#4 - Hoarding, Sorting, Organising, Friendship, Understanding. All On One Thread.

[Solo]

Are you a hoarder? Are you in a mess, untidy, disorganised? A bit lazy with housework? Are you are ill and not coping with the housework? Are you totally overwhelmed? Are you are emotionally attached to items for whatever reason and can't let them go? Are you unable to just ask someone in for a cuppa at a moments notice or do dread the meter reader asking for access?
Do you find yourself nodding whilst reading any of this? If you have a combination of any or all of these things or something completely different, please come and join us. There is no judging. We have something in common here and we have a common goal. We share our ideas and we share our disappointments no matter how big and our celebrations no matter how small. We cheer one another along and drag the drowners from the depths of despair.

Join us; we don't bite! Welcome to thread number 4.

Hello my people! Glad I found a place to start from the bottom.. as I have clothes hoarding problem going on in my wardrobe and really need to learn how to get rid!!!

today for a week I have a lot of "free" time with less interruptions (if you don't count dog walking. So I am determined to get stuck into a proper sort/take stuff to the tip.

Starting with the summer clothes that still need to go into storage and the winter clothes that need to come out of the loft. I am wearing a summer skirt atm and it is getting chilly - it looks "wrong" too

my other goal is to finish dealing with the pet room/utility...that's been my goal for the last two weeks

@Nettleskeins

Hello, and thank you.
I went back up last night after I had posted here and decided on which few things I definitely wanted to keep. These are now vacuum packed in a small suitcase so not taking up any room at all really. The remainder, 2 black bin bags full in fact, are going to my local charity shop.
Your comment about never regretting anything you have got rid of and wish that you had done it sooner really resonated with me. I have done the same with shoes, got rid of lots and lots of pairs and don't regret any.
Anyway, thank you again for taking the time to help me and good luck with your sorting and cleaning. I too currently have a muddy paw covered utility room!

Took lots of books to the charity shop today. I took 2 out at the last minute so not a complete success (hoarding wise ) but I feel proud of myself for just doing it.
The bookshelves look so much better. It didn't take much to tip the balance to order and cosiness in neat rows instead of just a bulgy muddle hanging off my walls!!

The children have started using a popcorn maker in the kitchen. There are too many gadgets in the kitchen that is for sure...

I'm not very good at DIY and today and yesterday I have been putting up one measly curtain track (plastic) so far it has been a question of going to the shop and buying new rawlplugs, a hacksaw and a new drill bit (cos I dont understand unless a professional explains what fits what)
It is all overwhelming..can it really take someone two days to put up one 12-99 curtain track??? I suppose this why people pay people to do things.

Admittedly I had to find the ladder too, and the drill, and then ds2 told me to stop drilling because he was revising for A level exam "mocks", and i had waited a while so that someone was there to catch me if I fell off the ladder...

I have managed to chop up the "tree" in the garden which was lying on the lawn (not real tree, just a lot of shrubbery). Now comes the task of getting it out of the garden (in bits) think Rich Man and Eye of the Needle getting it thro house.. Cue going to shop to buy a large tarpaulin which I combined with dog stroll (and the drilling stuff)

Dw on and I managed to wash up. And put another load of washing. That is two today, so far.i

I give up now!! Drill needs to be charged apparently, it comes with a low level charge, which is what I was using yesterday with limited success, and now I cannot understand how to connect the charger to the drill.. Instruction leaflet not very illuminating, lots of arrows and push pull signs

I think these are the things which stop us getting anywhere with sorting or organising...low level fail.

I have taken the dog for three walks, that is something though.

Nettle my old rechargeable drill you had to take the battery off the drill and plug into the charging stand thingy?

Yes, but it took me till this morning to work out just how to take the battery off. There was an integral screw, so once I worked out that I had to go and find yet another phillips screwdriver of exactly the right size for that particular bit...well battery is now charging [hurrah}

I get very upset by these things but if I go to sleep and come back to the problem I can usually figure it out.
In the meantime I managed another dog walk and to put some curtain hooks in ds1's curtain (he returned from uni briefly - I noticed his curtain was hanging off just one single plastic hook when I went in to move stuff from his bed again)

Finally put the curtain track up. My walls are made of solid rock it seems..
Hung up old curtains in tv room. They don't look right, but at least I've decluttered them from the pile of things to do!! And they are warm/thick and very clean/ironed...
apart from that baptism of fire diy adventure I have done really nothing to tidy or sort. Quite depressed by it all really. Will try harder again tomorrow.

It seems to be all me on the thread at the moment [alarm]
Still, thought I would give the positive news that I have managed to put now three sets of curtains up. Two new sets from JL readymade arrived by post for the boys' rooms. Hopefully the heating won't go out the window now. I also managed to mend several curtain rings by screwing the little eyes in, and use my newly collected curtain hooks.

And dust one of the windows and window frames.
And change a set of bedding in ds2's room.

That seemed to take me most of the day and every other room is a tip again!!!

Also moved some rubbish from the tv room (cleared a surface) and put the recyling out

Supper was in the freezer tg

So much more still to do, but a lovely autumnal walk with the dog and ds2's red curtains (william morris) look very cheery.

Oh no! Keep posting Nettle please! I'm reading but, not doing anything worth telling. Well done on the curtain ventures!!

managed to keep up with the washing over last few days
also keeping tabs on the hall
cleaned bathroom this morning (bits of it)
dd has a new half moon laminate desk (big) to fit into her bay window for A level work - much more efficient use of space and v cheap from an office supplier. Her room is perpetually untidy but she says she likes it like that.
managed to take the garden rubbish to the tip and combine with dog walk.
Going to load the cardboard from the desk packing straight into the car for the next visit to the tip.
Folded up several cardboard boxes/wine carriers. I might need them, but then again I might not

still need to hoover my bedroom! The moths are waiting to pounce!
swept the downstairs floors.

today's task is to tidy the front garden. The kids are home from school and not really any trouble (yet) so I need to just get out there. will report back in two hours. [ever hopeful]

Hi, I seem to have dropped off this thread, was doing well with the organising too!

The house is (reasonably) clean but needs a good going over before half term the week after next, as the DC will inevitably trash it

I'm hoping to have most of Sunday to do cleaning as I need to wait in for a new tumble dryer to be delivered, DP will probably take the DC to PIL. If I can get on top of things then it'll be a lot easier.

Charity shop collection is booked for Thursday, I have 8 bags to go at the moment, might add to that if I can sort out some more of the loft. Then once that's done it will be headfirst into the madness of Christmas organising.....!

I don't even want to think about Christmas. I think I am going to ask for no presents or very very small useful ones. Bars of soap perhaps

Somewhere I know are reams of Christmas cards I keep just in case, and of course I can never find them..(due to all the clutter)

Today I had a good day. I managed to move the furniture round in the front room and the telly out of it!! Partly because of getting rid of some books I was able to put the other things away and make the room tidier. Dusted tops of pictures and surfaces. Moved everything before dusting..removed some things. Made headway in the study, and put the carpet back on the floor, and dusted under the radiators in the window seat before I moved sofa into alcove in front room.

Still a long way to go though. So much filthy paintwork. And garden[s] still await attention.

today I am in the garden because the sun is shining. Because it is a lovely garden I tend to overlook the obvious. Which is that it would be even lovelier if I cleared some of the detritus out of it, and thinned the undergrowth/overgrowth. Out of my study window I see, a pile of rubbish, decaying leaves, old hose and a manky washing line. I've decided that this needs to be a proper utility area, with a swept hard surface so I can actually use the washing line without negotiating slippery decaying piles of random cr*p...no more little fanciful endeavors bedding plants unless there is a proper saucer under to catch the earth.
I washed the outside windows of the study. Found the ladder cos I had used it last week for the curtains little steps in right direction..the woodwork is very flakey externally. Maybe a good scrub in due course but I am not going to fret about that just yet, clearing is the first step. Moved the bamboo in a pot which was blocking light into the kitchen from the south.

Hi all,

Can I hop on?
My house is a bit (lot) chaotic! 5 of us living here, 2 houses merged into 1 = lots of stuff!
I'm working on 1room at a time. Hallway is now redecorated, recarpeted, reorganised.
Main aim is to keep on top of that now.
Next step. Kitchen. Currently sorting the cupboards. I've delegated one surface to be the one I put everything on and keep the rest clear.
Once that's done then i can deep clean in prep for decorating.

Main excitement today in the kitchen has been clearing the windowsill so I can open the blinds .
It's fab being able to look out onto the garden again.

Hey,
I've been really motivated to clean recently but my flat still never looks nice as we have so much stuff! My main problem is the amount of toys my 2 year old has. It's ridiculous and I think this stops him actually playing with them as he doesn't know what to play with first. I'm just finding it difficult to part with them. Could really use some tips if anyone has any.

Meags I have three children and very close together: it took me a few years to realise that I didn't have to have all the toys available at all times. I put a big batch in a clear plastic tub with lid, and rotated them every six months or longer. Looking back I got a bit fixated on having every possible resource. Tbh what they liked was gross motor play (jumping on the sofa, singing and dancing, sandpit, climbing and slide) a train track (Brio) and lots of books. I wasted a lot of time dealing with toys quite honestly, and having to tidy them up...

I've achieved four hours in the back garden and swept up most of the leaves on the patio and alley floor. Collected a bit of rubbish to take to tip tomorrow. I can see more of what I need to cut back now. (massive leaf shedding winter jasmine and clematis)

That's a good idea, I'm going to try and pack some away today and see how that goes. Thinking about it he has a few duplicate items too so will be removing them.