Terminally messy mum needs inspiration to DE-CLUTTER!

[Delovely]

My mum is here today so no excuses not get started on the mountain of junk that's gradually engulfed me (and to be honest is really getting me down) since DS was born in January. Not that I was Mrs Tidy before that! PLEASE bombard me with de-cluttering tips and general encouragement, inspiration and a big kick up the backside to stop me procrastinating and make my home a nicer place to be.

Delovely, go to the flylady web site (www.flylady.com) she's really annoying but has some good tips - you can ignore all the crap and just concentrate on the good things.

I have slowly started to set up a diary of when to do things. So sofas get polished on a Wednesday, house gets vacuumed on a Friday etc., and I make a mental appointment to do it. It's about feeling in control of your household and life.

One good tip I got from Mumsnet - do the quick loading of dishwasher, clearing surfaces, etc. in the ad breaks! 3 minutes and the room looks different!

Have a box on the staors for all the stuff to go up, or one for each room upstairs.
Get files for household papers and put them away.
Chuck stuff away if you'd forgotten you had it!
BTW, my house always has that "lived in " look!!

I have bought a cheap manual shredder to get rid of unwanted paperwork.

I also bin or send to charity anything that I haven't used/worn/looked at etc for say 12 months or toys that dh has outgrown get sent to charity or donated to the toddler group. Will you really need it again?

I have started doing ironing upstairs so that it is not clutering downstairs with people walking past it for days on the stairs without taking it up and putting it away ....deep breath, count to ten!

Remember that once its done you won't feel like this and you will be pleased to welcome people into your house without feeling [embarrassed].

Ooh, thanks for the tips everyone. Keep them coming! Along with a big kick up the backside - STILL havent got started and half the day's gone already ..... I am such a procrastinator. How the hell do I motivate myself???

set your timer and do 15 minutes at a time, in whatever room you like. Stop at the end, don't be tempted to do more!

I'm the same delovely. We're in a two up two down so there isn't much room tbh. It's amazing our loft hasn't fallen in there's so much in it!!
DH is a collector of sports videos/programmesso that annoys me. I never say anything though as there's not much point?

The flylady 15 minute tip is good. Put the timer on for 15 mins and see how much you can get done.
And don't forget to be ruthless! If you don't love it chuck it.

Right I'm off to tidy up now as you've got me going.

Still struggling

It sounds a bit mad but what I do at breakfast is make a detailed list of all the things I need to do ie wash up, clean counters in kitchen, brush floor, hoover sitting room, dust sitting room etc rather than a clean kitchen which is an endless job. Then mark off the jobs as you do them. That way you can see all the things you have managed to achieve and dont feel guilty at having a coffee break every so often as you have managed to do loads of things. And at the end of the day you can say well I did this this and this today

On the other hand I could lend you dp for a few days. Hes the worlds worst thrower-outer of stuff that I know. If its not nailed down or hidden its binned.

Oh please please send him over! I do so dream of a simple, streamlined home! I don't need all this STUFF!!!

Anything you haven't used in the last year - take to charity shop - to-day!

Turn the PC off!!! Tell yourself you can come back to it when you have done 3 things, tidyed a room/the dishes/the pile of clothes and put a load in the washing machine.
And once youve done that give the loo a shine while the pcs booting up again! Finger oot!

Hee hee Ill mention it to him. Hes a SAHD atm and is moaning that he doesnt get to go out anywhere

Polish sofas??? Please explain!

I always start by giving my kitchen and bathroom a thorough clean and tidy. Even if you don't get anything else done at least you know you've sorted out the most important rooms in the house (as far as cleaning goes).

I have a washing basket at the top and bottom of the stairs with things to go up/down too.

William Morris said: have nothing in your house which is not either USEFUL or BEAUTIFUL!

Louise - i'm guessing they are leather. I use a leather polish on mine to stop them drying and cracking.

If not leather then i'm curious too!?

Rest assured they're leather (I'm not that wierd! )

Delovely

Hey there, you ain't in this boat by yourself eh!
I find each day lately I am getting more and more behind. At the mo' I have 3 days worth of washing to fold, it is sitting in a basket and infact I even dressed the kids from it this AM so to make the pile go down, I know I have got very lazy...BUT... lets face it raising children is truly tiring. I am usually up a couple of times to young ones, one who is still breast feeding the other has a bad cough at mo and then my eldest is having problems which adds to the stressors.

When you take stock of all that affects us, is there any wonder we really can't cope with the housework things at times.

For one I could just do with a weeks worth of FULL NIGHTS SLEEPS then maybe I would be able to more cope with the home!!

Mothers are expected to be all things to all the family and damn it all we always put ourselves last, then when its coming near our turn something else crops up!!

I'm figuring when the kids leave home, then just maybe once some thing is done it will STAY DONE!

delovely, your message made me smile. I have just spent 3 WEEKS sorting out my house. Got to point I couldn't stand it any more. Put off doing it for weeks, then forced myself one day to start. Did one room at a time, started at front bedroom and worked backwards through the house. Hall became bit of deathtrap for a while, but suddenly this week all fallen into place, bags and bags of stuff taken to tip and charity shop. Be ruthless and stick at it. It was so nice to have friends round yesterday and not be ashamed, and so much easier to tidy up again after all the kids had gone home! If I can stay on top of it I reckon it will save me a lot of time. Good luck!

I started to declutter at 5.00 yesterday morning, got a pile of paper work done but after the kids got up I lost motivation and back to square 1. How have you got on Delovely?

Um, got half my desk done so far It's a huge desk and was a bombsite though! Mum's gone home now so hard to get a minute to myself. Pinkmama, I want your house!!!