Clean Sweep on TLC

"Clean Sweep" broke the complex job of turn a room from clutter to clean into small, bite-sized steps, which over the course of just two days, would make incredible transformations.

Here's how it worked:  The homeowners would pick 2 rooms that usually were so filled up with stuff you couldn't walk or see the floor.  The "Clean Sweep" team comes in and empties the rooms COMPLETELY - out onto the lawn of the house.  You really get a feel for how much stuff you have when everything is sitting on a tarp outside!

The host would then do a quick sort of all the stuff, dividing it into 3 categories:  Keep, Sell, and Toss - in just 30 minutes.

After that, the professional organizer would work with the homeowners and work through the Keep pile a 2nd time, usually reducing it by a signficant amount.  While all of this is going on, the designer, carpenter and the rest of the Clean Sweep crew are working in the rooms.  Usually this means new paint, new window treatments, some custom furniture, and the rooms are transformed into more functional places to work and live.

After all the sorting is done, the "Sell" pile is sorted out for a garage sale on Day 2.  There is a contest between the two homeowners - whoever makes the most money selling the stuff in the garage sale gets to keep their item.  You see, the host picks one item out of the keep pile that means a lot to each person, that the other person doesn't like.  If you lose, your item, along with all of the unsold items, are carted off and donated to charity.

Then the homeowners are shown their two new rooms by the host.

I learned a lot of great organizational tips from watching this show - like creating vertical storage when possible, and how to use baskets and boxes effectively to organize things.  While the show has been re-edited for its 30 minute time slot, the original show lasted one hour and was very entertaining to watch.

Afterwards, I look around and realize my house doesn't look quite as bad as I thought *grin*.