to want to hire a skip and just chuck EVERYTHING out?

[sliceofsoup]

I have had enough of all the stuff. Everywhere. There is nowhere to put anything. Even though we have a spare room, a huge store room and an under stairs cupboard. They are all full. We live in a big enough house. 4 large bedrooms and there is just DH, me and 2 DCs.

Its the day to day stuff. The coats, shoes, hats, toys. I tidy the kitchen and living room every morning, takes about 30 mins. And by 2pm its back to the same again. How does this happen when there is only me and a 2 year old here in that time?

So I tidy it again. Another 30 mins. By bedtime it needs done again. Argh.

Our kitchen cupboards are full to bursting. What is in them? What is all this stuff? I haven't a clue.

DH usually cleans on his days off, but he has two modes and they cannot run simultaneously. He is either "cleaning" or "not cleaning". If he is not cleaning then he just leaves his glasses/plates/cups/rubbish wherever he is done with it.

I am not perfect either but I can't tidy around him or he huffs and puffs and moans that I expect him to help. I think I am making him sound a bit useless but hes not. When he is cleaning he cleans much better than I do, and he does do loads around the house. Its just all the effing stuff.

So I need

A coat hanger thingy, maybe over the back of the kitchen door
A shoe rack in the hall
Some kind of basket for all the hats etc?
To sort through all the toys and put some upstairs

How else can I get organised? What do you all do with your paperwork and general stuff?

[redexpat]

Re toys. Have you got some kind of storage for them? If not get some. 2 yr olds can learn to put something away before getting the next thing out.

There is a book on de cluttering that lots of mners recommend, but unhelpfully i cant remember the name.

[myotherusernameisbetter]

I just want to burn my house down and start afresh so yanbu.

[myotherusernameisbetter]

No tips either. :(

[sliceofsoup]

We have a toy corner, which is created by the sofas, so everything gets tidied into there. And theres one of those toy bucket things for all the little pieces, but it feels like when I go to bed at night the toy corner is multiplying.

If I get a book I will procrastinate by reading it :o

As for the two year old tidying, she is only just two and is going through a cheeky and unhelpful as possible phase right now. I know I should be the mummy and have an iron will etc but it just seems like more work to make her do it. Especially on her uncooperative days.

I love this house when its all lovely and tidy. I just don't understand how it goes from clean and tidy to complete tip so quickly.

[Cocolate]

You need to be ruthless about dumping/giving away stuff.
When the children are at school I cull the toys or clothes (if they are here they start picking stuff up going "oh I LOVE that toy/top/book/hat")
They each have a box for their art stuff because that seems to spread everywhere otherwise and they are each (youngest is 5) are responsible for keeping their bedrooms tidy though in practice this does not really help.
No other tips: I said only this morning that I wanted to hire a skip and sweep everything into it too!!

[RedSoloCup]

You just have to keep on top of it all the time and you HAVE to have a place for everything.

We have no spare room or under-stairs cupboard.

In kids rooms are their clothes and toys (many toy boxes but regularly cleared out).

In our room is clothes and a drawer of misc (excess toiletries, leads, electric shavers blah) plus laundry hamper.

We have a bathroom cupboard and things hanging on most doors for towels / dressing gowns upstairs and coats downstairs.

I have a big bag in the bottom of my wardrobe for hats / scarves / gloves.

We have another toy box and a few toys under the stairs but no cupboard so fairly tidy when not being played with.

We have a shoe rack in the porch and a shoe box in the conservatory.

We have a big messy bookcase full of book / dvds / cds etc...

[BlackeyedSusan]

get rid of stuff. (easier said than done. there has been lots of wailing here about getting rid of stuff)

look for tips on organising and storing stuff on the internet.

donate to charity shops

pack clothes etc into vacuum bags.

it would be a lot tidier without children and a husband. my dc's can make a hell fo a mess in very little time!

[sliceofsoup]

I think I am actually going to have to start from scratch and go through every pile of junk and throw stuff away.

Ick. I hate it.

[Lushlush]

Take clothes regularly to the charity shop. That really helps.

[motherofmonster]

Feel for you op. I'm sending ds to grans for a sleepover tonight so i can go through and chuck loads away without the 'oh but i love that'.. Really? The car with only 3 wheels that you had completely forgotten about? Also my ds is a fan of 'making things' -other than just a sodding mess so its not only toys but bits of paper, toilet roll tubes, leaves, sticks and other lucky's that get dragged about.
if i don't do it now i will be pulling my hair out by Christmas

[redexpat]

Actually I've changed my mind and think clothes are the easiest thing to sort through. Does this sock have a partner? No? In the bin. Have I worn this in the last 2 years? No? In the charity shop bag. Does this fit me? No? In the charity shop bag.

[Lomega]

Have a sort out day. Bag everything up you haven't used in 6 months or more and give it to charity. If you get the whole family involved it'll be more fun - and they'll probably discover things they forgot about and really love.

I do this every 3-6 months when we get those charity donation bags come through the front door to keep on top of clutter as I cannot STAND the house being full of "things" that have no use, no sentimental value, and are just more things to dust

[Delphinegreen]

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0749918241/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1417180990&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX110_SY165&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

Read this, it changed my life!!!

[TimeForAnotherNameChange]

I agree with others, you need to be utterly, utterly ruthless. Almost thoughtless about it, as in - don't think, just do. When I clean I really clean, but we are currently drowning in junk and shitty old things that no one wants to make a decision about. And I'm reaching the end of my tether, so sometime over the weekend there'll be trouble ahead!

[LaurieMarlow]

YANBU. Go nuclear. Invest in lots of black sacks, then go through all your stuff in categories (shoes, clothes, toys, etc). At least 50% of each category goes in a bin bag and straight to a charity shop.

We've just done this. Felt really good

[BalloonSlayer]

What I do is rather than say "today I will clean out x cupboard," which takes hours and usually looks worse before it looks better, I say to myself instead: "today I will take xx number of bin bags to the tip." I find that I fill them quite quickly and have done a reasonable declutter in a very short space of time.

I did get a skip once though. I still remember that time fondly and am quite taken with the idea of getting another one.

[theoldtrout01876]

I got a 'junk company" to come in and empty my basement. There were 2 dudes who did all the lifting sorting etc and I just pointed at things and said 'that can go".

It was great,took couple of hours and my basement is totally empty again ( you could hardly reach the washing machine before they arrived). They recycle etc for you. Worth every penny

Now I need them back for the rest of the house :o. I used to put all that "stuff" no one wanted to make a decision on in the basement.

[Hatespiders]

You have to really be in the mood. Then first of all tackle only one room at a time, don't flit about grabbing things from all over the place. Open cupboards/drawers in that room and get everything out. Have a large box for 'keep' and all the other stuff goes for 'chuck' or 'charity'. (Do not 'rescue' stuff and put it back in the keep box!)
If you haven't enough storage, get extra containers/boxes/drawers, but not too many, or you'll just hoard yet again.
Clean and dust all the empty cupboards/drawers etc and put all the 'keep' stuff tidily away.
Rinse and repeat for every room. It will take many weeks, so be sure to keep the tidied rooms tidy. Everyone must agree to Put Things Away, always; and not on The Big Shelf (ie the floor!)
Be ruthless about not hoarding things you never use or wear. Try to detach emotionally from them. They're only things.
Once your house is cleared and tidy, cleaning is a doddle.

[MurderonthetopCs]

yanbu Ioften feel as though I'm drowning in stuff and have fantasies about getting rid of it all - by any means.

[GatoradeMeBitch]

I had a huge clearout one year ago. It's all back... We have a small living room and I'm slightly worried about where the tree will fit this year

[GingerLemonTea]

www.amazon.co.uk/The-Life-Changing-Magic-Tidying-effective/dp/0091955106?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

Reading this & finding it helpful.

[AdoraBell]

I'm feeling the same tonight but because my two 13 yr olds will not put their things away I'll go halves on the cost with you OP

[Christina22xx]

You can donate stuff or sell on ebay.
Quicker would be to donate.
Also get some boxes/organisers from ikea and label them.
If you saw my house everything is labelled and tidy.
Tidy house, tidy mind!

[Wh0dathunkit]

I used to rent my flat out. When I popped in to sort some stuff out with my tennants I actually thought I'd forgotten how big the rooms were. It's a perfectly decent sized flat with a lot of storage for a couple, but for a family and all their associated bobbery, the space rapidly gets filled!

It's happened again now that I've moved Mr Thunkit in. We're playing furniture tetris on a regular basis, and my god the man has SO MANY CLOTHES!!! You have my sympathies OP - I'm going to be ruthless while he's picking his mum up for Christmas, or we're going to have nowhere to store her :)

[HomeIsWhereTheHeartIs]

We've just moved house, and we were absolutely brutal about what to take with us when we moved.
Can you possibly empty one of your rooms - put everything into the hallway or garden etc, and then decide what to 'put back' and what to get rid of? Or even start small and empty the contents of a kitchen cupboard, and then decide what stays/goes?
We have coat hooks, a shoe storage thing from IKEA, a big blanket box that hides my ironing pile and doubles as a seat, underbed storage, vacuum storage bags, you name it.
Also we are part of a church and we regularly receive emails such as "the church has been asked to help a lady who has just fled her home due to DV. Can you help with bedding/pots and pans etc..." So it's hard to keep hold of "spare" things when you know someone else would be grateful for it.