CLOSET CASE CALABASAS RESIDENT AND 'CLEAN SWEEP' CARPENTER ERIC STROMER PRACTICES WHAT HE PREACHES.

Byline: Elizabeth Smilor Correspondent

Six-year-old Wyatt Stromer is sick of his dad telling him how great it is that he has designated places for all his toys. He just wants to find his one all-empowering Yu-Gi-Oh trading card.

Wyatt's dad is Eric Stromer, self-described carpenter and comic relief on TLC's ``Clean Sweep,'' the show where a crew helps some very disorganized people get rid of their junk and put their lives in order. The show has changed the way Eric Stromer looks at closets, toy boxes, and other nooks and crannies.

``I solemnly swear to reorganize every single closet in this country in the next 500 years,'' he says with a laugh.

When he's not out of town building shelves for other homeowners, Stromer is working on his own home in Calabasas. Just a few weeks after closing escrow, the home is virtually gutted. Stromer says he plans to incorporate all his favorite design elements into a postmodern/'60s California look. He's most excited about the master bath, which will be modern and Zen-like, with lots of glass, a soaker tub and floating vanities.

``It will be like having a spa in my own home,'' he says.

And yes, he adds, all the closets will be organized with drawers and shelves, and Wyatt's will have a desk in it. He hopes the home will be done by mid-July, but the family will be moving in at the end of June. Stromer, who ran his own contracting company before ``Clean Sweep,'' says living in the unfinished home will be like payback from his clients.

Passion of the closets

Those clients included Mel Gibson, Dylan McDermott and Elijah Wood. He actually gutted a home for McDermott and five years later was hired by Wood to redo the same home.

``It was a total coincidence,'' he says. ``I knew I'd done a good job the first time because the stuff was really hard to take out.''

He says his company, Big House Construction, merged design with construction. ``Our clients were people who could afford high-concept design.''

He credits his success to his artistic ability and his knack with people. ``I have a good sense of how to keep people comfortable with themselves and each other.''

Stromer learned about himself while working construction jobs to pay for his University of Colorado education. ``I learned you have to have a foundation and build up from that.''

Stromer, 42, talks about his ``foundation'' while he drives by the house where he lived for three college years in Boulder, Colo. He spent a week and a half in the CU theater school, got stage fright and switched to communications, he says. He did some modeling in college and got a part on the soap opera ``Santa Barbara.''

``I was killed by a Styrofoam boulder in an earthquake after a few months,'' he says, laughing.

Hammer time

So he returned to construction. While working for a real-estate developer on a home for Richard Pryor, he learned a few things from the contractors and got inspired.

``I started my company by going home to home with a shopping cart with 10 paint colors, offering to paint houses,'' Stromer says. ``Then I just swapped the cart for a pickup truck.''

Stromer says he wasn't looking to get back on TV. He called an electrician friend one day for an estimate, and he told Stromer to come down to audition. While looking for his friend, a casting agent spotted him and convinced him to audition for ``Clean Sweep,'' Stromer says.

``First off, his knowledge of carpentry, his skills and ability impressed us,'' says ``Clean Sweep'' executive producer Terri Johnson. ``We knew he'd be an asset to the show.''

She said her favorite project by Stromer was a revolving table for a living room/family room. ``It was built with sections on each side. Half was for the kids and half for the parents, but it all looked uniform. I remember thinking I'd like something like that,'' Johnson said.

Stromer is known as much for his antics as his artistry. ``He's a great character. He's very funny and extremely personable - and of course he's good-looking, which is always good for TV,'' Johnson said. ``He's a laugh riot.''

He has painted his eyelids blue, his cheeks red and his lips pink, eaten sawdust for its ``fiber,'' and jumped into swimming pools.

``I just look for my cameraman to start shaking (with laughter), then I know it's good,'' Stromer says. ``That's just who I am. Construction can be demoralizing, so you have to keep the energy and motivation up. The merging of deadline, time constraints, pressure - what happens ultimately is wacky, nutty behavior. It helps us all through it.''

Order, order!

Johnson said Stromer's skills have gotten the designers out of some tough situations - and his energy does keep them going.

``I don't know how we could get stuff completely done without him,'' she said.

It's the emotional component of ``Clean Sweep'' that Stromer loves. ``It's so emotional for these people when we reorganize their lives,'' he says in an unusually serious tone. ``It feels like I'm doing something to help people.''

As a father of two boys, Wyatt and 10-month-old Dusty, Stromer says he has the most fun when an episode calls for building kid stuff. One of his favorite projects was a huge bunk bed with platforms and racing stripes. ``It was the ultimate little boys' bedroom,'' he recalls.

For Wyatt, he's planning a room with plenty of space for his art projects. But he wouldn't mind if his son redesigned his room over and over again. That's what he did as a boy, Stromer says. It's what he still does today.

CLEAN SWEEP

What: Home improvement show where a crew helps homeowners turn very messy spaces into organized and livable ones.

Where: TLC.

When: 6 p.m. weekdays, 8 p.m. Saturdays.

Top 5 organization tips

1. Sort: Follow the ``Clean Sweep'' method of sorting clutter into three piles: keep, toss, sell.

2. Don't let collections become clutter. It's only a collection if it's displayed somehow in the home.

3. Keep a clean desktop. Have a place for all papers so your desk is only a temporary way station.

4. Keep track of little things. Small toys such as Legos should be stored in shallow drawers or boxes so they are easy to find.

5. Use your closet space. A closet is not just for hanging clothes. It can be an office, craft room, bookshelf and more.

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Mr. `Clean Sweep'

TV's Eric Stromer knows the drill for removing clutter from his Calabasas home

(2 -- 3 -- color) ``Clean Sweep'' carpenter Eric Stromer is now applying his organizational know-how to his new Calabasas home, which in some areas is torn down to the studs, above. Things look a little further along in the bathroom, right.

(4 -- color) Turning messy closets into orderly spaces is Stromer's specialty.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

Grooming by Claudia Humburg for Fred Segal Beauty/L'Oreal Professionnel

Box:

Top 5 organization tips (see text)