We have enough clutter to fill five homes! This is the old refrain that mothers use to tell their children. We never think that we really have this much stuff.
Imagine what your house would look like if you could see every item. There are thousands upon thousands of toys and books. You have hundreds of clothes. And there’s countless toiletries and gadgets.
Imagine that you had to get rid of at least half. Could you do it — or would it end in tears?
In the BBC series Sort Your Life out, all of the belongings of The Paine Family filled an entire warehouse.
This was the challenge presented to six families by BBC’s Sort Your Life Out. The show sees TV presenter Stacey Solomon and her crack team — organiser Dilly Carter, carpenter Rob Bent and cleaner Iwan Carrington — transform a family’s home in every episode.
They take out all the items and then transport them to a warehouse. The family will have two days to go through everything, sorting it all to decide what they want to donate or keep.
The team gives the home a makeover on a tight budget by using ‘upcycling,’ which transforms an item to make it usable again, creating additional storage, and otherwise making the place calmer. They also use some techniques that Stacey shares with her 4.9million followers on Instagram, including Stacey’s ‘Tap to Tidy’ tips.
Before it received a revamp, the chaotic kitchen of Paine’s household was cluttered.
The difference between the homes before and after is incredible — as these pictures show. It’s an emotional rollercoaster ride for both the viewers at home and participants. It’s amazing that clutter can cause us to cry.
Steph Paine is a 47 year-old teaching assistant. She lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts with her three daughters Sydnie (17), Laela (14), and Aeveri (11).
Steph was distraught after the seven-year separation of her father.
“When we had two children, everything was neat and tidy. Now, I have to work full time and am a single mother.
After some tidying up, the Paine home’s kitchen is now cleaner and larger.
Her eldest child, OCD-prone and suffering from anxiety, inspired her to take part in the TV show.
It just builds up over time and eventually you lose sight of it. Only when there are people around you, can you see the condition of the place.
“It had a significant impact on my oldest, which would stress us all. The girls stopped asking for their friends.
Steph had hoped that the process would not be difficult but take a lot of time. Steph was then confronted by her possessions. They included over 200 shoes, 111 nail varnish bottles, 80 pills of outdated medicine, and more than 1,000 books.
There were also all of her emotional-laden possessions, including her bouquet, wedding dress and Valentine’s cards from before she divorced.
“I was shocked at how much stuff I had. You can see how emotionally draining it was to let go of all that stuff. She says that she had everything from her life in the loft and it was very difficult to get rid of.
The family stood in the warehouse during the first two days of decluttering. They had started by cleaning out the toiletries and then moved to the harder items.
Sydnie acknowledged that it was difficult to dispose of things from primary school. This is partly due to the fact they were pre-dated her divorce and also because Sydnie was bullied in secondary school. All her happy memories are before she turns 11 years old.
Surveying all the books — 300 of which were for nursery-age children — she admitted: ‘I think I’ve kept every book I’ve ever owned.’
Makeover queen: TV presenter Stacey Solomon
Steph also was cautious when it came to footwear. 70% of the family’s 265 pairs of shoes were Steph’s.
Aeveri, a no-nonsense woman of principle, started by buying a pair her mom’s shiny biker boots.
“Didn’t you think these were uncomfortable?”
Steph accepted the shoes as is after she said good-bye to them. It was quite a different story when Steph turned her attention to Dr. Marten boots. That led to a strangled “No!” It prompted a strangled ‘No!’ from her mother.
« When I finally accepted the mortgage as my own. [after my divorce]These shoes were my present to Steph to let her know “Well done”, she said.
“I have finally paid off that debt and the house is mine. It was really thrilling and felt really empowered.”
The family was able to dispose of over half the shoes but it proved difficult to sort through all the wedding memorabilia.
Stacey (32), advised Steph to decide what items she would like to keep and to get their opinions about whether or not they are things they’d love to revisit.
Sydnie helped the teenager reduce to tears by calling him.
The mother and her daughter finally reduced their table to only two boxes. Sydnie didn’t like the idea of having to get rid of her mom’s wedding dress so they decided to keep it.
Stacey, mother Steph and Laela with home help
Steph was able to let go half of their possessions and said that the result had been transformative.
She adds, “I feel lighter and I love being in my house now.”
Tidying up right now is fast and simple. It is easy to find where things are. It’s nice to not have to clean the house all day when my girls are with their dad. It’s a time and space for me. This is life-changing.
Dilly, 41-year-old professional organizer, is well aware of the positive effects that a decluttering session can have on your health.
According to her, the whole thing can be emotionally and spiritually healing.
It’s more than just about the physical. It can affect relationships between people, parents, and children without our realizing.
“We get so lost in the world that we don’t realize until others point out how our kids are sleeping and why getting up each morning can be chaotic. You can experience a lot more stress.
Though most of us aren’t in a position to decant the entire contents of our homes into a warehouse, Dilly advises all families to declutter their homes — be it one room, or one cupboard at a time — starting with the room that’s affecting you the most.
The best tip she has is to completely empty any room so that you can create a new space. Then spread all the items across the floor, looking at what you want to keep — and what you don’t.
‘Create three piles — donate, recycle, sell. The show’s mantra is: Do you love it or need it? Or do you use it for a purpose?
She knows that it is difficult to let go of ‘financial attachments,’ but she encourages us to keep going.
It’s not a wasteful thing to spend money on something.
“When you understand the value in having less, you’ll find that you have more to live with and less stuff.
Everyone smiles: Stacey and some of the Lespeare families in the warehouse
‘We’re not giving £200,000 makeovers. “We’re simply getting rid off stuff and changing the space.
“A clearer home means a clearer head.” The same goes for hotel rooms. It’s because of the amount of space in these rooms that they feel so wonderful. Space is what we crave, and not clutter.
She recommends that sentimental objects be re-visited frequently when it comes to sorting.
You are able to change your emotions so you can go through and determine if there is still value. It will take you the longest time to decide what memories you want to hold on to because they are meaningful to you.
Steph was forced to face the boxes containing her artwork from children on the program. In a clever solution, rather than keeping them all, the team scanned them and shrunk the pictures then collated them in one print — meaning they all remained on show but took up far less space.
Steph, her two daughters and the Lespeares all wept when they saw their clutter-free home.
After her accident, mum Kirsty (37), left her in chronic pain, and required her to walk with a walking stick and a leg brace, the family from Nottingham was used to clutter.
She said that she had four children and her health was deteriorating.
‘Taurean [my partner]He did everything he could to help, but it just wasn’t enough.
They discovered that they have accumulated large amounts of things, including 84 condiments as well as 18 gaming controllers.
Kirsty says, “Because it was hard to find the right thing, I just bought new things when I needed them.”
When she saw the transformed house, which included pull-out shelves for extra worktop space and a remodeled bedroom, she broke down.
She says, “I no longer feel trapped at home.” “I have space that I enjoy and it’s my own.
“Clutter can cause you to feel overwhelmed. It was overwhelming to think about the best place for things, and I couldn’t locate them.
“It was taking a beating on my mental health trying to get them ready for school. They now have greater independence.
We have a system, so they can find everything, label it all, and know exactly where to go.
“And they’re so happy too, the older ones have stopped worrying about whether I will trip over in the house. It is like someone lifted a huge black cloud.
BBC iPlayer: Sort Your Life Out