Continued to work on de-cluttering the 2nd bedroom, taking shoe and bags to the Closet Room and hanging the clothes on staged racks.

Delivered 92 items to Dress for Success.

Purchased vacuum sealed bags to store pillows and pet beds in.  The pillows worked great.  The pet beds, okay; just okay but good enough.

Dress for Success Delivery

Later in the afternoon I de-cluttered a large linen closet.  This opened up space for many of the linens that were being stored in the storage room, to be placed.  With an extreme home transformation process, items are staged and moved frequently until the perfect place is determined.  Remember, there is a place for everything and everything has it’s place!

Late in the afternoon I started working the 2nd bedroom.  Over 100 boxes of shoes were taken to the Closet Room and clothes were being staged on clothing racks for review by the client.  This room may take a few days.

Before Photo 2nd Bedroom

Before Photo 2nd Bedroom

Hung wicker basket and other items from the rafters in the storage room.  Real estate space is a shortage so starting to use ‘S’ hooks to hang things and ceiling rafters.  ‘Always look up’ I suggest to my clients when we run out of room to store things!

Organized 59 book boxes from the POD to the basement hallway.  Later, we’ll sort through books to determine which ones are donated to the local hospital.

Shelving was added to store boxed shoes in the Closet Room

Over the Door Hooks were placed to store more bags

Different Shoe Racks (used what client had already purchased)

Installed Closet Rod on Wall - high

Using Rafter Space

Using Rafter Space

FastTrack Hangs Bags

Time was spent cleaning out an outside storage room.  The storage area was cleaned and sprayed with Bano to remove the mold.  The storage area will store garden tools and coolers.

After Storage Shed

After Office Closet Pillow Storage

Card board boxes were taken to recycle bins.  Made another delivery to the consignment store, shoes were taken to Dress for Success in Atlanta, and many items were dropped out at the Salvation Army Donation Center.

Cardboard Box Collection

Cardboard boxes torn down

One thing many people forget to utilize is ceiling and wall space.  Today, Kathy placed hooks in the ceiling rafters and hung baskets along with using S hooks to hang items from the shelving.

The process of sorting and organizing will continue for days but enjoy some photos of the progress.

Before Photo of Family Room

Before Photo of Family Room

Before Photo of Family Room

Making Progress in the Family Room

Making Progress in the Family Room

Making progress storage room

Making progress storage room

Making progress storage room

Making progress storage room

Sorting, Organizing, Storing

Sorting, Organizing, Storing

Many pet beds were placed in the Ziploc Big Bags and stored with the luggage and the pet carriers in the luggage closet.

Pet Bed Storage

Pet Bed, Pet Carrier, & Luggage Closet

Pet Bed, Pet Carrier, & Luggage Closet

After Photo of Library

After Photo of Library

After Photo of Library

After Photo of Living Room

After Photo of Living Room

Living Room is still staging area for pet beds

A field trip was made at noon to take pet products and accessories to the local animal shelter.  The folks at the shelter showed much gratitude towards my client for her extreme generosity, not only today, but over the years.  It was a beautiful experience to see how much love was shared with the cats who are awaiting adoption.

Once the front of the home was clean efforts were focused in the basement storage room where a new shelving unit was put together.  Items were organized and sorted, a process that will continue for the next couple of weeks.

Before Photo of Front Entrance

After Photo Front Entrance

The client eventually would like the books, CDs, and movies organized alphabetically.  This work will be done when the house has been completely de-cluttered.

Before Photo of Foyer

After Photo of Foyer

After Photo of Foyer

After Photo of Foyer

After Photo of Foyer

Before Photo of Foyer

Kathy services her clients by removing trash, recyclables, delivering donations to many non-profit organizations, and taking things to consignment.  The goal in her de-cluttering effort is to remove from the house the items the client has detached from so Light Energy Transformation can begin.

All items for donations and consignment are thoroughly documented and the client is left with a manifest of all items, including the IRS fair market value of such items.

Staging Consignment Items

Heading to Consignment

Car is loaded for Consignment Shop Delivery

Car is loaded for Consignment Shop Delivery

Car is loaded for Consignment Shop Delivery

The furnace room was de-cluttered today making space for another staging area.  The process of de-cluttering a home requires a room to be de-cluttered but to also get cluttered again as it will be used as a staging area.  It’s all a work-in-progress but the final effort will be spectacular!

Before Photo of Furnace Room

After Photo of Furnace Room

Most every day Kathy works on organizing personal papers.  This is a tedious and time consuming project but her work is thorough to assure her clients that all personal papers are not throw away and organized by year for tax purposes.  There is a staging process, associated with this organization that Kathy works through but the final product will include using organization binders.  During the process Kathy discovers a few checks that need to be cashed, in addition, to many personal photos that will later be organized too.

Kathy used the clients storage units and furniture to arrange the Closet Room for organization the items.  Re-use is great!!  More photos later when the room is complete!

Clothing Racks in Closet Room

Clothing Racks in Closet Room

Before Photo of Pocket Books

After Photos Pocketbooks in Closet Room

After Photos Pocketbooks in Closet Room

Aged catalogs were removed from the house and taken to the recycle bins; cardboard boxes were staged in the bagsters for later use and/or recycling; de-clutter efforts were made to the guest bathroom and bedroom; de-clutter efforts for the library started.

Dress for Success Atlanta

Donations all in Dry Cleaner Bags for Dress for Success

Recycle Bin

Recycle Bin

Car loaded with aged catalogs

Car loaded with aged catalogs

Before Photo of Guest Bath

Before Photo Guest Bedroom

After Photo Guest Bath

After Photo Guest Bedroom

Before Photo Library

Before Photo Library

On Day 1, Kathy sets up Bagsters (www.thebagster.com) to store cardboard boxes and the POD (www.pods.com) was delivered. The POD will be used as a staging area. On Day 1, the client went through clothing and selected items to be donated to Dress for Success (www.DressForSuccess.org.) Audio books were selected for donation to the local library.

Dress for Success Atlanta

Donated Clothing

Clothes loaded into car for Dress for Success

Delivered to Dress for Success

Car loaded with donations

Bagsters and Tarp Setup

I had the opportunity last week to work with Damon Meharg and his film crew from Web M.D. We did several spots on organizing tips and how to de-clutter around the theme of take 10 minutes today to save 60 tomorrow. I had just returned from an exhausting week in Ohio getting my father settled into an assisted living facility, but the crew was great –very supportive and they kept the coffee coming!

We filmed a number of spots that will run soon on the Web M.D. site.  I am so excited! I’m really proud of the spots because I think they’re full of good information that will help people create beautiful living places from cluttered spaces. That’s my mission and I love doing it.  If you wish to watch the video, go to this link:  http://www.webmd.com/balance/diet-exercise-stress-10/ and select the video called:   Save Time:  Organize As You Go

Linda Saether, producer, filmed an interview on one of my project sites, then we taped the show with Dale at the Georgia Public Television studio a few weeks ago. What a great experience! The audience was so warm and supportive. Dale made me feel right at home. The spot airs soon. I’ll post the exact date when I know! Thanks, Linda and Dale for the opportunity. Season 1, Episode 15, Airdate: 11/14/2010 TrustDale TV.

I loved the clever artwork and copy the creative staff did. Living Social has been great to work with.

Danny was over doing the final adjustments to the floor braces. Danny does great work. If anyone needs some home renovations, he is the general contractor to call: 404-610-5074 I’ll be calling when I get ready to remodel my bathroom/master bedroom.

Jason Walker was pressure washing and patching walls. He was kind enough to do some work to the exterior in preparation for the appraiser. He’ll be painting the bedroom this weekend.

Alice had a donation to purchase some bedding. This money was used for a new box spring, sheets and blankets. Kathy donated a mattress and curtains. The bedroom looks much better.

Yesterday, Crystal Cruz came by for a follow-up interview with Alice. You can view the report at the CBS television station website. Crystal raised some questions about what kind of support Alice was going to get to prevent this from happening again. Alice agreed to have a cleaning service come in once a month. Steve Scott will be doing monthly follow-ups for a year. Alice has several very good friends, and now that they are aware of the problem, they will be helping Alice. One of the associate pastors at her church has been working with Alice to help with this problem as well. Kathy will be following up over the next few months.

Alice has not been in a thrift store in about six months and she has actively participated in clearing her home. There is still a lot of sorting to do that cannot be done until the flooring, painting and kitchen work is complete. But, it is my belief that Alice is very determined to have her home back. This will be an on-going challenge, but I think she has made the decision to overcome this and the extreme hoarding will not return. Alice will be working to do another sort of her belongs and donate even more items.

This is our last post on this project for another month or so. Peggy will be handling the details of the repair work and we leave it in her capable hands.

Thanks to everyone who helped Alice reclaim her home and helped solve a problem for the entire neighborhood. You were great!

Day 21 photos below.

Day 1 Kitchen De-cluttered kitchen and dining room.

Day 1 living room. De-cluttered living room.

Day 1 bedroom. De-cluttered bedroom with fresh linens, bed and curtains.

Day 1 bath. Alice cleared most of the bath by herself! De-cluttered bathroom with working plumbing.

We met Alice’s accountant and her husband. While we were meeting, he was blowing leaves off the roof for us! Another nice man. Alice’s accountant is doing a wonderful job of coordinating all of the financial aspects of the transaction. (Another card I need to get from Kathy.)

Steve Scott dropped by on his day off, just to offer whatever assistance he can. He has been a big support throughout the process. We are grateful for his on-going help. He told Kathy he never thought he would be sitting at a table in Alice’s house talking to a loan officer about home improvements. He hugged Kathy three times on the way out. He has been looking for ten years for a solution to help Alice.

The county inspector met Kathy at 7:30 a.m. With a few minor adjustments, the repairs will be okayed and then the appraiser will be looking at the property. Kathy and a crew of cleaners will be at work tomorrow to get everything looking spiffy for the appraisal, but the loan officer didn’t anticipate any problems.

Jack said the loan will close in about 20 days. The house will then have the money to heal itself. Danny Hovey will handle the needed repairs in the official capacity of contractor, not volunteer. We’ll be replacing carpets, appliances, doing some painting and plumbing repairs, then the house will be ready for a new life, as Alice’s clutter-free home. Kathy will follow-up in a month to do some final organizing.

Kathy could not stand Alice keeping her old bed. She is handling a yard sale for another client this weekend and purchased the barely used queen-sized bed from the sale for Alice with some of the donation money. She delivered it herself today and we all feel better about Alice having a fresh, new bed.

We have met some remarkable people on this journey. I have been astounded at the kindness of others, especially in an economy where so many people have been hit hard financially. And, especially under difficult conditions when tempers were short. Paul Harwood came through big time donating most of the materials required to get the house back up to code. He also spent a substantial amount of time on-site consulting on problems and doing plumbing repairs. He did this just because he is a nice man.

Danny Hovey donated professional time and money to help us out. There is no way the house would qualify for a mortgage without his generosity. Danny did this because he is good person. We know the repairs are in good hands.

Dan Swanson, Rick Cyr and Brandon Frazier contributed time, money, expertise, materials and a lot of emotional support. Thank you all for your kindness. The Binder family kept us supplied in trash bags and loaned us their children to carry trash. Alice is blessed to have such good neighbors. Thanks to the Shallowford Presbyterian Church and their volunteers.

And Kathy — Kathy discounted her rate to the bone, financed all of the labor and trash removal, a bunch of materials and replaced anything Alice mentioned as “missing.” She has donated substantial amounts of time, including 12 hours the day of the yard sale. She has jumped in feet first to clean every pile of whatever and bagged it all. She even faced down a rodent or two — very bravely. After the first snake sighting, Kathy was the first to g back in under the deck and bag trash.

Alice, at 83 years of age, remained remarkably flexible throughout the process. It was a huge invasion into her privacy and she didn’t always release as much clutter as Kathy would have liked, but she was a trouper. We are proud to know her and heartened to know that people can change, if they make their minds up to do so.

I think we need a big party in a few months to celebrate with everyone involved. I think Alice should do the cooking in her newly refurbished kitchen! ; )

—Reported by Jackie Wells Smith

No photos for Day 20. View report and photos for Day 21.

Today, Kathy worked through each room of the house and discussed with Alice all that needed to be done. I loaded the LAST TRUCK of trash! Kathy and Paul were around for the final bags and participated in the “happy dance”. Orlan (Department of Sanitation) stopped by for the momentous occasion.

Paul was over today putting in the bathroom sink and a few other finishing touches. Officer Davis stopped by for a walk through and declared the property in compliance on the outside. An inspector will be by to look at the work inside over the next few days.

We are having a meeting with the banker, Alice’s accountant and Alice to discuss the costs for the repairs to the property. Thanks to Paul and Danny Hovey, the worst is over. We are mostly looking at carpet, painting and a few appliances.

For the record, this job required over 4000 trash bags to complete. Some were used to fill trucks and dumpsters. Some were used to fill bags of donations. Whatever their purpose, it was a lot of very heavy bags!

Linda Saether from Georgia PBS came by to talk to Kathy about taping for her segment on aired on Sunday mornings. This is about women who have re-invented themselves. Kathy will make a great subject. The taping is October 7 from 12 noon to 3 p.m. If anyone is interested in watching the taping, they always need audience members. We’ll post more later.

— Reported by Jackie Wells Smith

No photos for Day 19. View report for Day 20 (no photos).

Kathy is off to Ohio to be with her father. He is having brain surgery tomorrow and all of our prayers are with the family. While she is there, she will help find a new assisted living space and work with her siblings to get her father downsized into an apartment. If all goes well, we will be back at work on the 20th for the organizing part of the project.

In the meantime, Alice is working on her reverse mortgage plans. We are in the “new beginning” phase and Alice is ready to solve some problems. She plans to replace some of the appliances (we think we can salvage the range), paint the house, replace carpets and of course, organize.

When we restart work, we will be assigning everything in the house a permanent place. Kathy will start on the upstairs and I will do the basement. We have to go through all of the closets and cabinets with more sorting. Alice is going to work with some of her friends this week to cut down her “clothes-to-keep” pile a little more. She had about 20 bags of clothing to donate to Inspire this week and will be working on more contributions for the Kidney Foundation.

Today, Kathy started organizing the office. Santiago cleaned the bedroom and bath. Mario vacuumed the house and help Henri cleared the screened porch. I cleaned parts of the kitchen, but there is still a lot to finish. We loaded three trucks today and still had trash left over! Alice was back at work this week teaching her water aerobics class. Danny stopped by to install new locks on the doors — now that they actually open!

The weekend off was good for everyone. We a productive day and look forward to taking this massive project to the final phase of organizing.

—Reported and photos by Jackie Wells Smith

Day 18 photos below.

A lot of clean-up is required in the kitchen. The appliances may all need to be replaced.

The range cleaned up nicely, but we will have it checked by a repairman before it is used again. Alice wants to replace the counter tops and refinish the cabinets.