Secrets of an organised home?

[DraggleTailedWench]

I have 2 days to spend in the home generally sorting and finding order among the chaos.

So, good people of the Good housekeeping board, what is the one thing that you feel is your organisational secret in the sense of keeping a tidy home? What should I spend my time doing if nothing else?

Good ideas please or it'll be off to the coffee shop with me!

I agree about decluttering. My house is full of stuff it's like a teddy bear whose stiching has come apart. All this stuff everywhere and it seems to multiply while I'm at work!!
My dc's are older now so toys aren't the problem. This weekend I'm going to tackle as much as I can.

Batch cooking - definitely - just started when I went back to work after maternity and it has saved us from living on take-aways! I tend to cook in 'meat categories' - accidentally really - so 1 weekend I'll buy lots of chicken and do a couple of batches of different curries / stews etc - a million onions and chicken browned in 1 pan then split into smaller ones and different ingredients added. Next week I buy loads of mince and do 1 huge pan with browned mince and onions then split to make bolognaise / lasagne / chilli / cottage pie... if you rotate there's always a bit of variety in the freezer. 10 / 20 minutes on a night instead of an hour!

Trying to become organised but difficult as we're renovating so the house is a shambles. Done bathroom and LO's bedroom so far still living in the 60s in the rest of the house and I've been really strict - 1 lidded basket with toiletries and 1 with bath toys in the bathroom - absolutely nothing else (exept my posh candles and bubble bath but I NEED them!) LO's bedroom is all organised too - nappies in basket in the wardrobe, toys in storage etc - takes 5 minutes to clean and tidy.

Planning on doing the same as we work through the house - everything in boxes and baskets. DP likes things a bit more laid back cluttered but I do the lion's share of cleaning and tidying as I only qork 4 days so it's tough - lol!