The house is getting ruined and my anxiety is through the roof!

[hattiesmumm]

Ok, so I suffer with depression and anxiety. When we moved into this (brand new) house 3 years ago I was 6 months pregnant and for some stupid reason wanted Cream carpets throughout.

Now, 3 years later and I can’t keep up with the cleaning. The carpet downstairs and in the hall way is completely ruined. It’s stained and disgusting and I’m so so so embarrassed. Iv used a rug doctor twice but I think it’s beyond that now.
Things like the skirting boards are scratched from the hoover. I’m fed up with cleaning. I hoovered 3 Times today, because toddler keeps making a mess. Husband cooked couscous and it’s literally eveeywhere in the kitchen.

I don’t know what to do. Our bedroom is a mess, the bottoms of our chest of drawers have broken so I can’t shut them properly. It’s getring me down. I feel like it’s too much to do, plus it’s been so hot!!

I didn't want to leave your post unanswered. Believe me (I'm old and I've cleaned houses for 50 years) you can make huge steps towards getting things sorted, it's not impossible! If you can scrape up the money, get a professional in to clean the carpets, then put down protectors (clear plastic matting) and doormats, ban shoes indoors, and have a food only in kitchen/dining room rule. That'll give you time to think about the next bit. You might want ideally to touch up or repaint, but for now a good clean will be enough. Ask for help from friends or family if you can, it's getting started that's so hard. Good luck.

In the nicest way, if I was you I'd be focusing on treating the anxiety rather than the house. Houses get trashed by children, and no one will judge you for not hoovering three times a day. A stained carpet isn't disgusting or shameful, it's just what happens when people live in a house. Are you getting any help with your anxiety? It sounds like it could be good for you, life sounds very stressful for you at the moment (and yes this heat really doesn't help!)

Cream carpets are always going to be very hard work. Good ideas above. With young children you will be fighting against the tide of grot constantly. Have you got your own carpet shampooer as that would help for instant spot cleanups. Then, to be honest, if you are going to live there for some tine, I would change the carpet to something.more forgiving. Maybe having a new house makes this anxiety worse as older houses already have a degree of damage.

I hate that my MIL was right about our cream carpet being impractical!

But I can get it to a reasonable state with a carpet cleaner so a professional might be able to do yours (but honestly, wait til your toddler is 18 😀). Just cover it with a mat or a hall runner in the meantime. Put painting the skirting boards on a list of jobs, hopefully someone elses list not yours.

And remember depression is making you look at everything through dark glasses. Force yourself to stop, rest, be playful with your toddler and look at a few things to be thankful for right now. Even if its gin.

Hoovering 3 times in a day is a lot. Do you have anyone around you who can help to give you a good sense of whether this is truly necessary? Are you getting support and treatment for your depression and anxiety?

Agree also with pp - indoor rugs are great, IKEA stocks good and affordable runners that will cover your hallway, or you can get them cheap and second hand if you set up an alert on eBay/gumtree/shpock. We also have a shoes off house and no good outside the kitchen / living area where our table is.
Can you get your toddler to start 'helping' with the tidying and cleaning? I've found it makes it more fun and teaches them the value of being tidy.

As for your DH and the couscous - we usually have one cleaning and one cooking, but if he's this messy (how?!?!!!), then he should be helping with the cleaning.

I have cream carpet in my living room and tbh it only works because my youngest is fifteen. When the dc were little we had dark coloured carpets and even they got grotty.
I think you need to see someone about your anxiety first and foremost and then maybe adjust your expectations a little. Your house is never going to be perfect when you have little ones about.
When mine were small I'd hoover when they went to bed and then I had a little handheld for spills and accidents during the day (they hated the big hoover)
I had runners and rugs and throws to catch the worst of the mess as well.
Don't let your anxiety about the house cloud what is a truly magical time with your children, get out of the house and go and have fun,your time for an immaculate and tidy home will come later as mine did.

www.wikihow.com/Dye-Carpet

Above link is about how to dye a carpet made from natural fibres such as wool. Dying your carpet a darker color might be an inexpensive way to make the carpet look new again.

Hope your anxiety levels improve

Also, I found getting a swivel sweeper to quickly clean the carpets and hard floors in between weekly vacuuming made life with a young child so much easier. I don't know how but my dd could spread food far and wide throughout the house from when she was a baby. Constant vacuuming did me in. The sweeper is light weight and does a great job. Easy to empty too. Getting outside as much as possible and even having picnics in the yard helped keep house a little cleaner and improved my mood a bit. I've been treated for anxiety too. Practicing mindfulness techniques helps.

I think I can understand how you're feeling. Sometimes things just pile up in your brain and it feels so overwhelming.

Write a list of things you can do to make the house straight. Need new drawers? Fix them or

Sorry hit post by accident!

Drawers - are they fixable?
Mess - would following something like TOMM help?
Carpets - maybe pop some cheap rugs down for now, and eventually replace when your child is a bit older?

I have 2 preschoolers at home. I have a cream rug but all other floors downstairs are hard. We have a shoes off rule (relaxed for guests) and all food must be eaten sat at the table. The house is still a bit wrecked. I'm gonna redecorate when they are both in school.
I would suggest cheap rugs over your cream carpet. Get a professional to deep clean the whole house.
I have a sample paint pot of the wall colours and occasional clean and retouch stained spots on the wall.
But really you need to make an appointment with your Gp for your anxiety.
Good luck.

To the poster who said wait till children are 18 lol....mine are 21 and 19 and make more mess now than they ever did as toddlers....i will only have a pristine home once i live completely alone.

Why do people get carpets?

I would never have anything but hard floors throughout the ground floor and wooden stairs. No carpet can take constant traffic and especially a cream one.

Could you afford to change the floor surface?

It's not a whole carpet but we bought a white habitat rug 5 years ago and I think the only way it's stayed clean is by enforcing a no shoes rule.

I'm also like to annoy my children by only letting them eat in the kitchen.

Only certain snacks are allowed in the living room and I don't allow food at all in the bedrooms.

I'm definitely my mother's daughter 😂😩😂😩

We have cream carpets and they are on my list of things to change ASAP! They have got stained over the years but I have covered the high traffic areas with nice rugs in darker colours, and the shaggyish ones are excellent at hiding little spills, which are inevitable with children (we have 3!) then the areas of exposed carpet I regularly go over with a bleachy mop and boiling water, it brings them up surprisingly well.

Feel like pps are slightly missing the point that you start off with your mental health and then mention hoovering three times a day. Cream carpets are definitely a pain but it also sounds like you're having a hard time. Please do get in touch with your GP/other doctor if this is overwhelming, I know from experience how sometimes when it all gets a bit much you end up focussing on one practical aspect of life, as if by getting that under control you would fix your feelings - but that's not usually true, it's actually the other way around. Hope you feel better soon and get the support you need x