There was an organizing/interior decorating show almost two decades ago called Clean Sweep that was the perfect blend of education and entertainment. Lead organizer Peter Walsh offered compassionate but straightforward advice and the end reveal was almost always stunning but also looked as if the client might actually be able to maintain it. The show got me so motivated that I used to hum the theme song while I cleaned my house.
Since Clean Sweep there have been many other organizing shows, most notably Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. The latest is Get Organized with the Home Edit on Netflix and I’m a fan. The show features fun celebrity clients like Drew Barrymore and Chris Pratt mixed in with non-celebrities but the emphasis is on the very watchable organizers getting to work. The founders of The Home Edit, Joanna Teplin and Clea Shearer, are super cute and have practical organizing tips sprinkled into their upbeat banter.
As on Clean Sweep, the clients on Tidying Up are average Americans, so you don’t get the extra excitement and camera-ready looks of The Home Edit’s famous faces. Kondo is a fan of repurposing shoe boxes and sunglass boxes for organizing purposes, so essential when organizing on a budget. You won’t see much cardboard on the acrylic canister and sea-grass basket-heavy Home Edit show. After all, Khloe Kardashian is not going to store her extra iPhone chargers in an old sunglass box, even if it’s Chanel.
Clea and Joanna don’t focus on getting rid of stuff—they aren’t about to suggest Dwayne Wade part with a single pair of his floor to ceiling basketball shoe collection–so much as reorganizing it, although there is purging of redundant or unneeded items. They are well-known for creating rainbows out of everything from pens to potato chips. It’s fun for the purposes of the show but I could imagine someone buying things they normally wouldn’t because they need some blue or yellow to complete their rainbow of sneakers in the closet or snack bars in the pantry.
The Home Edit also offers a product line, so naturally they replace almost every cereal box and snack bag with a container or canister. I don’t usually advocate for this practice but they gave the first decent explanation that I’ve heard. When something like cereal is in a box you can’t see how much is left without opening it and looking inside. By transferring cereals to canisters, you can easily see what’s almost out and put together a quick grocery list.
On the other hand, cereal goes so fast in every family I’ve ever met that transferring it from the box to a container might still be more trouble than it’s worth (plus you have to buy and occasionally wash the canister). My advice would be to buy two boxes of cereal at a time and when the first box is empty, put “buy cereal” on your list.
There are a few scenarios, for example a little girl’s room, that may have you rolling your eyes. The reveal was amazing, yes, but the copious toys were overly organized and the system would be difficult for a child to maintain. Not only that but Clea and Joanna mentioned at the end that they put a lot of toys in bins in the garage and if the child missed them, they might earn a spot back in the room. I saw the kid’s smile widen slightly at this information and would bet that as soon as the organizers left, she dashed to the garage to pull the bins back into her room.
I love that Get Organized with The Home Edit mixes in normal garage and closet projects with unusual celebrity projects like organizing a tour bus and a Tik Tok star’s prop room. The shelving they had built for the props was especially surprising because they created a really appealing display with what is basically a (cute and extremely successful) teenager’s collection of costumes and fake body parts. It’s proof that it’s possible to make any collection look beautiful.
The Home Edit reveals are fun and their style is fresh and clean. Just keep in mind the fact that they custom build or purchase a lot of new shelving and containers to get their results. Still, their approach is somewhat typical of what you should expect from a professional organizer for big budget projects. If you’re craving some eye-candy organizing inspiration, it’s a really enjoyable source.