Clutter free, how??

[Times10]

I was looking on rightmove earlier and most of the houses had completely bare surfaces, and nothing out of place. Obviously, I know that most of them are staged that way, but I don’t know how we’d ever managed that, without hiring a storage unit and putting everything in there!

We’ve been decluttering with more or less results, but are still far away from a clutter free house! The photos look so relaxing though, compared to what we’re living in at the moment. It is just a question of getting rid of more, or is there tricks to keep surfaces clear? I think we have enough storage, but maybe we’re not using it effectively.

I’m not quite sure what I’m asking (except for someone to come and get rid of everything for me )

@TowelNumber42 I have stolen your son's rehoming books policy - thank you for posting. You have saved a bookshelf from total collapse

Since posting, I’ve continued getting rid of things, but we’re still not achieving the look I’m hoping for. I mean, there’s definitely improvement, but there’s still a long way to go.

@Times10 all progress is good progress!!! It takes a while but remember that the stuff you got rid of stays rid so it's already better.
I must say I do find Kondo useful though I've only got half way and stopped when DC2 was born. She's 3 and a half now...

I also started Kondo a while back and that was the biggest decluttering I’d ever done, and keeping things in categories has really helped keep parts of the house organised.

We still have too much stuff for the size house, and still can’t seem we’re going to easily fit baby stuff but tiny step by tiny step I’m ploughing through it all.

You can do it! And even if it's not great it's better than it would have been if you hadn't (this is what I keep telling myself...)

Thanks!

We don’t have too much stuff.

We do a yearly clear out of every single cupboard and drawer in every room and donate or recycle what we haven’t used. We do one room a day and it takes about an hour per day once a year. It’s very rare that I miss anything that’s left. We are also really conscious of buying only what we need - so two sets of sheets per bed and when they need to be replaced the old set are used as cleaning rags or donated to sell as rags. Two towels per person. One beach towel per person. Etc.

Our surfaces are all clear and we have empty cupboards. Cleaning is very easy and quick.

I’d like to reduce even more but the kids are attached to some toys and books and I can understand that! It’s a constant consideration and intentional plan to live with the minimum amount of stuff we need though.

That’s very methodical, which is probably what’s been missing in my approach!
I’m impressed you can do each room in an hour, it would take us a lot longer than that (which is most likely another sign we have too much stuff!)

What sort of 'stuff' is it? Papers? Toys? Ornaments? Clothes?

And as to books - if you've decided that you must keep all you have then buy the bookcases! Otherwise get rid of some. You can't have it both ways if you want to be tidier.

Toys, books, paperwork (but more the temporary type, like notes from school and reminders, instead of official paperwork as we have a filling cabinet for that)

We don’t have space for anymore bookcases, so the books have to go, they’re just a difficult category to pare down.

Toys, we’re trying to get the DCs to get rid of some, but it’s a slow process even though we know they don’t play with a lot of them.

But the decluttering I did at the beginning of the month is definitely paying off with how tidy (some of) the house is, so it’s good to see some results!

My whole life is a constant battle with clutter, and I know I’m wasting precious time (and sanity!) on thr vast amount of crap in the house.

I read mk and did some great work in my bedroom, but then stopped, and allowed it all to build up again.

I know it’s possible to have clear, tidy homes as I have friends like it, and am always wondering where all their stuff is. The answer is, of course, that they don’t have any!

Yes, it’s the time wasting that gets me down, and if we had less stuff it would free up so much time to do more interesting things! It’s a bit depressing when DH comes home and all I can say is that I’ve decluttered stuff during the day instead of having a more productive time. At the moment, I’m either decluttering/cleaning or looking for a magic solution online!