To tell you I finally have a tidy living room and ask you for tips on keeping it that way?

[FlatteredFool]

My whole house has become a tip and it getting me down. I have 3dc who are naturally untidy, as am I. I've worked really hard this weekend and finally have the living room tidy. It happens about 3 times a year and I need tips on how to keep it tidy please. The dc are old enough to tidy up after themselves but don't. It's a never ending battle.

Sadly, the only way to keep it tidy is to start tidying up after yourself!

Don't put it down, put it away. Each child has a age-appropriate job before bedtime - toys away, jigsaws in boxes, rubbish in bin, empty cups etc to kitchen. Get them in the habit of tidying away as they go.

Make it a fun thing “I bet you can't put the toys away before I finish XYZ”

Be honest with yourself - you know how to keep a room tidy. You tidy it! This is about will not technique. You're not naturally tidy and neither are your kids. Why not just accept that?

No eating or drinking in the living room. No toys brought downstairs. Get a robot hoover, they are a life changer!

I find the only way to keep a room tidy is by not letting anyone use it, otherwise you are constantly tidying

Toys in their own rooms!

Minimal stuff in lounge

Little and often cleaning/tidying

I spend most of my time tidying, I accept I'm not naturally tidy so I have to make the effort to do it. I'm trying to get the dc to keep their things in their rooms or at least put them back there before bed. We are an ASD/ADD family and it's not easy trying to get anyone to do anything 😩

Don’t let them in/ if they can’t be respectful enough to pick their shit up from the living room, it doesn’t come in the living room. Let them mess their bedrooms up instead. Honestly, old enough to tidy up but won’t? They’re your kids, put your bloody foot down!

Sell the children. Get divorced. Walk out and lock the door behind you.

You know in your heart it's the only way.

Wait for the kids to move out.

Are you me? I gutted my living room yesterday and have 3 children who never tidy up ever - this could soooo be me. I have no idea on how to stop them, but I've threatened to take a chainsaw to the internet fibre cable ...not a 100% sure they believe me.

1 - never let anyone in to ruin it
2 - if option 1 is unavailable make sure everyone who enters the room takes their crap back out with them
3 - if option 1 does not work and option 2 also fails due to toddler dictators I'm afraid it's down to you . I find it's easy to just pick stuff up each evening and quickly tidy so it's "ready to receive" as MIL says

@Burnt0utMum

No eating or drinking in the living room. No toys brought downstairs. Get a robot hoover, they are a life changer!

No toys downstairs... are you always a fun sponge?

Adequate storage. So much easier to tidy if everything has a proper home.

Have a new rule for that room so that before you go out or go to bed or just decamp to another room e.g. the kitchen for food anyone using the room puts away what they have used fully.

If it takes 5 minutes to tidy up you build an extra 5 minutes into what you are about to do.

Keep it up for a month and you will have built a new habit.

Also you will absolutely love the room and have a place you really enjoy being in.

Ban the DCs.

I have lots of good storage for toys in the living room. Everything has a place. Toys are organised in clear plastic tubs in cupboards. Kids can make a mess but if they’re playing with Duplo for example , it has to be tidied back up before they get something else out. My DS is 3.5 and he obviously moans about tidying up but he knows things need to be tidied away again.

Get a skip placed on your driveway. Open the window and throw everything into it on a daily basis. Never buy anything again.

Give each child a pretty basket and keep it by the stairs. All toys/junk they bring down to play with, go back into the baskets when they're done with it. They can't bring more toys down if the basket is full. At the end of the day the basket goes back upstairs with them and all toys put away.

I got rid of our coffee table because it was always full of shit. Cups, letters, papers, other bits and bobs.

I got a sideboard type thing and a couple of side tables with drawers in.

The living room has never looked messy since and the room looks more spacious.

I have candles and a lamp and a plant on the sideboard thing so no shit can really be put on it. It goes in the drawer straight away if it does.

Our living room is the only room that mostly stays relatively tidy. We decorated it last year, including new carpets and furniture, so that made me want to keep it nice. Unfortunately it's only achieved by having mess everywhere else!

Minimise! Don’t just organise - declutter. It’s the only long term solution!

Then make sure everything you’ve elected to keep has a home and make sure everything gets put back there before every meal time.

@Purplewithred

Sell the children. Get divorced. Walk out and lock the door behind you.

You know in your heart it's the only way.

Clear surfaces every single day.
Robot hoover (cleans the floor, but makes you pick stuff up every day).

Have storage and tidy up daily. Sort through storage places regularly, eg monthly or weekly.
Use bribery / threats to get help - no screen time until all books / toys returned to their home.