Feeling super stressed by my unorganised house

[Mamabearwhere]

If you walked into my house you’d think I’m crazy for thinking it’s unorganised, as on the outside everything looks tidy. But there’s not one draw or cupboard or storage area you open with a system in place.

It’s now overwhelmed me with HOW much organising I need to do before I have my 3rd baby in September. Is there any good tips or suggestions you have for how to start. Do I do room by room or category by category ?

I would do room by room.

Is it disorganised because you have too much stuff? If so, I would do a major clear out to charity shops/sell/the bin.

I don't necessarily have systems in place but try to only have things I need (mostly). I try not to have several of anything.

@CarnationCat yes mixture of having a lot of stuff and a VERY bad habit of throwing things into drawers when I’m doing a mad dash to tidy up and put things out of sight. But then all that happens is nothing belongs to its own home and as a result every corner of storage is a messy drawer

I am the same except that my disorganised messy stuff is in open boxes sat on the landing.... I don't have enough storage and would love to organise myself better so following

Best bit of advice I read was to keep things close to where you actually use them and then you will be more inclined to put them away properly.

For example my hairbrush isn't kept on my dressing table because I never brush my hair in my bedroom, so it's kept in the hall drawer because I brush it there in front of the mirror before I leave the house.

I've just become obsessed by the Minimalist Mom on Youtube. She gives very practical ways to declutter and organise.

Her house is ver minimalist but she goes through how to decide what to keep or get rid of and the reasoning behind it and how to streamline the process so you don't destroy the house while you do it.

I fee like she's given me permission to just get rid of stuff. Who knew you don't need to keep every quilt cover you've ever owned? Or that you can get rid of wooden spoons if you have more than you need...I had 9!

She does some videos with her sister that have a bit of religion in them but you can skip those bits and the rest are brilliant.

Just one drawer at a time and, once it's clear, avoid the temptation to Bing loads of random stuff in it again.

I found The House that Cleaned Itself very helpful for setting up systems and just making my home more logical and easier to manage.

Clutterbug has some good ideas too, around the concept of figuring out your organisational style so that you’re not trying to implement a system that doesn’t suit you.

I find this the easiest to keep on top of- one room at a time. Declutter/get rid of things first. Then organise. Anything that needs to go to another room goes in a box/empty washing basket. Then repeat. If you question the storage space- look at what you’re keeping first, is it essential/important to keep?

I am not going to be much help...I am working towards it all being in drawers/ cupboards.

I will join you in about two years when I will need to sort out those cupboards and drawers

Like CornedBeef451, I love the Minimal Mom YouTube videos. She’s also done videos with Clutterbug and a Slob Comes Clean which are useful. I like Marie Kondo and the Home Edit programmes on Netflix too (although not such a fan of the amount of plastic they use to organise!).