Tava smiley clean sweep

Host Tava Smiley and a team of experts help homeowners dramatically transform two areas in their house from disaster areas to functional, stylishly organized.

By Sierra Filucci , based on child development research. How do we rate? Parents need to know that this home-organization series revolves around people with messy, cluttered homes. They sometimes get emotional when parting with their belongings, such as kids' clothes or other sentimental items. There's some product placement, but otherwise the show is worry-free for kids if they're even….

Trash Can Crazy: Directed by Stephanie Griffin.

There's some product placement, but otherwise the show is worry-free for kids if they're even interested, that is. In each episode, hostess Tava Smiley and a designer, carpenter, and organizer get two days to revamp two rooms in each house, getting rid of excess stuff and making the homes functional again. The process of letting go is often surprisingly painful, and the crew member tasked with prying things out of homeowners' hands has to act as part-therapist, part-bully in order to get the task accomplished.

While most folks admit to letting their organizational systems get out of control, Clean Sweep proves that few people realize -- at least initially -- how much emotions can come into play when it comes to handling accumulated stuff. One couple had accumulated piles of toys and baby clothes to give to their boys currently ages 5 and 7 when they grew up.

Smiley encouraged them to "live in today," and they agreed to keep only one "future" toy per child. Another couple let their spare bedroom get so packed with collectibles, keepsakes, craft projects, and more that they could climb up the mountain of stuff and actually touch the ceiling. Some parts of the show can be pretty cheesy -- like when Smiley over-enthusiastically blows her whistle to get things started after corralling everyone into a group cheer.

But the voyeuristic experience of watching Clean Sweep will either make you feel better about yourself and the state of your own home or inspire you to do some serious de-cluttering. Kids will likely find little to interest them unless you have a budding neatnik on your hands , but other than the emotional moments people have when parting with their treasured belongings, the material is worry-free.