Everything in its place – The Home Edit – Netflix
I have become addicted to clear Perspex boxes. I have just binge watched The Home Edit on Netflix and I am a convert. For those of you who don’t know, The Home Edit is one of those post millenial services that you never knew was a real job until it appeared on TV, along with social media managers, personal shoppers and vagazzelrs. Basically two OCD ladies coming to your house and organising your cupboards .
A few years ago, we had How Clean is your House, when Aggie and Kim, who were like Mrs Mops on speed, came into your home, chastised you for how filthy it was and set about cleaning it. The Home Edit don’t even clean. They just come in to tell you that you have too much stuff and then organise it for you. The Home Edit are the natural all-American sequel to Marie Kondo and her Japanese obsession with folding and talking to clothes. If Marie’s mantra was “does it bring you joy?” then the Home Edit’s mantra is “can it fit into a clear Perspex box?”.
The heart of the of The Home Edit team are Clea and Joanna. Clea looks like the fiddle player out of the Dixie Chicks and Joanna looks like Clare out of Derry Girls. I think it’s fair to say they are both slightly OCD. I enjoy a clear out as much as the next person, but they are obsessed.
The Home Edit has a clear set of guidelines to help us all organise our homes. They are:
Edit – chuck stuff out.
Categorise – stick stuff together.
Contain – stick stuff in a clear Perspex box.
Their other top tip is to arrange everything by the colour of the rainbow. I mean everything; clothes, books, food. Esssentially your entire house should look like a permamanent appreciation of the NHS.
In the series they do a combination of celebrities and normal people. Clea and Joanna are assisted by an ever-changing cast of young women who seem as obsessed as they are, but all branded in the Home Edit tee shirts (which of course are available to buy on the website). Funnily enough they seem to do all the work, but never get to meet to the celebs or drink the champagne after the big reveal.
The team tackle all the rooms in the house but do seem to concentrate a lot on kitchens. This makes complete sense as most kitchens are a graveyard for all those gadgets and gizmos that you bought thinking they would save time, money and effort for them to end up being shoved at the back of the drawer, meaning that it won’t shut anymore. The thing about Clea and Joanna is they don’t cook. Part of the enjoyment of the show is watching them look completely befuddled at a wok or a ladle or another very basic piece of a kitchen equipment and trying to determine exactly what it does, how it should be categorised, and will it fit in a clear Perspex box.
At times, the enthusiasm and fangirl obsession with their celebrity guests can be a bit grating but overall, I really like spending time with these two. I’m not sure I’d like to go for a drink with them or for that matter let them in my house, but they are both engagingly funny and incredibly practical people.
I have tried to adopt some of their techniques, but the main problem I have is that I live in a Victorian terrace house in the UK and they only seem to do huge American homes with walk in closets, which have got so much space anyway that they can put everything in little boxes and not have to worry about organising their back bedroom so that they can still get into the airing cupboard.
The Home Edit is available on Netflix
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