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Housekeeping

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Original poster

Has anyone gone from being messy to tidy?

75 replies

Juliecloud · 26/02/2016 00:24

I am a messy person. I admit it. I am a hoarder and I keep everything 'just in case' or to deal with later but then never do. Our house is constantly a mess and I live in fear of people dropping round unannounced.
So has anyone else managed to turn themselves around and is now a super tidy person? I've tried various things over the years, like fly lady or habit hacker, but I never stick to them. When I do, I feel like I spend all my free time cleaning!

I cannot see myself ever making the permanent change from being a messy person to a tidy person!

OP posts:
Hippee · 26/02/2016 00:34

I am the same - we have so much crap in the house I don't know where to start - we have a room that we decanted the loft into (when we converted the loft) and you can't get in that room - boxes of books, old baby stuff that I keep meaning to Ebay but never get round to it, allsorts. Just had the boiler replaced and the plumber had to go into every room - it was mortifying. I am ashamed. Plus my three DC are really messy too, so any tidying I do is immediately undone. Sorry I can't help - I keep meaning to do the Marie Kondo thing, but with a maximum of 5.5 hours a day to tackle anything, I don't get very far.

LineyReborn · 26/02/2016 00:42

I'm getting there. I bought a shredder this week and started the process of shredding all the stupid boxes of papers I have kept for no good reason. I mean, all the correspondence from a twelve year old divorce??! I only need the decree absolute ffs.

So it's going in.

It also makes good cat litter... Smile

I also started giving away all the things I know I'll never get around to eBaying. Maybe I'll put a few things on the local FB selling page again. But ... I want my space back.

Choughed · 26/02/2016 00:47

I married a really tidy person and had a really untidy daughters who showed me how annoying it was to live with an untidy person.

cozietoesie · 26/02/2016 10:28

I found that the only way to sort the situation was to dispose of stuff. (If you haven't got it, it can't lie around.)

That's probably your issue I suspect.

Original poster
Juliecloud · 26/02/2016 21:21

Yes, I do have too much stuff. I keep reading the kondo threads and thinking I should give it a go.

OP posts:
MNetter15 · 26/02/2016 21:36

Yes, my house used to be full of clutter.

I must have got rid of 80% of it, over the period of a few weeks.

The DC have half the amount of clothes they used to have Smile I got rid of dozens of candles and ornaments over the house. I brought boxes of books to charity shops, as well as clothes, shoes etc, bed linen. I have storage boxes for toys and we just do a clean up once or twice a day. It was like therapy Smile

I've had to be fir, with my mum who used to bombard me with boxes of things for me and the DC - handbags,books,CDs etc.

It's funny because I just saw a photo of dd today which was taken about 2 years ago in our sitting room and I was mortified looking at it.

I'm not super tidy, but it's a huge improvement.

Do it, you'll love it once you get stuck in!

lucymootoo · 26/02/2016 21:36

I'm terribly messy but turned it around when I got pg with DC1. I had just moved into a new build and had no money to fill the place up with shite. A couple of years and a couple of kids later I'm worse than ever. I need to change!! We have more money now and our DC are spoiled off our lovely family so the place is filled right up.My house is like something out of a Kim and Aggie episode.

Im tempted to get a cleaner behind DH's back but then I would need to clean the place first and that's overwhelming.

joeythenutter · 26/02/2016 21:48

Just get rid of stuff. If you don't use, then get rid. And don't buy more. This at one time was my downfall. Now if im shopping and see something, I ask myself, do i really need it, no.

Anything you use or take out, put it away when finished, straight away. Don't leave for later, otherwise it will just build up.

Chrysanthemum5 · 26/02/2016 21:54

Yes we had to move out to get work done on the house and we did a huge declutter exercise. Then we moved back in and got rid of loads more. Now the house is tidy (apart from the DCs rooms) and I can keep on top of things easily after work. I heartily recommend just getting rid of loads of stuff. It makes everything easier Smile

QuerkyJo · 26/02/2016 21:56

This is me. I never thought I would say this, but, I really do feel that the Kondo method has made a magical difference to my life,
I am calmer and happier now that everything has its own place.

I wish I had to courage to take up Decluttering as a profession. I have really enjoyed the process once I got into it. I liked reading the psychology around why we hold onto possessions.

I thing I am in danger of becoming a Kondo evangelist, because 3 people I know have bought the book after listening to me enthusing about her methods.

HeyMacWey · 26/02/2016 22:00

I'm getting there - everything having a place definitely helps.

I'm slowly changing the mindset of 'I'll keep that in case I need it one day' and not feeling guilty if I don't keep everything that's been given to me. Even dh is coming round to the idea that is better to surround yourself with people than with things.

I'm training the dd's not to hoard as it can be such a barrier - physically and mentally to getting stuff done.

JapanNextYear · 26/02/2016 22:00

Married a really tidy person and moved into his really tidy house. We've moved so he's a bit more tolerant of stuff and I've realised the joy of having less crap.

Just start getting shot of the just in case stuff, if you really do need a eg quality street tin again, you can buy or borrow one. It's really quite liberating. If I needed to ever flee with just my passport for some unknown reason, I now know where it is!!

ReedBunting · 26/02/2016 22:01

I need to get rid of stuff - I admit we have too much and I've been making a really conscious effort not to bring more stuff into the house. My heart sinks when things do sneak their way in.
BUT..... I am finding it really hard to part with things without converting them to cash and that is my stumbling block. I need to overcome this before I can move forward with the sorting.... it just feels like such a waste...

HeyMacWey · 26/02/2016 22:01

I've also kondo'd my clothing Grin

Nan0second · 26/02/2016 22:04

Please read the kondo book. It has changed my life... (And I only kondo during naps and after bedtime so it can be done!)

cozietoesie · 27/02/2016 09:58

I've found that I have an emotional attachment to items that can be hard to break.

My solution - and I put this forward only as the way I have dealt with it - is to 'triage' things. I have a large cardboard box and into that box, I put things that I'm 'not sure about'. It doesn't mean that I've immediately disposed of them but, somehow, living in The Box for a (shortish) time seems to break the bonds. I could retrieve them from The Box at any time - but I don't. After a week or two, I feel able to just give the contents to the nearest charity shop without feeling bad. (There's often a black plastic bag next to it - for material things/clothes etc - and that assumes Box-like qualities.)

(Rubbish and broken things go straight out. I'm lucky in that I dislike eg chips and bad cracks on glassware, ceramics etc. I've been known to put chipped antique things in The Box in case someone can salvage them but I won't keep them myself.)

It works for us. Smile

Finallyonboard · 27/02/2016 10:15

I'm not a naturally tidy person but I manage to keep the house clean and tidy. The key is: ' a place for everything and everything in its place'.

You'll never be able to keep your house tidy unless you know exactly where things live and put things back into that place as soon as you need to. It really is that simple. If you don't have enough room for your things, they'll obviously spill out over the house!

QuerkyJo · 27/02/2016 10:38

The big message that came across to me in book was about not buying more storage.

I now fully embrace the idea that, 'It is not that I don't have enough space to put things. It is that I have too many things for the space I live in'

ReedBunting · 27/02/2016 18:42

I like the idea of a triage box

Hippee · 27/02/2016 18:45

NanOsecond - I think you probably had a lot less crap to start with! But I will get there eventually. I have given away about 700 books so far.

Flossiesmummy · 27/02/2016 18:49

This makes for really interesting reading! I'm a slattern and I think I need this Kondo book Smile

Nan0second · 29/02/2016 10:56

Hopper: Possibly yes. However we were on the verge of hiring a storage room as our house was so full. Loft, garage couldn't move in. Nursery too full to put cot in... Every drawer and cupboard rammed full.
Now we have empty space, the loft is half empty and the garage is too. The nursery has room for the cot with a bit of a rearrange. 4 car fulls to charity. 8 recycling bins full. 3 car fulls to tip and recycling centre.
It's not perfect but it's only been 5 or 6 weeks and we now have only a few komono sub categories and then sentimental and we will be done!

Nan0second · 29/02/2016 10:57

It only works if you read the book though... It's a psychological change that's needed!

NateGreen · 29/02/2016 11:05

You definitely need to declutter. And I mean, big time. Throw/give away/sell everything that you don't use. Once you have your home clear of all the garbage and piles of stuff you will love it so much that you'll want to have it like that forever.
I'm saying this from my personal experience. We had a lot of problems at home because I was so messy and I wanted to keep all kinds of crap just because I was thinking of using it for future projects (that never actually happen) or thought we'll need in the future. I had a lot of tools and such, the whole basement was brimming with things.
We did an overall cleaning of the house with professional help (otherwise we wouldn't manage to do it on the weekend) and we did a playroom for the kids in the basement (we did a small renovation and presented them the room for Christmas. They were over the top with happiness)

Before starting with decluttering, though, you need to plan it - which stuff should go where and so on.
Good luck with your situation, hope you'll manage to make everything ok :)

MoggieMaeEverso · 29/02/2016 11:30

In the time you spent reading the Kondo threads you could have read the Kondo book Smile

Go on, read it!

I started last year, had to stop due to personal things that came up, but have recently started again. Even doing it in dribs and drabs it's made a huge difference to my space, and more importantly, to my habits.... I really notice now when something is not in its place, and I take enjoyment in creating calm, lovely spots around my home. All my life I've felt out of control and helpless in the face of clutter, but I'm confident now that I can and will become a tidy person.