Beating clutter is mind over matter, according to home organizing pro

Peter Walsh believes America's clutter problem isn't in our basements or our garages or our overstuffed closets.

It's in our heads.

Walsh, an organizing authority who makes TV appearances and writes books, is intrigued by the emotional component of disorganization. In fact, he says clutter isn't really about stuff at all. Rather, it's about our relationship to stuff.

Clutter becomes a problem when people look for meaning, support and affirmation from their belongings, instead of from other people, Walsh said.

"Ninety percent of what I do is common sense," he said. "All that I do is hold a mirror to people."

Walsh rose to prominence as the voice of reason on the TLC series "Clean Sweep." Landing the job as the show's organizing expert was a bit of a fluke, but it's one his life prepared him for, he said.

Walsh's organizational skills were rooted in his childhood, influenced by his parents' values — respecting what you own, realizing more isn't necessarily better and recognizing that experiences are more important than things.

Then, in 2003, some friends with a TV production company asked him to audition for a series pilot.

Walsh thought the idea of his being on TV was "absolutely ludicrous," but the makers of "Clean Sweep" disagreed. He was the show's resident organizer from 2003 to 2005, prying into the psyches of homeowners overwhelmed by their stuff and cajoling them into mending their slovenly ways.

He later became a regular on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and then got his own show, "Enough Already! With Peter Walsh," on Winfrey's OWN network. He's still a regular contributor to her O magazine and a regular guest on the "Rachael Ray" show.

Clutter is a distinctly Western problem, according to Walsh, because our culture instills the belief that more is better. Add to that the relative affordability of goods and our easy access to credit, and you set the stage for possessions ballooning out of control.

But organizing has to focus on the person, not the stuff, he said. He believes any organizing strategy that focuses on things will fail.

He might narrow that question to a specific space — say, a master bedroom. Often the client will envision a room where he or she can relax, be intimate with a spouse, and get away from the demands of work or kids.

Then, once the client has articulated that vision, the work of culling through possessions can begin.

Walsh helps his clients go through those possessions one by one, each time asking a simple question: "Does this item move you closer to or farther away from your vision?" If the answer is "farther away," the item has to go.

So the computer desk where the client checks e-mail each night before bed needs to be moved to another room. The kids' toys need to be cleaned out. The dirty clothes need to be picked up.

The approach helps prevent the addition of new clutter, too. When you see something you like in a store, don't ask yourself whether you love it, he said. Ask yourself whether it will help you get what you want from your home and your life.

But getting organized brings with it the need to maintain those good habits. Walsh calls it "completing the cycle" and likens the process to a washing machine.

You have to complete a wash cycle for the clothes to get clean, he explained. If you shut the washer off before a cycle is finished and leave the wet clothes inside for three days, your clothes turn moldy and smelly.

It's the same with your home. If you don't finish the organizing cycle — say, you leave the mail piled on the kitchen table or the dirty dishes in the sink — you end up with a mess.

To stay organized, "you may never use the word 'later' again," he said.