About the Author
Matt Paxton is the top downsizing, decluttering, and hoarding expert in the country. He hosts the Emmy-nominated PBS show Legacy List with Matt Paxton and has been featured on AE's Hoarders for thirteen seasons. He appears regularly as a public speaker and radio personality helping families find show more the upside of downsizing. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with his family of nine-and nothing but insulation in his attic. show less
Works by Matt Paxton
Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff: Declutter, Downsize, and Move Forward with Your Life (2022) 166 copies, 3 reviews
The secret lives of hoarders : true stories of tackling extreme clutter (2011) 148 copies, 5 reviews
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Gender
- male
- Occupations
- gambler
research analyst
database manager
grief counselor
housecleaner
wetsuit designer - Organizations
- Clutter Cleaner
- Agent
- Jane Dystel (Dystel & Goderich)
- Short biography
- With his company, Clutter Cleaner, Matt Paxton is a featured hoarder specialist on A&E's Hoarders. He appear regularly on radio and television, where he speaks on hoarding and senior relocation.
Paxton has been, variously, a research analyst, a database manager for Caesar's Palace, a triathlon wetsuit designer, a professional gambler, a volunteer grief counselor for children, and a housekeeper. He has started three companies, traveled around the world, and a housecleaner. When Paxton started Clutter Cleaner in 2006, it was intended to focus on organizing and cleaning houses for grieving widows and relocating seniors, but he quickly found himself sought out be extreme hoarders.
As a teenager he spent time with his great-aunt, who had a serious hoarding problem. He estimates he cleaned her house at least twenty times while he was growing up. Today, he and his wife Sarah, live in that house in Richmond, Virginia. It is very clean. [from The Secret Lives of Hoarders (2011)] - Nationality
- USA
- Places of residence
- Richmond, Virginia, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- Virginia, USA
Members
Reviews
Somewhat embarrassingly, I had to dig under a pile of papers on my desk to find this book. The Secret Lives of Hoarders by Matt Paxton, however, does a marvelous job of explaining the difference between "messy" and "hoarding".
I have never seen the show Hoarders, which always struck me by the way people spoke of it as vaguely exploitative. I know a number of people who watch the show purely to motivate them to clean their houses, and to gasp in revulsion at the detritus that accumulates in a show more hoarder's home. That said, Paxton does an admirable job of resisting the urge to write a tell-all, gross-out memoir of his professional cleaning days to grab money from people gleefully reading about hoarders (despite what the cover looks like, I might add). He writes about them with dignity, empathy, and compassion. Though he does mention some of the horrific things he's found, he is always quick to point out that this is a mental illness, and usually a reaction to some kind of trauma that compels people to collect things and never throw them away.
Though not a doctor, he also does research into it, all with the purpose of better helping those who hire his services. Here is a person who legitimately, genuinely works to help people, and who actively seeks out more knowledge in order to better help them. The more I read, the more I was impressed by him. Even I was shuddering at places, at some of the things he described, and I doubt I could do his job with even an ounce of the apparent gallons of sympathy he possesses.
The book reads more like a how-to guide for dealing with a loved one who is a hoarder. It explores why people hoard, including the underlying mental illnesses that can trigger hoarding as well as the local issues ("Why can't they just throw away their food wrappers?"), what people hoard, how to address hoarding in a loved one, and what not to do and what to do when helping someone in that situation.
If you're looking for that gross-out, horror story compilation, this is not it. This is, instead, a very solid, thoughtful look by a man who demonstrates his compassion and sympathy for people suffering from a serious mental illness. show less
I have never seen the show Hoarders, which always struck me by the way people spoke of it as vaguely exploitative. I know a number of people who watch the show purely to motivate them to clean their houses, and to gasp in revulsion at the detritus that accumulates in a show more hoarder's home. That said, Paxton does an admirable job of resisting the urge to write a tell-all, gross-out memoir of his professional cleaning days to grab money from people gleefully reading about hoarders (despite what the cover looks like, I might add). He writes about them with dignity, empathy, and compassion. Though he does mention some of the horrific things he's found, he is always quick to point out that this is a mental illness, and usually a reaction to some kind of trauma that compels people to collect things and never throw them away.
Though not a doctor, he also does research into it, all with the purpose of better helping those who hire his services. Here is a person who legitimately, genuinely works to help people, and who actively seeks out more knowledge in order to better help them. The more I read, the more I was impressed by him. Even I was shuddering at places, at some of the things he described, and I doubt I could do his job with even an ounce of the apparent gallons of sympathy he possesses.
The book reads more like a how-to guide for dealing with a loved one who is a hoarder. It explores why people hoard, including the underlying mental illnesses that can trigger hoarding as well as the local issues ("Why can't they just throw away their food wrappers?"), what people hoard, how to address hoarding in a loved one, and what not to do and what to do when helping someone in that situation.
If you're looking for that gross-out, horror story compilation, this is not it. This is, instead, a very solid, thoughtful look by a man who demonstrates his compassion and sympathy for people suffering from a serious mental illness. show less
Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff: Declutter, Downsize, and Move Forward with Your Life by Matt Paxton
3.5 stars.
Paxton has some unique (for decluttering books) & practical advice about clearing out your stuff (or the stuff of loved ones that you are dealing with) with a bigger emphasis on the hard/sentimental items (things with memories/meaning, photos, etc.). A big part of his advice is a Legacy List. And, honestly, I know he's 100% right about this; all of my grandparents passed long ago & I have one specific item I saved from each, a thing that really epitomizes to me who they were, our show more memories together, etc. And just the single item from each really does trigger the flood of memories for me. I just now need to take this a step further to apply to my mom's items, as well as a way to kick-start my own process (especially his advice on reducing photos).
I wouldn't necessarily think of this as an all-in-one decluttering book. But if you're struggling with sentimental stuff & getting hung up for various reasons, Paxton's been-there, done-that advice may be what gets you moving again. show less
Paxton has some unique (for decluttering books) & practical advice about clearing out your stuff (or the stuff of loved ones that you are dealing with) with a bigger emphasis on the hard/sentimental items (things with memories/meaning, photos, etc.). A big part of his advice is a Legacy List. And, honestly, I know he's 100% right about this; all of my grandparents passed long ago & I have one specific item I saved from each, a thing that really epitomizes to me who they were, our show more memories together, etc. And just the single item from each really does trigger the flood of memories for me. I just now need to take this a step further to apply to my mom's items, as well as a way to kick-start my own process (especially his advice on reducing photos).
I wouldn't necessarily think of this as an all-in-one decluttering book. But if you're struggling with sentimental stuff & getting hung up for various reasons, Paxton's been-there, done-that advice may be what gets you moving again. show less
Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff: Declutter, Downsize, and Move Forward with Your Life by Matt Paxton
I loved how the author shared his story (I have such little pop culture knowledge that I've seen his show "Legacy List" on PBS but had no idea he was part of the show "Hoarders") here and those he works with. This is an actual usable read for what to do to get rid of stuff and also move; it's very comprehensive yet accessible, and I think it's a great resource.
When I picked this up I was originally thinking it would be like the TV show, focusing on people & their hoarding situations. As it turns out, it's even more interesting, giving not only a bit of a biography about Matt Paxton, but also a sort of layman's psychological analysis of hoarding motivations and mechanisms.
I quite enjoyed the honesty of the writer stating truthfully that he got into the cleaning industry merely to pay off gambling debts - but stayed as he enjoyed being able to help show more people. Many folks would lie about the unceremonious entry to the field.
Overall a very interesting book, and, like the tv show, also at times disgusting. show less
I quite enjoyed the honesty of the writer stating truthfully that he got into the cleaning industry merely to pay off gambling debts - but stayed as he enjoyed being able to help show more people. Many folks would lie about the unceremonious entry to the field.
Overall a very interesting book, and, like the tv show, also at times disgusting. show less
Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 2
- Members
- 314
- Popularity
- #75,176
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 8
- ISBNs
- 7