My mom had that same problem. Growing up I had to sleep on the sofa because my bedroom was packed to the ceiling with junk. She would get VERY mad if anyone cleaned because they were “throwing out her good stuff.” Every room had a path, including the hallway. Our house was actually dirtier that that house.

When she died it took a year to remove all the stuff from the house. I could only do it on weekends because I live about 200 miles away. Yes, I could have thrown it all out however I wanted to keep pictures and a few things mixed in with the rest of the junk. Cleaning it out was like a nostalgia treasure hunt. I never knew what I’d find. In one old dresser I found a valuable gold watch in a used tissue.

When I finally had an auction the stuff I didn’t throw out sold for over $7K. I guess to others with this disease.