Post #395724 by Mai Tai on Tue, Jul 22, 2008 3:38 AM

That book is written by Peter Walsh, who is a professional organizer - he helps companies, organizations, and individuals declutter and streamline their lives. If you have ever watched the tv show Clean Sweep on TLC, he is one of the main professional organizers that they use.

The gist of Clean Sweep is that a team goes into a house of people in dire need of help, because clutter and crap has taken over their lives, and the folks there can't even really function on a day to day basis - they can't find things, feel that they can never invite people over to their house because it's too cluttered, etc. The team consists of the host, a professional organizer, an interior designer, a carpenter, and a bunch of people to help carry things, paint, and help build stuff like cabinets. The entire team empties out two full rooms of stuff, hauls it all out onto the front lawn, and then totally re-organize all the stuff and remodel the two rooms, all in two days. Usually re-organizing all of the stuff means getting rid of most of it, with much tear-shedding by the owners in the process. But Peter Walsh usually gets them to realize at that point that they no longer own the stuff, the stuff owns them, and it's robbing them of an easier more pleasureable life, and spending time with friends and family that otherwise wouldn't be able to come over and visit.

A lot of times the stuff has been kept because it reminds the owners of their parents, grandparents, favorite uncle, etc. But the stuff is always shoved into a box, or abandoned in a heap in the garage, basement, or tuff shed, where it gathers dust or withers and wears away. One episode had a family who wouldn't give up an old mantle clock, because it reminded them of their grandfather or some other relative. But the clock was broken, covered in dust and grime, it's finish was wearing off, and there were actually mouse turds inside of it where mice had been nesting! In instances like that, Peter Walsh has no problem raking the hoarders over the coals - "If this clock means so much to you, and it reminds you of your favorite grandfather who you loved so dearly, then how in the world can you treat it with such absolute disrespect? You are doing the memory of your grandfather, and yourself, a disservice by keeping this clock in such a state of disrepair if it is supposed to reflect who they were and the importance that they had in your lives!" Lines like that usually get the water works flowing, and it's at points like that when the people either decide to fix up a few of the items that mean the most to them, or get rid of it all. Peter Walsh tells them that the things that meant the most to them about their relatives/loved ones are already with them inside their hearts. It's okay to keep a few key things that really mean something about what they meant to you, but you don't have to immobilize and ruin your own life to keep that memory going.

A few years ago, Coco Loco and I were in a situation where we had to pick up the pieces of some close family members. The responsibility to do that fell squarely upon us, and we basically had no one else to help out. We had to figure out what to do with over thirty years of accumulation and clutter - it filled up one very large storage unit and two medium sized one, floor to ceiling. It wasn't easy, and at the time we were only living in a small cottage farm house in silicon valley. I knew who Peter Walsh was at the time, and actually contacted him to see if he could help us organize all of this stuff. He was very amicalble, and sent me an estimate, around $2,000 bucks for him to come up with a crew, and spend a week helping us go through all the stuff. We actually could afford his rate at the time, but after some serious consideration, decided to handle everything on our own.

As I look back, maybe it was the right decision to do it without his help, but it took us about 6 - 8 months, including every single weekend, to finish the project on our own. If you're a believer that time is money, then it would have been worth it to use Peter Walsh's help. Oh, and the fact that Limptiki and other TC'ers pointed out to me that Peter Walsh would probably make me cry on TV, which was pretty much the pinnacle of uncool.

After going through that whole fiasco, we've been more careful about what we bring into the house around here. We are still collectors to some extent, me more so than her, but we realize that we only have so much space, and simply cannot afford to bring in another sofa into the house.

Getting involved in the tiki scene around this time hasn't helped, though. It was like, a whole new world was opened and available, a world that that involves an appreciation of how things used to be, a culture that I definitely "got" right off the bat and appreciated and enjoyed. And guess what, there are collectibles to go along with this newly rediscovered culture! Both new and vintage! Let the spending spree begin!

I wonder if others upon joining TC, whether newbies now or seasoned veterans 8 years ago or longer, felt the need at first to "catch up" on all this new found wonderfulness? I know I sure did. At first. Now I've had to implement some guidelines. If it isn't some type of mug/carving/painting/various art piece that I absolutely can't live without, and would later deeply regret not buying, then I'll most likely get it. But believe it or not, this guideline has helped tremendously. It has cut way down deeply on the amount of mugs, and various other things, that I have picked up over the last couple of years.

And then the Trader Vics warehouse sale happened.