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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

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Original poster

How to fight the tide of clutter on surfaces...

31 replies

linspins · 09/03/2012 17:37

I am despairing of keeping surfaces free from clutter. I don't even know how to describe this stuff...it's just bits and pieces from daily life. I seem to spend my time playing that not-much-fun game where you go in to a room, take out things that don't belong in it, put them away in another room, remove clutter from that room etc. Then an hour later there is stuff everywhere again. ARGHHHHH!
My DD, 5, is a whirlwind of mess (all in the name of fun play, which is fine!) and my DS, 2, just leaves lots of random things about. There are too many things in the house that don't have homes, but can't be thrown out. I can deal with the whole coats/shoes/bags saga, but what about all the STUFF...sigh.

If you have clear surfaces, please, how do you do it?? [pleading].

OP posts:

PigletJohn · 09/03/2012 19:13

laundry baskets.

Original poster

linspins · 09/03/2012 19:34

Er...laundry baskets for everything? Do you just dump stuff in it, then sort at your leisure?

OP posts:

PigletJohn · 09/03/2012 19:36

dump. yes

sort..... maybe

Onlyaphase · 09/03/2012 19:38

I have no idea how to declutter, will watch for inspiration. My poor DH loves empty surfaces and certainly doesn't get them in this house

I have a friend who has a clutter-free and lovely house though. She says the answer is to find a home for everything and then be ruthless and ebay/charity shop/bin items on a regular basis. If she brings something new into the house, something else has to go out. I admire her deeply, just can't seem to get there myself

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 09/03/2012 19:45

We're the same, I have really tried to find a home for everything and do massive decluttering but stuff just appears constantly, DH is the worst culprit. It isn't stuff that needs a home, it is just stuff that is passing through a lot of the time (paperwork, piles of coins, receipts, tat out of party bags). It feels as though no sooner do I clear a space than it gets filled again.

I think that is actually the root of the problem, you all need to stop seeing surfaces as somewhere to put things and see them as being complete in their own right. IYSWIM. I am having trouble doing this, but I would like to manage it one day. One tip from Flylady that has helped me a bit is to clear a space and then put something beautiful in the middle of it, like a bunch of flowers, framed photo etc, it does somehow repel the clutter a bit.

cybbo · 09/03/2012 19:47

Its called real life, clearing surfaces all the time. They dont stay clear by themselves, its a full time job

I like to dump stuff in the kitchen bin as soften as I can. No one ever notices

cybbo · 09/03/2012 19:48

And the danger of buying baskets to put crap in is that you end up with a house full of baskets of crap. Which is no better

Get rid. And nag everyone

PigletJohn · 09/03/2012 20:43

put the baskets in a pile. When it reaches the ceiling take the bottom one to the charity shop. Repeat.

Original poster

linspins · 09/03/2012 21:04

Good advice everyone. I think Whoknowswherehtetimegoes hit the nail on the head, in that the stuff is not actual objects that really need a home, but bits, pieces, paper, and general life stuff. Cybbo, I know what you mean about baskets of stuff - my Mum hoards things...all neatly stored, labelled etc, but essentially things that should be thrown away, e.g newspapers.
Well, I'd better go and throw something away!

OP posts:

bossboggle · 10/03/2012 08:26

Got to be ruthless!! Get rid! It's the only way. When I converted our house and made it bigger we had a MONSTER clear out!! The attic space was full of 'it might come in useful one day stuff' - 95% of it went out through the attic hatch, down the stairs and straight out of the front door!! It was either burned, charity shopped or sent to the tip!! Guess what... when we finished the conversion my daughter ended up with the loft conversion bedroom and it is the biggest room in the house!! We have a very large house now but I am still ruthless about chucking out......!!

bossboggle · 10/03/2012 08:27

belindarose · 10/03/2012 08:40

Aaaaagh, me too. I'm facing a weekend of clutter clearing I think. HATE it! Nobody to blame, me, DH and toddler DD are all equally bad (we blame our mothers actually, with their pristine no-clutter houses!). Thing is, I notice we never have anything beautiful in our house as its too full of clutter. So I like the idea of clearing a space for a vase of daffodils. And DH is a great photographer but we can never see the results!

smearedinfood · 10/03/2012 08:51

I saw a thread once on here and someone the 7 rule. When you walk in a room do 7 things. I think finding out the best time for you to do things is when I get home from work.

DaisySteiner · 10/03/2012 09:32

We bought one of these and put it on the wall by the PC and use it to store all the paperwork that we would otherwise make up the ubiquitous 'pile' that we have always have. Everything that we will probably need to refer to in the near future but can then discard, such as letters from school, bills that need paying, insurance renewal forms etc etc go in there. It's really made a big difference and we no longer have a sprawling pile on the kitchen counter!

I'm reading The Happiness Project at the moment and a suggestion in there for all the little bits and pieces that kids collect and don't want to throw away is to put them in a big glass jar. Apparently they look quite nice and keep them all in one place. Personally I'm a bit of a hater of kiddie-crap and it either gets put in their rooms or thrown away when they're not looking

TheSinglePringle · 10/03/2012 09:35

I have a cupboard in the kitchen that doesn't get used and that is now my 'stay there til find a place for you or go in the bin' cupboard. I go through it once a month and if somethings been there too long then it gets thrown. O have a draw full of random leads and plugs too

countessbabycham · 10/03/2012 09:58

I try to go with TheSinglePringles idea.

I dipped into Flylady (and came screaming straight back out!) but the space I cleared under the sink for the 'dishpan' remained and its now great for transitory crap - you know,like the 4 pack of kitchen rolls when you've just been shopping etc.I have an old filing box on its side within my filing system - for 'dealing with' paperwork.As I sort I try to fit stuff into the available storage,with a bit of breathing space.That means the transitory piles can remain out of view (and off surfaces),but still be separate from the rest.
Once the transitory storage space is full and you start needing to use surfaces,you need to sort...

Trying to eliminate 'stuff' in its entirety is hopeless,and not fair on the kids and their 'treasures',so its being crafty with what has to be permitted!

Some stuff needs to be at hand - wallets,keys etc,and thats where basket storage comes in.

ggirl · 10/03/2012 10:10

I have just had a declutter and got rid of the surfaces themselves!

Have ebayed two large 5 shelf ikea expedit things that were full of clutter that I've been looking at and stressing about for ages.

Loads of books to charity shop , crap chucked out. Now have bought lovely sideboard and am storing essentials in there, out of sight.

Now to tackle the desk and get rid of mountains of paperwork ,endless mobile wires .

Is there such a thing as a nice filing cabinet?? Hate paperwork with a passion!

DaisySteiner · 10/03/2012 10:53

All our paperwork is now stored out of sight in paper storage boxes which are on a nice set of shelves in the study. I hate filing cabinets! We managed to accumulate 13 years of old paperwork and have spent literally weeks burning all the old confidential stuff and sorting all the recent stuff into these boxes. Our study is now a beautiful haven of order and tidiness (well, nearly!)

DillyTante · 10/03/2012 10:57

The Happiness Project is a great book!

DaisySteiner · 10/03/2012 10:59

We're reading it for book club. I'm not sure whether I like it at the moment. Sometimes I read it and think 'oooh, good idea' other times it makes me feel totally inadequate and I want to hurl it through the window!

ggirl · 10/03/2012 10:59

have just had a brainwave !

I have an old pine blanket box , could I get some hanging thing for files to put in it , then could use as coffee table with all the paper work hidden away

don't have a study sadly

DaisySteiner · 10/03/2012 11:01

I guess it would have to be the right dimensions for the hanging files to fit. We have a pine blanket box as a coffee table that houses all our board games. It's useful, but if the coffee table isn't totally clutter-free you have to move everything off it when you want to open it to take stuff out, which is a pain tbh.

ninedragons · 10/03/2012 11:03

Get your surfaces beautiful - it discourages the snowdrifts of crap.

There is a chest of drawers by the front entrance that would be a natural crap magnet, but I keep it with one lovely Murano glass lamp and an antique typewriter. The moment anything else starts to pile up, it looks so wrong I sort it out.

You do have to find a home for everything and make sure anything that strays is returned. If you have a cordless phone, it's easy to do this absentmindedly while you're chatting away. The homing system doesn't need to be particularly sophisticated - eg any cord or thing with a plug on the end of it goes into a drawer under the telly. I don't know what 95% of the things in there are for, but at least we know where all chargers/mini speakers/bits of technocrap are.

bigbadbarry · 10/03/2012 11:08

Sorry for no link. Hy. Am on my phone. Also it is on pinterest and the original isn't working - but I hope you can see this blanket box with hanging files! pinterest.com/pin/190980840418147397/. If not I will,fire up the PC and try to link it properly this afternoon.

ggirl · 10/03/2012 11:17

ooh barry that's perfect

now how do I do that to my box!!

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