To be fascinated by tidy people

I also can’t understand lots of clothes out “at all times”

I can’t even picture what this means. Out on the bed? The floor? If they’re not in a wardrobe or drawer where else can they go?

You pick an outfit and wear it and then put it in a basket/hamper at the end of the day.

The house being a mess genuinely gives me anxiety and makes me so unhappy. I don’t mind it as the day goes on, my kids play, we cook dinner from scratch, baby stuff everywhere from newborn… it gets messy!! but before I go to bed I will need the house to be tidy.

It isn’t about stuffing it all in a cupboard either, my cupboards are organised too 🤣
I think it’s all about not letting it get on top of you. Everything has a place. If it doesn’t have a place then we find one. If we can’t find one then it goes in the bin. I don’t do clutter, mess or disorganisation. I envy people that can sit in an untidy room and not be bothered, they must be truly at peace.

Tidy people are really quick cleaners.
It would take me 3 hours to achieve Dsis standard, takes her an hour max.
Her home is always immaculate, it is a large modern home with plenty of rooms,as a child her toys would be lined up, bed made, she use to run tape down her bit of the room because we were sloppy.
Car spotless, outfits spotless.

It's about routine and also getting your kids to help.

My 11 daughter after breakfast is responsible for emptying the dishwasher before school which means we can load it though the day and turn it on at night rather than leave all the dishes in the sink creating more work to do in the evening. As you finish a meal rinse and out dish in dishwasher not sink. Leaving dishes in the sink all day also and more washing of the sink which will be dirtier.

Saturday mornings she sorts the laundry and I'll do the washing and she sorts out and puts her clothes away. I do see your kids are younger so obviously harder but you can still start early and small eg when she was in daycare I noticed that at the end of the day they would sing a song "clean up clean up everybody everywhere, clean up clean up everybody do your share" while they put toys etc away and we introduced it at home with small stuff, her toys etc and her responsibilities have increased as she gets older.

You can watch some videos about Japanese kids and how they clean up after school and work together for inspiration.

Why do you have so many clothes out? I decide what I am wearing and just take that out- and it goes in the washing hamper at the end of the day. And as PP said I tidy as I go - I put things away at the time. I also swear by the clean kitchen sink at the end of the evening.

Less stuff and storage - but not too much or it get filled with stuff. Shoe storage - and use it.
we have our house on to rent. I have done a ruthless declutter in preparation and now tidying is much quicker as there is less stuff to tidy.
Hooks to hang things - like bags/coats.

I like to keep things tidy and having clutter or a mess gets me unsettled and no I'm not cleaning all the time I just make sure I put things away once and for all, get it done once and for all, clean up as you go etc. I actually think I spend less time cleaning than untidy people who have to keep doing this big clean only for things to fall back within days then repeat.

To me picking up something eg get a specific from the spice rack then leave it on the counter and you have to come back and put it back in the rack which means double work, when you add up those seconds and minutes saved it adds up and makes a difference and in the evening I don't have this mountain or dishes or lots of cleaning to do so I can relax.

I'm trying to teach my daughter this at the moment but I recognize we're all different eg my spouse is a throw it there and deal with it later and I have to accept that he will never be as tidy as I am so I clean up as I go and try to not get too upset and to be fair he has also stepped up to avoid actively creating a mess.

One other are we differ is I push to get rid of stuff we don't need or don't while he wants to keep because in case this and in case that so while I get that I also recognize we wouldn't need majority and I can't stand clutter so we try to clear out regularly.

In all honesty it will be the sitting down and relaxing. Tidy people sit down after all the jobs are done

I have two young kids and my home is always show home ready majority of the time.

as other mentioned, i only sit down when its tidy! I would even tidy with my other hand whilst brushing my teeth with the other!

you have to make sure you have enough storage and a place for everything to be in. I hate when i find an ”uncategorised” item such as party favours!!! Most of the time kids play with it for a bit and then when they dont notice, i bin it. Merciless declutter as someone else mentioned is truely the way.

Good gosh no, I don’t think I’m better or have better have priorities. I’m not justifying a mess at all, or twisting anybodies lives. Ultimately everyone has different priorities, and that is where they spend their time and prioritise their time, what people find individually important is personal to them. I’m like everyone else living for the first time.

I’m sorry that is the impression I have given you, that you think that I am better by my posts, that’s not my intention.

Like others I am just naturally tidy. Can’t relax in mess. Try to only have what we need and everything has a place. Our house isn’t a bland empty home, it has loads of books and colour and kids art on the walls, but it is very very rare that it’s so messy or dirty that I’d feel embarrassed if someone turned up.

I think it comes naturally to some people.
They're generally organised in many areas of their life.
It definitely doesn't come naturally to me, my Dsis is perfect, grew up, same way, she is highly organised.

I agree it’s important to instil tidiness in children while they’re young. It’s a life skill as far as I’m concerned.

I also don’t think a tidy home is the same thing as a clinical home. My home is very tidy but it’s still lived in and you can see a young child lives here. Everything is neat and tidy and my 4 year old knows how to tidy and where everything goes because a) there’s not too much stuff everywhere so it’s not overwhelming for him, and b) everything has a clearly defined “home”, so he knows where to put things.

But there are many nights where he leaves something set up because he wants to keep playing with it in the morning. I like seeing train tracks or magnet tile creations still out at the end of the day.

It’s because I find it so dull that I never let it build up into a massive task. By building it into my day, it’s just normal and doesn’t become so boring or overwhelming.

Like when I’m waiting for the kettle to boil or my toast to pop, I put on laundry or wipe down the sides, or put the dishes away. After my shower I’ll automatically rinse down the glass, and I’ll rinse and clean the sink after doing my teeth - it’s part of the task rather than an extra “job” if that makes sense.

Put stuff away straight away. Throw away what you don’t need and you need good storage

As much storage as possible.
Get rid of anything you don’t use - no “just in case”
Take something upstairs every time you go
Everything needs a home to go back to - no clutter

I was untidy. My husband is neat and tidy. Life is so much better when you’re tidy. You can find things quickly. Clothes aren’t crumpled. Toys are organised. Once it’s all organised and tidy, it takes moments more to put things away rather than dumping them. Tidying away before you go out or to bed makes life easier in the end. Try it til it becomes second nature. It’s not hard and life is easier.

Too much stuff. For example all my ds clothes fit in a chest of drawers, each drawer is less than half full so 5 year old can easily see what he has, get clothing out and put away easily.

At my Brothers house they have drawers, wardrobes, shelving and all absolutely rammed with clothing. So much clothing for toddlers and small child that they will outgrow with hardly any wear and it’s left ontop as no space in drawers.

Your example of swim bags and nursery bags to sort is just delay tactics. I would always bring swim bag straight in, empty as dirty and wet stuff into machine or basket, and let anything else like floats air otherwise they could go moldy before next use. Nursery bag I would always empty asap as you never know if they have left a dirty bag with soiled pants or nappies etc, plus old food pots.

Any time you go to another room, take something with you!
I always do this with washing, things that need to go back upstairs. It helps massively, and eventually you don’t even need to think about it.
It is really hard with young kids though, they are very messy!
During the day I do what I can when they are awake, and then reset things for the next day after bedtime.
I have a lot of stuff that needs organising / selling, and I am getting though it slowly. But mainly I have just accepted that while the children are very little (3 and 1) that I am going to be kind to myself and prioritise the things that can’t wait.

If it takes less than 5 minutes, do it now. I’ll always sort the kids nursery bags as soon as we’re home, otherwise it doesn’t get done until I’m rushing around the next morning. Ditto if we go out for the day, come back, immediately unpack lunchboxes etc.

Just means there’s never stuff hanging around but actually, there’s very few tasks like that that actually take more than 5 minutes!

Stuff like listing on Vinted etc I do as I go. If I notice a dress getting too small, I pop it on Vinted straightaway, so again stuff like that doesn’t build up!

I'm naturally very tidy. However I really struggle now with a toddler, dog and 2 cats. It seems there is always something to tidy or clean. The only way you can be tidy is by putting the time to it everyday, have a schedule and stick to it and also tidy as you go and dont have too much stuff. But sometimes it just takes too much time

Decluttering is the only way!

Never walk through or by a room empty handed. (Like if you are a waiter, you dont just go back to the kitchen to bring out more plates. You look at tables & remove dirty plates & empty bread baskets as you go.. it cuts your job in half.)
So if you go to the door, you move shoes in the middle of the room to the hall, & coming back you pick ip ditched swimming bag, & drop by the laundry area.
If you go upstairs always take stuff up & down. Every person who goes up must take up the stuff left on the stairs, like shoes/clean clothes/loo paper
Kids get jobs. Kids can tidy their stuff if they are told to.
Always s do the washing up immediately.
Everyone puts their dirty clothes in a basket…
Delegate!

Also agree with the person who said that a tidy home is tidy because it is set up that way so it doesn’t need a ton of work. It’s a set of systems in place, things done in the same order, and so the house is fairly tidy at all times.

I don’t live in a minimalist home. Lots of books, musical instruments etc. We have a lot of stuff but it is all tidy if that makes sense. And certainly my house is clean.

Being tidy and being clean are two different things. I have a good friend whose house is full of clutter but it is very clean. I can’t remember my kitchen counter or a high chair (when the kids used one), or my floors ever being filthy for a prolonged period of time.