Hello Collectors! You have reached the organizing blog for Collector Care Professional Organizers. On our informational blog, we offer tips on keeping your home and office clear of clutter, interviews with amazing organizers, inspirational messages, and stories about hoarding and clutter.
As you know, I specialize in extreme clutter, so I see a lot on a daily basis. It's gotten really hard to be shocked these days. How extreme can it get? MEGA extreme. On a scale of one to ten, my one is probably your ten. When I spend half a day cleaning fecal matter off of walls, and can still have lunch, you know I have gotten numb to the severity. People ask me all of the time how and why I do this kind of work. You really have to have a tough stomach, I say. And a good imagination! It's all "chocolate" to me.
So what do I personally do for self care? Besides the basics (showering, brushing teeth and hair), I like massages, facials, manicures, pedicures. You can say I like to pamper myself. Work hard, play hard.
This is not me! (www.freedigitalphotos.net model)
What are you doing for self care? I know many of you cannot access your bathrooms due to clutter. How are you cleaning yourselves? Are you properly brushing? From what I have seen you are not.
Not only are you treating your environment poorly, but you are neglecting yourselves dear Collectors. You deserve so much better. If you have no running water, or cannot properly wash or brush your teeth, below are 3 tips to help with hygiene:
Wipes. Wipe your face and body down with baby wipes. Throw wipes into disposal bag, and recycle.
Any kind will do, but I like this one.
Travel toothbrushes. They make them with toothpaste built in and are safe to swallow. Brush your teeth daily and recycle disposable brush.
Dry shampoo. Rock stars use it, so should you. Get fresh feeling hair fast.
Now. DO NOT BUY IN BULK. I don't like suggesting things for you all to use, if you are going to buy it in bulk. These are hygiene tips, not a chance to go out and spend. Let's control ourselves Collectors and be mindful when we acquire.
Hopefully the tips above will give you a little confidence boost and you will be pleased with yourself for treating yourself better.
www.collectorcare.com Professional Organizers & Extreme Cleaners SF Bay & Worldwide
You had the big clean out, or your have worked diligently with one of our team members. It's quite possible you have used another company, or maybe you had help from friends or family. You are now organized. Now what?
Collectors, it's time to talk about maintenance.
If your home was severely cluttered to begin with, it's possible that you might backslide after you have been organized.
A Professional Organizer can help you create a better looking home, but it's up to YOU to keep it going. You now have to maintain this clean and organized space. That is pretty hard if you are not used to it. That is why we offer our maintenance plans.We provide you with short bursts of energetic organizing sessions designed to refresh your space and your perspective on stuff.
Collectors, you need this extra help. Especially if you have Hoarding Disorder or Chronic Disorganization. I know you want things to change overnight, but they
won't change unless you do. Ongoing help is key to your success.
Are you looking for a fresh start? Are you tired of being surrounded by CLUTTER? Give us a call! 925-548-7750 www.collectorcare.com #collectorCareCares licensed. bonded. insured.
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Hey Collectors, especially my fab and fierce Gay /Lesbian/ Bi /Trans Collectors!
What compelled me to write this post, is the amount of shame that goes into "coming out" about hoarding or being a clutter bug. I just recently attended the San Francisco Mental Health Assoc. International Clutter and Hoarding Conference (say that five times fast!) I ran into some very cool peeps. Specifically two gay men who told me that coming out about their clutter was harder than coming out about their sexuality. This is not the first time I have heard this. Or the second, or third ...
During my organizing sessions some people choose to share more than others. Thank you to all who supported me in writing this blog and for sharing your stories. Thank you for appreciating my interest in your world. This blog is simply to provoke thought, it's not any sort of scientific data or intended to offend.
When I asked my Clients which was harder? Coming out about being gay, or coming out about being a clutterer? Hands down clutter was more embarrassing. I was even allowed to quote a few.
Jeffrey:
"I came out to the world in high school about being gay. It was no surprise to any of my real friends. My father took a while to come around and accept me. It was a hard time, but I had support"
Jeffrey on his clutter habits - "Only my best of friends know I am a hoarder. The stigma that is attached is just too much for me to face, it's embarrassing. Gay men are "supposed" to be tidy and organized, and I am far from."
Matthew: "I love being gay. Everyone knows I am gay. I feel like I have always been gay. Coming out was hard when I had to tell my folks and grandparents. Other than that everyone accepts me the way I am."
On his clutter habits - "I would rather have died than have let anyone into my home at it's worst. Being a clutterer is embarrassing and is holding me back in life. "
"Nadine" - a current Client of mine. Nadine filled her house to the brim with garbage. She feels like she will never find a partner who will deal with the mess. She disappointed a lot of people when she came out as being a lesbian. She does not want to let a soul know about the state of her home.
Nadine, Matt and Jeff are all college graduates and have terrific jobs. They all feared more about coming out about their clutter vs. coming out about being gay. They live in fear about what people think. Sound familiar?
Why is there such a stigma with cluttering? What makes the amount of stuff someone owns a justifiable cause to judge them? Since when did we get so mean to each other Collectors?
I encourage you all gay and straight alike to stand up with your shoulders back and let the world know you are disorganized. Come out of the closet today. Ask a friend, family member, hire a professional organizer, do what you need to do to make your space comfy for you. It's your time to shine Collectors, I know you can do it!
Rachel Seavey, Blogger
Professional Organizer & Extreme Cleaner
www.collectorcare.com
925-548-7750
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Thank you for being Collectors. Everyday my life is brightened because of you.
I wanted to write a poem about being thankful to my Clients so here goes. Feel free to chime in and add your own poem of thankfulness in our comments section!
Thank you for allowing us into your houses, Thank you for buying multiple blouses, Almost the same but each slightly different, Why buy one when you can have fifty? Still in the bag, with tags not removed, At the back of your closet under new shoes.
Expiration dates are merely a suggestion, Unless it's exploded it's fine for ingestion. Paperwork scattered on top of all surfaces, One simple twist tie with so many purposes. Thank you for always making me smile, Never forget you ARE worth the while.
Rachel Seavey, Professional Organizer & Extreme Cleaner
www.collectorcare.com
+collectorcare
#collectorCareCares
Hello Collectors! While writing my blog last month on Diogenes Syndrome I came across the story of the Grey Gardens featuring "Big Edie" and "Little Edie" Beale. It's a true story about high-society castaways keeping house in a dilapidated East Hampton mansion.
Of course, I could not wait to learn more about them! Why am I interested personally? I clean up homes like this for a living!
I began "trolling" the internet. I read all sorts of blogs, I ordered the
documentary about the Beale's "Grey Gardens" and watched it, ordered the
HBO movie "Grey Gardens", and watched it as well. I also have some video posts below of the musical. Like you Collectors, I like to do my
research.
I am now a fan of all things Grey Garden. It's a fascinating story about two women who lived together at Grey Gardens for decades with limited funds in increasing squalor and isolation. If you want to learn more about Grey Gardens read below.
Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale (1895–1977), known as "Big Edie", and her daughter Edith Bouvier
Do you expect Jackie to come? “I told her not to come here. I thought she’d upset my act.” - Little Eddie
Beale (1917–2002), known as "Little Edie", were the aunt and the first cousin, respectively, of former U.S. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
The house was designed in 1897 by Joseph Greenleaf Thorpe and purchased in 1923 by "Big Edie" and her husband Phelan Beale.
After Phelan left his wife, "Big Edie" and "Little Edie" lived there
for more than 50 years.
The house was called Grey Gardens because of the
color of the dunes, the cement garden walls, and the sea mist. Throughout the fall of 1971 and into 1972, their house was infested by fleas, inhabited by numerous cats
and raccoons, deprived of running water, and filled with garbage and
decay. The Beale's were exposed as the result of an article in the National Enquirer and a cover story in New York Magazine after a series of inspections (which the Beales called "raids") by the Suffolk County
Health Department. With the Beale women facing eviction and the razing
of their house, in the summer of 1972 Jacqueline Onassis and her sister Lee Radziwill provided the necessary funds to stabilize and repair the dilapidated house so that it would meet village codes.
“In all my life, including years reporting about slums from Washington
to Casablanca, I have never seen a house in such dreadful condition:
attics full of raccoons and their droppings, toilets stopped up, a
kitchen stove that had fallen into the cellar, a living room with
literally only half a floor, grounds so matted with devil’s walking
sticks and other thorns they were impenetrable, a large walled garden
which was so overgrown it could not even be seen. Over everything hung
the knee-buckling smell of cats and cat excrement. Whole rooms had been
abandoned when they filled-up with garbage, as the Beales moved to the
next room…’Big Edie’ had passed away, and ‘Little Edie’ was forced to
sell, but willing to sell to someone who would not tear the eyesore
down.” – Ben Bradlee
Grey Gardens, The Documentary
Albert and David Maysles became interested in their story and
received permission to film a documentary about the women, which was
released in 1976 to wide critical acclaim. Their direct cinema technique left the women to tell their own stories. (Courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_Gardens)
Entertainment Weekly magazine ranks Grey Gardens as the #33 top cult film of all time.
Grey Gardens the Musical Grey Gardens is a musical with book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel, and lyrics by Michael Korie, based on the 1975 documentary of the same title about the lives of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale ("Big Edie") and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale ("Little Edie") by Albert and David Maysles.
Set at Grey Gardens, the Bouviers' mansion in East Hampton,
New York, the musical tracks the progression of the two women's lives
from their original status as rich and socially polished aristocrats to
their eventual largely isolated existence in a home overrun by cats and
cited for repeated health code violations. However, its more central
purpose is to untangle the complicated dynamics of their dysfunctional
mother/daughter relationship. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_Gardens_%28musical%29)
Grey Gardens, The Movie (2009) It's hard to imagine a feature film that could improve upon the classic 1975 Hamptons-gothic documentary Grey Gardens, co-directed by Albert and David Maysles. Yet this Grey Gardens, directed by Michael Sucsy for HBO Films, captures not only the pathos and peculiarity of Edith Beale, mère et fille--aristocrats
who were aunt and cousin to former first lady Jacqueline Bouvier
Kennedy--but it provides something deeper and richer: the background
story of the glamorous Beale
ladies, and a glimpse at how they slid from
gay 1930s high society to sharing rotting living quarters with litters
of cats and raccoons.
This documentary/movie/musical is great for Collectors and non-collectors to watch. It might make you feel like you are not the only one. It might motivate you. It might make you more understanding if you are a non-collector.
Before I go, I will leave you with some fun quotes from the Beale's...
“One is a lone woman who hasn’t got much money and she’s fighting to get
the same thing she always wanted – recognition as a dancer, singer, and
entertaining artist. Here, I’m mother’s little helper, cleaning up
after the cats.” – Little Edie
"I love the smell [of Grey Gardens]. I thrive on it. It makes me feel good.” – Big Edie
“Oh, Mother thinks its artistic this way, like a Frank Lloyd Wright
house. Don’t you love the overgrown Louisiana Bayou look.” – Little Edie
“Two women can’t live together for twenty years without some jealousy.
Not that my voice is better than Mother’s, but she can’t dance.” - Little Edie
"But you see in dealing with me, the relatives didn't know that they were
dealing with a staunch character and I tell you if there's anything
worse than dealing with a staunch woman... S-T-A-U-N-C-H. There's
nothing worse, I'm telling you. They don't weaken, no matter what." - Little Edie
I could not have made this all possible without the amazing information I found on Grey Gardens Online! This good looking couple dedicates an entire site to the Beale's! Check them out to find out what ever happened to the home, and who is living there now.
Also, a special thank you to the KOMMA HEM website for such incredible photos and all the great research you have online about the Beale's.
Rachel Seavey Professional Organizer & Extreme Cleaner
Rachel Seavey, Blogger
Owner of Collector Care Organizers
925-548-7750 rachel@collectorcare.com
www.collectorcare.com +Collector Care
FREE ESTIMATES to the entire San Francisco Bay Area!
Licensed. Bonded. Insured.
Hello Collectors! I have been speaking for some time now on behalf of the Better Breathers Club of California, sponsored by the American Lung Association. I talk about clutter and dust and the complications it can cause with breathing and safety. I combine my knowledge on Chronic Disorganization and Hoarding in a presentation that engages and informs.
I love this Club! It offers all sorts of resources and information for Collectors and Non-Collectors. I wanted to give it a shout out, props, what have you and get the info out there to the public. If you are interested in learning more about your breathing problems and have meet others out there like you, then please think about joining.
More about BBC:
Better Breathers Clubs (BBC) are a core program and resource of the
American Lung Association in California. The purpose of the club is to
offer patient-centered and community-based educational opportunities and
support to persons with chronic lung disease (especially COPD, but also
asthma, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis [IPF], lung cancer, and other
chronic lung diseases). These support groups meet regularly to give
participants tips and techniques to help manage their disease.
For more information and to read the latest Better Breathers Club newsletter, click here.
To find a Better Breathers Club in your area, click on the locations below:
SACRAMENTO
What's up Collectors?! It's no secret I LOVE working with Hoarders. Last night at my chapter meeting \I was asked by peers, and it's a question I get asked a lot quite frankly.... Why do I LOVE working with folks who hoard?
The work conditions are dangerous, and sometimes hazardous. I work with people that are depressed, overwhelmed, and I work with a lot of people who have suffered trauma.
There is a bright side! Even the most extreme cases bring us stories of joy. There is a fighter within all of our Clients. A fire inside that needs to burn. When we help someone save their home, or repair a strain on a marriage or relationship due to clutter we help fuel that flame. We help remind them of a time when they were happy, and we help them get their lives back on track. I am honored to be invited in to share such a sacred time in their lives.
Here are 3 more reasons why I love working with Hoarding Disorder Clients:
They see a use for everything. A broken piece of ceramic on the floor to become a mosaic, saved hair from the bath drain for compost, that milk carton doubles as a flower pot and so on. Dear Collectors, Thank you for debating, arguing and literally showing me your points. I literally never would have known the many ways to use a bread twist tie. Your creativity is boundless. Thank you for being so resourceful.
They make it work. Whether they are teetering across five feet of garbage, or stacking hat boxes in a corner with magazines and important mail mixed in my Clients know how to make it work. Like skilled survivalists climbing over and under to get a drink of water. Sleeping on their beds with everything but the kitchen sink. Remarkable. The adaptability factor is intriguing.
They make me laugh. And laughing is good for the mind, body and soul. Even in the most severe cases, we are able to find humor in something. Even when there is pressure of eviction, divorce and family members launching attacks, we find ourselves laughing throughout the day. After going through the 50th large home depot box of mystery items, and the 3,000 garments in their closets you really get to know someone well. You tend to joke around by that time. We are all exhausted, emotions have run high, and it's always good to get a good laugh in. I love how the majority of my Clients see humor in their collections and situations.
As a side note Collectors, I LOVE going through your mystery boxes. Thank you for your time capsules, and random acts of organizing.
Until the next blog Collectors, thank you for stopping by.
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