Tips for keeping the house tidy!

[fedupoflivinglikethis]

I have always struggled with being tidy.. it's just not me! My bedroom growing up was always super messy - not dirty. Just untidy, and cluttered.

I am SO fed up of it now. I just want a tidy house. I love when it's tidy but I can't keep it that way.
I will admit that I am lazy. I hate washing up and putting washing away.

My house is very cluttered but it doesn't matter how much stuff I throw away - it always seems to be back straight away!

We put most of the children's toys in their bedrooms which I try tidy once a week. Upstairs is the worst, but I find it easy to avoid as I barely go up there.

It's downstairs that I struggle the most with.. I just don't know how to keep it tidy and decluttered. Every surface has something on.

Helpful tips?
Both of my children are at school so I'm home from 9:30-2:40. I'm pregnant with our third so feel I need to get this shithole under control ASAP!

I'm like you OP, and am loving these tips. I would add "never leave a room empty handed" as a mantra.

My Dyson V8 has been a game changer. Before, vacuuming was a chore I would do once or twice a week. Now I do it every day. Always have it on Max mode, so it only lasts about 7 mins (perfect). Do the kitchen and dining room floors in the morning before school run, I might do hallway and lounge after school, then dh can do stairs/landing/bedrooms whilst I'm bathing kids or putting them to bed. Obvs don't do all of this every day!

I agree with a load of washing a day. I sometimes put a load on before bed but set an 8hr time delay so it's finished just as we're waking up. Can get it hung on airer before school run.

I have a bottle of diluted Zoflora and a microfibre cloth handy on each floor. Can always polish a mirror, damp dust some frames or clean some taps if I have a spare few mins and I'm in the mood.

Oh, and I always have a sack/swing bin liner with clothes for recycling on the go. It's in my bedroom so as soon as something old/torn/bobbly/stained etc appears it goes straight in there.

I sort the kids' clothes out approx every 3 months and am ruthless. Take a bag or two to charity every time.

Good luck with baby No3!

Trying never to have my hands empty. Even a small object can be on a journey back to its home!

Having storage systems that suit your life as you live it now, not five years ago.

Agree with the Dyson, or any cordless vacuum cleaner.
Get a cleaner if funds allow so you are motivated to tidy up beforehand.
Avoid looking behind sofas etc - this is a deep clean and can be overwhelming if you start doing this as part of day to day cleaning.
Clean out your fridge when it’s nearly empty.
Try to have just a few outfits you wear in rotation rather than a large wardrobe of stuff.
Deal with post as it arrives, try to unsubscribe from catalogues or put a bin near the letterbox.
Get rid of a lot of toys now - I try to do one toy clear out in the run up to Christmas and another in the run up to birthdays.
Make sure your DP is tidy or sticks to your systems.
Limit the number of shoes you own or put the ones you don’t wear right now in a cupboard.
Put up more coat hooks, there are never enough. Really tidy people put coats in cupboards but I can’t be arsed.
Kitchens and bathrooms should be prioritised- it’s not that bad if bedrooms get a bit messy as they’re out of the way.
Try to come up with a list of what you want for presents or if people buy you random stuff don’t feel bad about giving it away. Quality chocolates and other consumables are brilliant presents. My mother would shudder at the idea of a £20 lipstick as a gift for me but would happily buy £20 worth of knickknacks for me to feel bad about.
Avoid pound shops and other bargains.
Don’t allow anything to languish on the stairs. This is a fire escape so needs to be clear (I grew up in a messy house too and there was always clutter at the bottom of the stairs which pissed me off). Actually, since the Grenfell Tower tragedy I’ve been more mindful of keeping doors and exit paths clear (not that clutter was anything to do with that, it’s just made me more motivated to have less stuff to burn and for us to trip over if there was a fire).
If you generally have less stuff in the first place you don’t have to do as many decluttering sessions. Weirdly I suffer from guilt if I buy anything so this helps me reduce stuff coming in.
You could try having just two box files for paperwork - one for stuff as it comes in. When that’s full, sort it out into throw away and keep (the other box file). Then you don’t have to worry about filing as such. I don’t actually do the latter - but might try it! Good luck op, I’m a reformed hoarder (very minor) and am much happier now I don’t have to spend so much time finding lost things!

This sounds like my house, full of clutter that I keep trying to bin, sell and give to charity but it never seems to get better! Trying to tidy with a nearly 2 year old in tow is like swimming against the tide! Some great advice out there.

Never leave a room empty handed, especially never walk upstairs empty handed. There is always something to carry with you and put away.

On occasions like Christmas or birthdays when lots of ‘stuff’ (presents) gets brought into your home to stay, clear out in preparation (at least a pile of stuff as big as what’s under the tree needs to go! To make space)

Everything has a place and everything in its place is my mantra!

I've had great success in following the Marie Kondo method of de cluttering the house. It took a while to get started, but once I was on a roll, I was taking a bootful of stuff to the charity shops twice a week. So much, that I started to swap the charity shops!

It requires you to go through your stuff, but in categories and not rooms...

I read her original book, but by now, I'm sure there's a lot more online about her method.

Just getting rid of clutter made the house feel better and easier to clean.

Also agree to having some cleaning stuff on each floor (in the bathroom!) I give the basin a wipe while on the loo or brushing my teeth or waiting for a bath to run!

Ensure kitchen is spotless when going to bed.

Make beds every day, open curtains, empty bins upstairs everyday.....it’s a good way to start the day.

We are getting better at this - Thursday evenings we have to tidy for the cleaner on Friday, and I am pregnant and unwell and even with that it doesn't feel like so much of a chore. It is the little things -when you see something put it away, and everything has a place. Thisand putting away clothes regularly has made a huge difference. And some charity shop runs. (And a dh who gets up early to blitz the kitchen). Filing is the last bridge to tackle! And I'd like to sweep the kitchen regularly, not just have it mopped once a week.

Clutterbug has been my saviour! I've even bought her book from Amazon, she's Canadian and a busy mum of 3 who's aim is to do as much as possible in the least amount of time.

When I have her on in the background I literally get twice as much done. She posts about cleaning/organising and decorating the home, all on a budget.

I can't recommend her enough.
Good luck and let us know how you get on

I like some of the videos on Youtube. How Jen does it is a good one. Though I believe some folk hate it. Morning routines evening routines. It's a bit obsessive. But it does make you realise what you don't do. Like me not much.

I've tried all sorts before but found the Marie Kondo method suits me best. It had the added bonus of stopping me buying more stuff.

As an every day thing I use a timer. I set it for 30 minutes and do as much cleaning and tidying as I can before it goes off then I have a timed 30 minute break with a brew and the internet then back to it for another timed 30 minutes. I get so much more done when I'm against the clock.

I'm definitely going to start using a timer. Canr believe half term starts next week, and yet again I've failed to deep clean my kitchen cupboards. Seems such a crappy job as no-one will notice a difference apart from me! I also think pulling everything out and going through out of date food etc is daunting and boring. Reckon it'll take around 2hrs. Maybe I should set a 30min timer and do as much as I can/do one cupboard at a time...

Having worked in bars when I was younger I was trained to always have my hands full when moving from one place to another. I have trained my OH too and now when we get up to go to another room we automatically look about and take something to the correct place if necessary - cup from living room back to kitchen, if you are going that way. Coat from bottom of stairs to bedroom, if you are going that way. It's a little thing which does help keep on top of it especially if you all do it.

Agree with decluttering!

I am slowly getting rid of anything that I don't love and isn't useful. I also eBay a lot. My daughter is allowed two boxes of toys, one in living room, one in bedroom, I sort them out every few weeks.

Other than that, a load of washing in the morning, hang or in drier at night, fold and put away, then repeat daily 😩.

I do a two hour clean once a week, two bed house, top to bottom. One big deep clean at the weekends(kitchen last wk, including oven).

I keep on top of things, hot soapy sink after each meal, never go to bed with a dirty kitchen, or unify living room. I am so tired tonight after a hard day at work, but managed to do a load of washing, put in dryer and fold, go to a gym class, Tesco shop, make dinner and lunches and wash up. Oh and put toddler to bed! Determined not to spend this entire weekend catching up like I did last weekend!

From mine and DH wardrobe and DS toys!
3 of those bags just have clothes in!

Oh, the picture won't add!
We got 8 bin bags!

I enjoy going through my "tin and packet" cupboard! I like to organise 😊

Well I've just realised I had name changed since this haha!

I didn't like to comment on anything with "fedupoflivinglikethis" sounded like I was talking about life rather than the state of my house!

I do some stuff while I'm on the phone - I had a work call the other day and was perfectly able to concentrate on it while unloading the dishwasher and reloading it.

I keep those cleaning wipes in the bathroom and downstairs loo so if the sink looks a bit grimy I wipe round with one of those quickly after I've used it (no, not environmentally friendly).

I've also started putting trays in my kitchen cupboards - that way, when you take stuff out to clean them, it's all on a tray and you only have to take the tray and it goes back in the same order, AND you can quickly sort the stuff on the tray while it's out of the cupboard.
I did it because my electric meter is behind one of my kitchen cupboards, so every time I need to read it I have to empty the top shelf and take the shelf out - I put stuff on a tray and now I am doing that in all the cupboards.

1. Live in a small house. The bigger the house is, the more difficult it is to maintain.

1. Buy less. The more you buy, the more messy house would be.

My school day usually goes:

Breakfast, wash dishes plates up, eldest gets ready for school while I dress youngest, we all brush our teeth, I wipe sink round, get myself ready while they watch tv for 20 mins then out the door.

Get home, youngest is 21 months so she's home with me. I go upstairs she plays in bedroom while I make beds and put washing in basket. Then we go downstairs put a wash on and air the wet washing. Then we play for a bit. She has a nap around 11 so I have an hour blitz. Clean kitchen sides sweep and mop floors if they need it (all hard floors). Tidy/throw anything away that needs it. Then sit and eat have a brew till she wakes up. Tidy as I go through rest of day.

Then tea later on wash up and wipe sides. Kids get in bath and while they're in bath I usually clean toilet wipe round. Teeth brushed and wipe sink. Youngest goes to bed I wipe bath round and sweep again. Then read with my oldest. She goes to bed and I just clean anything that needs it empty bins etc.

I have a good blitz every Sunday morning. Change bedding and hoover everywhere wipe everything down and dust.

Once a month I do oven pull furniture out and appliances out. I find it keeps me on everything.

Oh we also do clear outs. I'll be doing one next month ready for both dds birthdays and Xmas. Then do 1 towards summer time. Get rid of all toys that are broken or not played with. All clothes that aren't worn or too small. It helps to have a good routine and a plan in place

I have found decluttering the biggest help with keeping the house tidy, I try and make sure everything else has a place and use storage wisely. My house does get messy now but I know at the end of the day when the toddler is in bed I can spend 15 mins getting it tidy again and then relax. I would say put the decluttering work in now while you have the time, be ruthless and imagine how you want the room to be. Do you have a friend with a really tidy/ clutter free house? I have a couple and I often find myself thinking 'what would xxx do?' Or 'would xxx have a surface like this in their house?' It stops me from being blind to my own mess

Some other tips I just thought of

• always scan a room when you leave it and take anything you can grab into the correct room as you move throughout the house
• get a dishwasher 😆
• don't have loads of baskets of toys that your children just empty on the floor, have fewer toys and put the rest away and then cycle them round (I only have a toddler though so don't know if this works with older children)
• have a routine for tidying each day, in our house one of us tidies up while the other puts DS to bed. In the morning I unload the dishwasher first thing so I can put stuff in it as I go along throughout the day and I try to do a quick sweep of bedrooms, make beds and take anything back to its right place (clothes in washing,cups in dishwasher etc)

Tips for a tidy house?

1. Lots of storage.
2. No children.