Messy house. If you've overcome yours..

[Nefbachmorf]

and have kept it clean and relatively tidy for longer than two months, please come and talk to me. Tell me how you did it.

Tried Flylady years ago, didn't work for me.
Have dabbled with TOMM and would consider giving it another try.

Im just going round in circles not knowing what to do first or how to establish good habits. (I do find being tidy and getting organised a big challenge).

My.. ahem... life coach says... Make lists. Make routines. Establish routines and stick to them. Always have a plan.

That sounds nice. She told me a week ago and I'm still resisting.

No idea, would love to know

Following. I have inattentive ADHD and this is something I've never been able to achieve.

I'm trying a suggestion today of writing down everything I've done today, rather than writing a to-do list. So far I've done more than I usually would. I'm aiming to fill up the page.

The thing that works best for me is when other people live in the house and they seem to just do it? Now I’m alone it’s not happening!

This is the source of many rows in our house. DH does nothing but wants to live in a show home.

I am seriously considering leaving him as I thin’ he should do a fair share or fuck off

I also work more hours than he does,

following. AS I attempt to tidy up it just gets worse.

My house is a bombsite, we have stuff everywhere and it's become a bit overwhelming to be honest. I need to try to sort it out it's getting us all down but we have serious lack of storage and cannot afford to buy more furniture and storage we desperately need just now.

I'm totally dreading Christmas the thought of more junk makes me feel physically sick 🤢

Causes many rows in our house too! Dh does not seem to see the mess he is a massive hoarder we have so much clutter it's unreal.I have to do all the cleaning/cooking dh is useless with any of it. We have 3 children and I just can't seem to combat the mess they make!! So I'm following with interest.

I moved house to a place twice the size and spent a month sorting through every single thing that crossed the threshold of the new place. We chucked about a third of our stuff. It was hell, I lost about a stone from all the extra activity and stress. But the house is still tidy two years on! And I don't really buy much any more 😂

2 children here. Live in chaos whilst wishing for non chaos. Toys everywhere. I live with it, trying to ignore know that as children get older, it will improve as there will be less tots and they will be able to help more. I try to ignore my stress levels, sometimes I win, sometimes I lose. I just can't seem to get into a routine.

I think before you can keep a house tidy, it has to actually be tidy. I'm not very good at putting stuff away and there's definitely too much stuff in my house. Ie my shoes don't fit into their allocated storage, my clothes don't fit in the wardrobe if they're all clean, there's nowhere for the clean towels to go and there are lots of half finished projects, ie, room decorated but woodwork not finished. This means I don't want to put the decorating stuff away as that's admitting I'm not going to do it, but equally I'm probably not going to any time soon, so in the meantime I'm going to fall over the stuff!
I think TOMM boot amp is the best place to start, and then little and often, but if it can be tidied quickly so everything has a place it will be much easier

I literally knocked my house down & started from scratch, but that's a bit drastic

I got planning permission for a 2-storey extension, plus a loft conversion. Only two walls from the original house are left.

To prepare for the work, I emptied my house a room at a time into my garden (under a pop-up marquee). The stuff I wanted to keep went into storage, good stuff to went to charity and I skipped the rest.

Once the house was finished (and very empty!) I brought stuff back a room at a time, having given it a second sort.

The only thinks I allow in my house now are either useful to my daily life, or they make me happy (including OH). I made a list of jobs with a schedule, e.g. vacuuming and window cleaning and we stick to it. We share daily jobs equally to avoid resentment; OH does the shopping, I do the cooking.

Once you get it under control, it's so much easier to keep it that way. (Yet again, this includes OH!)

I think when you look at a whoe house, the challenge seems too daunting. Breaking it down to a room at a time -or even a drawer at a time- feels much more manageable.

Good luck!

I find watching cleaning videos on YouTube to be very motivational. I can't believe I'm writing that

Keeping up with it every day is key. Our house is immaculate. Crisply clean, steamed, mopped, dusted, vacuumed etc.... I go through two audiobooks a month while cleaning.

You need to declutter. I mean seriously declutter. Then make sure everything has a place to go. If there is no place for it to go you need to rethink what you need.

@zatarontoast

I find watching cleaning videos on YouTube to be very motivational. I can't believe I'm writing that

That's a good idea, I'm going to try it.

I think I'm close to my partner phoning up and getting me on channel 4's extreme hoarders it's just totally ridiculous

I have drawers full of junk that we just don't need anymore and boxes and bags and clothes nobody wears and it's all piled up everywhere

I never invite anyone round I'd be too embarrassed to be honest and desperate to get it sorted before Christmas now x

Have you tried Marie Kondo? The book, not the series.

(I haven't got there yet )

I wouldn’t say I’m ‘finished’ but I think it’s a constant effort. I started with a hoarder husband and a pigsty of a house. By decluttering every day (and logging progress on one of the accountability threads in the housekeeping board) I got rid of most of the visible clutter, and organised so much stuff, that housework takes less time. I have messy kids - but am training them - and still loads of junk but I’m getting there. Obviously with covid I haven’t been having visitors but if someone asked to came over I could probably get the kitchen / dining / sitting rooms relatively tidy in five to ten minutes. Getting rid of my husband also made a massive difference!

Just put everything outside and set it on fire. Use paper plates. Don't wear clothes when at home, it saves on laundry.

Don't follow my advice. But when you find the answer let me know.

watch the Home Edit on Netflix. Its very motivating seeing beautifully organised spaces.

Tagging to read up. I think I have adhd too and I know normal things dont work for mg brain!

I posted an almost identical thread a few days ago, maybe the lockdown and staying home means we're all being driven mad by our mess?! www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/4059545-If-you-are-a-reformed-messy-person

I posted an update on that thread about the progress I'm starting to make. It continued this morning - I unpacked another box that had sat there for over a year since we moved in. The 'every time I enter a room, put something away' strategy is so far working better than anything else I've tried. I have always been so envious of those people who seem to be able to keep everything tidy naturally ...

I managed it. I read Marie Kondo and set about getting rid of the stuff. Basically my house was a mess because I had too much crap, now it's gone it's harder to get messy because there isn't enough stuff to make it messy iyswim?

I have a spare bedroom, where I keep the stuff I can't part with - DP calls it the roll of doom. I realised I hate cleaning so I have a cleaner for 1.5 hours twice a week. It's changed my life.