What else can I throw out?

[Blessedbethefruitz]

My house is messy, cluttered and dirty. Not social services dirty or a danger, but overflowing with 5 minute jobs like paintwork wipes, skirting boards, dusting, etc. There is simply too much stuff.

For whatever reason, dp cleans well, off his own back, but does not tidy or see mess. For this reason I am in charge of tidying/decluttering. With 2 kids (we both work full time), the workload is immense. My ds4 is coming along nicely at putting dirty clothes in washing basket, rubbish in bin, and is generally helpful. His baby sister aged 1 is less so!

There is so much stuff, and it seems to be mostly kid stuff. Toys, clothes, all of it. How do I get rid of all this stuff so we can more easily clean and tidy? It really brings me down :( For reference, large 3 bed flat, but the kids insist on sharing (and co sleeping) with me in ds room, so the box room is dp office for now. I'm already well equipped with kallax and trofast, and clothes are already folded in thirds aka Mary Kondo... I disappear kids (mainly baby) toys on a regular basis and they're not usually missed.

Help!!

A slob comes clean is a great guide for those who struggle (me)

But from your description I am slightly struggling to see what it is that you can’t figure out? If you have too many kids clothes and toys, just get rid of anything that makes your storage more than 80% full (say 70% if you are inclined to stuff)

To decide on non kids stuff - if you haven’t used it in 6 months and you could replace it in 20 mins for less than 20 quid - chuck it out.

For adult clothes and shoes - if you haven’t worn it in a year - chuck it out.

Then for new stuff get into the habit of one thing in one thing out - Anglo collections do monthly charity shop collections from home so book that as a monthly thing.

If you are doing more housework than your partner make sure he does more cooking or whatever, exhaustion won’t help.

Are you getting enough sleep - if not, wean the kids off co-sleeping. They can’t ‘insist’ on anything, they do it because you allow it - which is grand if it works for you, but if it doesn’t, stop it.

We were talking about this at dinner tonight. How my MIL would come round and look after my DC whilst I worked. She never sat down, she would clean all day long. In her house she had a cleaning schedule pinned inside a cupboard, the energy she had in her 60’s was incredible. But she never hardly watched tv, had a mobile phone but hardly used it. What I learnt from her was to clear away after kids finished playing with toys, always wash up after a drink or food and chuck away any paperwork and post when finished with it. DH and I always clean shower and basin after use and I do the rest of the bathroom once a week.

Find a place for everything - then everyone in the house knows where to tidy it.

Only touch a piece of paper once - read a letter then either bin or file straight away.

Never leave a room empty handed - there's always a used mug or stray sock that could be tidied away.

Throw away one thing every day - that toy you keep meaning to fix but know you never will, the top that's stained so you never wear it, the broken brolly you keep 'just in case'.

@continentallentil My oldest has feeding issues so still wakes up for fortified milk overnight, so co sleeping works for us (for the least sleep deprivation). The youngest still breastfeeds overnight, but sleeps much better than the oldest. When she self weans she'll be moved on pronto!

I absolutely do not do anywhere near as much as dp - that's the trade off for the sleeps. I go to bed much earlier to maximise sleep.

I just don't know why there's still so much stuff. I'm binning things daily, carrying things every time I leave a room. I suppose it's a lack of dedicated time to tackle say one draw at a time like I see others doing.

You don't have to do it all at once or even give too much dedicated time to it.

I think you are probably at that stage where you don't know where or how to start because you are overwhelmed. So let me make a couple of suggestions.

1. x minutes a day of dedicated decluttering. Think about how much energy and time you have. It could be 5 or 10 minutes a day or more. The most important thing is is consistency. So that means everyday. Even a small amount of time can make a massive difference.
2. Put a shopping bag/cardboard box/any container in a corner of each room for incidental decluttering. So when you go past something, pick it up and put in the container. When you feel like it. Some days you will see more, some days you can't be bothered othered. That's fine.
3. Just put away your everyday items. Put cups etc back in kitchen, put cushions back on sofa. Just put it back.

You are building systems. Like I said before, it's consistency. It's teaching yourself to just do it, no matter what.

https://anglodoorstepcollections.co.uk/about-us/#collect_items
Things had got on top of us and we used this company for the first time last week, they sell stuff abroad, it was so painless we have already booked another collection for next month. We will now have something to work towards, will be sorting stuff as we go, over the next month.
Good luck.

Do you watch TV? Take a drawer/box/bag/pile to the sofa, grab a cleaning spray and a cloth. Declutter it while you watch TV, clean the container and the bits you're keeping. If something has a home and shouldn't be in there set it aside. When the TV show finishes return everything to where it should be. Sort the decluttered items into recycling or bin and take those there immediately, any for donations put into a bag and straight into your car.

You didn't mention toiletries, bedding/towels, stationery, old arts and crafts both supplies and what's been made, coats, sports equipment, accessories, makeup, ornaments, junk drawer, tech, furniture/boxes/suitcases, paperwork, books. Perhaps you need to do another pass through of the categories you've already done too if there's still too much.

OP where does all your stuff come from? Maybe try to minimise incoming stuff while dealing with the stuff you have. Do you shop a lot?

I found it really hard with young children. It was like an avalanche of stuff waiting to fall. I would de clutter and organise but realised I was just moving junk from one room to the next.

The answer is to get rid of it. If you are done having kids make sure you go through their stuff every six months and get rid of stuff no longer used.

Note all the areas and stuff that gets piled up and go to ikea and get storage, get as much as you can fit. Take a day to go through everything and start putting away. Anything that doesn’t fit you get rid of.

Thin thin thin

If you have somewhere piled up or overflowing get rid of stuff or make a proper home.

For instance I noticed recently we had laptops/remotes/headphones constantly kicking around but also a huge coffee table drawer stuffed with every old magazine from the last 5 years. Now the mags are recycled and the laptops live in the drawer.
Also storage. Floorstanding isn't always best. Get shelves, hooks etc and label places too.

Difficult with young DC as they have a constantly changing landscape of toys, art materials, equipment. You have to kind of get used to walking around the pushchair for a few years until it goes.

Also don't have multiples or extras of things. Some families just accumulate as they buy or are gifted a slightly better version of something but keep the old ones. If you don't have the space it's a luxury. Wave them goodbye.

Small steps, a little declutter every day. Do not pull everything out and make an almighty mess. Work through a room methodically. Fill a carrier bag with bits. Dispose of it as promptly as possible. If the clutter is going to be ditched, stop when the dustbin is full, start again after the bin men have emptied it.