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SPACE INVADERS SEASON 6 EPISODE 8
Belinda and James

Hands up if you have craft clutter! Sharpies, card stock, scrapbooking paraphernalia?

Introducing Belinda. Her adult children Aaron and Aimee are too embarrassed to have friends over, and her husband James is recovering from a workplace injury and is in serious danger of tripping over a doom box or a hot glue gun.

As a security worker he was assaulted on the job and has limited mobility. Yikes. Belinda’s main injuries would have to be paper cuts.

350 boxes are used to pack up the living spaces and master bedroom.

Media (CDs, DVDs, books), memorabilia, clothes, kitchenware and of course craft items (16 tables’ worth!) fill the warehouse.

Bel’s craft room was bursting at the seams and had spewed out into the living spaces like Jim Beam out of a teenager at schoolies.

Peter makes a great point – the craft room needs to be her limit. No more textas in the dining room. But that doesn’t make the culling easy. On the contrary, Bel sees potential in everything, and she’s defensive.

Pete goes further and says that a mumma should not allow papercraft to get in the way of family. The fam has to have some time out before she hugs it out with Aaron, who really just wants to have mates over for some Friday night beers without sitting on a pair of scissors. 

James gets rid of a bunch of his clothes before heading off to rehab with a support worker, while Belinda struggles then triumphs with her own clothes. 

Separating e-waste for recycling is a great touch during the process. Did you know you can take it to your local recycling centre free of charge?

Angie plucks out some photos, a gold locket and a perfume bottle. One of my favourite things about decluttering with people is the memories and nostalgia unearthed during the process.

She heads off to have a signature scent created, which is a lovely touch I would never have thought of. 

On the reno front, Cherie rummages around the yard and shed for spare bricks, and I am concerned about poisonous spiders. She hits the brick jackpot and thankfully doesn’t need a trip to the hospital emergency.  

Meanwhile a tradie seems to be applying new flooring by using his knee as a hammer. I rewound it three times and still can’t figure out how he doesn’t dislocate his patella. Where is the risk assessment in this episode?

At the warehouse, 350 boxes are culled down to 79 – a 78% reduction. An op shop somewhere is about to be inundated with paper and Clag.

The donations equate to $9,500. That’s a lotta Clag.

Cherie adds some flowers to spruce up the master bedroom and it’s a missed opportunity for yellow roses – Belinda’s grandmother’s favourite. At least she has the locket – she pops it on to keep her oldies close to her heart. She also has the rose-inspired perfume, which she likes. James on the other hand takes a whiff and seems less than impressed.

I’m not convinced about the lemon and blue lounge room, although the brown bricks painted white look good. I was sceptical about that because it can’t be undone and I love a brick patina. 

Call me old-fashioned, but I really liked the 60s home with exposed beams and brick. Those diagonal wood panels in the master bedroom were sensational and I am mourning their loss. 

In their place the pastel pinks and blues are unsightly.

The main thing though is that the fam is thrilled.

The craft room looks brilliant and is a fantastic reminder that having a curated set of supplies is much better for inspiring creativity than a chaotic abundance.

And James has a calm rehab space to Netflix and chill. 

I foresee a tranquil, happy home for all of them – surrounded by a Wes Anderson – inspired colour palette.

 

SPACE INVADERS SEASON 6 EPISODE 7
Steve and Sarah

Married couple Sarah and Steve met eight years ago when they were in their mid-30s. It was a whirlwind romance, and they cranked out 3 kids soon after, including drastically premmie twins (born at 25 weeks), which was an ordeal.

After years of therapies, the four-year-old twinnies Zoe and James are now thriving, as is their five-year-old brother Jack. But what’s left in the wake of the parenting trauma, is a house full of clutter. Toys and homewares cover surfaces for a couple of reasons:

 

• • When life throws curveballs at you, acquiring stuff can be a band-aid solution. With sick kids, Sarah would soothe them and herself by buying toys. I can only image the feeling of helplessness involved in having seriously ill children, and a li’l stop at Kmart would feel like the only thing you can do.

• • With limited time and energy, addressing the clutter and maintaining their home was not a priority.

But it’s not just toys. The huge garage is chock full of Steve’s stuff, including a vintage car, which sparks Cherie’s interest. Who knew Cherie was a car buff? She pops the old girl in storage to keep it safe during the team’s antics.

As Angie discovers later, Steve grew up with vintage cars, and had a brother Robbie who died of leukaemia. Steve was Robbie’s bone marrow transplant donor, but they couldn’t save him. It is a heartwrenching story, And Angie vows to honor Robbie with his toy car memorabilia.

From trucks to trunks, she also finds an old chest which is meaningful to Sarah. Her family were 10-pound Poms – and immigrated from England in 1951 with the heavy timber trunk full of their wordly possessions. It’s times like these I thank god for roller luggage.

Five-year-old Jack is spooked by his very own bedroom, which has become a dumping ground so he sleeps with his parents. “Too many shadows” is the fella’s gripe with the clutter. It’s a new reason to declutter, and I’m here for it.

The twins’ room and master bedroom are no better. There is no intimacy between the weary parents, and no escape from the mayhem.

The team packs everything up, and 70% of the stuff in the warehouse needs to be culled.

There are more than 1500 toys for starters. Sarah feels ashamed and stressed, but Steve has his own issues – he wants to cling to his old footy trip sweaters (which Sarah says she has never even seen before), and all his gadgets. This frustrates Sarah, and drives a wedge between them. They are not working as a team, and the project is stalling.

The garage category is challenging too. Steve is a tinkerer and has a lot of aspirational or ‘one-day’ clutter – hardware he may use in the future and doesn’t want to have to repurchase. As Pete says, in theory there may be some savings in keeping the clutter, but there are also huge costs, to their space and relationship. And when you keep a gazillion things, you can’t find what you need anyway.

Cherie wants to restore marital harmony by booting little James out of the master bedroom and into a shared room with his brother, while Zoe as the only girl will get her own room. Makes sense – the lads are pretty close in age and can enjoy dinosaurs and trains while Zo’s space is pinked up to the max. The artwork chosen for her room possibly would have frightened me as a child (even more than shadows), but it does look sophisticated.

There are challenges with hardware and weather, which create the familiar renovation scheduling stresses.

At the warehouse, a bundle of suspended plush toys is released onto the floor, to the delight of the kids. They are encouraged to choose their faves, which kids generally excel at. The parents jump on board the cull as well, and fill boxes with a rainbow of plastic.

Linen and clothes are also ruthlessly donated, and it seems the couple is finally collaborating and the narrative arc is heading towards completion.

$12,000 worth of stuff makes it into the donations pile – and there are going to be some happy kids coming out of op shops across Melbourne in the coming months.

The master bedroom features a great bed with storage underneath, as well as the prospect of conjugal bliss. Angie’s revamped trunk adds a rustic touch as well as the possibility of bruised shins from bumping it in the night. Looks cute though!

The boys love their room, but not as much as Zoe, who gets a light-filled space all to herself. And a king single bed, while the boys score mere singles. I predict sibling rivalry in their future. And some confusion in changing sheets. Advice to the parents – keep Zoe’s bedding colours distinctive to avoid frustration.

The garage is decked out with shelving, and it’s refreshing to see the team has used existing tubs in the organising process rather than 100% new and matchy-matchy. There is a touching nod to Robbie with some automotive mementos, and the Holden GTS is rolled in to take pride of place as the final masterpiece.

SPACE INVADERS SEASON 6 EPISODE 6
Ange and Marlon

Let’s play the “Whose clutter is it?” game with Ange and her family – husband Marlon, 19-year-old Ashleigh, 16-year-old Bella and 13-year-old Cameron. When Ange went back to work after her nearly 20 child-rearing years, household clutter accumulated – although I have to suspect the seeds were sown and her cupboards were probably already overflowing. Clutter entropy is real, but it doesn’t happen in a vacuum.

Ange, Marlon and their three kids blame each other for the clutter spiral. As the saying goes, when you point one finger at someone, there are three fingers pointing back at you.

Ange has back issues and limited time. Marlon works night shift, which is a handy excuse but guess what – home maintenance doesn’t care what time it’s done.

Peter, Angie and Cherie arrive to problem-solve. Ashleigh and Ange own up to contributing to the clutter, but the others play the blame game.

Cherie notices there is no storage in the living room, so no wonder the detritus of their lives is on display. It’s a good point, but storage is not the problem – volume is the problem.

Ange wants more kitchen preparation space, but let’s assume that more bench space would just attract more clutter. She feels responsible for the entire debacle, as women often do. Even when both in a heterosexual couple work full time, it’s the woman who bears the brunt of housekeeping guilt and judgement.

A comment on Cherie’s Facebook post notices “There was a toilet roll in the frying pan on the stove. How does that get there?” It’s a good question and an example of how things get out of control when nobody is taking responsibility.

A big reset needs to occur. And it does, in the form of moving the fam’s household items to the warehouse. The result is confronting – craft, toys, games, tech, clothes and kitchenware – including 275 plastic food storage containers. That’s a lot of leftover options!

202 moving boxes contained and then spewed out the wares. 70% needs to be eliminated from the hoard.

Cherie talks about the kitchen ‘Golden Triangle‘ concept – connecting the fridge, sink and stove in easy reach of each other. I wonder if we can replace the stove with an airfryer in this notion, since it can be an integral appliance in a lot of homes. A key improvement in this reno is to get the fridge out of the playroom and into the kitchen. Not good for your step count, but great for efficiency.

Yet again Cherie is stressed about broken tiles. It’s a common renovation stress-point. They solve it with a new rangehood to hide the eyesore.

Floating floorboards, scalloped wall panels, lighting, window furnishings and kitchen cabinetry are deployed to improve the rooms.

At the hall, Peter locks in on Ashleigh’s gymnastics trophies and asks her to curate them. Ange chimes in to talk about all the time spent transporting her to practice and competitions. It’s a classic case of people thinking the tangible items that represent effort and joy – need to be kept indefinitely. But it’s not the case – both mum and daughter gained a lot from the process (bonding, pleasure and triumph) whether the trophies remain or not.

Also Ange is clearly quite sentimental and attached to belongings, and her kids have inherited that behaviour. Ange is accustomed to being in control, and Peter encourages the girls to be involved for a change. They are adults now. Ange cheerfully suggests they keep an unnecessary two boxes of costumes, and Peter is not sharing her mirth.

The kids get stuck into culling their childhood games and toys. Well done fam! Peter suggests that next time they clean out their rooms, they get mum involved right away rather than leave their discarded belongings to blend back into the chaos.

Thankfully Ange lets loose and clears boxes of linen in record time. She admits that feeling supported via the show is empowering her to let go. At home she felt like she was on her own and was crippled by the overwhelming task of managing everything for everyone.

Marlon talks about adopting a one-in-one-out policy in the future – rather than clinging on to old belongings as backups. It’s a great maintenance strategy.

Angie claps eyes on a trophie which belonged to Marlon’s Sri Lankan boxing father. She gives it a good polish and frames some photos to match. She also takes some fun quirky family photos, and hacks together a family key storage solution.

202 boxes have been culled down to a measly 39 boxes, a huge reduction of 81% – goal exceeded.

The family’s donate pile is worth $8,500. Good luck getting rid of that mammoth couch!

Everyone is thrilled wih the revamped home, which includes Marlon’s dad’s trophy taking pride of place. The new family photo wall goes down a treat, including the disguised family key collection.

Ashleigh and Bella are inspired to bake cookies in the decluttered kitchen, while a modern teen hangout room looks very inviting.

Let’s hope they are motivated to declutter and organise their bedrooms and garage – who knows what lies in there! Hopefully, no toilet rolls in frypans.

SPACE INVADERS SEASON 6 EPISODE 5
Marg

Marg has a soft spot for op shopping, but her husband Chris and daughters Holli and Cassidy don’t – because this seemingly innocent pastime has filled their home to the brim with clutter.

The couple were childhood sweethearts and have been married for 30 years. That’s cute – but what’s not cute is arguing about a teaspoon collection – and that’s been happening a lot lately. 

Marg is an aesthete and loves trinkets and collections. She also has high scrupulosity – she doesn’t want anything to go to waste. And that’s normal right? Everything would be fine if her family just accepted the clutter, right? She tells Peter “Apparently, I have too much stuff”. So it seems she is not bothered by it, and it’s everyone else’s problem.

Chris tears up and Marg says “don’t get upset – it’s just stuff”. No it’s not. Pete throws a truth bomb – if this shite ain’t dealt with, your family is on the line. It’s your problem too, Marg.

Angie is interested in restoring an art deco radio which was buried under the mayhem. Cherie is interested in restoring the 1930s house in a sympathetic style that includes Marg’s vintage aesthetic and also a hideous cat run in the living room. It’s quite the challenge. How does one encompass art deco, torn-up cat carpets, a gazillion jugs and vases and a giant skeleton?

Out the back there is a room of doom, which even the cats aren’t exposed to. It’s where most of Marg’s op shop finds have gone to die. 

The team also notices that there is just way too much furniture. Couches, chairs and cabinets a’plenty. We see that a lot in cluttered homes.

At the warehouse reveal, Chris and Holli are emotional while Marg thinks it’s all a bit hilarious. 180 candles, 70 vases and 75 jugs are nothing to snicker at. We know from last week that Peter doesn’t like misplaced jocularity.

More than 350 bins, bags and totes transported the hoard. What even is a tote? It’s American for tub or container.

We hear some explanations for Marg’s bowerbirding behaviour:

 

• • She had a mum who loved an op-shop fossick so Marg learned from the best

• • She had a working class upbringing, therefore a poverty mentality (getting things cheap and can’t let go)

• • She does it for dopamine hits – unfortunately at the expense of her family’s comfort and serenity.

Peter pulls her up on saying “my house”. She is used to having her own way, but the time has come to consider the fam.

Speaking of the fam, they start bickering at the sorting stage. Marg wants to cling to a sewing machine, while Holli says it has never been used. It’s aspirational clutter Marg – having a sewing machine and actually sewing with it, are two different things! Marg acquiesces on that one, but there is more tension to come. 

When it’s clothes time, younger daughter Cassidy arrives to pitch in. If two daughters can do anything at all, it’s gang up on their mum – and I am here for it. Marg’s mountain of clothes stresses everyone out. Her daughters say she keeps losing garments and no bloody wonder. Peter comes up with the saying of the episode, “if you can’t find it, you don’t own it”.

He encourages Marg to smash some bowls she was keeping for the girls. Ouch, her pain is visceral. Chris chimes in on a jug he likes, but rather than smash it he wants to keep it. The way the family eventually collaborates on curating Marg’s purchases is quite heartwarming. Even the giant skeleton is eliminated. 

Cherie has a similar ultimatum to last week for her tradespeople – get the benchtop out without damaging the tiles. I mean they are nice – yellow and white checkerboard. She jacks up the expectations further and wants one white and one yellow tile replaced completely.

Howards Storage World turns up to fill the cupboards with unlabelled containers while Cherie paints the cupboard doors. She locks in on a snazzy gold and white striped wallpaper, and matches the gold with a Taubman’s paint called ‘Nubuck’, except it looks heaps paler on the walls than the swatch. I’m glad it’s not just me that happens to. 

Angie heads off to see a radio nerd, who has put on his best red beanie and froths at the opportunity to talk his craft. He is pleased to be able to say it needs its “amplifier rebuilt” but his ambitions are not realistic. He comes up with a great compromise for this not-so-restorable art deco beauty – turning it into the most glowed-up bluetooth speaker in history.

At the warehouse, it’s triumph time. A 76% reducion (cash equivalent of $27,000) is a great result, especially with Marg’s hoarding tendencies.

She is a new woman. 

And the house is a new house.

Greens, golds and neutrals tie everything in nicely. The entertainment unit has been reimagined – and 2005 obviously called for their ‘Home’ word decal back, as it has disappeared. The new cat run looks great, but I need to see what the felines think. Cats are queens at rejecting their humans’ hard efforts to please them. Their likely response was a flash of their cat-bums as they sauntered away to sharpen their claws on the new plush furniture.

The team has designed a creative space for Marg to prove to her family that she WILL actually use her mountains of craft materials, but I hope she doesn’t want to sew, because she was coerced into donating her Janome.

The girls have their own chill retreat where they can invite friends without shame and hook their Spotify up to the mammoth Art Deco bluetooth speaker. It’s party time for everyone.

SPACE INVADERS SEASON 6 EPISODE 4
Annie

Annie’s home has become overrun with inherited clutter after she lost her parents. She is weighed down trying to honour their legacy.

Husband Mark and son Harry also live in the house, and Harry’s interstate boo Sophie recently moved in. Unable to afford their own home, the young lovers are adding to the clutter. But also impacted by it. Initially, Hazza was too embarrassed and took Soph to a hotel before introducing her to the mayhem at home. 

Annie takes full responsibility for the buildup and is ashamed. She needs help resetting her house for a bright future. 

She has the old “but I might need it one day” mentality, which is a common decluttering roadblock. The problem is, a high volume of “just in case” items means cluttered chaos, and you won’t find your belongings anyway!

I shudder at a glass and dark brown wall unit, full to the gills of daggy trinkets. What will the team do with that?

We’ll see. They turn up and witness a packed dining table, multiple dumping zones, and a cluttered kitchen bench. Sophie wants to bake cakes but there isn’t even enough room to put down a mixing bowl, let alone knead some dough.

Pete calls out Harry and Mark for laughing at the situation and suddenly I feel like I am in a classroom being chastised for sniggering inappropriately.

They head down a hallway that has the typical piles lining the side. Annie explains that as an only child, she was lumbered with the task of emptying her dead parents’ home. She is both annoyed at them and yet keen to honour their legacy. 

As those left behind we have to remember our deceased loved ones would not want us to be drowning under their clutter and saddled by obligation and guilt. And if they WOULD want that, they are arseholes anyway!

Also, household items are NOT our loved ones. We can’t bring our parents back from the grave by squeezing their Tupperware and stationery into our already-full cupboards. 

The volume of stuff at the warehouse looks like an all-time record. There is not enough space to unload the parents’ belongings, which are stacked along the wall. Annie is inconsolable. Nobody is laughing now.

600 bins, boxes and bags got everything there, including 100 of Annie’s parents’ boxes. Peter says 70% has to go – I would have thought more?

There are a whopping 600+ trinkets and ornaments. Annie is struggling to let anything go. Find the treasures Annie! Pete will have to tighten the thumbscrews to make progress.

Cherie has her sights set on the wood fired stove and decides to paint it and retile the floor around it. She likes the kitchen layout but wants to replace the countertops. But for gods sakes tradies, don’t crack the wall tiles or Cherie will not be a happy girl!

A tradie has the task of removing the vinyl wrap from the cabinetry, which could be fiddly or highly satisfying (like peeling sunburn off a friend) depending how easily it comes off. 

Angie stumbles across a collection of old dried roses and plans to entomb them in resin and make a platter – I’m intrigued. There are also some hats Annie’s milliner mum made and some little stuffed teddies Annie clutched on her wedding day.

Annie talks about a crockpot in the “I might use it one day” sense, and various other kitchenwares are being clung to.

Pete calls in the big guns – Harry and Sophie. He sparks a line of questioning to shame Annie into recognising she has too much shite and it’s compromising family harmony. Annie’s greatest treasure of all is her son and his gal. Poor hubby Mark wasn’t invited into the cuddle puddle. 

Homewares and junk are then shoved into boxes in a chaotic fashion that makes me feel sorry for the op shop staff who have to sift through the doom boxes. 

Annie looks through her parents’ boxes and plucks out a stuffed giraffe that looks like she won it at a local fair. But actually it signifies her dad’s kindness to her when she was in hospital as a kiddo. She is pretty ruthless thereafter, which is great to see. With her newfound energy, she gets rid of a lot of her own stuff too. 

The Keep pile is comparatively tiny, with the stuffed giraffe perched proudly atop. They have exceeded their goal and declutterd 85%. The Donate pile is mammoth, and equates to $16,500. Really? I don’t see much of a market these days for dark brown furniture, old stuffed toys and suitcases. 

Putting out her finishing touches at the house, Cherie places down a bunch of pansies. I think there was a missed opportunity to have roses (Annie’s fave) but I guess the team doesn’t want to feed Annie’s compulsion to save dead roses. 

Annie cackles with delight at the reveal, and thankfully, Peter doesn’t chastise her about it. The lounge room looks excellent, a great place for the fam to hang and bond. Sophie will be itching to bake up a storm in the gorgeous kitchen. The rose platter looks great, but I daresay out of 30 years of rose collections, there would have been a lot chucked out.

It’s nice to see her parents’ beloved but hitherto unused dinner set taking pride of place. I always say: Use the good stuff.

The brown wall unit seems to be gone – phew!

Annie is thrilled with her new craft room. While Sophie is baking, Annie will have the Janome humming. I call that a huge success!

SPACE INVADERS SEASON 6 EPISODE 3
Rita and Yezeg

Aged care worker and mum Rita, lives with her husband Yezeg and their 17-year-old daughter Alina and 22-year-old-son Avo.

An accident 18 months ago left Rita with a serious leg injury that triggered a household crisis. The home is in disarray and the clutter is building. It’s interesting that a woman’s silent work and maintenance of the home becomes clear when she is absent or injured. 

Avo took time off uni to look after his injured mum – bless him – and fiercely independent Rita was ashamed. Yeseg says he has tried to help with the house, but Rita likes things done her way. Is Yeseg pulling the Weaponised Incompetence card, or is Rita a perfectionist whose aims are higher than her capacity? 

Let’s find out. 

The team turns up and Rita admits that 90% of the stuff is hers. 

Yeseg’s bedroom belonged to their eldest son who moved out 2 years ago and left all his shite there – I always say to clients – kids moving out need to make decisions on their stuff, not leaving their bedrooms as shrines to their teenage selves. Pull down those boyband posters and dolphin stickers! Or in this case, sports memorabilia.

Rita’s room is not much better that Yeseg’s. She explains that she is also grieving – her mum died recently and Rita has some of her clothes. Rita’s injury involved bones ‘shattering’ which makes me cringe. Yikes! Needless to say, she still suffers ongoing pain.  

All the clutter is a reflection of the grief, injury and chaos that have characterised the last couple of years.

The team has its sights set on the living room and 2 bedrooms. They pack it all up. It seems that yes, Rita is a bit of a control freak. She doesn’t even like people packing up her stuff. Ok Yeseg, you may be right.

Obviously, she couldn’t have done it herself. Over 100 books, CDs and DVDs – also linen, clothes, furniture and Rita’s 70+ bags and purses fill the warehouse. 125 moving boxes got everything there. 

Cherie rips up all the decades-old carpet and gets some heating and aircon in. I LOVE that the aircon system is zoned and that the householders can choose the bedrooms separately – ‘on or off’. She puts a soundproofing plan in place for the kids’ chill room so they can stream their faves while their parents watch daggy shows like Deal or No Deal in another room.

At the warehouse, Peter lectures Rita on what her wardrobe should contain:

 

• • garments that fit her now

• • garments that she feels good in

• • garments that people compliment her on

What I THOUGHT was a wedding dress in Rita’s wardrobe turns out to be Alina’s deb dress. And Rita is lamenting that she couldn’t dance with her daughter on that day because she was in a wheelchair. It’s a touching point but we never find out what they do with the dress. I’d say box it up and put it on the top of the wardrobe rather than have it hanging in prime real estate.

The reno team patches some walls and Cherie heads out to get a medical bed so Rita can raise her leg and prop herself up. It’s a nice touch.

Angie finds a backgammon set that is important to Rita and her memories with her dad. It is also revealed that Rita and Yeseg had a baby who died at 18 months who they called the Lion. It’s a heartbreaking revelation, and the story inspires Angie to create a feline keepsake. I get queasy when Angie mentions decoupage – a very 90s notion – but I trust her artistic integrity. 

Back at the warehouse Peter pulls out the pen and paper to challenge Rita on who she is now. Let go of the mental and aspirational bullshite, of what life could be like. Let’s keep rehabbing Rita but also don’t live in a fantasy future. You are enough right now Rita – sing it sister!

Rita quickly decides to get rid of her mum’s clothes when Peter asks her “what would your mum want you to do?” Rita’s mum was a tough lady – she chose voluntary assisted dying for god’s sake! That’s a practical queen who would NOT want her (disabled) daughter feeling saddled by guilt and clutter.  

The eldest son has turned up to declutter the contents of the bedroom shrine he abandoned. Yay!

125 boxes is down to 26 boxes – a reduction of 79 percent – goal exceeded! (Pete put the goal at 70%) Angie says the donations equate to $10,000.

The voiceover doesn’t mention the Salvos like in previous seasons – rather that the donations are going to a “local charity shop”. Not sure what happened there. Salvos are you OK?

Tension builds as a couch the family wants to keep, has to be fed through a window because the team changed the front room layout. But relax everyone – it’s solved.

The renovated, reset house reveal is well-received. Yezeg loves his new room sans basketball-wall-holes. I love his retro mustard-coloured shirt.

Rita’s room looks luxe, with lots of calming blues and greens. Angie has also thrown in 3 months of home support for Rita. Rita is so thrilled she does a happy dance that might compromise the healing of her leg. All in all what a lovely family and an amazing result.

SPACE INVADERS SEASON 6 EPISODE 2
Michael

In tonight’s episode, grief, clutter, and the team give birth to the ultimate bachelor pad.

25-year-old Michael tragically lost both parents and is looking for a way out of his mess while honouring his parents’ legacy. A sudden brain haemorrhage and a tragic car accident took them away, and he is alone in the family home.

Also he has cerebral palsy, meaning a stutter and some impaired fine motor skills.

His dad Scott’s best friend Ann has reached out to the team to get him help. 

The camera pans around his home and what I’m seeing is mess more than clutter, but either way Michael needs systems. The clutter serves as constant reminders of his parents’ deaths. He is depressed, and Peter chats to him about sorting out his junk to sort out his head.

The living, dining, bedroom and hallway are packed up and taken to the warehouse. I wonder if they grabbed all the dirty socks and jocks from the floor? Did someone do a load of washing?

It’s not the biggest haul the team has dealt with, but there is a high volume of tech cables and dad Scott’s woodwork projects. They pull out 30 pieces of furniture – all circa 1997. Peter says 80% of the stuff has to go.

Cherie rips up carpets and installs floating floors. She also goes for a daring, dark paint. The front garden is revamped into a low-maintenance version of itself.

Michael culls his dad Scott’s CDs and DVDs ruthlessly. A lot of Scott’s clothes are also tossed into the donations box. Peter is worried Michael is going too fast and not putting enough thought into his decluttering. In a slightly unnecessary twist, he starts scribbling words on a big piece of paper, outlining his concern in a long-winded way that Michael is rushing through his decisions and may experience burnout later. 

Music was a bonding activity between Michael and Scott, and there are lots of guitars to testify. There are also lots of Scott’s woodworking projects which Michael clings to. Uh oh, now Michael wants to keep TOO much – we can’t win, can we? 

The message is as follows: just because Scott created it, doesn’t mean Michael has to keep it. I always ask clients in the case of decluttering items of a deceased loved one – what would that loved one say? Would they WANT you to be feeling burdened with their stuff? And usually the answer is no, so why do we feel compelled to bear their clutter indefinitely? Probably because unlike people, our (or their) belongings don’t leave us or cause pain. At least not individually. As a hoard comprising lots of items however, clutter can definitely cause distress and dysfunction.

Ann is still grieving and remembering Scott’s table. I wonder if Ann and Scott were more than just friends? We will never know.

1800-Got-Junk removes all the building rubble. They are probably bummed they don’t get the donatables as well. Did you know they have a salvage sale at least once a week at their Clayton (Vic) warehouse to offset their tipping fees? I’d love to check it out, but can’t find any info online about it – maybe they don’t want people knowing they have a cheeky side-quest with customers’ belongings?

Michael’s 111 boxes are culled down to a manageable 23 boxes – 80% goal achieved! There is a weird clock which looks like a penis – I will be looking out for that at the Salvos – it would be great for the pool room.

The house looks great of course! Angie’s upcycled sundial takes pride of place in the front yard and Cherie’s bold dark walls create a striking bachelor pad, incorporating Scott’s handiwork with new furnishings and lighting.

Mike is rapt. According to the voiceover, his low-maintenance front yard will give him more time to focus on his hopes and dreams, which he stated earlier was to have a family. Does that mean he will spend hours on end in the binfire that is the dating apps? If so I wish him well. 

The new bed has drawers at the end which reminds me of my new bed – a great use of space. 

I have to take issue with a couple of Peter’s decisions when resetting the bedroom:

 

• • Putting soft cubes at the top of Michael’s wardrobe with no labels on them. How on earth will Michael know what’s in them? My guess is he won’t – and he will rarely use or engage with the contents.

• • Dealing with Michael’s habit of dumping dirty clothes on the floor by putting a laundry hamper inside the wardrobe. It’s too tucked away and needs to live in an accessible spot. 

But all in all a job well done, and let’s hope Michael has an NDIS plan to help with housework and doing his laundry. A cheeky pick-up and washing load once a week will make maintenance a breeze.

SPACE INVADERS SEASON 6 EPISODE 1
Val and Nicole

Nicole and her Greek parents Val and Bill have faced their share of challenges.

 

• • Bill battled cancer for years

• • The family shoe shop had to close 

• • Cost of living (and saving up for My Big Fat Greek Wedding) forced Nicole and her partner Tyson to move in with Val and Bill and be faced with …

The Basement of Doom. 

The basement reminds me of the Myer Bargain Basement from the 80s, but is actually a graveyard of Val’s incomplete retail business ventures. Poor Val sees it all as reminders of failure, but I love her entrepreneurial spirit. She was ahead of her time and had her own version of Tupperware-meets-Temu going on.

Nicole sees the basement as a barrier for harmonious living. She wants to play house with Tyson and not be tripping over mountains of boxed wine glasses.

Nicole and Val have tried to declutter before, to no avail. 

Nic also wants to have her ‘Bachelorette Party’ in the basement, which makes me wonder – is the term Hen’s Party now redundant? 

In comes the dynamic trio Peter, Cherie and Angie. Peter’s incredulous exclamation of “wow” is not something I would ever say in front of a client (it could exacerbate shame), but hey this is for TV. 

Fortunately, Bill’s cancer is in remission, but so is any progress on the Bargain Basement. It has been a stagnant warehouse for ages, and has not been used for living or entertaining for 15 years. 

Val is emotional about her perceived failures, and Nicole gives the quote of the episode – “it’s going to be a confronting few days, mum” Yes indeed! Nicole is excited to be able to push Val out of her comfort zone towards minimalism.

The team and the family get their step counts in, lugging everything up from the basement to the truck, while Angie locks in on an antique candelabra, which has caused tension between Nicole and Val in the past. The restored candelabra will mean restored mother-daughter relations.

The basement warehouse is moved to an actual warehouse, where once laid out, the household volume is diabolical.

480 boxes of stuff are strewn across the trestle tables. 17 tables of kitchenware, 500 decor items, 140 handbags and various other belongings fill the room. 

Val is told she needs to get rid of 90% of the stuff. She is reminded to prioritise her family over the stuff. It’s a good perspective.

Peter invents a game called “Push the Purse” to get Val to declutter her handbags. I can think of a few more alliterated versions: 

 

• • purge the pillows

• • cull the containers

• • toss the teddies

• • catapult the clothes

While Val is pushing purses, Nicole is pushing Val. It’s a great production line, but Val is a bit miffed. She is feeling like an undervalued worker being paid sub-minimum wage. 

Nicole speaks her mind – she has worried that one day the mess would be hers to deal with. I’ll bet she wrote a convincing application to the Space Invaders team. A well-crafted letter has meant she avoided hundreds of hours of solo decluttering work in future decades, and loads of resentment in the meantime. 

Cherie gets to work, creating a space for crafting, entertaining and Nicole’s nesting. An electrician finds fault with the electrics, causing the stock-standard source of tension for the renovation budget and timeline. Crisis is averted though – phew.

Val clings onto an unreasonable number of vases, and Peter prompts her to think about what she has spent on them. Thanks for the reminder Pete! He suggest that Val sells them online, and Space Invaders will foot the bill for storage. I’m sceptical that she will get the $20k he suggests, but some pocket money to put towards Nicole’s wedding may trickle in. Does Val have the spirit to deal with all the tyre-kickers on Facebook Marketplace? The dumb questions, no-shows and hagglers? Her initial excitement in response to the “Is this available?” questions gradually turning to jaded annoyance. I would love to know how she copes.

But thankfully, Angie sets up a staging area in the storage unit so Val can bust out the listings. Yes great photos are SO important if you want to sell online!

Val culls and curates a lot of jewellery supplies, in anticipation of reigniting her creative side. Is there another business pursuit on the horizon, Val? Wait, she has vases to sell first.

480 boxes are culled down to 46 boxes – a reduction of 91%. Goal achieved! The donation pile could be an entire charity shop in itself. No existing op shop that I know of, will take that volume on, so I guess it means 100 carloads to various op shops across Melbourne then? Welcome to my life.

The value of the donations is deemed as $72,000. I don’t know anyone who would hear that and not wonder whether they should sell it all themself. But Val’s entrepreneurial side is constrained to the vase collection. 

Val’s husband Bill and Nicole’s fiancé Tyson don’t feature much in the show – decluttering is seemingly women’s business this time.

The renovated basement brings even stoic Nicole to tears. There’s a living and dining space for Nic and Tyson, and a bar and entertaining corner for celebrations, which is only missing a bar mat and an oversized bottle of Johnny Walkers. There is also a curtained-off craft space for Val’s creative juices to flow. She is touched. She feels seen, and Angie’s restored candelabra is the icing on the bachelorette cake. 

Cherie explains the privacy option as though nobody knows how curtains work, and extended family pops in to check it all out, including the elusive Tyson, who has probably been too scared to be in Nicole’s presence during the process. She is a force to be reckoned with.

The basement is no longer a dirty secret – now a party palace where women will proudly sip cocktails through penis straws to celebrate Nicole’s nuptials