since the beginning had then approached me to work with them.

Who would be your dream client?
Great question! It would have to be someone who has a house full of history - I think David Attenborough’s home would be fascinating, and it would be such a treat to work for him (he actually lives in my town!) Of course, King Charles at one of the palaces would be amazing too! And if I could add one I would have loved to have done, Elvis’s home, Graceland would be incredible. 

Watch Vicky in action in our brand-new TV advert