Can I sort this mess by Saturday?

[sadkoala]

I really want to but not sure I can.
It's getting to me and I can't think straight being stuck in a messy house, I'm driving myself up the wall.
We have a small house which gets cluttered v v quickly.
It's a sorry state atm as clothes are taking absolute ages to dry and the washing is mounting up. There's clothes on our bedroom floor that we didn't put away because our wardrobes are already messy.
Same goes for DCs room.
Pretty much every room needs a good declutter and tidy. The amount of crap and stuff to sort through is really overwhelming.
Kitchen is the main culprit as you walk straight into it and I would love to really minimise everything on the worktops as I hate it - but in order to do that I would have to make room in narnia the cupboards.

We are going to be really busy next week and won't have time to do much before Christmas. I've got today with 1yo in tow. Tomorrow with 3yo and 1yo and on Saturday DP is taking both DC's out for a few hrs per my request so I can try to tackle it but I know Saturday itself isn't enough and I need to start now.

Where do I start and what do I do? 😫

It is shocking how quickly mess can creep up on you unnoticed! I think my house is generally quite tidy until something happens to make me see a space with a strangers eyes and I realise a room/corner has become a shit heap without me noticing.

The service wash is a good idea. Get rid of everything that’s lying around and while you have the floor space take the opportunity to go through the wardrobes and purge them. Be brutal. You haven’t worn them for ages and you need space more than you need stuff. Get the bags straight to the recycling bin or charity shop so when the nice fresh clothes come home you can put them away immediately.

Than move on to the kitchen, clear it one cupboard/counter area at a time. When that’s done give yourself a break and a treat and be ready for the next section the next day. And again, be brutal. If it’s been stuck in the back of a cupboard for 18 months you probably don’t need it or want it. Get rid and never forget the mantra

I need space more than I need stuff.

Definitely write a list and plan it all out.
Consider taking a bag of washing to the launderette if you can.
Sort out your storage!!! Get the wardrobes tidy now and make space in your cupboards. Do this today/tomorrow and you can focus on tidying on Saturday. I recently emptied all my cupboards and it really makes the difference.

Don't focus on the big picture, it's too overwhelming. Deal with one room at a time. Where do you spend the most time? Start there. I would start with the kitchen.

This this this with bells on. One step at a time

Kitchen is the main culprit as you walk straight into it and I would love to really minimise everything on the worktops as I hate it

You need a place for everything and everything in it's place.

I agree with all PPs ideas for reducing clutter (especially clothes, - I got rid of 50% of my clothes a few years back and haven't regretted anything. It was mainly stuff I felt like I should keep despite not liking it - because I'd spent money on it. So what? The money is spent. Now claim back the space!)

For the kitchen - if it's the first room in I imagine it's a dumping ground for keys, gloves, wallets, bags, letters etc. etc. Rethink it. Maybe dedicate a drawer to the stuff that is constantly used outside the house. And decide where to put stuff that needs to stay in the house

Going against the grain here, but I think that you can't tackle it all. But you can get it to a decent standard before Saturday.

Cupboards are too messy to put away clothes? Tough - they have to go in there! If it means filling a quick charity shop box to make room, then fine, but it will be much easier to tackle properly later, once everything else is tidy. In an ideal world you would have time and mental capacity to do it all at once but you don't. It is almost Christmas and there are two small children involved.

For the kitchen do a quick cupboard blitz with a bin for out of date food and a charity shop box. Then get what you can in the cupboards. It will all feel manageable once the visible areas are tidy and you can go back and sort the cupboards properly after Christmas. Go room by room, making a box for things that belong elsewhere in each one - don't get distracted trying to put things away in other rooms as you go.

Clearing out and getting rid of stuff is separate to tidying. Ideally you'd do the getting rid first (so there is less to tidy!) but my vote is that you don't have time.

If you can afford it, get a tumble drier ASAP or ask well meaning relatives for money for Crimbo so you can get one. I mean it when I say, it will revolutionise your life. I never bothered with one and always air dried either outside if the weather was good (not often in the North ) or on the radiators/clothes horse. We decided to finally buy a drier a few weeks ago and it has completely altered our lives- the house never feels as messy anymore and I’m permanently on top of the washing which is necessary with 4 DC including a 6 week old.

For now though I’m agreed with pp’s suggesting a trip to the launderette to catch up with it all.

Pulling the outside bins close to the kitchen door (if you have one) is a good start. Grab some bin bags and go through the cupboards ruthlessly one at a time. Give them a wipe down once empty then decide what will be going back in there and onto the next. If you put some music on and make a brew, it never seems half as arduous.

In future try to clean as you go. I always tell dp this but he still hasn’t mastered it. Rather than leaving mess to pile up, sort it at the time if time allows. E.g my DP is terrible for leaving dirty dishes on the worktop and leaving shit like egg shells on there when taking them to the dishwasher/bin would be a two second job. Try your best not to let the mess accumulate until it becomes unmanageable.

Thank you for all the suggestions so far!
I have decided to start in the kitchen.
I've made a list as one of PPs suggested. I've only managed the dishes (but I put them away straight away!) And sorted one cupboard and swept the floors and then DS woke up from his nap and needs his lunch but I will try to keep on.

To PPs saying tumble dryer or launderette - we are getting a tumble drier in January we have had no room for one but we've had a small utility made which is getting finished begining of Jan which is when the tumble dryer will be going in.
It's cold today and radiators seem to be on all the time so I'm on my 2nd small load of laundry and trying to get it all dried on radiators in small batches IYKWIM. At least it got rid of the clothes which mounted up on the floor around the laundry basket since it got so full 😳

It's cold today and radiators seem to be on all the time so I'm on my 2nd small load of laundry and trying to get it all dried on radiators in small batches IYKWIM.

get a foldable clothes horse and you could put the whole load on and stand it in front of the rads

get a tumble drier ASAP or ask well meaning relatives for money for Crimbo so you can get one.

Tumble driers cost a fortune to run. Only get one if you're prepared for your electricity bills to go up noticeably. I'd get some good clothes horses instead. Well designed ones allow you to hang a lot in a small space.

Hanging stuff directly on radiators can cause condensation and damp.

Sorry to be negative. Off to tackle my own laundry pile now!

1. timebox
2. list
3. prioritise

Timebox: give yourself short bursts, set an alarm on your phone and when it's passed you have to stop and get on with something else. Stops you from spending hours and hours on an endless task, but helps you put some efficient, focused time towards it.

List: break it down into tiny tiny tasks, e.g. empty fridge, change DD bed, etc. Don't try room by room as this is so overwhelming!!

Prioritise: get your list full of smaller tasks and put them in order of importance, ignoring location in house or how long each will take. That means if the last 5 things don't get done, then at least you got the top 5 sorted.

Good luck!

To make this time as productive as possible?

Deactivate from all social media and mumsnet

Your productivity will soar

Aldi were doing a cheap heated clothes horse a few weeks back. Even if not Argos do one for 40 and normal ones for 15. Worth getting.

Tumble driers cost a fortune to run. Only get one if you're prepared for your electricity bills to go up noticeably.

That's a myth. They cost around 35p per hour to run.

Put each wash on for an extra spin after the wash finished as it takes out a lot of water so it will dry much quicker for minimal cost.

Tumble dryers are not that expensive to run, depends on how efficient it is but it's likely to be less than £100 all year tbh. If you have the space it may be worth it. I have one, don't use it often to dry things completely from wet - I tend to hang them for a bit and tumble when they are half-dry to finish.

Also - get all the clothes ready for the weekend and anything else your DP will need to take the children out (snacks, water bottles etc) so there are no delays on the day. Hand over bag and smile and wave ....

I read on here that the bin man is your friend, other than that you are simply rearranging.

My chuck it out rule is simplified Kondo method. 'Does it spark joy? Nope. Bin it.'

When i dont know what to do next i tidy ten small things. Then i keep going.

Listen to stand up comedy on audible.

Get the chucked out bag to the dump

start with cupboards - so take your wardrobe, tidy and sort it out. when you have 5 minutes spare tackle a kitchen cupboard etc etc then once all the storage spaces are tidy and sorted you can start to tackle the surface mess and put it away where it needs to go.
Tackle 1 room at a time and have a bin nag, charity bag and a bag for anything that doesnt belong in that room.

get a foldable clothes horse and you could put the whole load on and stand it in front of the rads

^this

I have no tumble drier (no space for one) and my minky is a lifesaver!

Check out FlyLady, but for goodness sake- don’t hide it all in the bath. You should be able to get loads done once the DCs are in bed - good luck! You’ll feel fab once it’s done!

Tumble dryers are not that expensive to run, depends on how efficient it is but it's likely to be less than £100 all year tbh

My annual electric to bill, without a tumble drier, is £400. So if I had a tumble drier, and the above figure is right, it would account for nearly a fifth of my bill. That's pretty expensive and would be a big leap in my bill!

That's running a tumble dryer a few times a week Bleurgh, the OP is a family of four and has a fair bit of washing! How many in your household, that's quite a low electricity bill IMO? Fewer people equals less tumble drying!

Thank you for all the replies and advice!
All my attempts at posting last night failed for some reason so here I go again.
Re tumble dryer we are 100% getting one in Jan. The house is so small for the 4 of us putting a clothes rack/dryer up takes up masses of space and like I mentioned before takes ages to dry even in front of a radiator.
It will definitely be worth it even if just to regain some space.

I've made a start in the kitchen and even though it's baby steps I'm happy that I managed to sort the tea making area and make some space in a cupboard for all extra teabags/hot chocolate/fruit tea etc that isn't in use daily and put squash and bits away which used to just be left out homeless. I'm going to post an embarrassing before and after just to keep myself motivated and hopefully motivate someone out there too. It's only a small space but it made me feel so much better making my morning cuppa.
DS1 is down for his nap so I'm attempting another 30mins now!

Well done OP! Making a start is one of the worst bits and you're over that now.

Before and after !