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 will come out now as someone who used to have serious hoarding issues - but no more!

I used to have literally boxes and boxes of childhood memorabilia and sentimental items that followed me from university halls of residence (at one point I kept boxes in a big pile in my room!), to my first flat, my second flat...The boxes were like a millstone round my neck, often causing me storage worries and relationship issues and the longer i left them the worse it got. Part of the problem was that my parents had downsized and asked me to move most of my childhood stuff out - so I couldn't leave it all 'at home' as so many of my contemporaries could - then deaths in the family meant that I was scared to open the boxes for emotional reasons, as I didn't want to look at things that would remind me of my childhood.

Eventually, just before my wedding, I cracked and got in a 'decluttering consultant' to help me sort a good proportion of it out. People thought I was bonkers to pay someone £250 to help me sort through some boxes but I needed the help and she did get me to do it. There were still boxes up in the loft in my first married home and still a few at my parents' house, but I then had the will to gradually tackle the problem, a box at a time.

I am now fairly sure that there is very little left in the loft and now have just a couple of attractive IKEA storage boxes full of said childhood and personal memorabilia, sitting quietly on the shelf. I am also tackling my filing and paperwork (looked up one day to realise that much of it related to things I was doing five years ago, while my present work was in a pile with nowhere to go!), clearing out my wardrobe, underwear, you name it....

What has helped me?

1. The tale of a friend who had to go all the way back to Australia and spend a solid week tackling her clutter, as her mum was selling their house. She really regretted not tackling it years before and we all have to face the fact that it has to be done one day, one way or another.

2. "If in doubt, chuck it out!" - if you are not sure that you want a particular item in your life, then get rid of it. You are in control.

3. Not buying or getting clutter. I don't buy knick knacks, souvenirs, avoid picking up brochures etc. I also avoid becoming the custodian for other people's clutter - if my husband wants to hang onto something then he has to keep it.

4. Trying to buy more of what I do use and get rid of what I don't use.

5. Ebay - the great thing about ebay is that you can, with a bit of patience, get rid of those things that you don't want to think of being thrown away but want to give to the right person. I had a collection of 'collectable' china animals (from childhood!) and they were snapped up on ebay by people who like that kind of thing...

6. Everything being online these days eg. most magazine articles are online - why keep the original paper copy?

7. Enjoying the feeling of 'lightness' that you can get once you live with less stuff.

If you are thinking tidy in terms of inviting people in then focus on the rooms that people see. Tidy hall - don't let it become a dumping ground - because that is the first thing anyone sees, even those who don't make it over the threshold. Living room/kitchen - whichever room you show your guests into and loo (in case they need to pay a visit!). Everything else is irrelevant unless you plan on taking your visitors on a tour! I second all those posters who stress the importance of good storage - have a place for everything and when you run out of places it's time to start throwing things out.

Colourworld This week I have envied Working at Home Mums get the kids to do HW and bits after school, having a cleaner house (in my imagination) Having more time to go to the gym but your comments has reminded me how luck I am with my DH who I am sure would have been like your if he did not have a baptism of fire when I was working shifts when DS was little. The other day I need to pop out to see a neighbour after work and on the return walk listed the things I had to do before I could sit down. When I got back the D/W was empty and wash in the machine and a couple of other things.
I am going to train my DS to be the same, he'll have a happy partnership if he follows his Dad, of course only if she/he meets my approval first I'll be the MiL from hell otherwise

Our big de-clutter has started.
DP did half the cupboards in the play/dining room and I have done our wardrobe and drawers. Next are the piles of boxes in our room, the drawers under the bed and the other half of the play room. After that DP will have to tackle the shed and do a tip run.
We will escape the nightmare of too much stuff and too little space

Some of you are making me feel terribly inadequate/slovernly/lazy !

And BoffinMum - I don't even know what "implementing and sustaining systems" means! Literally.

I know I have pregnancy mush-brain but even so .

good to read yr post branchingout as I was feeling too bashful to reveal on here that I might be getting a declutter service in. I have done really well so far this year, I try to have a charity shop bag on the go all the time and I don't look in the bags once they are full, have done about a bag a week since the beginning of the year so quite proud. HOWEVER, our cupboards are all full and I am finding it too overwhelming/tiring to empty them and find out what's in the back of them... and to work out a system for what should go where....

There are also a lot of items I am holding onto for sentimental reasons and I really need someone to hold my hand while I get rid of them. Ridiculous but it is totally true, I can't do it on my own. Will re-read yr post and have another go at tackling problem areas this week!

What sort of cupboard/table do organised homeowners have in their hallway? I am scared to have anything with drawers or even a cupboard because things would get lobbed in there never to come out again. Or wd only get sorted every few months. I bought a rather pathetic letter holder to get post out of the way but it hasn't worked and the beautiful dish that should only hold keys always has other random crap in it or is obscured by more post.

I think space is key in this issue too.

I live in central Tokyo where apartments are miniscule and storage space is like gold-dust. DH, DD(6), DS(3) and myself live in a small (think tiny, then halve, then halve again and you'll about have it) 2-bed apartment.

I have no choice but to be ruthless with what we buy/own/keep.
That said, I don't find it at all boring/dull/unhealthy/abnormal/any other derogatory word for clean and tidy that people may mention to have a spotless house apartment.

In fact, I quite enjoy that liberating feeling that someone else wrote about that comes from knowing that I use and need everything I own (pushes firmly out of mind the enormous suitcase of baby clothes that are just too damn cute to throw/donate/sell), well, almost everything.

I work full-time and get naff all very little help from DH when it comes to housework. What works for me is daily routine: So:
After work, pick up DC from nursery/after-school club, dinner goes on,
laundry in washing machine,
school bags unpacked and packed for next day,
Make sure DD is settled with homework, DS with entertainment of some sort
Finish making dinner (bulk cook at weekend and freeze)/ eat / wash & dry dishes and make sure all kitchen surfaces are clean, all food put away, floor has no food stains etc
Bathe DC
Washing finished by this point, so hang out and/or dryer on
1 hour with kids (play, chat, story, bed)
Ironing previous day's laundry, folded & put away
TV time, evening tipple, make sure cushions plumped and room looks nice and bed

Bath cleaned daily when I am in shower in the morning (Japan, so wet-room style bathroom).
Toilet room is cleaned with disposable toilet wipes (cheap as chips here, assuming you can get them in UK?) every 2 days.
Beds made every morning, clothes hung up after they're taken off (DC trained, DH luckily naturally tidy-ish).
Hoover every few days (apartment so small takes 5/10 minutes to do entire place).

Big cupboard blitz during holidays.
Sorted. hth. Someone.

at length of epistle lecture post

Thanks titfer - glad someone found my 'coming out' useful!

The most important thing in de-cluttering is your mindset - once you have changed your mindset to acknowledge that you don't need all this stuff and begun the process then it will slowly, gradually improve.

I meant thinking about how I live and making hosuehold arrangements that truly reflect what I want, then keeping up with them.

I know there was too much management speak there.

branchingout have booked declutter people! Figured I'd better put my money where my mouth is

Looking forward to knowing what's actually in my cupboards.

My tip run & charity shop run is complete

I'm really proud of my efforts!

Last week, friends came round and my house was 'visitor ready' with very little effort.

One friend came in and the first thing she said was "blimey, it's spotless, how did you manage that?! There's no clutter, all your benches are clear!"

She meant it admiringly as her house is the same as mine was

Is it sad that I felt 10 feet tall?

I'm on top of the washing & I'm tackling the ironing piles today.

Well done on the decluttering service. Sounds like a big step taken.

Sorky, you have inspired me to go and do the ironing!

sorky it's a big step for me as I hold on to paper - my house generally looks fine but I am always battling with paper, no matter how much I throw out it multiply and I hate getting rid of things I have collected, hence the piles of magazines, the random collections of stationery, books I will never read again, smart paper bags saved just in case etc etc.

Really pleased I've done it even if it is an expensive way to get rid of things!

Well done titfer - please report back and let us know how it goes.

Sorky - you seem to have acheived miracles yourself!

DP who collects and hoards is seemingly ruthless with other peoples stuff.
Yesterday he tackled DD1's bedroom and cleared away a whole wheelie bin worth of rubbish Amongst it was outgrown clothes, scraps of paper, broken things and a huge box full of goodie wrappers.
DD1 is now not allowed to eat up there but she has the most lovely tidy room ever in her life!
Now for the rest of the house

Snap Debs, having sorted all the toys. I have just gone through 4 wardrobes and sorted the kids clothes. Everything now fits the right person.

It's been annoying me that sometimes they will get dressed in stuff that blatantly doesn't fit them anymore (obv they don't realise, but it bugs me)

There's a bag for Oxfam, a bag for the attic (hand downs) and a bag to sell.

I'm doing the bathroom today, have a binbag ready to throw out 5 year old perfume bottles

I'm dreading the living room because it looks almost exactly like a tippy version of <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=www.ukhomeideas.co.uk/images/ikea/billy-bookcase.jpg&imgrefurl=www.ukhomeideas.co.uk/ideas/furniture/ikea-furniture/billy-bookcases-from-ikea&usg=__nQkdA6PlaWC3sbWxsSyi6T4emVU=&h=200&w=300&sz=22&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=1DHwVQB_0C_1NM:&tbnh=125&tbnw=167&ei=Ya_LTcaHJYOa8QO6oOGhBA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dbilly%2Bbookcases%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1256%26bih%3D702%26gbv%3D2%26tbm%3Disch&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=132&vpy=87&dur=970&hovh=160&hovw=240&tx=126&ty=80&page=1&ndsp=27&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this

How do you tackle this many shelves and books?

Anybody want 6 Nokia phone chargers, as that's exactly what we now have lying around here since the Big Drawer Sort Out, plus some old handsfree sets, plus cables, plus a USB vibrating device free for postage.

Put radio on and make tea. Start with one shelf unit, remove books and pile on floor neatly, dust books and shelf, then start putting books into sections based on topic of book (reference, fiction, humour, etc). Move onto next shelf unit, picking out books to fill the sections you have planned. Start further sections on second shelf unit. Ditch anything you won't read again or don't like. Continue to last shelf unit. Bring books towards the front of the shelves and line up nicely in rough size order with an eye for colour as well. Put shit looking books in a row behind them. Leave space for a few ornaments, incoming new books, and/or magazines or journals or some hardbacks lying on their sides to act as bookends. Step back and decide whether 'reading' the shelves gives an insight into your stylish and intelligent nature. If so, relax. If not, give up. Drink more tea.

I love these threads.My mission is to make peopel understand that housework is not dull.What's dull about having a nice clean home? What IS dull is having no system so you waste loads of percious time rushing about and stressing about where things are.

I'm big into systems management. I recommend this book very highly to anyone who needs to get MORE ORGANISED.

I've always worked f/t, studied, done other stuff, and have managed fine with no cleaner even thoguh I have 2 kids and my dh has worked abroad for very long stretches for year.

This is what works for me:

No shoes in the house
Eat only at the table. Nowhere else.
House tidy, beds made, dishes done before you go to work.
Evetything tidy and clean before you go to bed at night.
Train your kids to put stuff away and/or get things done. eg No tv unless homework done or beds made/teeth cleaned.

Everey 6 weeks i spend a whole day cleaning from top to bottom and a big part of that is getting rid of naytihng old/out dated/broken/too small.

House is pretty empty-very few hideous knickknacks and whathaveyou.

Never piles of paperwork. All dealt with straightaway.

Listen to da Moondog.

This is also the Boff approach. And also nobody over 8 is allowed to get away without doing their own housework.

Yes.
And then you will have the time to relax because you have A SYSTEM!!!
Discipline.

Don't be foisting your crap on to us Boffinmum!!

We're all drowning in unwanted shite already