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[dampscribbler]

I don't watch a lot of TV, but I'd seen an online conversation about TLC's "Clean Sweep," and decided to TiVo it. Last night, with nothing better to do, I watched it. For those of you not familiar with it, the subject is a person persons with a room full (or, in this case, two rooms full) of clutter. The Clean Sweep crew goes in, hauls everything out to the front yard, and redecorates the room(s), while the homeowner spends two days on the lawn sorting and purging stuff. Apparently, there are so many people who need this that they can make a regular series out of the premise.

It's good to know I'm not the only slob in America.

Ten minutes into the show, we've seen the two messy rooms and the stuff has been carted to the lawn. The homeowners have been given 30 minutes to do a preliminary sort into three areas -- trash, sell, and keep. Sitting at home watching, my breath is getting shallow and I swear I feel hives popping up everywhere.

Long story short, they end up getting rid of half or a little more of their stuff over the course of a day, and sorting and organizing the rest. At the end of the show, they have two beautiful, tidy, useable rooms.

I went to bed and couldn't sleep for the tension in my shoulders. I had to keep reminding myself to breathe. I haven't felt so tense in years.

I know I need to do my own purge, but no way in hell would I let those people make me decide in one day what to keep and what to get rid of. I'd love to have two beautifully decorated offices, but I'm afraid that price is too high. I'll just have to do it over a bit more time than that.

Comments

[tamyranev.livejournal.com]

Maybe you need the more gradual method: Put the clutter into boxes and put the boxes in the garage for a couple of years. Then, when you can see that you haven't touched them or missed them in all that time, throw the stuff out.

Of course I'm not qualified to give advice, as I'm a terrible packrat with a garage full of empty boxes that I might need to use to mail something someday. But I've heard it works!

The kids keep saying wistfully that we should go on Mission: Organization. They do work miracles, but I don't think I could handle having someone else redecorate my house. One thing I've gathered from those shows: you have to spend a lot of money to maximize storage space and efficiency.

[hhw]

Clean Sweep can be brutal; for me, the worst part is the whole yard sale competition to keep the beloved item. Mission Organization on HGTV might be less stressful. The show is only 30 minutes, first of all. And while purging of excess is encouraged, it's usually not a requirement. Finally, there's no set time limit; the project takes as long as it takes in real time.

[fj.livejournal.com]

If a forgettable Home Makeover TV show is giving you such stress, there's something unconfronted in your inner life.

[dampscribbler.livejournal.com]

Actually, a lot of the stuff has been in boxes in closets for a couple of years already. All it means is I have to open the boxes to figure out what to get rid of and what to keep.

I'll have to check out Mission:Organization. After I've recovered. :)

My parents keep empty boxes, and lots of other stuff, in their basement. Eric won't let me keep more than a couple, and with our lack of storage space, I'm totally okay with that. Except every once in a while when I want an empty box to put some of the clutter into....

[dampscribbler.livejournal.com]

Last night's "beloved" items were no big deal, but I think I can see why the competition might be anxiety-producing.

I'll check out Mission:Organization soon. But not too soon. A lovely thing about TiVo is I can tell it to record something for me two weeks from now, then forget about it. So, maybe I'll set it up for a couple of weeks out.

How are things going in your new home? Are you able to keep the clutter to a minimum? I hoep it's going well for you.

[dampscribbler.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know. I even posted about that once before (I can't remember when or I'd provide a link), in relation to cleaning and organizing my office. Lots of unresolved stuff -- innner-ly and outer-ly. Nothin' to do but get to it, I guess.

[hhw]

My house has one mud-room-like storage space (about 5x8) and that's it. No closets at all, and the unfinished basement is only good for keeping stuff out of the elements -- papers and such would certainly get moldy. The attic is not accessible without a ladder. so my storage areas are all out in the open. On the one hand, there's no place to hide the crap. But on the other hand, there's no place to hide the crap. I've still got about 5 boxes of papers and 3 boxes of miscellaneous crap to sort through; the boxes are stacked on one side of the living room. Unfortunately, after 6 months, they're pretty much invisible to me, so it's getting harder to remember that I have to deal with them some day.

[dampscribbler.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that invisibility-over-time thing has really hamstrung me. Every once in a while I notice the mess again, and am appalled that I've let some things sit around so long.

Eight boxes, though. That sounds pretty manageable. If you do one a week, you'll be done by Memorial Day!

If I do one a week, I'll be done by Labor Day....