How to organise the family home…in a week

[ninetofiveeveryday]

I have a very rare week where I’m wfh but my kids are away. This means I will have lots of time around work, before work (I’m an early riser) and all evenings. I’d love to get on top of the family home and family life….any top tips for what’s worth organising / doing?

How bad is it currently?

My top tips are declutter and get rid of as much as possible

All items in my house have a “home”

It’s not too horrendous, but we just have too much stuff (family of 5) - kids craft things, clothing, nik naks. Life during term time feels a bit chaotic I want it to be calmer, and feel if I add organisation it would help…maybe I’m chasing a unicorn, just feel compelled to use the week wisely somehow!

If kids are away it's the perfect chance to get rid of stuff they don't gravitate to any more (without them suddenly deciding it's the best thing ever as soon as they see it in the charity shop pile).

I'd prioritise decluttering and then move on to recognising if you still have time/energy left. Basically everything is easier if you have less stuff in your house.

Do whatever works for you - a room at a time, or clothes first, or books first etc. unless you really need the money then don't get hung up on trying to sell things - just do whatever's fastest.

Best of luck!

The single best thing I did in my previous house was get a handyman to build me a coat rack by the front door. It was a tongue and groove board about 4 ft square with 16 double hooks on it. There was also a floating shelf above it.

We then actually had enough storage for all our coats, bike helmets, gloves, school sports bags, swimming kit ready to go etc.

I would always say that getting rid of stuff is better than buying more storage. But the right bits of storage really do make a difference.

Get rid of clothes, include shoes coats bags hats and gloves.
then get rid of nik naks.
then tidy up your kitchen cupboards.
then clean out the medicine cupboard, old toiletries etc.
i would do it one room at a time otherwise it’s overwhelming and you can’t see the progress.
i did my medicine cabinet today and got tidy of loads of stuff some from 2018!

If you have too much stuff then focus on getting rid of it. Start with kids clothes. Bag up and take to charity shop or give to anyone you know who needs stuff in that size.

While you're doing this look critically at the storage you have. Is there enough? Is it functional?

Go through craft stuff and bin anything that does not work. Then sort out stuff you want to keep. Everything else goes to charity shop.

You didn't mention toys but also go through those and get rid of anything that is too young for them or that they don't play with.

Do a charity shop run every day if you can - once it starts leaving the house you will feel lighter and more in control.

I work on my kitchen while I am cooking - I go through each cupboard and make a pile of stuff I don't use. It then goes to the charity shop.

We were planning on selling but things are on hold. I spent Easter decluttering. We don't have a garage so it's important to keep on top of things. Found a charity superstore and have given them two bootfulls.

The space under my stairs was perpetually full of things I intended to sell or give to friends, I decided I didn't need the money enough for the amount of effort to sell.

I focused on the biggest offenders first in case I ran out of time - office, closets, cupboards, kids toys and crafts, kids bedrooms, just wherever the doom piles were appearing.

I've got a couple of pieces of furniture I'll try to sell to save the trip but if not, back to the charity superstore.

There's space in cupboards now, so things that didn't have a home now do.

Also did a couple of DIY things, and let the daily mess pile up a little while I did it. It won't take me long to catch up and didn't want to lose momentum.

Good luck!

If you’ve got 7 days, then I’d pick 7 rooms and do one a day.
Make sure you’ve got black sacks and floor wipes. It will also give you a chance to buy clear storage boxes from Amazon for next day delivery as and when you need them.
In the mornings just pull everything out and try to get rid of as much as you can, then after work, wipe inside cupboards with floor wipes and start to put things back, grouped together.
We have those big metal bins at our local shops, clothing, shoes, bags, electricals, possibly toys? I just take everything there - I can not be doing with my local recycling centre (dump), far too militant!

Have they gone already? If not get each of the dc (if old enough) to go through their stuff first and work out what they don’t want anymore.
starts off the decluttering.
if they’ve gone already, get in there with bags and get stuff gone.
I’m a big fan of leaving a box at the end of my drive with things no longer loved from our house, it’s usually all gone by the end of the day (relies on passers by - won’t work for everyone but best done during the holidays where more people are off and around to be wandering).
Do as much laundry as possible. Book a cleaner and don’t waste all of your precious free time slaving over the house.

Go through clothes/books etc. and have a bin pile, a donate pile and a keep pile. Work out storage systems for toys, crafts, games. Shampoo carpets. Rearrange furniture. The possibilities are endless.

Don’t be tempted to pick through a drawer or cupboard to pull out bits you want to get rid of.

Empty the drawer / cupboard onto the floor.

2 laundry baskets - charity & lives somewhere else.

Then only put back things you definitely want to keep.

Everything else - straight in the bin!

Do it as the mood takes you.
If you fancy doing the living room, do!
If you fancy doing the kitchen, do that!
Rather than a plan, if you do what you're in the mood for on any particular day, it's easier to get really stuck in.
Everything you do will make a difference.

If organising things, group like with like and set a space limit for a particular category Aim to be left with some room in that space.

Think about what would make your everyday life easier and give you more time. Something that might take a bit of effort now but your future self will thank you for. For example, putting hooks by the door for bags and keys. Or setting up an effective system for dealing with school admin.

These are great ideas thanks. I’m starting one room today (playroom!) and also love the idea of setting up systems like for school admin as that just gets lost in piles. My house isn’t too bad and we do have a cleaner every week so it’s really getting on top of the stuff and being more organised. I need to declutter and am off to be ruthless!

Best to start with the playroom and then any other rooms that would be more difficult to access if the DC were in the house. For little ones, go through their clothes and get rid of too small stuff, and make sure you are only keeping stuff that will be worn (for older DC, I would only do this when they're in the house and can take a more active role) . Like PP has said, coats and shoes organisation is a game changer. But it's the toy clearance and organising that can really give you vital space back. After that, I consider kitchen drawers and cupboards the next big job. Then any major storage areas - whether it's hall cupboard, utility room etc. Remember to build in time to get this all out of your house and go to tip/recycling/charity etc.