Funny things I’ve found in bedrooms and closets

As a Professional Organizer I have an interesting job. I work with clients in their homes and offices, in their intimate spaces and sometimes in places haven’t been looked at in years. We de-clutter, organize, and occasionally ‘excavate’. It can be like a domestic archeological dig.

People say “You must find some interesting things”. Yes, I do. Recently I was helping a client organize her bedroom and underneath a mass of assorted clothes, newspaper fliers and what-nots was a can of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup. I showed it to her, we laughed, and I asked if I might find a can-opener next. Another memorable moment was finding car jumper cables in a single persons bedroom! We joked about boosting their love life.

I like quirky things, like the Roy Rogers lunchbox my client used as a small boy. He put it in the discard pile but when I remarked that it was a treasure, he insisted I take it home. The dead mouse I found wasn’t quite so cute, though it did lead to shrieks, then laughter. I was sorting through toys with a client. She thought she was pulling a toy mouse out of a gift bag. She shrieked when she realized it was real. And dead, I shrieked when she shrieked and the mouse when flying through the air in the shock. Our shock, not the mouse’s.

My goal is for clients to discover the reasons and effects of their clutter, but wherever possible humour and compassion are present on the job site. Clearing the clutter can be fun. I love finding treasures.


During the course of my work, I have found bullets, cheques, cash, teeth molds, unopened mail from 40 years ago, precious jewelry, a five-year old business card from my own company, a one ounce bar of silver, and my pièce de résistance, a package (clear baggies inside other baggies) of cash, gold jewelry and a five ounce bar of gold. That’s just a small part of the rainbow of odd and interesting items found over my 12 years of de-cluttering.


I’ve been calling myself a Professional Organizer, but some days a more accurate term might be Domestic Archeologist. Got anything you want to dig up? Dig out? Dig down? Dig it man!