Hoarders Anonymous. Thread #8. We Are Keeping On Keeping On. Fighting The Cluttered Fight.

[Solo]

We are a group of likeminded householders who are leading somewhat challenging lives; be that living with too much 'stuff' that we find difficult to deal with, houses that are falling apart (mine is), health issues within the family unit, wider family, or ourselves (me too) that means sorting out our households is challenging to say the least. So...

You are all welcome to join us for support, adding your ideas to help others out, storage ideas, and even tips on actually getting those items out of the house which sounds so simple when you say it, but this part can be so very difficult; we are often attached emotionally to our 'things', afraid of letting things go just in case we need them.

Encouragement and support abound here in our band of clutterbugs. We never ever criticise anyone! We even try not to criticise ourselves as it's not helpful to anyone, but this can be very difficult to achieve.

If you are feeling overwhelmed by clutter, mess, disorganization and generally don't know where to start. If you can't be bothered, but really do want to be bothered. If you think you are a bit lazy, or if you just need to see your highs and lows and everything in between on the screen here, join us, and we will help you. We'll virtually high-five your achievements - small or large, and virtually hug you when the need arises. If you want a hug, just ask because we are here for you, here for one another because we get it. The art of washing up is sometimes our great achievement of the day, but it's still an achievement

Some helpful links. They aren't for everyone, but have a look if you fancy:

• Help For Hoarders by Jasmine Harman (the author/producer of the BBC1 documentaries My Hoarder Mum and Me and Britain's Biggest Hoarders)
• The FlyLady Cleaning Method by Marla Cilley
• The Organised Mum Method by Gemma Bray
• The KonMari Method by Marie Kondo
• A Slob Comes Clean by Dana K. White
• The Getting Things Done Method by David Allen

And a LINK-#7

I'm not sure if The Flylady link is working, but if not, you know what to search for.

Welcome to thread #8 of Hoarders Anonymous. Thread #8. We Are Keeping On Keeping On. Fighting The Cluttered Fight (and winning, one small step at a time).

Hoping you had a better day and fewer aches and pains @Elleherd, you are amazing.

I had to have an emergency tradesperson visit today - house is just old enough that what hasn’t been replaced or repaired is gradually breaking. Having a visitor still felt awful - but better than before. I know it’s better.

Always more to do but I have worked on a visible space that I see every day, which does give me a little boost and hope.

Catch up properly later, slugging down more coffee -an hour and a half to complete. Not a hope of being entirely ready but hoping enough for them to march through.

@Elleherd hope it went ok yesterday - or as well as can be expected

@FiniteSagacity That space that gives you a boost and hope is very important, and it's good to hear you have it. Well done you! It's a good strategy.
Just as clutter can spread until bits meet, so can calm tended spaces. 🙂
"Having a visitor still felt awful - but better than before. I know it’s better." Yay! It is better, and it will get better still.

Thanks to all for good wishes, and listening to me moaning, and encouraging me in keeping on keeping on, regardless. It makes a real difference.
This is the only place where I can offload some of the sheer insanity, stress and reality off what I set out to do about everything, and what's now going on in the middle of it, and I don't think I'd still be winning at any level, without having anywhere/one to communicate about it, and somewhere to plan it!

Yesterday I got things to the point where a small army of contractors could and did march through, and kept my fingers crossed behind my back that no one would open any doors or notice vehicle full of boxes!
One contractor did later need to look round properly, but what was still here, wasn't in his way and hopefully he won't mention it...

Most actually all came back through and went home a couple of hours later!
They where doing registrations, and equipment rules, with translators, in their site office portacabins in the garden apparently, not actually working yesterday!

Just been told, most aren't working past 10.45 today either, so trying to sort myself out to use the rest of today to comply and get remains of all but the small amount of allowed stuff out.
But I'm physically beyond all limits tbh, and struggling to move around so everything is taking longer and longer.
And, the original carpet stuffed unrolled into the back room is still jammed there, 😓as we just couldn't move it, so it's going to be trying to find new contractors who want some extra money to give a hand.

Been warned tomorrow they will be taking out back and front windows to get more machinery and supplies through, 🙄so as well as what else needs to go, things we are allowed like beds, need to be moved for their safety.
I'm also trying to navigate what the chances are of letting them through before and after work on Friday, with no access while I'm working...😰

Eek. Sounds bonkers Elle.

Contractor done. Yay.
Bath at mum's cleaned.
Half hour gardening pulling out the biggest weeds before they seed.
Top up shop. Put shopping away, got shopping back out, transported home and put away again. Cleaned up one room after contractor. Need to do rest.
Driven over 100miles.

Feeling quite miserable in general at the moment but that's not too bad a day. At least I got to drive home in the sunshine.

Pottering.
Put the last bits and bobs of pots away. (The annoying bits)
Started on washing up.
Started on clearing the work.surfaces.
Had an overwhelm.

Got all say to.make progress.

Day! All day!

Put some of the washed pots away.
Washed a load more pots including some of the recycling.
Some soaking
Sprayed work surface will wipe later.

2.5 foot square work surface cleaned.

Sadly it is permanently stained by turmeric.

How long is it reasonable to keep a kitchen before replacing it? (Idle speculation as I have no energy to change anything yet!)

Done the bit of the work surface that is under the microwave. Ran out of oomph and had a two hour nap. (Turns out it was in good preparation for this evening)

Been soothing relations between father and son. Been appealing to the maturity of one of them. (Ds) (5 or six phone calls)

DD did a bit more washing up. I've put a bit more washing up away.

Heated tea.

Waiting up for the boy.

Still waiting for the boy.

Sent two carrier bags of recycling down with ex.

Put the new milk away.

Susan I'm all about the practicalities. If your kitchen is making you miserable and you can afford a new one, get a new one. If you can't do that I'd look at budget options. There's some kind of film you can get to resurface worktops. If you like the colour of turmeric you could stain the rest to match. Not ideal but at least it's even. My local store has pretty glass chopping boards, if the stained areas are small and those are sold near you, you could use them to cover up the stained areas. Or, I'm happy with functional when it comes to kitchens so I'd carry on with ignoring the stains.

@BlackeyedSusan I'm with @BlueSummerBaby that it's about what makes you happy /unhappy, vs budget, energy and time, for most of us.
Not sure about a turmeric colored work top, but it depends what the base colour is, and if 'freckled' as to if you'd end up with a pleasant yellow, or something dodgier... (with my base coloration and freckling it would definitely end up looking very reminiscent of a urinal!)

If it's functional, then not unreasonable to not replace it, more a case of refreshing it and making it look better.

Vinyl wrap can be a good shorter term option for refreshing a battered kitchen.
It could be a longer term option, but not sure it does particularly well with teens IME, but may be because I went for cheaper ones. (the wraps not the teens!) You probably do get what you pay for.
If glass chopping boards or similar, aren't an option, another possibility for the stained worktop might be a long heat resistant silicone mat.

Also just changing the doors on units can work wonders, as can adding a cut down piece of laminate on the top of an old one. (Ikea can be suprisingly good for off cuts)

If budget's an issue, then if energy (and some insanity) can be gathered, every so often someone on Gumtree will offer up a whole set of kitchen units FOC, being stripped out and replaced .

Rustoleum apparently do a good lino paint that can make a functional tired out floor into a brighter one. Something I may well be trying when all the building stuff is over. Our lino hasn't liked being pulled up and down repeatedly, lots of cosmetic damage.

@BlackeyedSusan Well done on pottering and peace keeping. It is often the Dc's who are more prepared to consider being mature isn't it? Everyone seems to take it, and utter unreasonableness, in turns here. One day though they're going to get a real surprise out of me, as I never get a look in on being unreasonable a temptation is mounting...
"Bonkers" is a pretty close description of things here.

Despite efforts yesterday I just couldn't get everything out in time. They didn't go early after saying they would be, and eventually went at five.

I'm just physically beyond use. Everything's badly swollen and my hands are raw from overuse. I'm struggling. Got load in vehicle to storage unit, but it half destroyed what was left of me and I ended up moving everything else left to a room the contractors don't need access to until Monday as the best I could manage.

We now don't have windows back and front, just boards, and they've battered the walls, wallpaper, skirting's and ceilings around them getting large stuff through them. Very little I can do about it except keep cleaning. Most either don't speak English, or don't admit to it. Their answer to everything is either "It old" or a dismissive shrug. 😡
On the other hand they aren't policing us over what should or shouldn't be here, which I'm grateful for. But supervisors and landlords agents are about on Monday apparently.

There's another big load of building materials and similar coming through on Saturday, and another load again on Monday. They're ignoring rules about early morning or weekend noise, and apparently we're lucky we're getting Sunday's off.

I'm working later today, and having to pay someone to be here and 'guard' the place while out. Hopefully they just want to use us to walk through today, but yesterday one of them was about to just knock through an internal wall to make their life easier, before I realized and stopped him!

This morning has been moving things around, and figuring out how to wrap/ dust proof beds and some allowed disability equipment, as everything's getting covered in building dust.
About to go buy large amounts of polythene and tape, and go off to work, anything else will have to wait for this evening.

Sounds awful Elle.

Good luck surviving.

Mega shop. Bloody knackered. Not put it all away yet. 3x2 flights of stairs with heavy shopping.

Been to fetch DD as her legs went wobbly today.

Well done getting shopping home.
It is pretty awful tbh.
Have managed to do 1 & 3/4's of what's needed, which is actually a lot more impressive than it sounds, but still not quite enough.

Back up and what ever's left of me, at it. Fingers crossed.

Hi all. I've been feeling a biy deflated with the level of house clutter recently. Have a few days off now so hopefully have some motivation to make a difference. Plan to focus on lots of small areas so I don't feel too overwelmed.

Beer of luck !

*best

beer is different !

Not the worst auto correct...

Had worse!

Good luck Elle!

Today is a half day. Might need to take the kids shopping but not a full shop.

@TalkToTheHand123 Keeping clutter down does feel a very endless thankless task if you or others are natural clutters. Good luck with the plan.

@BlackeyedSusanSo knackered it took me ages to remember figure out what a half day was.😅

Friday evening came back to lots of dirt tramped through, so cursory clean up and late night and early Saturday over wrapping everything. Just as well, as even then they managed to knock into stuff, use it as surfaces for stuff and detach and tear sheeting.
A repeat of large amounts of contractors and their stuff coming through and depressingly more damage, but also detritus coming down from the scaffolding above.
May sound futile, but it's clear the more damaged or dirty things get the less care is taken. They just see a building site entrance and exit, and that I can fix damage afterwards, I'm trying to get them to see a home that has to be lived in, in whatever state they leave us in.

So, completely hoovered up to five foot; front and back room, corridors, bathroom and part of kitchen (has taken a real battering) dry wiped and mopped.
All looks almost like an emptied home again, rather than a a building site.
Washed and repainted half a wall. Repainted four windowsills.
Scrubbed four now very scuffed skirting boards.
Outside is trashed, but managed to clear up large amounts of mortar dropped from somewhere above us, before it set.

Tomorrow's hopefully the last big set of site deliveries coming through here, and then they'll be trying to put windows back in. I say trying, as the way they've taken them out and amount of damage done to the frames, I don't see how they're salvageable, but supervisors and landlords agents come tomorrow so we'll see.
This morning's been major launderette session for all.
About to set out to get everything out that shouldn't still be here, stick down more floor protection, replace dust sheeting where destroyed, work out what else has to happen for tomorrow, and try to clear up outside a bit as it's awful front and back, the streets a mess, and everyone's vehicles are covered with dust, and it's not making occupants here any more popular.

Got lots done but lots more still to do, so last big push. Running on empty again.

@Elleherd, should you even be living in a building site? If you are in the UK you have rights. Contact your MP and ask for a case worker. You should be in a different home while major work is done.