TV SHOW: Consumed (on HGTV Canada)

**Libby** · 08-31-2011, 01:41 PM

Anyone else catch this show that premiered this week? A professional organizer goes into a cluttered home (similar to Hoarders) and removes everything. Whats your take on it?

The participating family only gets to keep certain items per person living there:

* one place setting worth of dishes
* one med sized suitcase - if you can fit your clothes & shoes in there and it closes, you get to keep it

And then the family must together decided which 10 non essential items to keep in the house - as a family (not per person). They must live like that for 30 days I think.

They show the house as empty and the family gets used to it and then they decide what to keep/purge and if they will live that way. Kind of extreme but I wonder how well this will work. Seems like a different perspective of the show 'Hoarders'.

Think about it, we all like coming home to a clean & uncluttered house right?

Consumed ? Hosts ? HGTV Canada - HGTV Canada

**nuisance26** · 08-31-2011, 03:09 PM

~You mean they actually keep everything but it's stored somewhere else for a month? Then they decide what to purge?~

**dinah** · 08-31-2011, 03:20 PM

i so wish we had HGTV!

**Ceashels** · 08-31-2011, 03:25 PM

I haven't seen it but I like the concept of purging after getting accustomed to living without it for a month. It really lets the brain rethink it's priorities on stuff then a healthier and hopefully less emotionally charged decision to let go of things can take place.

I'll keep an eye out for it.

**madkat2618** · 08-31-2011, 03:26 PM

I watched that last night and thought it was pretty good. DH was thinking it was a pretty good idea! LOL! We don't even have that much stuff.

Nuisance--yes, all their stuff gets put into a warehouse, and after the month, they go through it all. It's quite amazing to see how much room it actually takes up! I'm thinking that after a month of living without something, would make it easier to let go of.

**lottaLove** · 08-31-2011, 03:29 PM

I don't understand why they don't put the family in a hotel for a weekend, clear the house out, throw away all the trash then have the family move back in. Especially when I see the shows where there are kids involved and child services is threatening to take the kids away. My brain screams to the tv things like 'get over yourself, grow up and realize your kids are more important than your garbage'. I just think it's ridiculous to baby someone while they try to decide whether to keep what is literally trash, like bottle caps, used paper plates, furniture broken beyond repair, rotting food items. Then baby them some more when they can't decide what to do, and tell them it's ok, we can put the trash over here in the 'maybe' pile.

**Libby** · 08-31-2011, 04:25 PM

lottaLove - I think the reason why they don't do that is b/c what is trash to someone else may be valuable to another. Example: seeds for your garden, I'd consider throwing them out - especially if they were homeade in an zip baggy. I can buy the finished product from the grocery store as needed. OR a book. It could have sentimental value to the owner but not the person cleaning up the house - KWIM?

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I think the premise of the show is great. You do see how much you can live w/o vs before the lady comes into your home to teach you. I know I have 'stuff' around here that needs to be sorted through and tossed but its always easier said then done. And having lived w/o the said 'stuff' for a month - there's no attachment and a realization of 'Why the heck was I keeping THAT?!'.

I liked this weeks episode - the family couldn't even think of 10 non essential things to keep though the poor DD, she was about to have a panic attack when they were counting the phone as one of the things they wanted to keep. (it was later deemed a necessity in case of emergencies)

I hope the other episodes are as motivating and interesting. I know this shows on HGTV and not TLC but I always have a fear of these shows that start out with a bang then turning into a trainwreck/freakshow.

**Contrary Housewife** · 08-31-2011, 04:51 PM

One place setting of dishes? It would be dirty at breakfast and then we'd eat out the rest of the week.

I can see the logic behind it though, you live with bare necessities for 30 days and when you get used to it you reassess your "needs".

**Spirit Deer** · 09-01-2011, 09:04 AM

That sounds like it makes more sense than a lot of those shows.

I would lose my mind getting rid of things I haven't used in a while. I've donated a lot and am actively working towards getting rid of the excess, but it means nothing around here not to use something for a year or even several years and then need it or want it and start using it heavily. Case in point (no pun) all the knitting needles I have even though I haven't been much of a knitter. Now, I'm really getting into it and glad not to have gotten rid of everything for lack of use. It's tricky though, deciding what to lose and what to keep. I'm currently looking for a set of circular knitting needles I can't find. I have had them for years and never used them. I suspect I donated them.

Every time I go into my sewing room, I think about what the people on those clean-up shows would do if they got in there. So often they seem to talk people out of keeping things the owners have a use for, but the organizers see as worthless. I'd be curious to know how many people regret letting go of the things they get rid of. This new show seems like it might be set up to avoid some of that.

I realize they have to set some sort of time limit to make the show work, but offhand I can think of about seventy-five million things I have around here I might not use in a month that I wouldn't get rid of:
~canning supplies and equipment, depending on the time of year.
~camping gear, depending on time of year.
~our second car.
~the TV in my sewing room.
~beading supplies, collected over years and costing thousands of dollars to replace.
~sewing stuff, ditto.
~various tools.
~gardening supplies including seeds, depending on season.
~snowblower, again, seasonal.
~our dock.
~endless list, really.

I wonder sometimes how much they take a family's lifestyle into account on the shows, too. In our case (not that those shows would ever come here) we live at the end of the road, literally. It's not always easy to just run to the store and buy something you need. We have no Walmart, no Home Depot, no big stores of any kind. The fabric store is very expensive with limited inventory. So for me, it makes sense to stock my sewing room with spare zippers, buttons, and other items I can't easily get here. I never know what I'm going to need, so if I see something at a garage sale that has potential that I can get for cheap, most likely I'll buy it. So far, that strategy has worked great for me, even though it would be their worst nightmare for one of those designers.

Lottalove, the people who save trash like it's gold are mentally ill, and frankly, I'm sick of shows that exploit people who are victims of mental illness. It seems like that's a growing trend. I don't watch any of them for that reason. It sounds like the new show being discussed in this thread takes a more logical approach and may deal with families who have bad habits rather than mental illness. A step in the right direction, IMO.

I'll have to look for that show.