If your house is immaculate, how do you do it? <wails> I want one!!!

[sorky]

granted I have 4 kids, but still, I want a house that I can open the door to and say 'yeah, come on in' and be confident it's tidy enough for that.

I have been ill recently so there are cobwebs and a general scruffiness, but where to start? What level of cleanliness are we talking about?

I think I'm officially a slattern

I do follow the motivated moms cleaning schedule so at least my house is clean and hygienic. But I think it recommends a quick tidy up once a week, which doesn't really cut it!

My problem is space, there are 6 of us and a cat and a dog.

Me and DP share with the 2 youngest, 2.7 and 9 months. DD1 and DS have their own rooms.

DD1's room is a tip, she never puts things away, I wonder where she gets that from?

DS has autism and he only has a bed and some toys in there, all his clothes are in our room.

In our room are 4 chest of drawers, 1 wardrobe, 1 single bed, 1 double bed, with 4 drawers and 1 cot. You can barely move.

The dining room is full of cupboards(full) 3 prams and the dog and cat. We can just about get the table up but we don't bother.

The kitchen is very badly designed with no real storage, we had to move 3 cupboards to fit the fridge and freezer in.

The living room is like a toy room with 3 kids toys in there.

So there are my excuses! I know I need to declutter, I have so much to sell on but what if after i de-clutter it is still a mess???

My advice is to have a place for everything and put things away when finished.

Get rid of enough stuff that cupboards and drawers aren't filled to capacity.

I spend a half an hour per day / 1x week in each section of the house. Hall and Stairs, Kitchen, Living Room, Bedrooms, Bath and Toilet. I listen to radio 4 and just get on with it. I also do one extra thing a day - like tidy a drawer or under the sink.

I also have a "rule of three" anytime I walk in a room, I must do three things: So I go into the bath and 1) straighten the towels, 2) put a toy away and 3) put hair brush away - they don't have to be big jobs, but I must do three. Then walk back to the living room and 1) put away newpapers, 2) fold blanket and 3) put the phone back in its holder. There are always things to do.

And I have a one thing in/one thing out rule. So if you get new pajamas, you have to get rid of an old pair. New toy - old one goes. The exception is books.

OK - inspired by this thread. Off to tackle 'the pile'!

I second toffeefudgecake. The flylady way is fantastic and once you get used to a routine as she says 'the house seems to clean itself' - I have an 11 week old baby and can just about manage ~ 15-30mins a day tops and though the house is not spotless it is superficially presentable! Check out the flylady website: www.flylady.net or on second thoughts just read hamburgerhelpers post above - tis very similar!!

whoneedssleepanyway, I also have a 2 up and 2 down..

I need to find homes for everything. It is only dh and I and the monkey (18 months) but since he started tearing around the place, I am finding that there is immense clutter.

What I really, really need help with is clearing out and sorting some cubby holes. We have a "pantry" that needs to be gutted and a little area over the bulkhead of the stairs that are just full, full, full of stuff. And 2-3 miscellaneous drawers of the same. I keep downstairs relatively tidy and wash the floors every day I'm home but there are little piles of "things to sort" everywhere.

And I need to get filing done.

None of these are really cleaner jobs though! I just never have the time/energy.

There are things we can do to improve tidyness - for example pretty much everywhere in the house needs a clear out, which helps with putting things away, but these 'longer term' jobs get put off as there is so much else to do on Friday, Saturday and Sunday - like have fun together, as well as regular chores- and that's in spite of having a cleaner!

During the week I basically cook, eat, sleep, work, exercise and do child-related stuff and certainly don't feel like doing chores unless absolutely necessary.

Basically I decided it's nigh on impossible for us and therefore pointless even trying to have an immaculate house while the children are young and we both work- what we do have is a reasonably clean house thanks to the cleaner. Particularly as we didn't have an immaculate house before we had kids anyway!

A few people have mentioned washing issues. I used to have these too. I now put on a load every evening so it's ready to hang out or tumble dry in the morning. I found if I put washing on in the morning it tended to linger in the washing machine all day and then need rinsing again before it was hung out the following morning. If I do a load every evening I definitely keep up with it.

I bring it in off the line straight after tea. Fold into the washing basket and then put away straight away. If anything does need ironing I do it on a Sunday evening but most of it's fine without ironing. DH does his own shirts.

HTH

Organisation and habit are the keys to my house being tidy and clean. Admittedly we have a 3 bed semi which isn't massive and am on mat leave with DS 10mo.

We have 2 of the massive Ikea storage units/bookcases which have 10 baskets in the bottom row for DS's toys, the random wires, paperwork. I sort out the paperwork once a month in the evening if it's not urgent.

I clean the bathroom when DS is having his bath - just flick round with the wipes, do the loo. Not every day, maybe every 3rd day unless we're having visitors/it needs it. Spray the shower door every morning when it's wet. Don't tidy during the day as pointless with 10mo whose main source of fun is pulling books off shelves and toys out of boxes. Once he's in bed, I do it. Try to wipe kitchen surfaces when they need it and always put dishes in the dishwasher immediately.

Luckily DS adores riding the vacuum cleaner so I just get on with it if it needs a quick zoom downstairs. Floor washing happens when he's napping as our family room, kitchen, hall and dining room have wooden floors. Front room rarely gets used, so might vacuum carpet when doing rest, but not always.

Laundry - and if it's full, dishwasher - on most nights. Hang out/up clothes in the morning. Don't iron anything. Sometimes piles of clothes in spare room, but try to put them away the day they are dry, don't always succeed.

Vacuum, dust everywhere at the weekend. Big jobs get done once a month at the weekend.

I used to have a very demanding job in professional services marketing that required me to be super organised as I was working on up to 20 projects at once, so I think I've shifted that mentality onto this new 'job' of looking after DS and the house & garden. Sometimes if we're out a lot or I'm feeling lazy, I don't do much and the floor, bathroom and kitchen look grotty/there's dust everywhere, but the very least I will do is stay on top of the laundry and tidy up every night.

Yay, I did it! pile of paperwork is no more! :)

1. Storage
2. Routinely and viciously cull to prevent clutter (toys/paper/clothes)
3. Have specified areas where children are free to play, and others where they are banished from
4. try and have as many clean surfaces as possible
5. Avoid knick-knaky decorations
6. Hire a cleaner

Glad, of course, that i am not alone here then! I think my house just has too much stuff in it! Storage is essential but until someone other than just me puts anything away, it's a bit pointless! I got a cleaner and it really helps and to be fair my 3 and 4 year old both like joining in chores. I am also a slummy mummy though - not for me cleaning until 11pm!

Debs, just take it one step at a time and make it lifestyle orientated. For example, you mention the table, so how about thinking through family mealtimes? Say to yourself you are going to get the kitchen sorted so cooking becomes easier, and then you are going to get a dining area organised so you can really enjoy a family meal together every single day. Then the next week, keep that sorted while creating a really relaxing living room space where you don't have to move things to sit down and so on, where there is space to have a coffee and a chat and not just slump in front of the TV, that kind of thing. Then the next week make up your mind to tackle the hall, so your mornings are easier. I know I am pushing my blog a lot today but you may find these posts helpful.

Hallway therapy

Living rooms

Reboot your kitchen

Bathrooms

And finally there has to be one on storage

I aim to fill all my 7 recycling containers each week. That's a lot of paper to cull from the house. Hate the idea of my lovely cleaner having to tidy our mess, so spend half a day before she comes doing that so she can clean. Only 3 of us in house but all really untidy.

My house has just gone on the market and I've got the first viewer tomorrow. I am really really really NOT looking forward to the torture of the next few weeks (hopeful) or months (pessimist) of having to keep my family's atrocious slovenliness under control. I feel stressed to the rafters already and no-one's even been yet!

Debs75 I know what you mean - we are also pitifully short on space . I know I'm a slattern but even when I do go into "supermum" mode there's nowhere to put everything anyway! And it isn't all clutter - just some of it .

I don't know how big a house you need to hide all clutter though. My house is huge and I still can't find anywhere to secrete the overflowing ironing baskets. My guest room always looks like Widow Twanky's laundry.

My grandmother said that an excessively clean and tidy house was a sign of an empty mind.
Mine is tidy - in that the cupboard doors close and the surfaces and floors are clear
but dusting is for wimps
I had a cleaner but she freaked that all my radios were tuned to Radio 4.
I blitz a room a week and keep the rest comfortable. It works for me.

Flylady says

'You can't organise clutter' you have to get rid of it

More storage can lead to more clutter, it depends whether the stuff you are storing really matters to you. Imagine you had a flood or fire and which things would you think 'oh well, I never really liked/used that' and which things you'd be properly upset about.

Once decluttered the housework is much easier. Really recommend flylady, she used to live in a cluttered messy house and had been made to clean as punishment as a child, so she really understands people who are not 'born organised'

Oh and get the dcs to tidy the floors on the days you're hoovering, it makes it so much quicker if you don't keep having to pick things up

I think people notice clutter and see it as dirt more than anything - make sure you have a quick run round in the morning and before bed and move things into the rooms thay are meant to go in and then when you are in those rooms put thigs away just as you are going about your day.

My XMIL said I had an empty mind because I am so tidy - she was a dirty slattern though!

Am I beyond help? Am in a house that is ridiculously too small (can't afford to rent anywhere bigger, am in a 2.5 bed house with 2 adukts and 4 dc), Can't afford any new storage. DD is 13yo, and in the 'half' bedroom (classed as a study/nursery bedroom!), she has a bed in there. Her clothes are hung on a curtain rail attached to the wall (no floor space). I have clutter EVERYWHERE. I do (grudgingly) admit to being a hoarder, I make sure I de-clutter most cupboards at least every 3 months, but will NOT throw away things that I can 'find someone who can make use of them' . I can hang onto things for 3-4 years before finding someone to give them to.

STUFF is everywhere. We are drowning in STUFF. DC won't throw away anything that's not broken either. .

HEEEEELLLPP!!

Loudlass can't you convince yourself to give it to charity? Then it will 'find' the right person who needs it, and the money can go towards mosquito nets or emergency food. When I give a bag of stuff away I try and calculate roughly how much it will raise, and it helps me to let go of it.

I visited an elderly neighbour today who was drowning in clutter. Health wise she will not live very long and I was thinking of her relatives trying to sort it all out when she's gone. I came home and took two bags of books to charity.

following Asinine's post... if you give to Oxfam and fill in one of their forms and stick a sticker on the donated thing, you get a statement once a year which tells you how much your stuff raised which makes you feel SO virtuous and lovely! I am the world's worst hoarder, I think and even I manage to give somethings away...