Organising our homes, 1 day at a time!

[Mommabear20]

A thread for anyone wanting some company and motivation to get those pesky messy corners cleared and tidy!

Bring your organising hacks and let's do this!

Thanks @Quamora - unfortunately I was working until 11pm last night (started at 8am) so unless we're counting finding some loose coins in bags/drawers and adding them to DS' money box I did absolutely no organising yesterday!

My very tiny organisation win today was I persuaded DS (I.e. DH) to buy me a set of packing cubes for Mother's Day that I've had my eye on. We're flying out for a holiday on Mother's Day itself, so I can then use them on the day.

Sorted out about half the medication today. Long term illness means I have tonnes of it. Got rid of everything out of date and ordered everything by category (painkillers, anti-sickness etc) so much easier to find it all. Also ordered a birthday date organiser from Amazon, so looking forward to that turning up. Sick of having to write and send cards at the last minute!

I have some unexpected time off; the work I was supposed to do this week has been held up by someone else, so suddenly I have lots of hours available.

My house has been depressing me for a while; can I turn it round this week? I do have to keep on top of e-mails, and have four Zoom meetings, plus a short report to write for one meeting.

I keep the house basically clean, but my study is awful - piles of papers everywhere, every surface, including the floor covered. Plus I have lots of small, non-urgent jobs which I never seem to get around to, including one box of Christmas decorations on the landing.

Also, the garden needs a basic tidy up from the after effects of the storms.

House is average sized 4 bed; both kids are at Uni, so I can more-or-less ignore their rooms, and in fact have been ignoring them since they went back.

Can I turn this around in one week?

Yes definitely, you could make major progress in a week! Just pick an approach and follow it through (if it is mainly a surface problem I would go surface by surface with 3 sacks - 1 for rubbish, 1 for charity shop, 1 for recycling) but in general we all have our own favourite approaches - I'm a Marie Kondo fan so if you were doing the whole house you'd start with clothes for example.

I think it's more that there are a lot of small tasks I haven't been able to get around to - a lightbulb which needs replaced, a packet of bulbs which need to be planted. Stuff lying around, waiting to be done. The big problem is the study, which has piles of papers on every surface.

According to the BBC weather forecast it's going to be dry today, so first task will be dealing with the pile of "hand wash only" at the bottom of the laundry basket.

@AnnieJessie I'm sure you could make a huge difference! But I'd start with 10 jobs and tick them off, don't set yourself up to fail with a great long list you could never get through.

Good idea! Ten jobs.

Job 1 will be laundry.

I had a pile of "hand wash only" half filling my laundry basket, which meant the basket was overflowing when I put everyday stuff in. I've done the handwashing. Two loads are through the machine and on the line, and the washing machine is on again with towels.

The ironing angel has collected a full box of ironing!

Still to strip the beds, but in the meantime onto job 2 - the bathroom!

I've done the handwashing and 5 loads of laundry. Just need them to dry!

I've cleaned the bathroom, and put out a fresh bathmat and towels.

My living room is generally ok, so I gave it a quick tidy then pulled out the sofa for a proper hoover behind. Only to discover that our cat had used that corner as a toilet. So I've cleaned up and now have bicarb sprinkled over the area. I'll hoover in an hour.

Need a quick trip to the supermarket next.

Well done Annie you have done lots, and everyone else. You are all giving me ideas. Recently I have done a WhistleFish card order which always makes me feel in control and an actual grown up. Today I have put up a clothes rail in our garage that now holds the outdoor coats so they are no longer ‘hanging’ up on everything else. It was very satisfying. I am also planning an IKEA trip. I want some Billy doors and something for Lego storage. I will only buy what is on my list….

I always worry about buying things when I know I own too much stuff already, but...
I bought a shoe rack! There was a perfect spot for it in the hall which was otherwise dead space, and now all the shoes, bags and bike helmets are off the floor! Next job is to train the kids to put things back on the rack.
Under stairs shelf trolley thing arriving today, hoping that's a success too.

Shoe racks are a great idea, especially if you are utilising dead space.

Day 2. I've been doing e-mails, and have a Zoom meeting later, so not so much time today. I'm looking at the kitchen. We have far too much clutter on the surfaces. Think I'll start by cleaning out the fridge.

Shoe racks are a great idea, a major way to prevent constant mess. I really value mine 👍🏻

I've re-organised the storage boxes in my shed so stuff is easier to get to & better themed - cereal with cereal bars, juice cartons with long life milk cartons etc. I put the boxes containing packaging & bubble wrap for eBay sales on top of containers holding household stuff like washing up & laundry liquid, so they can be easily lifted & moved to get to heavier things stored lower.

Got some more stuff into storage boxes today, so that's a bit less mess on the floor.

Keep forgetting to update thread. I’m not managing to do something every day at the moment but I think the little bits I have been doing are adding up because there are a couple of areas that feel less doomy.

The big thing is that I’ve rearranged my kitchen so it’s a bit more logical. Not used to it yet so keep opening the wrong cupboard but I think it will work better this way. I only managed to throw out one item though. There are still a few rarely used things that can probably go but for some reason I’m quite attached to kitchen and useful stuff. I managed to chuck a load of old photos without a second thought though.

Quamora I hear you with the useful stuff. I find it almost impossible to get rid of useful stuff unless I'm dispatching it to someone who will use it.

More stuff into boxes today and stacked up neatly. Have now run out of boxes.

I have sentimental kitchen bits, mostly stuff my parents donated to me when I moved out. A few bits are older than I am.

My trolley in the under stairs cupboard plan came unstuck, as when I was measuring I missed a big plastic box stuck to the side near the floor. Not wanting to be defeated I put the leveling feet on in place of the castors and moved the bottom shelf up so that it can straddle the box. Not ideal as I effectively lost a shelf to reduced hight, and it doesn't easily pull out, but it's still an improvement, and the hoover and mop finally fit.

@GlumyGloomer “I have sentimental kitchen bits, mostly stuff my parents donated to me when I moved out. A few bits are older than I am.”

I don’t even have that excuse. It’s just ridiculous things like I have a couple of jugs I use regularly for gravy because they’re the right size. Then the massive jugs for when we have guests. Then I have a couple of jugs that I really like but rarely use because they’re not the right size for anything so they’re basically sat in the cupboard looking pretty. Who even likes jugs ffs??

Then two can openers, I only use one but keep the other in case the one I use breaks.

And four casserole dishes that I very rarely use now that I have an instant pot. But do sometimes use so don’t want to get rid of. It all fits so isn’t a huge issue but I just seem to have a real block in getting rid of this kind of thing

Who even likes jugs ffs??

Some people collect this sort of thing. Why don't you display the pretty-but-useless ones somewhere you'll see them? You could even declutter the huge ones and use the two smaller ones instead of one big one when you have guests. If two smaller ones isn't enough you could use the decorative ones too.

After sorting out the box room yesterday, I've had another go at sorting out the messy corner in another room today. Some cushions have been put where they belong, some things from the floor have been boxed up and the boxes changed around so they're stacked neatly instead of haphazardly.

@GlumyGloomer that's clever!

@Quamora can you make use of your jugs even if they are in a cupboard? Use them for vertical storage of utensils, chopsticks, spaghetti, tin foil, or above the dishwasher for dishwasher tabs if you don't have small children or pets, or eg spare soaps or candles? They could still be brought back into service if needed with a quick wash. We use our juice jug about once a year so most of the time it holds spatulas

@GlumyGloomer @WildPoinsettia good advice. Someone on a decluttering thread said about not keeping things that have a single purpose and instead being creative with other items. It’s stuck in my mind but I still haven’t brought myself to get rid of them. Perhaps I should set a use by date for certain items

Quamora would it help to think of where you'd get rid of them to? I don't mind parting with things when I know they're going to someone else who will enjoy them. It's recycling and worse landfill I have more of a problem with.

@WildPoinsettia possibly. I think it’s mostly the ‘might need’ that I struggle with but as pointed out I could use other things, I just need to get my head around that

An update, I’ve gone through two cupboards again and got rid of one casserole dish (initially two but I put one back as it may get used more when there are fewer of us living at home 😳), two baking dishes that I don’t really use any more and two serving plates that we inherited. Not a huge amount but the cupboard does look less cluttered already. From elsewhere; some silicone covers that don’t fit anything (and tbh they’re shite anyway) a couple of utensils and a massive slicing machine that has been sat on top of the fridge for about two years since I last used it. And one of my big jugs! Funnily enough it should be my most sentimental jug because it was my grans but it was the easiest to get rid of, I guess I don’t attach memories in that way.

Took it all straight to the charity shop, only to discover they’re not accepting donations. It will all now sit in my car for months on end instead