Keeping your house tidy - how do you do it?

[PorridgeOatsSuck]

I have clutter. I am a maximalist. DH minimalist.
I always blame lack of storage (we do lack storage) but yesterday I realised it isn't just that.
I have life 'detritus' everywhere. For example, I order a phone screen protector. Two arrive in the post. Where do I store the one I don't use? In a drawer. I go to the drawer but it's overflowing with similar bricabrac. Pens, lipgloss, string (so much useful string), paperwork, receipts, scissors, sticky tape, random leads...I could go on. Yet my sister's house with significantly more people per square meter doesn't have any of this stuff. They have one drawer each. They have no detrius on surfaces nor overflowing cupboards and drawers.

How do people manage to have tidy houses? I suspect they throw away a significant amount before things get 'stored'. If I need a second screen protector, I'll order a new one not keep the one I have until I need it. I think that's what my sister thinks.

Is that right? Where am I going wrong? I'd love to rein in the mess!

Pick it up and put it away. Send back orders that have been doubled. Think about whether something will be used again. How much string does a girl need? Have a place for everything: the wrapping place, the lead place, the medicine place.

I don't know the solution but I can tell you it's not more storage! I have loads of drawers and they are all full with the sort of shit you mentioned, also wallpaper samples, school stuff, batteries. Nothing that I can get rid of for now but it just grows and grows.

And can I find anything? Fuck no. I got a multi pack of floor protect pads for the bottom of the sofa legs last week. Used some, put the remaining lot in a drawer, went to get more today for a chair and can't find them.

You need a major declutter. It's the only way to tackle it. I'm exactly the same and have stuff everywhere and I'm in the middle of a major declutter. I'm following Dilly Carter's 30 day challenge ( think you're meant to start it on the 1st of a month but I just had to go ahead and start while I had the motivation). I'm actually doing the double challenge so tackle a specific area each day and also get rid of 1 thing from the house on Day 1, 2 things on Day 2 etc so you should end up removing around 450 items from your home be the end of the 30 days.

Stop hoarding crap for a start off.

The only time I find my house is untidy is when there are things that don't yet have a home. Everything has a place. When I'm done using something, I put it back where it goes. I make space for things I use by getting rid of things that I don't use. I do often have a 'need to find homes for these things' pile by the front door. But I make sure to put it all away every couple of weeks or if it starts to irritate me.

Cleaning is harder. The dust settles almost as soon as Ibe cleaned a surface 🤦 where I live I always need to clean even if I cleaned 5 mins ago

Throw things away ruthlessly - ie recycling is nice but don’t let it stop you if it requires more effort than time available.

Don’t buy stuff unless absolutely necessary

Throw things away ruthlessly.

Decide whether keeping a specific item, to avoid having to possibly buy a replacement in future, is worth having a cluttered house/the stress of storing it

Why do you need two screen protectors, it needs to be given away of donated to the charity shop. How many pens do you need? Keep 10 and get rid of the rest. The answer is your mindset not more storage.

I keep the spare screen protector in a drawer, and label the model of phone it is for in sharpie on the front. What I do do, is go through the drawer regularly and then bin the spare screen protectors I haven't used from a previous model of phone that are now obsolete. These are also labelled, so I don't keep 'just in case'.

Bigger house, Bigger mess in my experience. Because you mistakenly think your house can hold more than it can.

Everything actually (so not random lengths of string 😂) useful has its place. Bin/donate everything else. I have not the space nor patience to deal with shit lying around everywhere!

I struggle too OP. I feel so guilty throwing things away, imagining them in landfill. The answer can only be to stop bringing things into the house.

I have a prime example here. I've just ordered a 96 pack of flash speed mop floor wipes, which will last more than a year. It was by far the best value way to buy them. I'm trying very hard to declutter and keep a more guest-ready home now that my little ones are finally becoming more manageable, and manage a few bin/recycling bags each week for dh to deal with, but now i have a mountain of wipes to store.

You've inspired me to do the kitchen/crap/cable drawer later though.

Funnily enough I read your title and immediately thought a key obstacle is clutter. Then read your post and your opening gambit is you have a cluttered house.

You really don't need two phone covers. So stop doubling up. You probably need to systematically work through rooms and challenge yourself to get rid of half the DCS (dust-cluttering-shit) you collect, or get rid of anything you are saving 'just in case'.

I suspect the main bit of work is psychologically getting to the heart of why you hoard. That's what it comes down to. You're a hoarder - your sister isn't. Your children, if you have them, will be grateful to see all the crap you're saving up for them gone. They too don't need their Maths file from when they were 6, or all their clothes from when they were 2, albeit one little hat and their first English essay or piece of art work is nice to have

I honestly don’t understand why you would order two phone cases and store one for an undetermined amount of time!
if that’s your general mentality then you are going to have a huge amount of stuff and your home will probably always feel cluttered.

I don’t have any clutter in my house as I’ve got on top of it over the years. I now always have a charity bag on the go. When I see something I no longer want, I put it in the bag. When the bag is full, I drop it off. Repeat.

A year ago I had a big clear out and I’ve made about £1k on Vinted.

Stuff hanging around is also like stock. You can cash it in.

I do at least one tip run a month, also guilty of putting it in the drawer.. I have many drawers and not tight of space but the clutter never ends! If it's not being used/worn or outdated it's gone. I absolutely love a tip run! Gave up going to the charity shops with stuff as they are so picky about when they will take stuff and I just tend to drive around with it in the boot of my car. 😬

Work through the clutter one bit at a time - tip out a junk drawer and sort it into piles of keep or throw.
My prompts are:

• will I need this in the next 6 months? If not, probably getting rid.
• will this be expensive to replace if I realise I need it in a year's time? If not, definitely getting rid.

If something is actually useful and used regularly, make a designated space for it - one drawer for things like envelopes, pens, tape etc. If there's too much for one small drawer, I get rid of some. Keeping useful stuff separate from the clutter helps to see the clutter for what it is.

I've had the exact same thing with phone screen protectors - they come in a multipack because after a while you do need to replace them, they're not the same as phone cases which don't get replaced.

I think with cluttery things like that you need to have a dedicated space for them (the container concept), and regularly sort through the container, so you're not holding onto e.g. charging cables for devices you no longer have. Everyone needs some 'just in case' things (stationery, tools etc) but you have to regularly sort through them so you're not holding onto more than you need, or things that don't work anymore.

The Dana K White podcasts are great for getting to grips with the basics of keeping on top of clutter, you don't have to be a minimalist. It's just deciding where things go, what to keep, and how to regularly review that decision.

That extra screen protector should have gone in the bin. Binning stuff will now be your friend.

I had a major declutter last year - took me about 3-4 months to do in every spare moment I had and I was relentless, my house was/is very tidy to look at but every cupboard and drawer was groaning and I had put off clearing out for a few years. I think I filled the equivalent of 2 large skips. The big one was clothes, I took everything down from the loft and out of wardrobes and sorted, reorganised, altered things I had meaning to for years, debobbled jumpers and properly assessed what I would wear and what I wouldn't - shoes I had kept for 20+ years and was never going to wear again (heels mainly), clothes that despite me thinking I would wear them one day finally got the boot, I have made £1800 on vinted so far and still have 25 odd items to sell, I took loads to charity and lots to the dump. I cleared out 15 bin bags of rubbish from my daughters bedroom, I cleared out the loft which took weeks on end as we had stuff up there that we put up when we moved in 20 years ago, this included a huge reorganise so I now have memory boxes of things I wanted to keep but threw away all the old school books, cards, teddy bears, baby clothes, toys from when my children were small. I cleared out every drawer and cupboard in the house and got rid of everything we didn't need or use and organised everything that we did use so have a place for everything - the kitchen and utility rooms were another big one - got rid of every mismatching mug, plate, cup, saucer, saucepan/utensil and started using glasses and dinnerware that I was keeping for "best" so now have matching mugs, glasses, utensils that are all used. Linen drawers were also sorted and I made up proper piles of linen for each bed with the matching sets all stored in a pillowcase for that set. It felt very cathartic and I have kept on top of it.

It's not a storage issue. It's a "stuff" issue

Ruthless and regular decluttering is the way to go

I think this is something that some people easily and naturally do, and some people struggle with. I'm a tidy organiser, and I don't really give it any thought, and nor does it take much effort, yet I know people who seem to spend a lot more time stressing and organising and decluttering, yet they never seem to actually have a clear and tidy house.

Anyway. I guess what I do is:
Keep things tidy in their place and put them away straight away after using
Don't buy things you don't need - much easier if you can see what you have if it's put away so you can check whether or not it's needed
Have systems - e.g. meal planning/toiletries list/household products list - so you only replace things when needed.
Keep the house clean and tidy (I use TOMM) so you're never drowning under a backlog
Deal with maintenance and repairs asap and don't put things off.
Deal with post when you open it - one touch then it goes into one of bin/filing/to do intray (and do it on your first available break).
Routinely tidy cupboards/wardbrobes/drawers so nothing every gets cluttered and only things that you want/use are kept in the house (and NEVER put together bags for charity shops/ebay/vinted unless you are prepared to drop them off/list them that day).

Basically, I'm a really strong believer it doing stuff straight away. It's so much easier and quicker to deal with stuff as you go along than it is to let mess/clutter/chores build up and then have a huge, daunting task to undertake.

FWIW - I wouldn't buy 100 Flash mop wipes (I have a spray mop with two reusable pads - one on, one being washed) nor would I buy 2 phone cases. It's often false economy to stockpile things, especially if you live in clutter and can't find things when you want them, meaning you just buy more!

You have to accept the house you have- not the one you want. So, we are unlikely to move for at least 5 years and have maximised our storage. Everything needs to fit so if I don’t have room stuff needs to go. Everything has a place.

You need to get in the habit of sorting as you go. For me, post is opened and filed the day it arrived- or binned. I always have a charity bag on the go for things I see as I go round the house. We each have a large box of sentinmental/memorabilia in the attic and only keep what will go in there. The less stuff you have the easier it is to tidy and clean. I don’t have a bland house tho, we have lots of pictures on the walls, throws, vases etc but I love every item and if I don’t- it moves on. I think it helps that we have a very good local free group so I don’t have guilt about stuff going into landfill, it just finds a new home.

Definitely don’t get rid of the spare screen protector, I smashed mine within two days of putting it on and was so glad that they had arrived as a pack of two!

I have had to make an effort to get much better with just getting rid of things, we don’t need to keep pens from various conferences because they might come in useful, we have pens in the study for work, we don’t need to keep loads of string, no need for random receipts we now have a box file in the cupboard for important ones along with warranty info/instructions etc.

It’s a process but you have to remain committed.