When I used to watch a lot more TV I really liked to see the TLC station’s home improvement shows like Trading Spaces. There was another show called Clean Sweep that always impressed me. For those that haven’t seen it… The Clean Sweep crew would show up at someone’s house where they would show us two rooms crammed full of junk. With barely enough room to walk through. And I would gawk at all that stuff and think I would never let my place get that bad. The CS team would completely clear the rooms and then a designer and carpenter would come in and paint and redo the rooms with closet organizers and lableled bins, furniture, etc. and turn it into a functional space again. Meanwhile the couple would be out on their lawn with all their piles of stuff. The host and a professional organizer would then help them sort through all of it to Keep, Sell or Trash. The organizer guy (with a cute Australian accent) would lay out a little section of tarp and allow them to keep only what could fit on it. Then the homeowners go through excruciating distress trying to part with grandma’s treasures and all the unused wedding gifts they received…etc. After they sort through it, they hold a yard sale. What isn’t sold is donated to a charity. In the end, the host brings them back into their house to see the new rooms: pristine and decluttered. They are always stunned and delighted and most of them cry. Sometimes I cried too.
