Are you a reformed untidy person? With a lovely home? AIBU to ask for your tips?

[KavvLar]

This is a shout out to those folk who are not naturally good at housekeeping and tidying, but have cracked it and manage to keep and maintain a lovely home. AIBU to ask for your strategies?

I have had a lovely home very briefly after a massive declutter helped by a professional. Best money I ever spent, and I LOVED it when it was all tidy. I know the upkeep is a huge part of it though, and I don’t know how to approach it.

I end up scattergunning around the house and I can just sense the chaos creeping back in. I need some sort of system to keep it vaguely visitor ready, I know there are loads out there, and I'm willing to try but would love some personal perspectives from those of you who managed to change your ways.

This is an odd way to put it I know but I liken it to weight loss and maintenance. You know when you've lost all the weight and everyone thinks the hard work is over, but the maintenance is really hard if you haven't started to think like a thin person? I need your help to think like a tidy person!

[KavvLar]

So sorry about the bread bin!

[HairyStorm]

As a result of this thread I finally got around to washing the bread bin. During which its door fell off.

On the plus side, I've hoovered, washed up, and kept the laundry pipeline moving today. Also emptied bins, changed cat litter, and swore mightily at the little buggers when they immediately christened it. All small jobs, which makes them easier, and I've identified tomorrow's bonus chore: kitchen windowsill. Now having a brew before I tackle the mountains of paper the child leaves everywhere, after which I'll be able to relax.

[HumptyNumptyNooNoo]

I've de-cluttered as best I can to help reduce what needs putting away. I tidy and clean the breakfast messy kitchen before work. I tidy the supper things before sitting down to watch tv. I tidy things in the living room of an evening in the advert breaks . Thursday night is proper cleaning night, where all the bathrooms sparkle and all hard floors are vacuumed and mopped, carpets vacuumed and all rooms dusted. It takes me and a helper about 2hours. Then we have a G&T ! Beds are stripped washed and re-maid on either a Friday or a Saturday. ( and obviously made every morning by who ever is last out of it !) it's probably not perfect, but it works for the day to day running of our home.

[Feefeetrixabelle]

Have a basket/box in every room as you go through the day if it doesn’t belong in the room in goes in the box. Before bed I empty all boses to their home.

First thing after walking the dog I tackle floors and surfaces. Luckily/unluckily the dogs are hairy bugger so if I miss it the hair balls quickly gather like tumble weed so that keeps me on top of that.

Kitchen and bathroom I do alternate days.

[CatAndMice]

I feel so much happier when everything is tidy and clean

[oatmilk4breakfast]

Thanks for all the tips!

Genuinely think they are so many variables - partner attitudes, children’s ages, childhood hangups about cleaning

(I’ve definitely absorbed my mum’s ‘i’ll do it’) attitude and has taken me a long time to get a healthier - if it’s tidy and there’s a place for everything i’ll Be able to clean it easier. Interestingly getting a cleaner a few times before a party or family gathering made me realise that. I spent hours tidying, moving things, shoving stuff in cupboards, moving piles around, throwing random bottles in the bathroom into odd drawers (rented flat - no choice about fixtures and fittings) that I just thought there had to be a better way.

I decided to spend some money on making the cupboards actually ‘work’ rather than just be receptacles for accumulated stuff.

I tried the TOMM and it sort of works but I only have a two bed all on one floor flat with very little storage so better for me to just keep trying to keep everything I can see (almost everything!) tidy and then clean for an hour every Friday when I look after my three year old. Any tips for that sort of a set up very appreciated!!

[GoatWithACoat]

Everyone says my house is immaculate but I don’t feel I do much. But reading this thread makes me realise that what I think of as nothing is just an adjustment in behaviour since having kids (horribly untidy prior).

So I would never leave a room where cups, plates or wrappers were in without bringing them to the kitchen and bunging them in the dishwasher / bin.

I’d never eat breakfast without wiping down the surfaces and sweeping the floor after.

I’d never go to work without making the beds and putting my p.js in the wash.

I’d never finish in the bathroom without rinsing the bath out / picking up and folding wet towels, bleaching the loo.

I’d never go to bed after watching telly without putting the cushions back neatly and putting toys away.

If I see dust I just pick up a duster and give it a quick wipe.

Also everything has a home and everything is in its home before we leave the house or go to bed.

It’s liter just a change of thought about what constitutes as ‘work’. I just do it all as I go without a thought. It doesn’t feel like a job and it never gets on top of me because we all do it as we go. If I walk in the kids room and there were clothes on the floor I’d ask them to come back and put them away before they did anything else.

I have 4 DC and I think it just developed naturally because we’d be living in a shit hole otherwise!

[HellenaHandbasket]

Ah but I can't relax in clutter, it's just the way my brain works.

[tillytrotter21]

Sounds like halo time, all you obsessively tidy, uncluttered people!

As I sit here I have last weekend's papers around, I will defeat that crossword, the latest Private Eye and a few things to fill in and send off, none of which bothers me in the slightest, the house is relatively clean, last night's washing up's done, I even put some of it away this a.m..
OH can take a week to return the bathroom bin to upstairs, the concept of 'one touch', silly phrase, would never occur to him, people really read books on how to tidy up???? We're retired, have all the time in the world and are quite happy not to be show-home ready, had enough of that nonsense when we were selling!

[beclev24]

I prefer FlyLady to TOMM. I work from home but after I drop off kids and come back home to work in the am I set a timer for 15 mins and race around-clear away breakfast, wipe down kitchen surfaces, sweep kitchen floor. Quick tidy of living room- put away toys / throw away random bits of paper/ make cushions etc look nice. Lunchtime I do another 15 mins with a timer putting away laundry. Before bed same. Make bed as soon as I get up. Wipe down bathroom every day when I have my shower (literally takes 3 mins with an old flannel to do sink and bath and loo roll to do loo). Hoover and mop when it needs it. Cleaner comes for 2 hours a fortnight. De clutter constantly.

[KavvLar]

HereForTheLineEyes I work school hours Tuesday to Friday. I do have Mondays where I do a lot of the bigger chores but even with that, what I'm doing now doesn't seem to last five minutes. It's the trail of destruction I need to work on

[seventhgonickname]

Storage and everything having a place.This means less clutter which means that if things really need cleaning it is easy.
I am just an if it needs it cleaner.So today I am not working,the sun is shining so I can see dust so after mumsnet I will dust and hoover.Done for the day apart from dish washing!☺

[Popc0rn]

Every 3-4 months I declutter, I also have a "crap box" (pretty box with a lid) that I shove letters, receipts or anything random in, then sort though it every month or so. Stops it piling up out of control like it did before!

[Popc0rn]

I used to be incredibly messy and am a reformed neat freak now.

My friend helped me do the initial declutter and deep clean, which I'm very grateful for! Then I bought storage and organised everything, so everything "lives" somewhere and gets put away after use. Once somewhere is tidy it's relatively easy to keep it clean. I clean little and often - for example the bathroom gets a quick clean everyday, only takes about 3 minutes, so it's just habit now to do that and then brush my teeth.

[user1499173618]

And go away regularly - packing and unpacking are great for galvanising energy for laundry and tidying my wardrobe.

[user1499173618]

I invite people over for lovely dinners that require me to clean and tidy to do justice to the food and table setting!

[BirthdayTowel]

I resisted reading it but the Mari kondo mindset helped me.

[HereForTheLineEyes]

Sorry if I missed it OP, but what are your usual working hours?

I work 3 days a week and so I find it easier to do the bulk of housework in one of the mornings during the week that I am off.

When I go on maternity leave I am going to try the Organised Mom Method, or maybe give myself a job or two every other day.

I find it hugely beneficial for me mentally (and for the house) that I have set days for things. No panicking because the laundry is piling up or the bathrooms are looking a bit dusty because I know it will get done in a day or two.

I do spot clean during the week though. Hoovering the kitchen floor which constantly has bits of food on it, giving the loo a quick scrub if someone hasn't cleaned up after themselves etc. Just keeps on top of things.

[MotherOfDragonite]

"you can't tidy clutter, you can only rearrange it..."

Oh dear, so true.

Following this thread with interest! I really need to do a major declutter, I think.

[NameChangeyMcChangerson]

I also think there's a case for knowing your flaws and working with them. For instance, I know lots of people say that post should be either files or chucked as soon as it's open. We've tried repeatedly to do this and always fail. So now we just have a basket that it's chucked in and every week or so I go through it and deal with it. It isn't as neat and efficient as dealing with it instantly but it's much better than having opened post all over the kitchen counter, which is what was happening. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good!

[Doobigetta]

Five minute bursts. Pick a room. Set a timer for five minutes. Spend five minutes doing the things that will have the biggest impact. At the end of the five minutes move on to the next room. If you keep going like this a couple of times a week, you’ll get around to the lower impact stuff like cleaning skirting boards, without housework taking over your life. And once overall chaos is overcome, it’s much easier and less painful to stay in a routine of putting things away when you’ve finished with them.

[Namechange000001]

Get a roomba (best brand, all parts are replaceable and they last years), and get a braava jet. Run them daily, and your floors will always be clean with minimal effort.

Throw away anything you don't love, use or need. Be ruthless. Being ruthless gets easier with time and practice!

Run dishwasher, washing machine and dryer (If you have them) daily and empty them daily - morning or night, whatever works best for you.

Your best friend is the binman though...you can't tidy clutter, you can only rearrange it...

I am a messy at heart, hoarding scruff, who's in pretty good habits now and I take every opportunity to cheat that I can. Even bought a robot lawn mower this summer so the garden can be neat with minimal effort from me going forward!

[A580Hojas]

Try not to be so stressed about it?

I'm being serious - does it matter if your house is a bit untidy? I think we've got into this weird state of fetishising cleanliness (Mrs Hinch) and order (Marie Kondo) when so long as everyone is clean, well fed and loved and cared for, what does it matter if the house isn't like a show house all the time?

[ICantFindAFreeNickName2]

I don't call myself a reformed untidy person but I'm better than I was. I have recently noticed that if my dc want friends round, the house can be pretty presentable in under an hour. A few years back I would have needed a weeks notice.
Marie Kondo, really helped change my mindset from what can I get rid of, to what do I want to keep. I haven't actually done the whole house yet, but the areas I have tackled are a lot less cluttered and tend to stay tidy. I also buy a lot less things than I did before.
With tidying I have learned to go with what suits me, rather than what other people tend to do. For example once we have eaten dinner, I hate doing any tidying / cleaning. But in the morning I'm happy to potter around for 20minutes tidying up any mess from the night before as well as making beds, putting the washing on etc. So before I leave for work the house is pretty straight.

[oatmilk4breakfast]

Placemarking! ☺️👍