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

@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.

I would happily take Octonaut toys off your hands. My 3 year old is obsessed! PM me!

What a great thread. I too only learnt less stuff=Tidy house, very recently. Been in this house almost 20 years and recently had a lot of work done to half the house, so everything in those rooms had to be packed away. When it was all finished I don’t want to unpack all the boxes, neither did dh thankfully! So we took out a few precious things (plus all the books!) and we now have a lovely, tidy, calm home! We’ve declutted the other half of the house now too!

Wait a minute, did you say 3 pairs of shoes? You lost me at that point 🤣

I would love to live like this but my problem is other people junking me up and I need methods to deal with it!
Examples - every year my Nan buys us all a new dressing gown, ok for growing kids but I don’t need new each year (I still love one from 10 yrs ago!)
I always say “no dressing gowns please we don’t need them” they still arrive as they “make a good gift” can’t be returned as she buys present all through the year so months over the date.

Example 2 makes suggestion of 2 tasteful Xmas presents for ds that I think he will play with for years - Mil “I want to buy all the plastic tat!!!”

Not read whole thread but we’ve just had a sickness bug in our house requiring multiple sheet changes over 2/3 days. How would you cope with that?

No spare bedding really?..I only have two sets per bed but I just couldn't always be having to wash and dry the bedding in one day, every single with no.falllback position of :fuck it I'll wash them tomorrow' or.if something gets spilt or someone is sick etc

Also one coat for winter, spring and autumn and smart/work and walking the dog ? Uh uh not for me. I need at least 2-3 options

The rest I think is fine . Get rid of all nixk naks k and pare down kitchen stufd

A home is not a home without a collection of ornamental owls

YABVVVVU

Maybe donate stuff on free cycle rather than take it to the tip.

You are correct OP, I used to buy more storage because that is what I thought I needed when really I needed to get rid of stuff. I’m much happier now and my house stays tidy!

I've had a bit of a cull today. 2 trips to charity shop. Next job is to sort out all the Christmas decorations I have had for year, and then the storage cupboard. I think I have too much bedding - about 4 sets! There's only me.

@Ionlydomassiveones

Can you tell my DH? He hoards broken and out of date electric equipment in case he can ‘make something out of them’ (but never does)

Get a box. Microwave-sized or thereabouts. Into it put all electrical wiring, leads, connectors, old remote controls, bits and bobs, chargers, plugs, deceased mobile phones and whatever else is lying about unused in drawers. Label the box: 'Random Electrical Gadgetry' and put it in the loft.

Wait and see just how long it takes for him to notice. Ours has been up there for three years unopened. Once or twice over that period DH has stood scratching his head in the lounge and asked me if I know where is. I have mentioned the box in the loft. He has yet to bother going to the effort of investigating its contents.

Check this :

@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.

I'll take the Bob the Builder toys off your hands if you're willing to let them go- my toddler is obsessed!

I have found my people! I love nothing more than a good clear out and tidy.

The only this suggestion I have to share that hasn’t been mentioned is when the kids come home from school with their artwork, take pictures of them instead to save in a folder. Explain they can only keep a certain amount but remind them it’s all on your phone.

Re: bedding, I do have a couple of spare single sheets. On my bed we have a all in one duvet on top as an extra blanket - I use that if there are accidents (dc not adults, we are not at that stage yet thank Christ).

In my new flat we won't have a dishwasher so I have downsized the crockery accordingly to force us to wash up.

I am very sorry to have caused such ornamental owl angst. I once posted a picture of a glass owl of mine on a dieting thread and was unanimously told it looked like a creepy alien. It was never the same after that...

@jelly79 having one set of uniform is life changing! We are overseas and our DC's uniform is very formal (hats, garters, etc). I used to buy two sets of basic uniform then pick other stuff up from the second hand school uniform shop. Then parents of older DC would give us their cast offs. We'd end up with uniform all over the place: laundry basket, drying on the line, stuffed under the bed, left in school bags, etc. It was so stressful.

That's when I decided I would buy ONE set of uniform for each child and wash them every night. So I wash DD's dress and white socks, plus DS's shirt on a short wash on their own. Then I wash DS's shorts, socks and tie plus gym kit on their own on a short wash. Takes 30 mins in total. I then hang them out and by the morning they're dry and I give them a quick iron.

DC take their uniform off as soon as they get home so that I can wash them. And I find even with gym kit that a 15 min quick wash is enough as the dirt has not had time to settle in.

If other parents offer their cast offs uniforms now, I just politely decline. I know that they always have clean uniform and our house is so much tidier.

There is a distressing amount of dh tidy sabotage reported on this thread. They MUST be told that unless they are prepared to cull their belongings, they will be the focus of your next declutter.

Be firm. My dh's books were his heart and soul. And now they are gone

Not me, we have tonnes of stuff but lots of space and I keep on top of it all the time. It’s not hard!

@TheFoundations

I think you'll regret it when it comes to the ornamental owls. I'd be lost without mine.

LOL!

OP I am envious. I need to do what you describe and it will be a HUGE job. With a very resistant hoarder DH. The joy of being able to put things we actually use into the cupboards will be unbound!

I should make a little confession that the one coat, three pairs of shoes rule is for everyone in the house but me.

I am allowed three coats and six pairs of shoes. Because I am declutter leader (and have done the entire operation alone), I don't have to follow my own rules.

@MrsBobDylan

Yes, who wants guests?! My in laws are our only guests and they choose to bring their own bedding. I have camping sleeping bags for the dc to have their friends to stay.

You may be right about the ornamental owls...I kept my best one though.

Sanitary towel boots - Get a sanitary towels and use the sticky side to fix one of the back of your heel before you wear your new boots for the first time. No blisters, it's brilliant!

Dear god.

That is amazing.

That's the best thing I have read on here outside the DIY'Property forum. Unless this is the DIY/property forum!

@3luckystars

I only found this out recently too. I’m 43. It’s going to change my life.

I’m reading a book called ‘decluttering at the speed of life’ and she is saying exactly what you are saying so I know it is true!

Thank you for this thread and
wishing you much happiness in your newly spacious container.

That is by Dana K. White of A Slob Comes Clean, which another poster above mentioned. She is brilliant, completely different from me in other areas of life like the previous poster said, but absolutely gets the way my house gets messy and has such a good way of dealing with it. Try the audiobook version too - good to listen to while pottering about tidying up. I used Flylady years ago, and there are some similarities, but I find this fits better with the way my brain works.

Thing is @Mybalconyiscracking not everyone can/will keep on top of their stuff. Many of us just ignore it until the door won't open or we've lost a much loved pet underneath a bloody great pile of stuff.

I'm happy for you, I'm envious you have those skills, but I don't, which is why this is a revelation for me.

Less stuff = less tidying = more storage = easier to clean = less stress.

I have also just finished decluttering at the speed of life, @weesmallhours
I listened to it on audio from the library a couple of times.
"The size of the container is the size of the container " is something I have said a lot recently.
I want to downsize next year because our large US house takes forever to clean and sort so I'm really focused on getting the stuff down to sensible levels.
Also dc are teens now and keeping all their child stuff won't bring child dc back.

Marie Kondo has made a few pounds out of this concept. Only keep what sparks joy. It is life changing. Well done, op!