Tips for someone to organise and declutter their chaos

[Unconventionalmum]

I have three children, all of whom have plenty of toys which are strewn across my house. My two and one year old are like hurricanes but this I can deal with.
It's the clutter that I can't cope with. Our income is really low and there is absolutely no form of storage in our house. I've tried to get rid of things that I don't need but there is so much that doesn't have a place and makes the house looks untidy. For example, my slow cooker is on top of my fridge, there is kitchen appliances on top of the kitchen cupboards such as coffee makers. There is stuff everywhere and I don't know what to do to sort it. Any help?

Consider getting rid of anything not used in the last year. Be really ruthless about anything that has no sentimental value. At this stage of your life you need to grab calm wherever you can.

You are on a low income so sell stuff as you declutter. If you have time to sell, if not, get rid. Use the money to buy some second hand ebay storage. Eg kallax shelves, which come up all the time.

As a temporary measure, get some Poundshop Storage boxes, or even ask a local shop whether you can have some boxes that are being thrown out. Use them as storage bins.

I find that kitchen stuff feels less obvious if I put a white tea towel over it. So e.g. put a cloth over your coffee maker if you can't get rid of it.

Consider getting rid of tons of the toys. This sounds crazy, but kids really don't need that many. Put down an old duvet cover or sheet for the kids to play on. Then gather it up to tidy toys in seconds.

Most importantly: start insisting now that your kids tidy up after themselves. With your help at this stage. Otherwise your house will still feel cluttered and messy when they are older (ask me how I know...!)

How often do you use the coffee maker and slow cooker? If it’s not much, just sell them! Get rid of stuff you hardly use. Get rid of a whole load of toys- the kids will thank you in the end- I’m pretty sure it’s much better for them to have a choice of a few instead of access to loads.

Thank you both. The coffee maker and slow cooker gets used very often, at least weekly. I'm going to see if I can fit it in the cupboard but I doubt it.
My sister has offered to give me a hand getting rid of some stuff as I find it very overwhelming on my own. These are great ideas, thank you xx

I sooooooo wish I had trained my children to put things away before leaving the crime scene! It came back to bite me big time later.

If you find it overwhelming, you could start v small. Marie Kondo's book is v good for that.

Kon Marie. Join the 'uk and Ireland kon Marie' group.
Read the book (or get from the library). The magic art of tidying. It's a bit bonkers in parts but the method is sound. There's amid a telly series on Netflix called 'tidying up'
It's seriously transformational and the tidying lasts.
Lots of people on that group who are lovely, helpful and non judgemental. Lots of ideas of how to do it on a budget and in small houses and flats.
Good luck !

In the kitchen I would assess every gadget and object for how often you use it. It sounds like you use all of them. Could you rearrange anything?
I don't like things on top of cupboards either.
Is there anything you have that takes up cupboard space that you don't need, or maybe might look a bit more decorative on top of the cupboard (pretty mixing bowls or teapot maybe) ? I keep infrequently used gadgets in the cupboard but I don't have many.

If you keep cleaning stuff like sprays and polishes in the kitchen, when they run out try getting multipurpose ones. White vinegar spray does a lot of jobs, as does washing up liquid. Anti-bacterial sprays and similar are quite unhealthy so it's best not to use them often.

Living room - you have kids so nobody expects it to be spotless or clutter-free . Could they have a box or basket each for their toys? Maybe a play mat to zone where they can make a mess.

Storage wise - plan what sort of storage would work for you.
Don't buy anything until you are certain that it will do the job. Look at free sites like freegle and freecycle and things like Ikea Kallax and ikea wardrobes come up often. If you get new storage you'll probably need to make room for it.

Sites like Apartment Therapy and Houzz have lots of suggestions for small spaces.