Please help me!

[MrsMattie]

I've got tomorrow, Thursday and Friday to do a complete tidy up and declutter of my house (well, most of it) before guests come over on Saturday. Do NOT want to be revealed to be a slattern to this lot of Houseproud Henrys

I've got the cleaner coming on Thursday, so...

Tomorrow I need to tidy/de-clutter incredibly messy bedrooms x 3 plus a fairly messy kitchen and do some washing

Then Thurs and Fri I need to sort out DS's toys in his bedroom and playroom (all in complete mess and shived into random boxes).

Is this achievable? Where do I start ??

Kitchen first

Washing constantly, ongoing.

Take bin bags into boys rooms and be Ming The Merciless. If they are out they will be none the wiser. I reckon you can do all this in a day.

Oh, thank you! That is what I wanted to hear! I plan to start at 9am and want to be done by 5-ish tomorrow (with an hour or so break in the middle to get DS from nursery and drop at my mum's). Can do the same again Thurs and Fri if necessary. So I can do it, yeh?

I hate housework, so will have to get in the mood with some music or something...

i would start with whatever is the easiest/quickest job because that will get you going and it will make it seem doable rather than just going on forever.

and once you start a room, stick with it! I always let mine get awful before tidying and have a massive job on my hands.
I tend to do things like:
get all clothes lying around sorted, so anything dirty IN the laundry bin, not on floor beside it. all clean stuff away.
I have a bag by the door for things that need to go downstairs/into kids rooms/anywhere else
get floor clear as quick as poss so you can vacuum, cos that always makes it seem so much tidier so quickly, and then focus on getting all the stuff away

Yes def. use music. And I would have a break for a cuppa every hour or so. But don't switch the telly or MN on. Also don't be sidetracked putting stuff back where it belongs as you tiy. Clear it all into one-place then do a putting back trip.

I LOVE decluttering. I would come and help you if I could. There's nothing I love better than a good chuck out and tidy up.

That's a good point about not putting away as you go along - otherwise you walk in to another room and get side tracked by something that needs doing there, and end up finishing nothing.
Baskets are good for this - if you're getting close to the time your guests will arrive you can leave them in a corner of the room while the stuff awaits re-distribution, and they look percectly fone - much better than a placky bag or pile of stuff.

Thanks for all advice, ladies.

Right, DS is packed off to nursery, first load of washing is on and I am going to shut down my computer, make a coffee and get going right this minute!

Phew! Right, have sorted out all of DS's toys ( in bedroom and play room). Thrown away 2 black bags of crap and got a huge bag of stuff for the charity shop, too. So satisfying once I got going . Just hung out my first load of washing and put another load on, too.

Having a 10 min coffee break and then going to attack kitchen.

Sorry for being a saddo, but these updates help motivate me!

Talking to myself now .

Dear Diary ,

Having a lunch break - haven't even started on kitchen yet as spent the last couple of hours folding and putting away loads of clean washing and re-organising drawers.

Now down to the bones of the matter - the manky mess that is my kitchen

I am doing the same today and mumsnetting watching this thread for inspiration and motivation...

You are doing well Mrs Mattie!! Keep going and it will all be finished before you know it and you'll have a sparkling house!! Well done you!!

Phew. thanks for all your support, ladies . It's hard going for a slattern, all this tidying up malarkey

Right well, so far:

All clean clothes put away neatly and drawers rearranged so nice and organised (in our room, DD's room & DS's room)

All toys sorted out (chucked, charity stuff, re-organised stuff we are keeping) in DS's room and playroom.

Kitchen SPANKING. Cleaned & re-organised all cupboards, cleaned the bins - the lot.

Done 4 loads of washing - one's dry & folded ready to be put away, one's in the drier and two lots are hanging up.

I'm shattered! And feel like I have only touched the tip of the iceberg .

Onwards and upwards, though.

I'm going to have break, do kid's dinner, bath and bed time and then de-clutter the downstairs hall - and that;s it for today.

Tomorrow afternoon the cleaner is coming (yay!), but in the morning I'm going to:

Attack our tip of a bedroom (really shameful at the moment)

Sort out the bathroom a bit - reoragnise bathroom cabinet, sort out DS's bath toys.

Tidy front room (not too bad, but needs a bit of de-cluttering)

File away all piles of paper I have collected together in our filing cabinet.

Take all the excess recycling we've got down to the recycling place.

May clean downstairs windows (outside) if I have time.

Wash all the bed clothes

well done you but just remember to get your cleaner to clean so that you have time to do the other jobs.I find that if you get the cleaner to do the main areas that your guests will be ie sleeping bathroom kitchen you can concentrate on the other areas decluttering.stick it in the garage or shed rather than taking it to a charity shop do that after theve gone when you have more time. But dont forget if they are friends or family they are there to see you and family not youre house.

Thank you castella and Jajas!

I've tidied and decluttered my bedroom top to bottom this morning, sorted out the bathroom and just made a start on hall. Gonna have a cuppa then finish hall and do a bit more decluttering in DS's room.

My mammoth task this afternoon is to fold and put away all the new clean clothes/towels/bed clothes I've generated with my massive washing mission . Also need to sort out the front garden a bit - I've got some lovely daffodils coming up that are being strangled by a blanket of strewn debris from the wind and manky, rotting leaves. Yuck.

Having guests has been a good excuse to get this all done.

hay Jajas you said you need some motivation invite some people over.Well done MrsMattie you're winning now keep going!

Just sitting down for something to eat while the cleaner is here.

I think I'm done for this afternoon. Feeling exhausted and a bit light headed!

Gonna do another hour or so of sorting stuff out after kids are in bed, and then will finish off tomorrow.

Feeling very chuffed with myself

make sure you reward yourself at the end you did it!!!!

OMG!! Well done! Talk about that for dedication lol!!!
Just one question though, how would your cleaner have cleaned if it was so awful to start with?? I only ask cos i am the sort of person who would clean before the cleaner arrives
What you going to be up to tomorrow then, haven't you finished a day early? Suppose you will have time to do all the last finishing touches?!!!! Well done

That's another motivation for me, blossomsmine.

The state of the house has been getting progressively worse since she started a couple of months ago and the last two weeks I think she has really struggled to clean. Bless her, she hasn't said anything, but she has spent more of her three hours tidying than cleaning and I was starting to feel guilty and a bit embarassed .

She is doing a fab job today, as she can actually see the floor in our bedroom

Tomorrow I'm going to sort out the front garden, take stuff to charity shop and do some ironing (something I haven't done for months ).

I desperately need to get into a better routine, though, as I don't usually have 3 days in a row to do such a big clear up.

p.s. DH is away at the moment, back tomorrow - he won't know what's hit him!

You put me to shame Like you, i try my best (well...kind of!) but its time really isn't it??
Hope your dh is suitably impressed!