To ask for tips on declutterring and keeping a tidy home?

[LadyLille]

I’m really struggling to keep my home organised and clutter-free. I start with good intentions, but I often find myself overwhelmed and falling back into old habits. I’d love to hear how others manage to declutter effectively and, more importantly, how they maintain it over time.

Are there specific strategies or routines that have worked for you? Do you have any advice on staying motivated and keeping on top of things? I’m open to any tips or tricks that might help!

Thanks in advance for your help!

The podcast and/or books by A Slob Comes Clean. She really takes it back to basics, no feelings or thinking, just very simple steps to address the issues. Its all based on her own experiences and what has worked for her long term. I find listening to her podcasts makes me automatically get up and start decluttering.

I also love Minimal Mom on Youtube. Again, very straight forward, no nonsense advice based on her own issues over the years. Before the Minimal Mom I had no idea I didn't have to keep EVERY towel I had ever been given, and that I could just get rid of bedding I didn't like.

They both work together sometimes and with Clutterbug. I'm not so keen on her, she's a bit marmite but some people love her.

It all comes down to getting rid of stuff until you can cope. I got rid of about 50% of our collective belongings and now I can tidy and surface clean all of downstairs in about 30 minutes. It used to take me hours before a family party or having people over, now I do a quick last minute whip round and it's fine. Its been life changing.

The best advice I got from them was never drag everything out in one go. I decluttered the majority of the house in 15 minute sessions or less. So one shelf in the bathroom, one drawer in my bedroom. Once you've done a first pass you then find it easy to group things together and find proper homes for things.

It's an ongoing process. I just redid the utility room cupboard and threw away a weird mix of screws and other fixings, some of which predate me in this relationship so more than 20 years.

Do the 10 item from each room declutter- Get rid of any 10 items from each room. It's that simple

Half burnt candles, old magazines, nearly empty perfume, 10 old pairs of pants, 10 tins past their sell by date.

Look around the room. What stands out?

Everything needs a home but more storage is not the thing you need. Declutter before you buy any boxes or furniture.

Stop buying tat.

In the middle of a big declutter at the moment so following for tips.

Clear all the surfaces into boxes, everything including the nice things. Tackle one surface/box at a time and be ruthless, once the scraps of paper, dusty candle and odd bits of lego are moved off the surface you'll find it easier to bin them.

Get rid of stuff until you like everything you have.
Don't keep anything you haven't used or looked at for a year. So no old perfumes, toys, pants, technology.
Find a home for it all.
Now every single time you bring an item into the house, you have to chuck something else away. You should never have more items tomorrow than you have today.

I declutter a couple of times a year as we've got four DC so stuff tends to mount up otherwise.

My best tip is being brutal. Don't attach any emotion to it and just evaluate whether the item is needed. I look at things like has it been used in the last four to six months, is it likely to be used within the next four to six months, could it be passed down (e.g., kids clothes) or put in the charity bag, etc. If I'm struggling to answer my own questions then I clearly don't have a use for the item.

Board games, jigsaws, card games, etc don't need boxes. Put them in plastic wallets and they take up a third of the space and also will look much tidier.

For crockery you only need one plate/bowl/cup/knife/fork/spoon per person plus 2&3 spares for visitors. Ditch the rest. You only need as many pans as your hob has rings and as many oven trays as your oven has shelves.

For bedding, one set on each bed and one spare set each in the cupboard is enough. Use a year round duvet so you don't need additional duvets in the cupboard. Two bath sheets and two smaller towels per person is enough towels.

We have a "new in, old out" system too so if I buy a new top, for example, I'll put an older top into the charity bag. Before Christmas and birthdays I have a mini clear out to make space.

Don't buy anything at all if possible. And if you have to buy something make sure you get rid of something else to make room for it.

Spend a couple hours every weekend decluttering until you have hit every space, I watch hoarder videos on youtube before I declutter, it makes me far more ruthless.

Embrace space in cupboards, every square inch doesn't need to filled.

Never leave a room empty handed if something in there needs to go to your next room destination.

Do five to ten minute jobs right away so they don't build up.

Don't dump your stuff when you come in the door, put it where it's meant to go.

The less stuff you have, the easier it is to manage.

Once you have decluttered every space, start at the beginning again. It will take far less time and after living with less you will probably find a lot more you are willing to let go of.

I agree with a lot of what's already been said but the other thing is that I think it's worth working out what your main source of clutter is.

For me it is two things:

My mum. She turns up with a lot of random tat and I find her visits quite stressful so they then sit around because I am not in the right mood to sort through it afterwards

When I replace something, I often keep the previous one. E.g. if I buy a new winter coat, I will often keep the old one "as a spare" and then end up with one coat I wear and 3 "spares"

So I try and tackle both of those at source. I try and sort through my mum's tat within a day and I try to immediately re-home something I have replaced

Just chuck stuff out if it's crap, and give the rest to a charity shop.

I never keep things I don't need. I can't bear clutter.

I've given away alot of stuff on olio. Including stuff that wouldn't be suitable for the charity shop- ie open cosmetics.
I've streamlined what I buy over the years, recreational shopping has been replaced with gardening.

Mary Poppins' rule: a place for everything and everything in its place'. Everything you own should have a home and you put it back there when you're done with it. Everything else that is not needed, bin it/donate to charity.

Equally don't keep hold of something because you might one day put it on eBay. Take it to a charity shop and be done with it.

I'll pick a day the dump is open so I can take what I've declutterred there (if it can't be donated etc). Very satisfying to know what I've got rid of is out of the house (and not just moved to another room/garage).

Following this. I set a target of 50 items this weekend. Done 28 so far.

If you have DC then clear out the clothes and toys that the youngest has grown out of first.

Start decluttering by your front door first. It's the first thing that visitors see and as hallways usually don't have much furniture it's a quick result. (Everything leaving the house has to go out that door so it's convenient if the way isn't blocked).

Leave stuff by your front gate with a "Please help yourself " sign for passersby. It will be gone in a flash.

I’m on an ongoing thread about this ( will try to share the link) & it’s really inspiring to hear about other people’s progress. I get overwhelmed easily so today, for example, I have just sorted through a few carrier bags that were dumped in the lounge. I had 3 piles - chuck
keep
donate
This evening I will do a couple of storage cubes whilst watching tv. Charity shop run tomorrow as there are several bags already filled & waiting to go.

Don't put anything down put it away.

If you have a drink in the car, it takes 1 second to take the bottle with you when you get out, and put it in the bin. If you leave it in the car, and then don't pick up the sweet wrapper you dropped, and the jumper you didn't wear etc etc, before you know it you've created an hours job of cleaning out the car. Same principle in every room in the house.

Throwing stuff out is hard, keeping stuff is easy.
So when faced with a drawer of random crap - don't try to decide what to throw out... Say EVERYTHING is going out apart from a few things you make a postive decision to keep.
Halfway thru picking over the contents, you'll end up saying Enough. Then what's left goes OUT.

Every time you fill a bag of stuff to go, put it in your car. Next time you pass a friend's house, charity shop, clothing bin you can drop it off.

This. I left a toy kitchen out today that was too heavy for the charity shop and it went in ten minutes.

Decluttering & Organising Thread 8 - It’s Nearly Summer.
Sorry OP I couldn’t work out how to share a thread!

Try not to buy lots of "stuff" and if you do be prepared to throw stuff out.

my 3 year old will ask for random tat when out which I will buy but am 100% sure it will end up in the bin in 3/4'days.

don't keep things that "you might use" just bin it.

i bin everything which means my house is not cluttered at all. I hate clutter and can feel myself getting annoyed if it starts to build up.

1. Research very easy and very local ways to rid your old stuff eg find your local charity shop, clothes recycling bin, free Facebook group, Olio app for food, old pens go to Rymans, old sheets to the animal rescue etc.
2. If you're doing a big declutter you must bring all the things of the same kind together. Then you will see you unfortunately have x15 pairs of scissors.
3. If you have kids, a labelled tub is the best chance to get them to tidy up. It's important that you don't overfill tubs or shelves, everything should have clear space around it so that it takes seconds to put away.
4. Break things down into small steps eg today I'll snap a pic of the kids old toys on my phone, tomorrow I'll list it on the free Facebook group etc.
5. Enjoy the space! Keep doing a room until it is actually organised. Then enjoy it. It gives me motivation to say to the kids 'right out your coat, shoes and gloves away' and they can just do it. I get the decluttering time back again because I can delegate.

HTH goodness knows I'm still learning!