Home design experts and psychologists seem to agree on one thing: your home is a reflection of you. Whether it’s your identity, your state of mind, or lifestyle, the clues are there.

Details are present in the décor and clutter of one’s space, and can indicate how we behave, our personal style, or what we want to show to the world. More importantly, it can show how we feel on the inside. Martha Beck, sociologist and O Magazine columnist, discusses how we subconsciously paint a picture of ourselves through our home spaces.

Most of us have a bit of clutter in our homes. There are also people who meticulously alphabetize all of their collections and label E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G, or who have personalities similar to Bree Van de Kamp’s. You’ve seen their houses – or parts of them. But what does this all really mean? Are we feeling lonely, selfish, loved, or scattered?

In this video, we’re shown how to do assessments on ourselves to figure out the best way to make changes. Called the psychological self-portrait, it’s a process of asking yourself questions about your home. An example given by Martha is by answering which room in your house is the one you don’t want people to see.

Next, you think of three words that describe that place. She gives cluttered and disorganized as examples, and a biggie: unfinished. When you think about it, descriptions could also run along the lines of cold, neglected, dull, chaotic, or disconnected.

In a nutshell, Martha says you are expressing how you feel about yourself subconsciously, specifically what is nagging you the most about your personality. She tells Oprah that issues like alcoholism and anorexia are also revealed with a glimpse inside in someone’s house, or just a description of it.

What really resonated with the audience is when she said:

“People reveal themselves in everything they create.”

Forcing us to analyze our spaces, Martha had everyone pretty much going “Hmm. . .” Oprah then relayed a personal tale about how long it took her to create a home that truly reflected who she was. By taking care of the internal issues in her life – health-wise, emotionally, etc. – she’s been able to overcome the obstacles to building a true home.

As interesting as this is, it’s also said that your home can affect your mood too. It’s no wonder that interior designers and Feng Shui specialists jump on projects that help people declutter, organize, and bring in new color elements to change to energy of a space.

In a follow-up video, Martha and Oprah help an audience member go through the steps for a psychological self-portrait. After the woman assesses the root of her problem, she and Martha team up for a mini-makeover of her bedroom that includes color and décor changes.

Listen to Martha and Oprah discuss how to go through the self-portrait steps and Oprah’s personal journey. Can you relate to what they’re saying when it comes to your own home? Is your home exactly how you want it? Tell us in the comments!