Nashville moms behind The Home Edit organize celebs' closets and pantries
Jessica Bliss
Actress Mandy Moore fainted — falling dramatically to the white tile floor — when she first saw her newly organized pantry.
Well, she pretended to faint anyway.
That's how much she loved the way it looked.
With its perfectly stacked paper towels, spice-filled Lazy Susans and specially reserved shelf for the stand mixer, it went from mess to immaculate thanks to the two women behind Nashville-based organizing business The Home Edit.
And Moore's not the only celeb who is falling for decluttering masterminds Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin.
Together the organizing entrepreneurs have beautified the closets, pantries and playrooms of stars like Kim Kardashian, Mindy Kaling, Gwyneth Paltrow, Thomas Rhett, Kacey Musgraves and more.
They have become social-media famous, boasting more than half a million Instagram followers. They have a stunning book on the way next year. And, if that's not enough, next month their TV show "Master the Mess" debuts on Reese Witherspoon's new video-on-demand channel Hello Sunshine.
In some ways, these dynamic business partners are a classic example of how opposites attract.
Shearer is tall and dark-haired, with trendy black-framed glasses highlighting her long lashes and a high-energy persona. She adores shoes and champagne. She is the type of person who would walk into someone's house and start rearranging their books.
More:3 home organization tips from The Home Edit
Teplin is blonde, slightly shorter and a little quieter. Her orderly closet is filled with clothes mostly in the shade of black. She loves candy, and she can't put down a good book about business. She has dozens neatly stacked on her living room shelves to prove it.
But, different as they may appear, they swear they share the same entrepreneurial brain. And it seems totally true.
It took only four hours over omelets and lattes at Frothy Monkey for the two women to decide they were destined to work together. That was three years ago.
Since then, they have become not only one of the most sought-after home organizing duos in the business but also a burgeoning brand with a highly hilarious social media feed and a long list of famous supporters.
It all stems from their uncanny ability color-code craft shelves and shoe closets in their now famous ROYGBIV organizing style.
"What's great about them is everybody has a need for them," says Falon Terry, wife of Rivals.com founder Shannon Terry and a big fan of The Home Edit.
"... They make your day easier. It's such a simple thing but when you know where to find something you get ready faster, get the kids out the door faster.
"They are really fun to be around. And, they are perfectionists, obviously."
The school of organization
So why home organizing?
"The truth is, it’s the only thing we know how to do," Shearer says as she sits on the couch in Teplin's impeccably put together house just a few days before Hello Sunshine's red carpet premiere earlier this month.
"It’s just so satisfying," Teplin professes.
"We find it satisfying,” Shearer says.
It’s easy to assume that these two women — who have created the incredibly cool closet spaces of Hollywood actresses and country music stars — must have been spotless as little girls, playing in always pristine playhouses.
Well, yes and no.
Shearer’s mother Roberta Cummings — yes, if you follow the women on Instagram, she's the beloved mom behind #RobertaApproved — remembers her daughter as always having "a whirlwind of great energy" and a very clean room.
Shearer herself admits she would set aside time on spring break just to organize her desk and vanity drawers.
But more special than that, and perhaps more telling, Cummings fondly recalls the way her daughter played as a little girl.
In the back hallway of their California home, there hung a huge thrift-store-bought chalkboard, just like one right out of an old classroom.
There, Clea and her next-door neighbor would spend hours getting ready to play school. But they rarely made it to the make-believe part, they had too much fun putting all the school supplies in order first.
"They would organize the pencils and the pens and the books and the chalkboard — and then it would be time to go home,” Cummings says with a laugh.
Teplin doesn't own up to being an organized child, but she certainly grew into it. She remembers obsessively arranging her collection of tiny penguin figurines when she was little, but by the time she went to college, clothes covered every surface of her car and her dorm floor.
In California, before moving to Nashville three years ago, she owned her own personal assistant business, planning parties, running errands and organizing people's lives.
When she came to Tennessee, she had a toddler, an infant, and visions of launching a new venture. A cluttered life was not an option.
She carried that with her when she met Shearer.
A messy drawer, the 'great equalizer'
Teplin and Shearer shared nothing more than a mutual best friend when they first met.
They soon realized they had more than that in common. They were both from California. Both had moved to Nashville around the same time in 2015. Both came because of their husbands’ jobs.
They both were new moms with small children. And both had big dreams.
After pouring their entrepreneurial hearts out, they knew they were kindred spirits when it came to clutter.
They sat down as strangers. They got up as business partners.
That night, they claimed their social handles, a website name, downloaded all of their business paperwork and designed the logo.
"We went all in," Teplin says.
"Organizers are efficient," adds Shearer.
They launched their business in the fall of 2015 with a clear plan for growth. They contacted notable names and influencers and offered to edit a space for free. The only thing they asked in return was that the client post a picture of the final product on social media.
The technique worked. By 2016, there was a three-month wait list to book them, and they were frequently flying out to L.A. and organizing homes of big-name celebrities.
"A messy drawer is a common denominator for all people," Shearer says. "You might have the most beautifully designed home with the most incredible furniture but the muscle of organization is not one that everyone has.
"So when we go to organize somebody — I don’t care how famous they are — they need our help just as much as anybody else.
"It’s like the great equalizer."
A little messy
What really drives their success are their stories.
Down-to-earth and honest, they don't shy away from being a slightly messier version of themselves on the social media stage.
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With young kids at home, they sometimes sneak away behind locked bathroom doors to get a moment of mommy silence, and then they post about it on their Instagram story.
Now, they are more than just a duo that declutters.
There's the upcoming book and TV show, a soon-to-be-released product line, and the steel canvas basket line. Not to mention what has been perhaps the biggest business surprise — their T-shirts.
Branded with sayings like "Surviving Not Thriving," and "Champagne is Basically Sparkling Water," they sell like hotcakes. They capture a little bit of life's more cluttered spirit, but not without a purpose.
"We are on a mission to make organization cool," Shearer says.
"We will convince everyone," Teplin insists.
"One person at a time," Shearer assures.
Which celebrity will faint next?
Reach Jessica Bliss at 615-259-8253 and jbliss@tennessean.com or on Twitter @jlbliss.
In Nashville:How to declutter: Turnip Green, Goodwill and other nonprofits that take almost anything
How to hire The Home Edit
Home organization doesn't come cheap. If it was that easy, you wouldn't need any help.
The Home Edit is available for hire for $185 per hour in Nashville or between $250 and $425 per hour in other cities where they have to fly.
For more info: www.thehomeedit.com
Watch 'Master the Mess'
"Master the Mess" premieres Sept. 4 on Hello Sunshine and will follow Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin as they "tackle the pantries, closets, bathrooms and laundry rooms of families who are about to experience a transformation in their lives."
Subscribers can watch Hello Sunshine on channel 1112 on DIRECTV, channel 1530 on U-verse or by searching on the DirecTV NOW service.