I just found out how tidy people keep tidy!!!!!

[MrsBobDylan]

I have not felt this excited since I discovered sanitary towels can prevent new boot blisters.

You had better sit down.

Tidy people have less stuff. That's how they stay tidy.

No one bothered to tell me this life changing information. Bastards.

We are downsizing to a flat from a four bed house with a garage. I reckon I have donated/taken to the tip, at least half of the contents of our house.

We didn't need all that shit. I don't think I liked most of it.

Turns out, two mixing bowls is fine, 3 pans, 10 mugs, one duvet cover/pillowcase for each bed, no spare bedding for guests since they can bring their own, 6 bath towels, one coat each, three pairs of shoes each...I could go on.

Since decanting half of my house, it is lovely and tidy. I move a few things from room to room each day and clear the kitchen at the end of day. All manageable. I even have time for a nap on the sofa fgs.

Now my cupboards are not filled to the brim, I can PUT THINGS IN THEM.

The easiest and most satisfying clear out, was the knick knack cull. Photo frame we got for our wedding? Gone. Glass vase from my Uncle Harry? Gone. Mini collection of ornamental owls? Get in there!

It is easier to clean a house with less stuff in it. Surfaces get a quick wipe, floors are mopped without have to slalom round tables, chairs and plant stands.

If you have a friend who feels overwhelmed by keeping house, please pass this on.

You're welcome

Well done OP. Decluttering is indeed the way to go!
But.... no spare bedding is undoable. You will have to get at least, minimum, two sets per bed. And you need some more crockery!
Not much.

Well done, OP! I'm a naturally very tidy person and definitely don't have too much 'stuff'. (Much to DWs pain sometimes)

I love Marie Kondo too, she helped me get rid of a few boxes of sentimental stuff that I realised I'd never ever look at again but had felt I couldn't not keep. I said thank you, and popped off to the tip!

Hahaha wow, yes it's very true. Another tip: Don't be tempted to fill the new empty spaces with more stuff!

@KloppsTeeth

I need to get rid of boxes and boxes of toys. All small things, like Octonauts, Bob The Builder type characters. Lots of die cast cars. But charity shops don’t want them as they only sell for pennies. Where do people move their on to that isn’t landfill? Then I would be tidier, as it would free up space.

Theres someone on the Christmas thread desperately trying to find octonaut toys as they don't sell them anymore!!

I get you . We just downsized and had to get rid of stuff .

Still got lots to go though as we have a garage . But we have been ruthless . It’s not easy , at all .

But it is easier cleaning the house I agree .

I'm verging on OCD when it comes to organisation and cleaning - it's actually not a good thing!

I can't handle mess or disorder so what I find incredibly helpful is every cupboard is to declutter monthly, and every cupboard/drawer uses a system to organise using inserts and a storage system.

It's so easy when things just aren't shoved or thrown somewhere, when it's logical and looks good it's easy to maintain.

I actually set up a insta account just to follow socials of people that organise for a living haha.

The trick is to keep it that way. It's so easy to acquire new stuff. The amount of stuff we acquire and then need to chuck is ridiculous, round and round we go. Be wary of Christmas and birthdays.

@EveningOverRooftops

I used to be tidy. Then I had kids.

Kids have endless amount of stuff, tiny tiny pieces, I am traumatised by lego! I remember how much stuff I had to carry around with a new born, and how it gets less and less as they grow!

Any time I clear a shelf or cupboard, dh fills it up with his latest hobby. I fantasise about life in a little flat with just me. Maybe cctv so I could watch the dc from afar.

Yes indeed, chuck it all out. They are only things, currently debating whether I need more than one saucepan.

@iwishiwasafish and @KloppsTeeth I have a lot of landfill guilt too. We have been given a lot of the stuff over the years, Xmas presents for 4 kids, birthday toys etc, in awful condition now but I am blocked when it comes to chucking it into landfill.

thats a bit of an excuse though, this thread has inspired me, I will do a charity shop run later this week, just hope I don't end up buying more stuff while I'm there...

Thus is helpful. But what's the sanitary towel boot tip please??

I'd like to know this too I have some trainers it may work on

@Chicchicchicchiclana

You didn't know that having less stuff makes it easier to be tidy?

Really?!!!!????

Oh come on

Come on, what?

well, yes and no.

so the bedding.
I find it much easier to walk into the room, take dirty sheets, put on clean, dust and hoover. DONE.

If you only have one set, then you have to get it washed and dried and back on the bed, and are shaking a duvet round in the room you have just dusted, so creates more dust.

I don't always think less is more. The secret is knowing which things you personally can live without, and which ones you can't.

I could live without my husbands DIT hoard. Somehow he disagrees...

[quote MrsBobDylan]@ImUninsultable yes, Lego and child detritus is an impossible problem. One of my dc is very autistic and has enough Lego to build us a new four bed detached house.

[/quote]
My autistic child was a Lego fan. We had to buy a unit from IKEA with multiple boxes to house said Lego. There were Lego models everywhere. And the noise of rummaging as he searched through boxes of Lego for one specific piece that he absolutely needed and must have for his latest creation nearly drove me to insanity.

The good thing was my autistic child became an autistic adult who decided he no longer needed the Lego and started clearing it out and getting me to sell it on EBay. We have been selling Lego on Ebay for nearly 2 years now and have sold the IKEA unit too.

We have now reached the point where all the Lego has either gone or is listed on EBay. Shame the same thing hasn't happened with the hideous transformers though.

I'm having a good laugh at this 😆
I'm moving from a 4 bed house with garage to a 3 bed bungalow! We have so much shite! New shite too - still with labels on! I don't know how we're going to manage tbh 😆🤦🏼‍♀️

[quote MrsBobDylan]@Clariana my dh refused sanitary support when he was wearing in his DM's. He wouldn't let me see his feet but we both knew.[/quote]
😂😂

@DuvetDayIsEveryDay

Once every 2 years I get a skip and fill it.

It's fab.

No, no it’s really not ‘fab’, it’s shocking

@flippertyop

We have so much shit. Every time we move to a bigger house we fill with more shit. I need to downsize and get rid

My spirit twin! 😆🤦🏼‍♀️

This thread is exactly what I needed tonight!

What, no one needs at least three rocking horses per room?
No wonder I’m so crowded out

Anything that can't be stored neatly away goes in this house. Nothing on the kitchen counter but a toaster and kettle, I can't stand clutter!

@minniemoll

You want your guests to bring their own bedding????

I can't see you having many guests, somehow....

Result!!! Even less clutter in the house.

My way of living is, if I haven't touched something in a month, bin it.

I have ocd and some hoarding tendencies (genuinely) I get anxious when the place is very tidy/clear but I do need to work on that

My mums tips are (her place is ALWAYS tidy AND she always knows where stuff is!)

Never leave a room empty handed, there is always SOMETHING needs putting in the room you're going to or one you're passing, she used to make us do this too! Soon as we stood up from the sofa "where you going? Ok you can take x in and put it away" so she delegates too

If you lose something, when you find it put it away in the first place you looked as that's where you thought it was (if said place makes sense of course)

When dd was growing up twice a year I'd go through her stuff to get rid of the things she'd outgrown -

Last week before summer holidays

Last week before Xmas holidays

Not just clothes but toys, books, games, bikes, scooters...

The vast majority went to younger relatives and friends kids (I tried to prioritise those I knew hadn't much money spare to offer to first - but I also was very clear they could absolutely say no thanks)

The rest that was serviceable went to charity shops

Knitwear that was past its best was unravelled

Other things were cannibalised for "parts" like...belts, usable batteries, clothing cut down to use as dusters etc

Very little went to landfill.

Had to do it when dd wasn't around though as she'd have kept loads.

Once a year I'd do similar with my stuff. But I'm not really one for buying loads for myself.

@Thatsplentyjack that was my dd! There's a school photo of her and she was first in! I had her all ready and done nice wee french plaits the lot...by the time the photo was taken one ribbon had gone (she'd given it to another wee girl who's mum had forgotten) there's a smudge of what I hope is mud on her cheek (even though she went straight from home to school on a perfectly normal footpath we lived next door to the school!) her shirts half untucked and buttons undone - hedge backwards comes to mind! I was bothered when I first got the pic and then my mother rightly said it perfectly epitomises exactly how dd was at that age! Generous, kind, fun loving and hazardous 

@Clariana

That'll teach him!