I was a hoarder and now I earn £50k cleaning and de-cluttering people's untidy homes

A woman earns £50k a year by de-cluttering strangers’ homes shows the dramatic transformations of some of her clients rooms. Lisa Curtis, 53, grew up with a fondness of 'collecting' things - which she later realised would be classed as 'hoarding'.

After finally clearing out her own home, she began taking requests for decluttering help from friends and colleagues and in 2017 the side-hustle became her full-time job - which sees her make around £50k a year. Now the mum-of-three spends every day walking into hoarders' homes to help them tackle their habits.

Poo-filled boxes

Some of Lisa's most difficult projects have seen her tackle huge collections of sex toys, rat-infested chairs and even a client who stored his poo in boxes. But Lisa, @motherclutteruk on Tiktok, said she finds the job rewarding as she can "make a difference" to lives.

Lisa, from Jesmond, Newcastle, said: "My dad would never let us into his house and when he died I found time had just stood still in the house - he hadn't thrown anything away. I emptied his and then I started on my own home - soon people started asking me to help them too.

Now I've been doing this job for years - I've worked on everything from stacks of books and letters to sex toys and porn collections. I can help people because I understand how they feel - it's not just laziness, there's a story behind every hoarder."

Houses piled with stuff

Lisa's decluttering journey began after her dad went into a nursing home shortly before he passed away in 2013. His mum, Lily Robinson, 80, had died back in 2001 and Keith started hoarding her old possessions to deal with the grief, and had also failed to keep on top of his housework. Heartbroken Lisa cleared out his cluttered, dirty home bit-by-bit in the months after Keith passed away.

She said: "I work with quite a lot of older blokes, whose houses are piled full and they have a tiny little corner with chair where they spend all day. I find with women - some have addictions to places like B&M and compulsively buy things like homeware and craft stuff.

‘Mummified animals’

I dealt with men who have stored their wee and one guy who stored his pee in pots. I asked 'why?' and he couldn't give an answer - he just couldn't get rid of anything."

She said being a collector doesn't necessarily mean a house is unsanitary - but due to the lack of space, it can often lead to that for some people. She explained it "happens slowly" over time and often results in her getting elbow-deep in mould, grease, dust and even "mummified animals" such as bird, mice and rats.

16-year-old bag of chips

She said: "I had a client who had a nest of rats living under his divan and he just accepted it, even when he heard them running around." She recalled a mouldy freezer she cleaned out recently where she pulled out a 16-year-old bag of oven chips.

But Lisa said because she has struggled with hoarding tendencies herself, she can empathise - and people are more comfortable letting her into their homes as a result. She explained her clients have even included 'top job' bank managers and architects - but you'd never know from the outside. Lisa now wants to educate others on hoarding and raise awareness, so hoarders don't feel such shame.