Do you have a relatively nice / organised home? Give me ONE tip - please!

[SatsumaBoogaloo]

I am tired of feeling fed up and hopeless with the state of my house.

I am now feeling like it would take a good few days work to get it to 'accpetable' let alone 'nice'.

One tip, please, to help me get on the way.

I always try to get the kitchen spotless after the evening meal. Last thing I do is sweep the floor, then I can go and sit down. I keep my house quite tidy and clean, my DP was moaning at me because I wanted to make sure it was spotless before we went on holiday. I told him it is a woman thing. Upon arriving home into our very clean very tidy house with spotless kitchen, he had to admit it was nice to come home to! Someone mentioned on another post about cleaning to music. Sometimes I do this on a Friday night, especially when my DS has gone to his fathers. I get Scissor Sisters turned up full blast and boogie my way round the house cleaning as I go. With the odd break for a sip of wine!

thanks islandofsodor I'll stick with it! I do like the idea of the shiny sink, as I never shine the sink, and I can see how nice it would be to come down to in the morning!

We bought a large basket for toys.

We built some book shelves.

I joined freecycle and got rid of unused items for free.

We do room clear outs on rainy days - house isn't too bad this summer!

Message withdrawn

Having a good morning and bedtime routine works for me.

I'm another flylady. Stick with the babysteps as they help you build a routine that works for you. It seems slow but I think that is part of the tactic of slowly changing how you do things. If the house became a pit over several years it is not going to be magically sorted overnight, but may take some time.

I have to admit that my sink does look very nice this morning.

Mine too! Nice and shiny.

Chuck everything you have not used in the last year, in the bin.

hey all,

this is a question to everyone who does laundry once or twice a week, please please please, tell me how do you dry it all when it is raining outside???

how much time does everyone spend doing cleaning/chores a day?

thanks

someone has already said it but I too find it helps - have a box or basket that ferries up and down the stairs (I have a large Trug but I think that is considered poncey on MN) - during the day or when you get in, chuck everything that had made its way downstairs but belongs upstairs in it. When going up to do evening routine, bath bed etc, take it up with you. Once DC are in the bath or in bed put it all away and replace with all the stuff that is upstairs but supposed to be downstairs. Take it down with you and gradually put away in the evening.

Keep control of the toys - I have a fairly major sort out - fixing or junking broken stuff, putting all pieces back in boxes, sorting things into categories ect, at least once every couple of weeks. Otherwise they just overrun the place.

I've always loved listening to radio 4 while cleaning. Have a radio in the kitchen, sitting room and main bedroom, so if there is something I want to listen to, make myself get everything done in the length of time of the program. People often complain housework is mindless, but if you are using your brain at the same time it can't be!

I have always wondered that and have to confess to using a tumbledryer every time I do a wash. I would much prefer to hang stuff out but I just cant see how it is possible in the UK at the moment? Some days I work and even the other days we usually go out for most of the day once I have sorted the house. If it started raining while i was out or at work I'd have to start all over again and we would never have any clean clothes! How is it possible?

Have a place for everything, when you are finished with soemthing put it away.

Don't leave a room after making a mess,
i.e. if you've made a sandwich for lunch and the bread/knife/butter/ham are out, put them away, if there are crumbs on the bread board, wipe it down, wash up the knife you used. Then go and eat your lunch. When your lunch is finished, wipe up your plate. Voila, no mess whereas you could make the sandwich, leave everything out, plan on doing it all once it's finished, but get called away for something else and your kitchen is going to stay a mess. Do the same with dinner, if you're dishing up, have a sink ready and wash pans as you go along, before you sit down, then all that's left is plates for afterwards.

Tidy all rooms before bed.

Have a basket in the hall for things that don't belong downstairs (ours is on the telephone table) and when it gets full, put it away.

Delegate, give DC's and partners jobs to do whilst you do something else.

Have a full on hour after dinner, when one person cleans up downstairs, and another does upstairs and bathtime.

Have one day a week where you gut a room.

Don't sit for too long. If you're on MN, give yourself a limit, i.e. 5 threads, then I'll do something useful, or if watching the TV, this programme then do something, reading, four chapters then do something.

Have plenty of storage, baskets are fab. In my kitchen cupboard there are three baskets, one for bits n bobs(batteries/washing line/odd screws), one for medicine/first aid kit, one for clothes/dusters/scourers

Also, have a limit on kids crap downstairs, my two are allowed a total of three things downstairs at any time.

I feel your pain. I am surrounded by clutter, and feel quite overwhelmed by it. I'm home full time with 5 mo DS, but still can't get on top of it.

There are a couple things I'm doing now to help:

Post is a big problem. I have one file box for paperwork to be filed, and one for shredding. I try to empty them every few weeks. That way the kitchen table isn't full of piles of paper. In theory!

Also, chuck stuff in laundry basket to take upstairs/downstairs as I'm constantly ferrying laundry around anyway.

And slowly, I'm getting unwanted stuff on ebay/freecycle. I'm a lot more ruthless with chucking things away than I used to be. No sense in storing stuff you really don't need or want.

have a place for everything.
no place for something? then don't buy it.

the 'when something comes in, something else must go out' rule.

whenever we buy ANYTHING that is not food or drink or going to be used up (candles, for ex.), we have to get rid of something else.

living in a rural area, it's easy to wait at least a week before purchasing something - there's no opportunity for impulse buys.

then it's a matter of finding something to freecycle or charity shop (only one in town) or recycle for another use.

the 'when something comes in, something else must go out' rule.

whenever we buy ANYTHING that is not food or drink or going to be used up (candles, for ex.), we have to get rid of something else.

living in a rural area, it's easy to wait at least a week before purchasing something - there's no opportunity for impulse buys.

then it's a matter of finding something to freecycle or charity shop (only one in town) or recycle for another use.