HELP - I am drowning in laundry!

[WordsAreNoUseAtAll]

I have too much clutter. I have (finally, after a year of living here) unpacked all the boxes under the stairs, which is open on one side and in the hallway between the front door, front room and kitchen, so I have decided that this will be my UOA, or Ultra Organised Area. (See, an acronym means I'm serious...)

OK, so main flashpoints for clutter:

Clean laundry - tends to get pulled off the drying rack/washing line and dumped on the second settee for sorting/ironing, then just gets put back on from the settee. This is making our front room look an absolute state.

Shoes - everywhere! But never the ones we need.

The ironing board, iron and hoover don't have a home and so just get in the way all the time

Scarves, hats, gloves, etc - same as shoes, everywhere, apart from the ones we need

DD1s bike and DD2s buggy

Bags - my handbag and uni bag, DH's uni bag, DD1s homework bag, DD2s nappy bag and lunch bag. We can never find these things when we want them.

Toys and books. Although we do actually have a playroom and a library (ie two spare rooms) so there is no excuse for this one.

Stuff for charity. It is in piles all over the house and keeps reintegrating into the stuff not for charity

Brooms, mops, etc

SO. Can all this fit under the stairs in an organised way? Can it be done cheaply? Am I doomed to die surrounded by piles of junk?

I have set myself a task to fill two binbags with rubbish and a box with charity stuff every day until the house stops looking shamingly bad. I'm being ruthless.

I'm thinking of some form of rack under the stairs, maybe a clean laundry basket, or some kind of pigeonhole sorting system?

The DDs are 2 and 5, DH works and we both study part time. We are also pretty skint, I am recovering from MH problems and the house is rented, if any of that matters. I also HATE chucking stuff out if it can be reused.

HELP, before we drown in laundry!

First, get rid of the charity stuff. Don't keep it around the house, take it to the shop or put clothes in A clothes bank.

Second, stuff you aren't using but can't bear to throw away. Join your local freecycle/freegle group then you can give it to someone who can use it and they will come and collect it from you. No guilt for you for throwing away a good item. If you need it again, post a "wanted" on freecycle and you'll probably get one.

Third, laundry. You need a system. Little and often works for me. Monday: multi-coloured, Tuesday: towels, Wednesday: whites, Thursday: multi-coloured, Friday: bedding.

Always iron and put away on the same day. No dumping on the sofa allowed!

Scarfs, hats and gloves. It's warm enought to put them away. Get a box, label it, put it in the loft. I like photocopy paper boxes for storage. They are small enough to handle easily and stackable.

Toys and books: sort, be ruthless and freecycle what the kids don't like or have grown out of. Don't hang onto them for eBay, car boots ale etc, they make next to nothing.

Brooms and mops: why plural? An indoor and outdoor broom, maybe, but do you need multiple mops? Drill holes through the handles of the ones you are keeping and hang them on hooks.

Clean laundry basket: don't understand; why do you need a basket for clean laundry? It has a home in the owners bedroom.

Good luck!

That is all really good advice - I think I am going to have to instigate a zero tolerance policy with laundry.

I had forgotten about freecycle - I will get some stuff on my local one right away. Some of the toys have hardly been played with.

If I get chance tomorrow, will load up a bag on wheels and get stuff down to the charity shop.

Everything needs to be out of here. I actually have a really spacious house for the money, and we only use half of it because the rest is covered in piles of stuff tgat should have been thrown away. If there is a path to get to certain bits of tge room, then there is too much clutter. Normal people don't have paths.

I will have a house where I can take photos of the kids without worrying about showing too much mess!

I was just about to say that the library is too small for laundry. Then I realised that at least three or four square metres of it is piles of old amazon boxes and old gift bags etc. Get rid of them and I'll have a place for laundry. If I really need a small box or bag I will just have to manage!

You need to be seriously ruthless.
DH is a hoarder and I'm the ruthless one, it's like pulling teeth. I am considering hiring a skip and just clearing the lot when he's away.

Great advice from seabright there.

Hooks are a good idea, each have your own hook and remember to use it!!

Hats and scarfs etc belong in a box in our cupboard under the stairs, it's not tidy and we just pull everything out to attempt to find matching ones then when we can't just stuff it all back in the box!

Laundry you should have an ironing basket not a clean washing one, try to put all things that don't need to be iron away ASAP or they will end up crumpled on the sofa and then need ironing which is more work

Also I think you should look at your house bit by bit not as a whole as that way it's get over whelming and you don't want to do anything. Make a list (I'm a big fan of lists ) of what you want to sort out then tackle one job at a time

Good luck!

Will those gel dehumidifiers from poundland protect the books from laundry dampness? The kids books are in the playroom, but me and DH have a few hundred (about a third of which we need shelf space for atm) and obviously books don't like damp. The computers are in there too (only one of which works, but we have three in there in the hope they will get mended as well) which again don't like damp.

Omg, we are awful aren't we!

You should be fine to drwa washing in there.
Perhaps worth considering giving away some of those books though, you wont ever get to read hundreds of books again.....

dryi, even!

They are mostly non fiction, so they do get used still. Plus I'm soft :-)

Have you actually got enough room for all your clothes? If not, you need to cull them until you can put them away. Or make space for them by chucking out other stuff.

I agree with the little and often suggestion about laundry, a load a day or every two days. And remember, "don't put it down, put it away"

How do you get the charity donations to the shop? If it's by car, go and put the stuff in the boot now. If it's hand delivered, put the bags by the door and take it a bag or two at a time. Then take the final step and drop it off - if you aren't going to take it to the shop you might as well chuck it in the bin, it's not helping anyone sitting around in your house.

I love a good clear out - you'll feel great when you have done some :)

Forgot to say, I have MH issues (depression) and always feel much better if the house is under control.

Good luck, come back in a day or two and tell us what you've done.

Marking place!

I've been thinking - how much clothes does someone actually need?

I'm thinking the kids need, each:

Three or four warm sets of play clothes
Three or four cool sets of play clothes
Two sets of mucky clothes for painting, gardening etc
Two sets of posh clothes for parties etc
Five sets of nightclothes
Dressing Gown
Enough underwear for two weeks
Nice coat
Scruffier coat
Wellies
Smart Shoes
Summer sandals
Trainers
Slippers
Swimming costume
Hat, Scarf, Gloves
Apron for cooking
Apron for messy play

Then obv school uniform, outfits for any activites

(night clothes and underwear is more because of toilet training)

Then for me:

Four or five sets of casual clothes, in layers for different weather, all of which actually fit and have the right buttons etc
Two sets of mucky clothes for painting, gardening, cleaning etc
Two sets of running/gym clothes
Two sets of posh clothes for parties etc
Nice business style suit
Two sets of nightclothes
Dressing Gown
Enough knickers for one week
One sexy bra
Two normal bras
5 pairs black socks
5 pairs opaque tights
Nice coat
Scruffier coat
Wellies
Smart Shoes
Trainers
Birkenstocks
Doc Martens
Slippers
Swimming costume
Hat, Scarf, Gloves
Apron for cooking
Apron for cleaning

Is that right?

(DH needs new clothes, but he refuses to buy them or let me buy them, sigh)

Ruthless, there is nothing else for it but to de clutter first!! Regarding laundry - you have to be almost regimental in it's organisation and strict in getting it finished - no more putting it back on the sofa!! I have four medium sized laundry baskets (swing bin sized) one for towels, one for white clothes, one for darks and one for mixed colours. Saves loads of time when sorting loads out to wash - pick up a basket full and you're off. Got to be ruthless though in chucking out or recyling!! Good luck.

Hello Words,
How is it going? Give us an update on what you've got done (doesn't matter how small the job done is!)

It's not much, but I have had dd1 off school ill and me and dh have tma deadlines, so it's something :-)

Sofa is now clear of clothes, I'm sat on the clear half as I type :-) The other half contains a lamp (broken) 4 bags, 2 baby slings, a nursing pillow (I'm no longer feeding, but it is good for sitting up in bed) a cardboard box (empty) and several squares of felt.

Toys of the front room are now in two boxes, everything else is for charity or away upstairs. Floors are all swept/hoovered, space cleared on front room table - enough for me and dd to sit at doing a workbook.

Slowly but surely making progress. Bin day is Tuesday, including recycling. Hoping to have a full bin and recycling bin by then. Bugger reduce and reuse for now. It's recycle or get rid :-)

Should add that I have a pram load ready for the charity shop tomorrow as well.

Wow! Good going there.

Now, that broken lamp, how about chucking it out, along with that empty box?

How many baby slings are needed?

I'm very impressed with what you've got done. How do you feel about the house now?

I'm feeling better already :-) Actually sitting doing that workbook without balancing on our knees or whatever was brill, and already I'm not as ashamed when the postman comes or whatever, which is making me more relaxed.

Right. Tomorrow this settee will be clear, the tables will be completely clear, the mantelpiece will look less stupid, and I will have found another bin bag full of rubbish.

That's great! Well done!

My house is relatively clutter free (now anyway!) but you have spurred me on to do something about all the stuff I'm hoarding under the stairs

just jumping in to say well done.... I have been where you are and am now evangelical about decluttering. now if when i clean my house it actually looks clean (and takes me a fraction of the time it used to.) keep it up, but also highly recommend doing it a little bit at a time so that you are forming a habit, rather than pourging once now and them gettin g to the same point in say, a year

Words, that's a lot of clothes! At least I think it is! My wardrobe consists of:

x2 bras
x4 knickers
x2 trousers
x2 work skirts
x1 work dress
x3 white work shirts
x2 jumpers
x2 pyjamas
xlots black socks.
x1 work coat
x1 anorak
x1 formal (long) dress. My ex wedding dress.
x1 smart dress.
x1 wellies
x1 trainers
x1 work heels
x1 leather boots
x1 slippers
x1 dressing gown.