Calling all domestic goddesses!

[peckarollover]

Right.......

I am a naturally messy person, as is my sister who lives with us, as are my kids (my fault). My DH isnt, he used to be very tidy but I think Im rubbing off on him as he is slipping a bit.

Now the thing is ............... I hate mess. It would be much easier if I was naturally messy AND accepting of the mess.

I hate it, it stresses me out, makes me snappy, makes me feel depressed etc

Im on a constant mission to keep the house clean and tidy and its just one recurring horrible cycle.

Once or twice a week I wake up feeling dreadful about it thinking I cant go on like this and spend whole day tidying and cleaning until it is at the level that makes me happy. Great. But we seem to be able to make mess in record time and it very easily becomes undone.

Im in the middle of another HUGE clearout. I started at 9am and will keep on going until the whole house is exactly how I like it including shampooing carpets, cleaning windows, bleaching the floors etc.

Now....What I want you to teach me is how to keep up with it. I write lists upon lists, I read book upon book, come up with rotas etc but it seems the same each time. I keep up with it for a couple of days then SOMETHING happens I turn round and look and realise its a tip again.

I know I have 2 young kids, I childmind and also have my sister living in my playroom and people are always saying that mess is to be expected especially in these circumstances but it is not acceptable to me the way it is now.

Please help me find the answer and keep it tidy this time

PPPPPPLEASE

HRHwww - you sound like me!

Dumping ground for crap is what causes all of my problems. I can at least know that my house is clean as I do it top to bottom at least once a week then stuff in between.

The situation now is this

DDs room - bedding changed and made all tidy and clean
DSs room - bedding changed and made all tidy and clean
Kitchen - spotless, tidy and floor scrubbed
Washing - about 3 loads left to do, 1 in washer, 1 in dryer and piles to put away
Our room - needs doign but not too bad
Hall - mainly tidy but odd things lying around to put away
Playroom - F*cking disaster area - must start that next
Living room - half way through - have cleared away all the rubbish - tipped out magazine rack and binned what we dont need - just need to shampoo carpets then polish

Moondog - I started a toy rotation system a while ago. I moved a load of stuff out, that is still in garage meanwhile stuff that was left is just all over in the playroom.

Am now going to put all folded clothes away and get my carpet washer out

Pecka, we just threw out a load of toys, I don't know where they come from but there isn't enough time in the world to play with them all! Can you put some away and rotate them?

I am exactly like you Pecka. I'm trying to cure myself by concentrating on one room at a time. I recently decorated the hall which involved moving everything out of it. When it went back, only the stuff that belonged there went back and I kept it that way.

Then I did the living room - again, everything came out, I painted and only stuff that belonged there went back in. Stuff that really belonged there but had no proper home had a home made for it.

At the end of the day, these 2 rooms have to go back to how they are meant to be. Living room is de=toyed etc, coats, bags etc removed/put away in hall. It seems to be working! I do have days when I'm too tired to tidy up and it getsleft til the next day but so far (about 1 month which is a record for me!) it seems to be working. I also try to sort the kitchen out every evening too.

My next target room is our bedroom... Concentrating on one room at a time seems to be working for me as it gives the routine to become more second nature before moving to the next target. Also, it seems less daunting - "keep the living room tidy" rather than "keep the whole house tidy".

Soupy - what are the rest of the rooms like whilst your keeping your current rooms tidy?

I tend to do that naturally for the kitchen and living room - have got into a habit of doing it just before DH comes in so he thinks Ive been busy and have to do it for when mindees arrive (only childmind very part time so this isnt every day!)

Playroom - complete bombsite
boys bedrooms - as above but not my problem, I keep telling them to tidy them up, honest

Oh and ensuite bathroom is on my "keep tidy" list too.

The rest are no worse than they were before I started tackling my messiness room by room. I keep on top of the worst of it but don't really make inroads into clearing them properly IYSWIM. I'm taking a long term view on this and trying to do it properly once and for all.

Our bedroom is messy but not too bad and the spare room er... could be worse. I also manage to keep the family bathroom in check but that doesn't get too bad anyway.

I knew this was going to be your thread

How did you guess Kitty ;)

Right living room now totally spotless. Have just washed carpets with my Vax and its looking great.

Im running out of jobs to do so am going to have to tackle the dreaded playroom

argh

do you have a laundry basket in your room? it at least keep the clothes off the floor.

Make sure you do at least one load of washing a day - regardless of how little it is - put it in the washing machine the night before powder etc all ready - then turn it on as soon as you go in the kitchen in morning.

toys. - storage box's even if there big plastic ones it looks better than toys every we're.

Does the bed in the playroom fols up into a sofa?
If not turn it in to a day bed - in the day time - an unmade bed makes any room look a mess -this can be your sisters responsiblity.

I hoover the lounge and the kitchen daily and mop it every other day.

Give bathroom a quick tidy round whilst your bathing kids saves time.

Bugger - just run out of washing tablets, wanted to get it all done too. Dont want to go out as Im on a roll

The bed in the playroom folds up into a chair. Everytime I sort the playroom I fold it but it never gets folded back up again.

My sister is my big sister and I still feel wary of telling her what to do!

Im goign to go and sweep all the stuff on the floor in the playroom into the middle. Then pick out the stuff that I know we want to keep then bag the rest up and sling it.

get a cleaner?

The house is clean

Its the mess

and cleaners dont do that do they?

Couldnt really afford it either - defeats the object of me taking in other peoples ironing for cash to shell out for a cleaner lol

I's the mess in particular that I'm tackling. Once the mess is tackled, the cleaning kind of takes care of itself. Although mess does hide dirt rather well...

see what you mean....

how about always keeping just one room really tidy so can retreat to it when the mess gets too much?

Message withdrawn

I didn't think the first 2 photos were that messy.

I recommend Flylady. Loads of crap, but some very good tips in there. flylady

Oh, Cod, I'm terrible!! I'm simply not a naturally tidy person - have to actively fight my messiness. I tidied my computer dest a week or 2 back and kept it that was and the suddenlt, it's a complete tip again and I don't know how it happened!

Well, had a bit of a dramatic night having to take ds to hospital but before that all happened I did manage to get everythign done (except my bedroom which I will do later)

The playroom is streamlined, clear, clean and tidy!!!! Im determinded to keep it like this

I need to develop a routine

what should be on a daily routine

peckarollover, what about flylady I find her great but you get LOADS of e-mails every day so some people don't like it. I don't mind, I just delete them as I go.

OMG, peckarollover, didn't read your last post properly, is your ds OK?

Right. We're quite tidy when it comes to clothes, toys and washing up. My main problame is the aforementioned dumping grounds. We have a desk which is flooded in letters and paperwork and a kitchen counter which is just the same. Letters from school, note pads, stickers, useful bits and bobs. Stuff which doesn't really have a place. If you try to be organised and give it a box or tray (as I have) it just overflows and you never see the stuff at the bottom. How do you deal with all that stuff?

pecka, hope everything is ok with ds

sounds like you need an adult version of the mumsnet pasta jar ! have you given yourself an appropriate reward for being so effective yesterday?

cupcakes, on flylady that is known as a "hot spot" and what you are supposed to do is set a timer for 2 minutes and go and clear it up. If you do it every day, then it doesn't pile up.

mazzystar i like that idea!

no chance of a reward for me, so shattered from last nights hospital visit and looking after poorly ds

That is a good idea though

maybe i should have a star chart!?