I'm going to sort out and tidy up every drawer and cupboard in my house. Want to join in?

[MaryCondom]

This morning I woke up with a kind of itchy compulsion to sort and tidy every single drawer and cupboard in my whole house. I have no idea why but I'm snapping on my marigolds and reaching for the Zoflora.

I don't have a week or a fortnight off work to do one big blitz. I'm going a drawer or two at a time, and saving the big jobs (like under the stairs cupboard) for weekend days.

Today I've sorted out my two bathroom cupboards.
I've dumped all the old, out-of-date medicines, combined all my body cream remnants into one divine-smelling body lotion soup, re-positioned everything in order of actual use, and put everything on 'themed' shelves in one of the cupboards.

I've scrubbed the inside of the cupboards and they're now lemony fresh. Unfortunately, one of them's going a bit rusty and the other one is stained with Harpic 😯But they're clean and tidy.

I am very proud of myself and now rewarding my efforts with a caramel chocolate digestive.

Anyone want to join me? We can support each other, update on progress, perhaps share picture if you'd feel comfortable to do so.

@LittleBlueBrioTrain 27 bags.... that's seriously impressive stuff!

I did similar - we were currently battling a bit of a persistent flea problem with our cats and the fallout (literally!) of a couple of incontinent foster kittens, so in an effort to get on top of that I have sprayed the whole house and washed all the cat beds I could find, but many nice comfy looking cat beds are quite badly designed in that they attract hair and are hard to wash properly. So I threw away about 10 cat beds and now all they're allowed is fruit boxes from Lidl (because they look quite reasonable, are free and replaceable) lined with newspaper and boil washable veterinary bedding.

Also, DP is working away this week and I've set myself the task of finally going through my wardrobe and thinning it down to the clothes I actually wear. It's crammed and I can't find anything.

I've also been doing some other bits and did one of the 'kitchen drawers of doom'. I've thrown away all the duplicate takeaway menus - in these times of rapidly rising prices, it's quite easy to work out which is the newest by looking for the one with the highest prices in.

I also found about 20 of those 'we want your old clothes to flog so we can give a tiny amount to charity but keep most of the proceeds ourselves' bags, which will be very helpful to get rid of my excess clothes. I might even try and list a few items on Vinted.

We were fairly ruthless although not as bad as it sounds, we don't live in squalor 😬 - We moved into DHs childhood home a while back to care for MIL. She has since died, and we have bought out BIL and are staying here, so there was about 40 years worth of stuff to sort through. And still more to go 😵‍💫

ooh lovely. Are you doing to cupboards in any particular order? And is it cheating if you move something to another cupboard to sort out later??

Before the clocks changed last October, I vowed to do this during the long dark afternoons/evenings - one drawer or cupboard a day.
I never did even one. 😩
Maybe this year…

I promise to do my understairs cupboard this week and I'm posting here for accountability.
Felt very inspired to do it while hunting for the picnic blanket on the way out this morning but I definitely can't be bothered now we're home.
I'm off all week for half term though.

Every once in a while I get those urges.
However, I only moved in to my house about a year and a half ago, so there isnt much clutter.
However, every once in a while I do reorganise the pantry, including cleaning the shelves, and it is soooo satisfying!

The other day i did the fridge. The shelves and drawers got a good clean, and it felt great to see it so clean!

Im now on the lookout for storage solutions for the under sink cupboard in the kitchen, cause everything is just ... there and it looks cluttered!

@Hazelnuttella Nope, not necessarily cheating if you move something from one cupboard to another as long as the new cupboard is (a) a more logical home for said item, and (b) the new cupboard will be sorted out in due course.

Gavel. Gavel. Gavel.

Nope, no particular order planned. I have a chest of drawers on the landing that I might tackle next. The top drawer has all my gym clothes in which could look amazing (because they're very colourful) but are currently just all scrunched in vaguely themed piles - pic attached.

@Cuppaand2biscuits C'mon, now's your chance. Sun's shining, its warm, we're all in it together! This thread was MADE for you!

@ASGIRC Just the phrase 'storage solutions' gives me fanny gallops. I could browse boxes and jars and bags and tubs for hours. Who needs hardcore pornography when clip lock containers exist in the world?

I'm half way through the process of sorting the house, the Marie Kondo way of folding clothes is surprisingly satisfying. My socks are now in rainbow order which is surprisingly cheering.

I love Marie Kondo folding, it’s excellent. I do it for all clothes in drawers.

Hahaha so true!!! Whenever I see those pantries with labelled boxes I kinda want to buy them all. Then I realise it is actually a waste of money, as most things already come in decent enough packaging (and I have loads of bag clips for those crisps/pasta bags)

My reusable shopping bags (I have about 2 tonnes!) are all scrunched up in a shelf, and I really want to get some boxes for them.

I spent half an hour yesterday on IKEAs website looking these up LOL

Hold up a minute @MaryCondom ... you can't just drop this in casually:

combined all my body cream remnants into one divine-smelling body lotion soup,

Is this a thing? Outside of George's Marvellous Medicine? I've never heard of it... does it work? All the different smells, textures, consistencies...?

You are Claire Dunphy from Modern Family and I claim my five pounds.

There was this exact scene. Claire was away on business and the voice in her head was talking about her taking time to enjoy herself in her hotel room, alone, in a way that husband Phil wouldn't understand.

She gets out her laptop, and clicks on a shortcut to 'porn'. Her laptop screen is instantly filled with images of shelving, drawers with inserts, jars full of cotton wool balls, that sort of thing

Yep I've been doing the same yesterday and today!

I've got someone coming to stay for a few weeks so it's given me a kick to sort everything out.

I don't understand how we manage to accumulate so much crap! I found a bag of paperwork from 2016 in the spare room

I don't know if its a thing. I mean, its a thing I did this morning. So, if it wasn't already a thing, I just invented a thing.

It's worked really well - it smells lovely. I combined the remnant of two Avon perfume lotions, a bit of Body Shop mango, a handful of Avon Body Care pomegranate, and a tiny squeeze of some men's muscle rub I had from ages and ages ago which I'm never going to use. It kind of smells of all of them. They were all fairly similar consistency (apart from the muscle rub which was a bit more like gel). I just squeezed them altogether in the Body Shop tub, shoved my index finger in and gave it a stir.

I do have a tub of SHE Minerals body lotion, and a rub of Sol de Janeiro Beija Flor lotion, both of which I got for Christmas. They're both half empty but too luxurious to go into a lotion soup. Only cheap-ish ones go into the lotion soup.

I am a good declutter. First order the skip. Second turn up the music. Three piles - keep - charity and skip. A roll of bin bags - spray and kitchen roll and drawer liners once it’s done. a room a day.

it’s spring and we want to welcome the fresh new season with sparkling housers and trimmed and garden ready for embracing the summer ahead. If you can stretch to it - book window cleaner, chimney sweep, carpet cleaner and throw open every window!

I also use this time to repair and repaint anything and everything that is old and scuffed.

Thanks OP, just did a kitchen cupboard, decluttered, cleaned, tidied. Aslobcomesclean's "container concept" ringing in my ears.

Late joiner! I've done every part of the house except the bathroom cabinet and our bedroom. It is one of the best feelings to go to a cupboard and know where something is before you open it.

I'm being induced in two days so my aim is to get it all done before then and my nesting instinct is still really strong but now requires cups of tea alongside it.

@GCalltheway Yes, absolutely it's about welcoming the summer isn't it? I love your approach, brisk and no-nonsense. I have all my windows open. I love the smell of summer infusing through the house.

@philautia Oh blimey, no time pressure then 😂

Yes, you go girl. Proud of you!

I put all my baking stuff into a lovely plastic box so no longer do I have cupcake cases floating around or biscuit cutters for Christmas etc.

I've got a lovely clean drawer that fits in my tinfoil, baking paper nicely!! I am tempted to tackle the odd bits drawer but it feels like an overwhelming and unending job.

Help needed!

I have washed, dried and sorted (half) of my spare bedding. I've then put it into those clear vacuum bags, put a tumble drier sheet in with it and sucked the air out. This has meant that the whole lot will fit in an ottoman at the foot of our bed and when I need winter bedding again it's all ready to go.

I'm now doubting the 'tumble drier' sheet - will I discover that it's melted goo onto my bedding or it all smells weird? I put it in cos I thought it would keep things fresh. Shall I open the bags, remove and suck the air out again?

Advice anyone?