Along side several of my Nashville colleagues, I recently had the amazing opportunity to help a Tennessee resident dig out of her clutter for the A&E TV show Hoarders with Geralin Thomas and Dr. Scott Hannan. Our show aired on Memorial Day during the season premier.
Click here to watch the full Hoarders: Michelle/Kim episode online.
For Kim’s episode I was team leader for the clothing and here are a few before and after pictures I took…
The master bedroom had three closets filled to the brim with clothing and we spent a good amount of time on day one trying to pair up shoes so Kim could get an idea of how many she really had. There were 650-700 pieces of hanging clothing items and approximately 200 pairs of shoes.
At one point in the show Kim asked how many shoes I had and I said maybe ten. I can honestly say I only wear two of my favorite pairs on a regular basis but I am also a mom of three and not out in the business world on a daily basis. So my 10 may not seem reasonable to some of you while 200 will most certainly seem excessive to the majority…or maybe not. I know some of you really like your shoes! However, the goal with the clothing and shoes was to get them down to a manageable amount, hopefully in one room and make everything easily accessible.
By the end of day two (we only get two days) Kim had parted with nearly half of the clothing and shoes. Some of the items were consigned and others with tags still on, were returned. With clothing it is best to sort everything by type and color so you can see the big picture. If you have things scattered here and there naturally it’s going to be hard to tell what you own anymore. After everything was put away Kim could easily “shop” her closet to see what she had.
As a viewer of the show I think it was great to finally see someone in the beginning stages of hoarding to give people a real look at how it can start out. If you watch the episode You will see Kim’s case paired with Michelle’s case which is obviously the extreme end of the spectrum. I think there are tons of people that can benefit from seeing how hoarding gets started. To some it may seem like someone simply not cleaning up but there are many more emotional issues hoarders are contending with that compile over time.
From an organizer standpoint working with Kim has made me want to learn more about this pivotal area in which my clients are crossing over from just having cluttered spaces to becoming hoarders. I will be joining the National Study Group On Chronic Disorganization to further gain training in this area.
If you watched the show feel free to share your thoughts below!
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I find this to be very admirable. It is so easy for people to judge and talk about how awful it is for someone to let their homes become this bad. However; until you have walked in their shoes I think you shouldn’t judge. We all carry some sort of issue and for these people, it is devastating because this is all they have control over so to speak. I see in our local news there is another woman in desperate need of help and am attaching the link. I am hoping maybe someone can contact her and see if she is willing to get help especially since she admits to being a hoarder and not knowing why.
http://www.wkrn.com/Global/story.asp?S=13521129
God Bless
Wow! So proud of you on TV! :) I want to tell everyone I know that I Know you! lol And yeah – I think the beginning stages is an important thing to show the Hoarders’ viewers too! I find that show too sad to watch most of the time. Something just makes me want to get up and color-coordinate the crayon box.
I missed seeing it, it was on at the same time as another show I watch, but Ill catch it in reruns, especially since she lives in Nashville like I do. I like the thought of follow up shows like the one that ran after this one.
One thing I just noticed in these pics, she has the bedroom set just like the one I just changed from after 17 years.
Well done my friend! I just finished watching, wow. Loving all the shoe boxes :)
I think you are very brave to enter into this specialty of organization, I’m not sure I could do it but proper training will definitely be helpful.
I love hearing the positive stories of people making progress and others being willing to help them. Such a difference shown in the pictures!
I was watching this! Loved it, and I love that this show is helping those with Hoarding issues, it’s really sad to see the condition that some of the homes are in. Especially those with children and the elderly. Great job, and thanks for sharing!
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