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Squalor Survivors

Maxwell Ryan
Maxwell RyanCEO
Maxwell left teaching in 2001 to start Apartment Therapy as a design business helping people to make their homes more beautiful, organized AND healthy. The website started up in 2004 with the help of his brother, Oliver. Since then he has grown ApartmentTherapy.com, added TheKitchn.com, our home cooking site, and has authored four books on design. He now lives with his daughter in a lovely apartment in Brooklyn.
published Oct 14, 2004
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Fess up. Ever wondered how much worse it could get? Ever thought that you were messy and everyone else wasn’t? Meet the Squalor Survivors website, a painful site with a hopeful message, hosted by Pigpen:

I’m Pigpen and I used to live in squalor.
I spent a lot of time and energy trying to hide the true state of my house – clutter and mess – from people. Finally, I realized I had a real problem. I worked to change how I thought about, and kept, my house. My house isn’t messy any more.

This is a support group for people who have excessive mess, but much of it would ring true for those who battle against clutter:

…The mess costs. You pay extra in late fees because you lost the bill in a pile. You pay twice, or are denied a refund because you can’t find a receipt…..

Consisting of before and after photographs, forums, stories and resources, this is strong medicine. We don’t recommend this site for those with a weak stomache. (Thanks, Nora!) MGR

 

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