I have too much stuff to fit in this house!!

[Jemster]

I have been gradually decluttering since xmas and must have taken 20 bags to charity shop over that time. But my house is still a cluttered mess and it's getting to me now. I work until 2.00pm each day and have 2 little ones to entertain in afternoons so feel like i can never get on top of things.
There is 'stuff' everywhere and just not enough space to keep it all tidy. I am even finding it hard to clean properly.
Alot of it is kids toys and everyone's clothes.
It's a tip and I am ashamed and exhausted!!

I've seen my sin's friends houses and they are neat and tidy and clean. Anyone with 2 little ones please tell your secret as I feel like I am basically chasing my tail!!

Many thanks

I've helped a couple of relatives in exactly the same situation. I think it needs a big one-off effort where you put the time and childcare in place to attack the room(s). Maintaining the cleanliness and tidiness around your normal commitments is then possible.

(Actually, neither of my relatives were in the exact same position, they each have part time jobs, each have two young children but neither had managed anywhere near clearing up 20 bags already!).

Well done on taking the first steps and having for rid of stuff. We have no 2 arriving imminently and having already had a massive clearout in preparation for the fact that there will be more stuff coming in! Have you got good toy storage? We are open plan so cannot hide toys away but at least of you can put them in pretty storage tubs, a trunk etc they look like part of the furniture. Something my mum keeps saying to me though is, yours in a house where a child lives and you are at home a lot therefore there will be stuff out and about. Gone are the days (for now) when you both leave the house for work and come home and the house looks the same as when you left it! So there is an element of accepting that for a few years until your kids are older and keep their stuff to their rooms then your house will look busy. Do try and keep some toys in their room of you can. Our dd has room which is more of a nursery rather than just for sleeping so has lots of toys up there and we often sit and play up there rather than having everything in the lounge.

I really need to have a good declutter too.

I find that having a box under the bed for charity bits and pieces works - I pop clothes that we no longer wear in there, and once it is filled I bring it to the charity shop. It seems less daunting, and less of a wrench, if it is done on a gradual and ongoing basis. Note to self - do that today!

Our local recycling centre also takes larger bits and pieces which then go to charity shops, and I quite like the anonymity of leaving things in there.

Luckily, I have a couple of friends with younger children, so I can pass some clothes on to them, but I still have loads of baby equipment and toys that I no longer need.

Part of my problem is that I keep threatening to do a car boot sale, or put things on e-bay, but then never get round to it (have never sold anything on e-bay in my life).

It does help if everything has a place, and I tend to use boxes / containers within drawers and cupboards to sub-divide them - so for example, in my kitchen cupboards, I have boxes for rice & grains; flours; sugars; baking etc. Same for toys - IKEA do great toy storage.

My other secret weapon is to have a dymo label machine - I have labels in all my cupboards and drawers to show where things should be - e.g one drawer is 'PJs & fitness' etc.

Finally, if it is clothes that are lying around, why is that? Do you have enough room in drawers for everything to be put away? If not, you either need to get rid of some clothes, or get more drawers / cupboard space. We have a chair system in our house - everyone has a chair in their bedroom on which to put worn but still cleanish clothes that could be worn again. At the end of the week, everything gets thrown into the wash and put away. Laundry baskets in the downstairs cloakroom and upstairs also helps.

you're doing really well so keep it up!

you'll never have a show house with children in residence - and who would want a show house anyway? But keeping clutter under control is essential.

kids clothes - once outgrown, they go out. Charity shop, ebay, other charities, whatever. Your children will not shrink so be ruthless.
toys - again, think stages. Kids do play with stuff for quite a while but toddlers won't be going back to rattles.
your clothes - again, be ruthless. If it doesn't get worn regularly and isn't going to be used on special occasions, out. Also stop buying adult clothes, everyone has way too many. Once the pile is reduced to the storage you have, only buy when something else is going out.
kitchen - reduce to what you use. Put the rest on freecycle.