You've got a lovely house, which is all yours, the result of your hard work. It just needs some attention.
- Sort the fence. That affects both you and your neighbours and has implications for security.
- Whilst you are out there, put ant powder down against the edge of the house.
- Make a cuppa.
- When you've had your cuppa, wash the mug up so it's ready for your next one.
- Look for the place the ants seem to be emerging from. Put some ant powder down (of course, ensuring that there isn't sugar, etc, spilled there first, as they'll be looking for food).
- Open the cupboard. Is it wet mould? Is it against the back wall? Is there a water pipe running behind/above it? Is it dry, dusty mould, as you'd get if somebody left food in there? If so, open the door, scrub it out, including the door and edges with a small amount of very hot water, washing up liquid and a squirt of bleach, dry it thoroughly and leave the door open to air it.
Could it be removed? (It's normally a simple task to take them off the wall if you have somebody else to help take the weight of it, assuming it's a double - if it's a single, you can do it by yourself). If it's a floor cupboard, it's not so simple, but a temporary measure could be to take the door off, clean it thoroughly and see whether there is a leak behind or under it by putting newspaper down. Any dampness on the paper should give you an idea of the wettest area. You can cover the door by putting in two cup hooks and a wire, putting a small curtain over it. It's a bit retro, but ensures there's free air movement. It's possible the leak is underneath - for that, you need to unclip the kickboard carefully (so you don't snap it passive aggressively glares at DP) and look.
- Make another cuppa. You've done enough for the day in dealing with fence, ants and cupboard.
You've now sorted at least partially, three things.
If you are tidy and the place is not actually cluttered, I would definitely agree with others that it's worth the money to pay for a one off clean. Yes, it's an expense, but the amount of work two cleaners can do in four hours is immense - as long as they can get to everything to clean it.
If it's cluttered, you need to sort that first, as that'll be affecting you as much as the grime, but if not, let's prioritise.
- Open your bedroom window if you can. Fresh air, even for twenty minutes before you think 'Christ, it's getting a bit parky in here!' is important.
- Make your bed with fresh linen. You sleep here. You deserve to sink into a clean bed.
- Clean the bathroom. You need that so you can get clean.
You can then do whatever it is you do in the day, have a bath or shower and then get into a clean, fresh bed each night. It's worth it.
On the next day you have time to do something:
- Clear around a window. Just one of them if you don't think you have the energy to deal with more than that - it's better to complete one task/window than overwhelm yourself with all of them. If you have nets, take it down and shove in the bath with some washing powder/liquid dissolved in warm water. It'll be foul, don't worry about it, it'll be fine in there. Or shove it in the washing machine on a cold wash - the one for wool or silk will do it.
- Get a bowl, sponge, one of the sponges with a scouring side, a bucket, an old towel and some nice smelling washing up liquid. If you are near a hardware shop/corner shop that sells it (mine does), you could get sugar soap, as that's designed to clean years of grime and grease off surfaces - but if not, washing up liquid and hot water is perfectly adequate for what you're going to be doing.
- Fill the bowl with the hottest water you can touch and a small squirt of washing up liquid. Half fill the bucket with clean, warm water (for your comfort). Lay the old towel on the windowsill.
- Start at the top of the window and, using the scrubbing sponge well squeezed out, start circling at the top of the frame. It'll be minging. My house is clean, but the window cleaning water always looks dirty because I don't have time or the inclination to do it more than every other month. Rinse the sponge with each pass in the bucket, squeeze out, dip in the clean , soapy water, squeeze and continue.
- When you're about 1/3 down, go back to the top and focus on the frame and the little corners where the glass meets the frame, getting mucky drips off.
- Continue like this until you've reached the sill. Use the old towel to wipe over, give the sill, both the flat bit and underneath, a good clean, then tip the dirty water from both bowl and bucket down the loo, flush and you have a window that is immaculate inside. Outside can be another day (and I'd recommend getting a windowcleaner to do them anyway - I'm too old to want to be hanging out of upstairs windows to try and get them as clean as a bloke with a pole can do in 5 minutes).
- Have a cuppa.
- Swish the net around in rinses of water, squeeze out (don't wring it), and replace as soon as it is barely damp, rather than dripping.
- Repeat with the nearest door, another window you can reach easily, whatever, when you feel you can do it.
- Remember, you are getting years of dirt off, not making it a pure, gleaming surface with just a squirt of some crappy green spray - they aren't designed to cope with old dirt.
Picture frames can be done when you are ready to face a trip to IKEA. Store the pictures safely in the wardrobe for the time being, so they don't get damaged before they are framed.
You can do the garden when it's warmer - in the meantime, if you have a spare fiver, get a couple of smallish pot plants or some brightly coloured flowers and put them in the clean window. This is the entire reason why supermarkets sell them.
It's obviously taken the previous owners years to get the house into the condition it is now - you won't solve it overnight.
Once you've done, say, the windows and the cupboard is no longer causing you worries, you can look at smaller tasks, like cleaning a small distance of the skirting board like 'from the front door to the radiator and to the living room door frame', for example. Sugar soap is again, ideal, but soapy water will be fine.
Later on, you can look at the decorating - the peeling is likely to be because he didn't clean the surfaces down or prepare them. Worry about it later.
I'd say giving yourself the target of doing one extra thing a week to improve the house is doable. Anything else you have the energy for is a bonus.
Just by going for small, achievable tasks regularly, they'll add up and you'll really notice a difference as Spring moves into Summer, which is when your spirits should be lifting a bit anyway - extra daylight and some Vitamin D does that for most of us (do you take it anyway? We're all supposed to now - and it does make a huge difference to mood and energy levels).
It's the volume of 'big things' that's getting you down. Breaking the big ideas down into smaller, say hour long, tasks (or shorter if an hour is too much to contemplate) makes it far less overwhelming. Yes, it will still be a case of you seeing something and thinking it needs doing, but if you can focus on 'I could do that now' tasks, rather than the grand 'I want it all perfect', you're going to be able to do more overall.