The Hoarder House Has Been Transformed

This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase through links on my site, I may earn a commission at no cost to you. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

The hoarder house has been transformed. Do you remember me telling you about the hoarder house Kendra purchased back in the wintertime? It’s finally been renovated, but it took about 8 months.

this Idea

I’m not trying to shame a person who lives in this situation. It’s just easier to call it a hoarder house instead of a house where someone was hoarding.

It is obviously a deep-seated psychological problem that is hard to overcome. So I’m not trying to blame them. Now they live in a nice cottage in a retirement village.

What the House Looked Like Before

I don’t even know how to explain what this house looked like when Kendra purchased it. She could barely see what she was buying because of all the trash inside.

I have more photos, but this is enough to give you an idea of how it looked at the beginning.

Now let’s see what this house looks like now, eight months later.

The Front of the House

Originally, the house had tiny paths that ran from one room to another. The refrigerator was falling through the floor. Dead animals were discovered inside.

I went over there when they were cleaning out the hoarder house and brought home a few vintage finds that weren’t in bad shape.

The Front Porch

This mid-century house looks nothing like it did then. Kendra said that when she’s outside working, a neighbor might pass by and yell, “Thank you!”

It was definitely the neighborhood’s eyesore.

I felt sorry for the neighbors, because it was downright horrendous. And I guess it had been that way for years.

The Entryway

Grandson Riley, who will be 22 in December, put all the furniture together. Kendra will be sending the furniture over to his little house when it is finished. Riley’s house has about 900 square feet and is not far from this one.

Usually Kendra uses a stager, but this time the budget was tight, so she staged it herself.

One of her workers had a heart attack and had to stop working on it. So she had a small crew of just a couple of guys.

The Living Room

Here is the living room. I see Riley chose mid-century-style furniture. I hope his small living room is big enough for this leather couch. This house has 500 more square feet than his does.

They have been working on his house alongside this one, but it needs a lot of work. She will have her hands full.

The Dining Room

Here’s the dining room. Good job, Riley, in picking out this furniture! It’s going to look great at your place!

The Kitchen

Kendra knocked down the kitchen walls to open it up.

I like the paneled texture and the bar stools in the renovated kitchen.

You may remember me telling you that the refrigerator was falling through the floor when she first bought the house. It was in one of many dumpster loads that had to be taken away. I think she said 30 very large dumpsters hauled away the trash.

The Laundry Room

The Master Bedroom

It has a generously sized master bedroom with wood floors and lots of natural light through two windows.

The Closets

I compiled all three closets in one image, as there’s nothing out of the ordinary about the storage spaces.

The Other 2 Bedrooms

The house has two other bedrooms.

One of the Bathrooms

I really like the fluted wall panels on the front of the cabinets. Such rich, wonderful texture!

The Other Bathroom

This shade of green tiles is so lovely! It’s one of my favorite shades of green. I’d call it olive green.

The View From the Back Porch

It has a good-sized porch roof.

Oops! The wrinkled rug didn’t have time to relax.

The hoarder house has been transformed into a lovely home for a family to buy and reside in. The whole is probably sighing with relief, because the hoarder house is no more!

Eight Straight Months of Renovations

I can’t imagine what it was like to work in that house. Kendra seems to be somewhat burned out after this experience. It was at least her second hoarder house transformation.

One hoarder house was turned into an Airbnb. And the stories she told me about that one were horrifying.

A grandma, an 18-year-old grandson, and an infant with a feeding tube shared one bedroom in that house. It was the only bedroom they could access.

The grandmother was coaxed into leaving. You know hoarders hate to leave their houses.

Is She Taking Some Time Off?

Kendra said she might take some time off and think about her options. All she knows is houses, selling houses, flipping houses. I’ve encouraged her to teach her skills to other women on Instagram and/or YouTube.

She doubts she has anything to teach. But I’ve assured her that women want to know how to do these things so they don’t have to depend on a man to do it for them.

Kendra could teach them what to look for before buying a potential property. How to view the crawlspace area. And all the other significant pointers she’s learned over the past 15 years. (My house was her first flip house.)

She will be 52 next month, and she’s tired. Her body is telling her it needs a break. She said she’s tired of always having splinters in her fingers.

She’s weary of having to pick up human excrement from some random person who found their way inside a house. The losses when someone breaks in and steals expensive tools.

Having to get heavy appliances up steps and inside by herself because the delivery was just dropped off instead of properly delivered inside.

She’s tired of repeating herself and telling men how to do things day in and day out. And going back over it when they don’t do it right the first time.

Kendra has considered selling her duplex. It is the only property she bought that doesn’t have a crawl space.

She hates houses without a crawl space so she can see what’s going on underneath. Within about two years, she had to tear out the concrete floors due to a problem underneath.

The 5 Stages of Hoarding

Level 1 (Minimal Impact / Minimal Clutter): Clutter is present but does not significantly affect daily function. All household exits, appliances, and rooms are usable, and sanitation is intact. The home may look slightly disorganized, resembling a normal living environment.

Level 2 (A Few Safety Concerns / Moderate Clutter): Clutter becomes more noticeable, and certain surfaces or specific rooms are difficult to use. Light odors or early mildew may appear, and at least one pathway may start to be blocked. The person may begin avoiding visitors out of embarrassment.

Level 3 (Major Safety Concerns): Clutter blocks at least one exit, and multiple rooms lose their original functions. You may notice heavy dust, heavily soiled food preparation areas, strong odors, visible clutter outdoors, and deepening social withdrawal or family conflict.

Level 4 (Hazardous Living Conditions): Severe clutter blocks most entrances and exits. Major health and safety hazards appear, such as structural damage, rotting food, pest or flea infestations, and broken utilities (like sewer backups). Bathrooms or kitchens may become completely unusable.

Level 5 (Critical Mass / “Collyer’s Condition”): This is the most severe and life-threatening stage. The home is virtually uninhabitable with severe rodent or insect infestations, human or animal feces, rotting waste, and often disconnected electrical or water services. The extreme risk of fire, structural collapse, or forced eviction usually requires external authority or biohazard intervention.

Hoarding Disorder is recognized as a mental health condition (an Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorder) under the DSM-5, though the 1–5 scale itself is an organizational/safety tool rather than a psychiatric manual.