Have moved house and combined the contents of two houses into one. I need help!

[McDreamyingofawhiteXmas]

I just about managed to organise Xmas (everyone got presetns but I didn't get round to any cards ) Have been away for a couple of days visiting friends and have just got back to my chaos - I promptly burst into tears!

I just can't see beyond the clutter, unopened boxes, new Xmas presents (I already have 2 children).

Help where do I start?

err ...

tomorrow. sit down this evening and have a glass of wine and watch telly

Forgot to add I am 33 weeks pg and found out today that 3 car seats don't fit acroos our car - am seriously pee'd off about that!

hmm, don't ask me about clutter, I can't see us ever living in a tidy house. It drives me nuts.
Hold is your oldest DC? Maybe they are ready for a booster seat and they take up less room don't they?

If it's any consolation we moved 3 weeks ago & upstairs is a bomb site! Downstairs looks fairly ok apart from the random piles of stuff that never seem to move & very cluttered tool box kitchen window sil!

I intend to see in the new year in style & then sort through it bag by bag, throwing knackered stuff & decanting useful stuff into the charity shop up the road.

I'd start a little at a time if I were you, get wardrobes organised & clothes hanging, toys away or wherever they are to belong, bathroom stuff in the bathroom etc & then just sort a little at a time say maybe one bag each trip upstairs or something like that and see how far you get.

I'm praying that doing my own like that will help declutter and turn us into a relatively tidy bunch

I'm going to have to do something - it's really getting me down! I have spent so much time sorting stuff out the laundry has piled up so that's now out of control and because we have been away for a few days we have added to that problem tonight!

I think a fresh start tomorrow is in order. I just want to be organsied before the baby arrives in Feb.

throw EVERYTHING out and start again? Seriously, if things are so bad, sounds like you need to throw everthing excpet a few suitcase full worth of clothes, one dinner set and saucepans etc and a few well loved toys.

Really? Not sure I could be so ruthless!

look, don't wreck your lovely new house with clutter - if its spoiling your new home, it has to go.

Hi is there a friend you can ask to give a hand.
I find it really hard to declutter but after my divorce I went into another room and a friend and my mum threw out bagfulls of stuff. i took it to the charity shop/recycling etc but never opened the bags - that would have been fatal. Boy did it feel good and I never missed any of it

ohappydays, I like that idea a lot!

Would be worth me trying that with the stuff upstairs I think rather than getting all sentimental about it all

after a divorce related family home sale I had to put our life in storage, throwing a skip (piled high) in the process. Nine months later after living with my Mum, we finally moved to our own house and half the stuff in storage (clutter not big furniture) is still boxed up in the garage. Even the DCs dont want all their old toys back, selecting only a few to take to their bedrooms

It's still hard to detatch and throw out, but I freecycle (blame Soupdragon) after giving the best stuff away to friends. I am nearly finished in the house and will leave the garage until warmer weather.

ohappydays has the right idea, let someone else do it for you, I love decluttering other people's places - no emotions involved

Happy New year, hope you are happy in your new home

OOh, a good idea about having a friend to help. Other people are so unemotional.
My sister and I do it with each others clothes every now and then. It makes for interesting snooping, looking in my sisters wardrobe.

i'm currently organising a move. i strongly advise getting a skip (if on new estate on of lovely builder should drop one at your front door for a day)

or even try and get a van borrowed or hired.

throw out all toys. except what they got for xmas.

any electrical goods. just keep what you actual use. give away that bloody vhs player you still have!! everyone has one lurking somewhere!!

only sentimental thing you should keep are photo's. anything else must go. and only keep ornaments which actually will suit your new home and decor. if you have anything in particular that has very very important sentimental value. find out if it goes with any family or friends decor and then you can still see it occasional and if you ever redecorate and it will go you can claim it to come home.

and you dont need all those mismatched places/cuttlery and cups.

if it's all a pile of odd shite then send it to a charity shop or sell it as a job lot on ebay so you can buy some lovely new matching ones for you new home.