How can I become a domestic goddess?? Please help me I am just walking round in circles.

[bramblina]

Just that really. I want to have a gorgeous home which I am proud of. It's OK, it's a big house which we built and I do love it but I just walk round in circles and still seem to have tonnes to do. Do you just focus on one room? Then all I think about is what's still to be done in the other rooms. I usually start with the laundry but at the moment I just have 3 small loads- none are full. Shall I just go for it and put one on? But then that just makes more work.... Ironing is piling up which I don't really mind, but do I then clean bathrooms or hoover? Dust? Kitchen windowsill could do with a washdown. Living room needs a dust. But then I see the windows need cleaning. The pictures on the windowsill are ancient and really could so with being renewed I'm bored of those ones. Bookshelf is full of books which I'll never look at again. Cd racks....grrrr what do I do about them? Really want rid but then what do you do about music? I cannot be arsed to always use my mobile (streaming online) and a speaker which constantly needs recharged....what do I do?? I want the cds off the wall. And the hideous great hifi unit.
I just need a bit more structure as now all kids are at school I need to make the most of my days but I just don't feel like I'm achieving anything.

Also, where do you get your inspiration from for your design of your home???? I look on Pinterest but they're all the same, unachieveable and totally unpractical with 3 dcs and no money!

No domestic goddesses out there.....?

Far from a domestic goddess here but I'm trying to follow The Organised Mum method. She's on FB and YouTube etc. Her philosophy is doing a 30 minutes blitz on areas five days a week plus the basic stuff every day(sweeping etc). Makes it seem a little less overwhelming and builds up to being on top of everything consistently

Watching and hoping for inspiration :)

Organised mum follower here too! Do the boot camp, then follow the daily rotas.

I think it would help to separate, decluttering, redecorating and cleaning in your mind.
I'd focus on decluttering first and really get on top of that. Once that's done it will be easier to clean and tidy. For your redecorating it might be worth looking at some blogs and magazines to get ideas.
For cleaning you need a routine and jobs list to stay organised.

nope, no goddess here, sorry.

I also am a (not so strict) organised Mum followed too!

I find that it’s really a case of tidying everything as you see it/trip over it etc. Rather than letting it build up to an overwhelming scale. It just takes you to get In the habit of always being “on duty” wrt tidying and before you know it it’s habit.

I hear you op!

I just cannot crack on with one job. Start to gather a wash and then get distracted by mess in dds room. Pick up some stuff to put in bathroom, notice dirty sink, start to clean it then think oh I haven't put the wash on. Go to put wash on , notice kitchen floor needs swept. Rinse and repeat.

Should listen to my late dh's advice. DO NOT START A NEW JOB UNTIL YOU'VE FINISHED THE LAST ONE.

I'm a bit rubbish about cleaning but do tidy a lot.

I basically never leave anything laying around, a place for everything and everything in its place. I try not to inflict that on the children too much but do ask them to tidy all their toys etc at the end of the day.

On a Wednesday I dust the whole house, clean kitchen and bathroom. On a Thursday I change bedsheets and vacuum whole house. My problem is that I don't do anything very thoroughly! So there are lots of dust bunnies in corners and grime in kitchen crevices.

I think it's quite a good idea to set your self one project a week. One room only. Start with your storage and get rid of anything you don't need maybe move stuff you rarely use so it's less access able. Then organise everything so your making use of your space. Then you'll hopefully have some space for stuff that is out and about that you can out away in your storage. Think about anything that is out and about in the room and move into to your storage if you can. Then you should have a much simpler room to clean once you've done that to keep it up.

Even if your busy or tired. It only takes a few minutes once you get to that stage, and means tidying doesn't take hours, and is overwhelming. Try and stick to the rule, 'dont put it down, put it away'. Once you've got one room sorted move onto the next next and repeat the process the next week. This will take as many weeks as rooms you have in your house.

Then try and get into the habit of when ever is suitable (maybe afternoon meal or something) you spend 45 minutes doing the washing up. Wiping down the kitchen side, cleaning the table and coffee table. Then after your 45 minutes you can sit down with a glass of wine and enjoy your tidy clean house!

This may sound a bit of a naff idea but I would start with imagining I was moving house. And throw out all the crap you wouldn’t pay a removal company to move, or would still be boxed up in storage boxes 2 years after moving into a new home as you’ve no real use for it (books you’ll never read, cd’s etc). Then I would imagine I had just moved in to my home and think about how you would tackle cleaning it if it was empty before you moved your stuff in. You would, if not distracted by mess/belongings undoubtedly do one room at a time. I think it’s so hard to clean, when you need to tidy first.

You sound easily distracted! Also prone to living in the future not the now (I know that sounds mad but I hope you know what I mean).

Finish one job completely. Stop. Breathe. Think. What needs doing most right now? Do that. Finish it. Completely. Like properly finished. Repeat.

You say you always start with laundry but there's not enough to do yet your ironing is piling up. That's an example of starting more before you've finished what you've already started.

Anyone who has worked in manufacturing or IT might be familiar with the Kanban method with its strict limits on work in progress. It is a powerful method for life not just for building cars and computer systems.

Join us on the Flylady thread, there's a February one at the moment - that focuses on an area a week (eg bedroom, kitchen) with daily missions after you've decluttered. Doing a load of laundry all the way through is a Flylady staple!

For general organisation, have a look at the Bowl Full of Lemons website, which has an organisation challenge running at the moment - also focuses on one area a week.

I follow Flylady. It's ideal for disorganised people, so if you're struggling to work out what to do when she has loads of tips.
I also like to dress one area at a time, so each room has a focal point that attracts the eye and makes the room look inviting and loved.