If your house has ever got seriously out of order … and you have managed to get it back under control …

[Scatteredthoughts522]

Can you please help and advise? This question is for people whose houses have got really bad in certain areas - not hoarder level but I can imagine it getting that way if I don’t intervene now - but who have managed to rein it back in… .

I am facing a situation where I need to get back on top of my large six bedroom house. The ground floor is just about ok. I can invite people in. Apart from the utility and garage which are in a bit of a state.

The upper floors, apart from the bathrooms, are a disaster though and getting worse. And I hate this feeling of not being on top of it!

My physical fitness is limited atm following an accident, a bout of depression, and another health condition, so I can’t physically do a lot in one go. I am not young either!

What is required is a major all hands to the deck clear out of stuff before I can deep clean but realistically atm I don’t have the capacity for either.

So my question is … has anyone honestly managed to get back on top of things by doing two hours focused decluttering and organising a day?

Is it possible? Or am I whistling in the wind? The reason I ask is that I have a cleaner for two hours a week but can’t afford any more help atm. I work for four hours a day so thought of doing one hour before work and one hour after work until it gets done.

Thanks for any thoughts. I am at my wit’s end with it all and desperately need to be back in control.

There was a thread here a few years ago suggesting that on the first day of the month you get rid of one item (bin, recycle, charity shop, sell etc.), on the second day two items, and every day get rid of the number of items for the date. It's easy (we did it for three months), manageable, and we found it fun to do. Because it starts small it's not overwhelming.

Thank you; agree it’s very easy to get bogged down by over-thinking!

When cleaning out cluttered rooms, I start with a couple of easier sections/rooms, as the quick-wins spur me on to tackle the more difficult areas.

I am getting back in control of my house. I have suffered from depression and am also overweight which makes being on my feet harder. Similar to you, main living areas are OK but behind closed doors is years of clutter. We also have a large house.

Start of this year I decided to pick one room each saturday and de clutter and bin old and unused items. Starting with utility room, then walk in wardrobes, my bedroom.

It took between one to two hours of fully dedicated time each saturday morning for each room.

The house is now in much better condition. Once I got through all the clutter, I pick an extra cleaning task each week that I was missing before. Eg I might dedicate that hour to cleaning the skirting boards one week, a deep clean of a room the next week.

It's a small amount of time across the week but has really added up and made a difference over three months.

That’s so kind of you OchreReader 💐

I can definitely relate! I try my purchases on but I am not always very good with returns 🙈

Wishing you the best of luck too with your project! Feel free to check in here and maybe we can all offer a bit of support to one another?

That’s such a smart way of looking at removing those old unnecessary purchases. I need to work with this attitude, especially in the “dumping room” downstairs.
In all honesty though, it’s a tough change for me - I grew up without much money in the 70’s & it was drummed into us that any waste was really bad, whatever it was.
I know I have a mild obsession with recycling, so perhaps that’s a route forwards.

I’ve also got health issues @Scatteredthoughts522 & admire your approach to a bit every day,I’m going to try to copy you - but we must be careful not to burn ourselves out with this xx

Definitely agree about breaking this into bite sizes pieces. One drawer a day. One corner of room, a cupboard, even one shelf in the cupboard. Do this daily or a few times a week and the results will soon start to show.

Don't worry about re selling things as that just takes up a lot of time. Think of your reward as being a clearer space and mind.

That’s really encouraging to know thank you Finallydefinitelyleaving; that’s really impressive too! I like the idea of one extra task a week, or rather I look forward to getting to the point where I can introduce that 😃

Thanks Cleanskin yes definitely aware this is a marathon not a sprint. Good luck with your project too! 💐

I am downsizing from a huge 5 bed detached house to a likely 3 bed semi via divorce but I feel your pain. I have been doing one room at a time. Ive got a skip and its filling quickly.

Sometimes its hard not to deviate, ie go find a home for something you want to keep then find something else in another room.

Some great suggestions from previous posters ref getting rid as you go.

Do you have an animal rescue/dog kennels nearby. I gave them all my old towels, bedding, curtains etc and they were great fully received. Clothes, as someone else suggested take a bag or two when you go shopping and put into the clothes bins.

Get the adult dc on board as in tell them theres a tip run needing doing, boxes for charity shops and they need to remove/declutter what they want.

Just set your 1 hour timer and plod along, I always find I am ok once I start.

Thank you that’s really encouraging Moltenpink! Very good to know that it can be done and reform is possible ! Congratulations on your achievement and I really like the idea of doing one extra task where possible to maintain improvements.

Thank you; I’m not sure but I will give it a try! 😃

I do the TOMM method. I don't use the app just the checklists online. 30 minutes a day focusing on a different room each day so each week the rooms get a clean and that bit better. On Fridays there is a focus on deeper cleaning/decluttering and whilst it takes a while to see results it really does work and long term gives you an easy manageable routine.

A really good idea, from a micro habit book that I really enjoyed, is to make your goal really tiny and really achievable. So just make sure you throw out/donate just one thing a day. Just one thing, could be an old letter, but once you’ve done that you don’t ‘need’ to do any more - your goal is complete! Then if you do want to do more/sort more then this is an added bonus, but mentally you’ve checked the ‘done’ box

My late husband was a hoarder , a tidy hoarder but there was literally tons of it. I found these things helped me to sort out the piles. Start on one room, deal with only that room. If it's rubbish, it goes straight in the bin. I sold lots of things such as books to a company that just collected boxes of them. I had an app and scanned each one. Into a box, label printed and it was collected. The same thing with dvds and cds. If you can only do an hour it's an hour towards your goal. When you see that you are making headway you will feel so much better.
It took me a year to deal with all his stuff. But I can now walk around the house safely, it's tidy and easy to keep clean.

Thank you Jellycatspyjamas

I have to confess that the whole looking worse before it gets better is what has really put me off on previous occasions so very grateful for this advice.

I’m evangelical about decluttering and have helped lots of friends/relatives get organised.

first you have to be ruthless. Unless you desperately need the money don't bother selling anything - it’s massively time consuming and takes up space.

second if you have head space for recycling and charity shop great - but possibly you don’t and if that is the case don’t feel guilty about just binning the lot. You can get a skip bag easily and cheaply. There’s no shame in protecting your mental health by just getting rid.

third bite size chunks are the way forward for everything. 6 minutes on a timer. If you’re feeling good refresh the timer for the next six minutes, if not take a 6 min break and come back to it. Sometimes you’ll get stuck in and feel great and an hour will fly. Sometimes you’ll find it will be an effort. If you’re really struggling allow yourself one day off.

@Scatteredthoughts522 I’m feeling chuffed already: just identified a kitchen cupboard that really needs my attention! The extra good parts are that I can do this whilst sitting on the floor and there’s a high chance that I’ll find some delicious, forgotten food in there 😄

Very well done on achieving what must have been a difficult task both emotionally and physically
loislovesstewie 👏👏

And for keeping going for twelve months!

Very inspiring to think about the end result, and walking around the house and it no longer being such a stress, thank you!

Dana K White’s method is very much about avoiding the awful mess created during decluttering. So when you pick something up it either goes into the rubbish bag, or into the donate bag, or you go and put it away where it belongs straight away. It means you can gradually work on decluttering, without the distress of everything being in complete upheaval while you do it! Also actually getting the rubbish bag and donate bag out of the house straight after is important too! I highly highly recommend Dana K White, I have a couple of her books, and it is really helping (but is a work in progress - but that’s okay!!).

Thank you very much!

Yes I am anticipating having varying energy levels DancingNotDrowning day by day; I think the trick will be to try to keep going no matter what, but adapt the time and intensity of what I am doing according to how I am feeling.

I thought I might reserve some easier tasks eg make up bag, jewellery box, sock drawers, or one box of papers, for the low energy days.

I am a big recycler and we have good facilities in my area so looking forward to getting rid of what I can that way.

Two hours a day is definitely doable. Do one room at a time and get rid of anything that you haven’t used in a couple of years. I did this over a year ago and it was a bit eeekkkk getting rid of so much stuff that was brand new or barely used, but I haven’t missed a thing. Everything feels so much easier to manage with way less stuff.

If taking items to charity shops or clothing bins is difficult then book Anglo Doorstep Collections. You can book a time slot day and they’ll pick it all up.

Thank you! This method definitely appeals to me!

I think it’s more suited to my house than Kondo tbh.

Thank you I have lined up one of my adult children to do charity shop runs on Saturday mornings so we will see how that goes but thanks for recommendation as a back up!

And thanks for advice about the eeeek feeling! Will try and remember that when the time comes!

I'm currently death clearing my home. I've told the kids and they have said "stick around for the next 10 years if you can mum [chronic health condition] and thanks for clearing the clutter. At least you can enjoy your new space." Translated as we won't have a lot of shite to clear out.😄