I have let the house get in a real mess...

[spookycharlotte121]

What is the best was to get on top of it and keep it looking good? Its making me fed up staring at it and I have no motivation to get anything done. I want to be able to get it sorted, throw away the things we dont need and finish off the decorating but I have no idea where to start. Heeeelllllp!!!!

I don't know but when you find a way let me know.

lol tis soul destroying isnt it.

Can I join you? Mines a hovel bit of a mess. Shall we start at the top and move down?

I may have some cot sheets spare if you want them for your little one. I read your other thread. I'll have to find them though.

lol sounds good, although mine is on 1 level as I live in a flat but its awful.... o feel like throwing everything away! we dont have enough space for everything

We're in a house and don't have space either. I think people fill it up no matter how small or big their home. My living room floor is full of papers and books. It's frustrating. I'm going to start in here beause it's driving me nuts!

Im going to do the kitchen and do the some washing, the bottles and the dishes and then i think I will sort the porch as I want to decorate the it asap.

charlotte if you're after cot sheets I have just taken ds2 out of his cot and therefore have some bedding going homeless. Let me knoww if you want it!

When everywhere gets in a mess I do this really weird thing that works for me..
I take an egg timer with me and i do 20 mins in each ofthe main rooms.
Its amazing how much you get cleared and when I am on a timer it makes me focus ( I am generally a bit wafty).
Once I have done that then I am usually a bit more interested/energised to do a bit more secific stuff

Yes I have to do that tomorrow as the weekend and DS2's birthday has taken its toll.
Yes I do know it sounds weird but it works for me

Oh mine is just horrendous. Every room is a tip and I seem to spend most of a day properly sorting out one room, only for it to descend into chaos again a few days later . It's miserable

Ooooh sumgcolditz that would be fab.... Im currently doing the spider infested porch.... its soooo horrible down there.

1. Pick a room
2. Separate the stuff into things that shouldn't be in there (then take them into the right rooms but you don't have to put it all away yet)
3. Sort out the things that you don't like/want/need/are hardly ever used including the contents of any cupboards and drawers and take them to the charity shop or bin them THERE AND THEN
4. Get the vacuum out with the brush attachment. Start at the top of the room and work your way down - ceiling (cobwebs), curtain rail, light fittings, windowsill, sofas, skirting boards etc
5. Clean the window and wipe the doors and light switches clean of greasy marks
6. Wipe all the surfaces with a slightly damp cloth (better than dusting as you get rid of the dust rather than just shifting it about)
7. If you have any pictures on the wall, wipe the frames with a damp cloth and clean the glass
8. Now vacuum the entire floor, moving all the furniture
9. EVERY day make it your priority to see that the room is cleared of all the stuff that shouldn't be in there and everything tidied away - even if you do it as soon as the kids are in bed
10. Decide how often the room needs vacuuming and dusting and pick a day to do that job every week or whatever and write it down

If you start with the room that is least likely to be disturbed by the family you will be able to keep it in good condition while you start on another room. I think training the kids to pick up after themselves and being absolutely ruthless with the clutter and amount of stuff you have is the ultimate answer - because if you have too much stuff you can never be tidy.

Aim to do steps 1 to 3 in no more than 2 days, then the rest of the jobs should take you no more than a day for a large room.

That is what I do and my house is not perfect but it is reasonable. The only trouble is you still have to be motivated to get on with what needs doing...

mine too and MIL has phoned to say she is coming to stay tomorrow for a couple of nights

Cece I thought you had the bubonic plague and your house was in quarantine?

Sounds like a good way of doing things. Im going to start in the porch and get that tidy and paint it as the painting wont take long and will vastly improve the look if it. I want to have that finished by tuesday. On of the walls needs filling and sanding but its not huge so hopefully wont take too long. Than on tuesday I am going to go to Ikea and buy a new chest of drawers for the dc's bedroom so they have one each and there will be enough room in the new one for bedding too hopefully the kitchen just need a wipe over and then all I will need to do is deep clean the living room and my bedroom. and finsih the decorating in each..... not much really is it lol

I feel like im in groundhog day though.... everything is so monotonous.

Well I do have this nasty cold that is going around.... also in first trimester of pg so currently have zero energy levels...

awww hope you feel better soon. Its bad enough being pregnant with out feeling ill ontop of it. Take care. x

I thought I must have posted this thread in my sleep, it sounds sooo familiar.

Ds' birthday and party over now so I have no excuses.

Have an empty filing cabinet that needs to be used for all the errant paperwork floating around downstairs.

That is my aim for this week. To sort out all my paperwork. AND get into the corners of our bedroom that have not been explored for a long while

I like pagwatch's suggestion and I'd have to do that before moving on to theprovinciallady's excellent list

I am a bit of a domestic goddess and do live in a very tidy house. My tips are:

Obviously clear out any clutter you do not use. Get rid of clothes and toys that are no longer wearable/usable and be ruthless. A jigsaw which has a piece missing won't be used again. Try (if you can afford and have room) to get a cupboard that will house all the kids toys.

Have a place for everything.

Do a load of washing every single day, then it doesn't mount up. Make sure you put it all away as soon as it is dry and doesn't need ironing.

Have a junk drawer in the kitchen. Throw all the shite in it that is on the worktop and then every few days, when you have a spare 10 mins, go through it and bin anything that isn't important. Make sure you have a pinboard in the kitchen for important paperwork. Try and keep your work surfaces free of clutter, it is amazing how tidy your kitchen can look when it isn't full of crap you don't use.

Every time you go upstairs, take anything with you that needs to be up there and put it away.

When you have a shower/bath, when you have finished, put all your bottles away so they are not cluttering up the bathroom.

Im just going to blitz the house over the next week or so and work my way from the porch upwards. Hopefully I will have a nice tidy, junk free house in a few weeks time.

cut the plug off your PC.

without MN for a week or so you will be amazed at how much you get done.

lol yeh i think i might have to do that mamazon

Mamazon, you are right of course!