We got the dirt from the “part contractor, part therapist” about his most extreme project, refrigerated umbilical cords and what’s really making your butt look fat. Yes, you.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever seen people hoard?
I just finished two months working on this show for "Oprah.” In that home, we removed 75 tons of trash, just under 3,000 handbags, just over 3,000 pairs of shoes, over 2,900 Beanie Babies and we [sent] over 400 large trash bags of clothes to Goodwill. When we started, there was less than 200 square feet of living space in the house. It was by far one of the most extreme cases I have ever seen. It took 3,000 men hours just to get the stuff out of the house.
What’s the strangest question anyone’s asked you about clutter?
“Why do I have to let go of my child’s umbilical cord that I have here in a Ziploc bag on my refrigerator door?”
You’re known for giving out a lot of tough love on “Clean Sweep”…
Usually the two main types of clutter I see people struggling with are the “I might need it one day clutter” and “memory clutter.” And so to get them to focus on what’s important, I do kind of talk pretty tough. It comes down to helping people to make a choice between the quantity of your stuff or the quality of your life.
Give one life-changing tip for cleaning up your house.
It’s a simple one. I call it the “Trash Bag Tango.” For 10 minutes, you wander around the house. One trash bag, you fill with trash: old newspapers, old magazines, soiled clothing, garbage. And the other one, you fill with stuff that’s going to Goodwill: clothes you no longer use, books you no longer read. If it’s just you and your partner, at the end of the week you’ll have 14 bags of trash and 14 bags of things for Goodwill. Plus, you have to stop the inflow. You have to stop buying and acquiring stuff.
But it’s so hard to stop buying!
Well, if you’re not prepared to stop the inflow while you’re trying to deal with you’re clutter, then you are not serious. I’ve got nothing to say to you.
You mentioned Goodwill as a great donation spot. Is there a site that lists other good charities?
Freecycle.com is great. If you go to charitynavigator.org, [it] will give you a list of every charity, and which are the good ones and which to avoid.
Are certain parts of the country better organized?
I think that this compulsion to buy stuff is very much a Western thing because we live in a culture that says more is better. If I am doing well, I buy more stuff. In the last 30 years the size of the average American house has doubled, and in the same period the size of the average American family has halved. I see clutter across the country—it’s not a social issue, it’s not a race issue, it’s not a gender issue. Clutter overwhelms people everywhere in this country.
Do you have a favorite online shop for organization goodies?
Probably organize.com.
You have a book coming out in February called “Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat.” Very catchy title… There’s a whole set of principles about de-cluttering your home that apply to diet and weight loss. “Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat” takes all those ideas. If you focus on the stuff, you’ll never get organized. If you focus on the food, you’ll never lose weight. And that’s what the new book is all about.
Any clutter-free advice for the holidays?
The holiday season is very much a focus on giving and gifting. Consider what I call “clutter-free gifting.” Instead of giving things, give experiences. Instead of giving another sweater or another scarf and set of gloves that no one really needs, buy someone tickets to the museum or to a concert or a trip to a spa.
And no more Beanie Babies, right?
Amen to that.
“Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat” will be available to change your life on Feb. 5, 2008. Visit Peter Walsh's Web site for more information.
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