Published November 08, 2009 11:02 pm - Dr. Liz Moore is a psychologist who helps hoarders on a TV show, so her mother — Features Editor Suzanne Moore — decided she should fight her own hoarding tendencies by devising a unique and clutter-free entertainment center.

Tackling clutter, room by room
Neglected mess tackled around entertainment center

DID YOU KNOW?


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I've jumped on the de-clutter bandwagon.

This is nothing new — I've chased it for years, hopping on and then off again. And then on again.

Fallen off. Scraped my knees. Left a trail of clutter miles long.

You get the picture.

Every fall, I hear that wagon rattling along as I start thinking of sprucing up my home for the holidays. That's when my vision suddenly zooms in, focusing on the accumulation of stuff.

Stuff that has gathered in places it doesn't belong. Stuff that never should have gathered at all — like the collection of long-outdated TV guides and sale papers crammed in beside the DVD player and television on the big entertainment center in our living room.

If only there were fewer places for such things to collect, I mused as I tossed K-Mart circulars from last April and carefully stacked the framed photos that sat on the shelves. Standing on a stepladder, I discovered dog treats and squeaky balls atop the unit, along with more dust than I care to think about.

I cringed as I opened the door that closes on the one hidden area of the center, finding piles of papers — newspapers, junk mail, more sale circulars, health-insurance statements from 1999 ...

In a fury of cleaning, I cleared every shelf, set the vacuum to work on the dust, polished the unit with lemon Pledge.

Then I packed away all the little knickknacks, sorted the video tapes and DVDs, threw away a couple of movies I'd never liked and we'd never watch again.

BIG INCENTIVE
It wasn't good enough.

There are people in my house (and I admit that I'm one of them) who gravitate to empty spaces. I clean a counter top; it's got a pile of mail on it 10 minutes later. I set up the ironing board and suddenly I have to move two phone books, a map of Ontario and a pile of election fliers to make space for the iron.

So now, with nice, clean flat spaces available on the entertainment center and given my seasonal blindness to clutter buildup, I knew I needed to get rid of that bulky piece of furniture altogether.

I'd thought about that before, but now I had more incentive than ever. For in a few weeks, we'd be sitting down in front of the TV to watch some episodes of the A&E network program "Hoarders" that tries to help people with the disorder of hoarding to clear out their homes and get their lives on track.

Our eldest daughter, Dr. Elizabeth Moore, will be the clinical psychologist assigned to three of the cases covered on the show. Liz will work with those featured, trying to help them find insight so they can allow themselves to get rid of the stuff that they feel fills some deep need in their lives. And, I'm sure, nooks and crannies in entertainment centers, on countertops, ironing boards ...

I hadn't ever liked our entertainment center much anyhow. The only logical place for it in the living room was between two windows — except it was too wide for the space. We needed something more narrow, something shorter.

My eye fell upon an antique oak filing cabinet — its three drawers set horizontally — that for several years had also been a clutter collector in our home. The TV and the smaller set of oak file drawers that holds our DVDs would fit nicely on top.

But what about the DVR and VCR?

EASY ANSWER
I tussled with the problem for several minutes, determined to find a solution. Then the light bulb went off. The cabinet needed a shelf. The DVR and VCR could sit immediately upon the oak top with the TV on a shelf above.

But my carpentry skills are about as accomplished as my home-organization abilities. I needed a simple solution.

A quick trip to the basement delivered my shelf — two oak table leafs that no longer had tables to go with them. My brain zipped through possibilities to hold them aloft — bricks, garden paving stones? They'd look interesting, but I needed to be able to attach the shelves in place. A couple of wrestling dogs could otherwise knock the arrangement askew and topple the TV to the floor.

I thought about using blocks of wood that maybe could be prettied up with wainscoting. Too much work, though.

Then, driving home from work, a stand of birch trees caught my eye. And I had my solution. Our redecorating has leaned toward a rustic, Adirondack style, and a shelf sitting atop sections of 5-inch-diameter tree trunk would look great.

I called our neighbor Norm LaRoche, who didn't have any birchwood at hand but volunteered to cut 6-inch-high chunks of maple for me on his table saw. The bark was still on, so he suggested I carve an outline of an evergreen tree on each section.

The project came together in the space of an afternoon, creating a functional and unique unit that leaves little space for piling on unsightly stuff. It's a lot easier to dust, too.

It's a start. Next, I'll tackle the overstuffed bathroom closet and kitchen cabinets. So things like the vacuum and broom and giant bag of dog food don't have to sit in plain sight.

And so Liz won't recommend us for "Hoarders" in an episode to come.

E-mail Suzanne Moore at: smoore@pressrepublican.com