Honestly, my house is such a mess

I think half the problem is having large cupboards…….we can open the door, put stuff away and it’s out of sight, out of mind! Then we just get to the stage where we have a full cupboard, of random stuff, some out of date, some outgrown, some in its wrong place and we thought it was lost.
It is quite therapeutic though, culling a cupboard!

You and me both .
I find housework boring and tedious .
I've done far too much of it .
Besides it's to hot .
When I tidy -I promise myself a treat at the end of it .
I'm watching Sky Arts now and that's my treat ìn advance !

Here lies a poor woman who always was tired,
for she lived in a house where help wasn’t hired.
Her last words on earth were: "Dear friends, I am going
Where washing ain't done, nor sweeping, nor sewing,
And everything there will be just to my wishes;
For where they don't eat, there's no washing of dishes.
I’ll be where loud anthems will always be ringing,
But having no voice, I’ll get clear of the singing.
Don't mourn for me now; don't mourn for me never,
For I'm going to do nothing for ever and ever.

This poem is in the public domain.
I saved this years ago although the version I saved is slightly different. Sadly though, I can't relax with the mess around me; I was a filing clerk in my youth and need everything to be neat and tidy and labelled and in it's right place. If I can't achieve that it scrambles my brain and I shut it out. My drawers and cupboards are immaculate but the bits you can see are a complete clutterfest. And instead of doing fun things like reading books with the time I spend not cleaning and tidying I just procrastinate on the internet [or sleep]. Which is what I'm doing now...

However I'd love to be like you MayBee70 as I've never seen on anyone's headstone 'I wish I'd cleaned more'

AmberGran's advice is good. I read that you're more likely to get it done if you focus on one room at a time, drawer by drawer and corner by corner. Don't think of any other room until you've completed one. Makes it seem more manageable. It's easy how builds up again though 🤣 I'm a bit like Sago as too much clutter sort of overwhelms me and I don't feel peaceful....Def something to do with childhood trauma.

I've found that just looking at my clutter drains all the energy out of my body. If anyone feels their house is a mess I'll send them a picture of mine. I'd put it on here but I'm too ashamed...

but the door shuts so all is well

Oh Sago
Always finish one job before you start another
🤔

How do you do this??? 😫

Try not to beat yourself up about it, JaneJudge, feel good about what you are achieving, little and often is key. Do not forget to reward yourself (not with shopping!) frequently
I'm very much the same as you Sago and for much I suspect the same reason,

I think you’ve done brilliantly JaneJudge! You deserve that wine! My DGD came on Monday and she did the utility room with me so that was fun and she loves organising! I try to declutter as I go along but it doesn’t always work, there are some things that are hard to part with …

I love that Doodledog downstairs is tidy because it all goes upstairs 🤣🤣🤣
My kind of tidying too

valdali

My dog would love your house, he'd have paperwork in the garden & a selection from the stairs in his basket by now!

My dog would love your house, he'd have paperwork in the garden & a selection from the stairs in his basket by now!

The other side of it is 'think before you buy*

I have ADHD and dyspraxia. My cluttered mind simply cannot operate in a cluttered environment. One of my coping measures, is, for example, not to buy clothes unless I can immdiately see where in my wardrobe they fit and I can see how I will wear them. Then I do. When an item is worn out, it goes out, equally when on occasion a garment is superfluous or gone out of style before it is worn out. It goes to the charity shop within a week.

I am like this with everything. I do not respond to special offers until I can clearly see a consumption trail so a special offer on toothpaste will be snapped up, but not one on fresh fruit.

All the money I save can then be spent on indulgencies, like books, but even these get a good looking over and sifting every year

I did my house one drawer at a time then one cupboard at a time then one room at a time. What helped was that as I got rid of the real rubbish out of the cupboard it made room to store other things properly. So rooms were being cleared as the cupboards were being sorted IYSWIM. I think it took me about three years to do the the first complete run and I recovered something like 12 pairs of scissors from their hidey holes around the house.

My main rule is - keep the jobs small and manageable so I am less likely to be distracted by other things

Gran22boys

You might be more enthusiastic in the colder months.

I’m definitely better doing things when it’s colder. Even my exercise routine has gone off the tracks with this heat.

Downstairs in my house is reasonably tidy, but that's largely because I move everything upstairs out of the way. I really need to get on with a big declutter of upstairs, but the heat has put me off. Well, I say that, but I am very easily put off doing things like tidying.

My MIL is in hospital, and the children might easily want to visit her. This would involve sleepovers, so I need to clear two spare bedrooms, as they aren't habitable just now.

Fallingstar, I did meet a friend for lunch yesterday so I feel like I have had a treat!

Right...I am sort of calling it a day. I have tidied one huge drawer of paperwork, emptied another cupboard in the hall of paperwork and sorted through it all and put in order and into plastic files.

I have emptied another cupboard of syrups and mixers(and port and other weird looking opened tonics) and emptied it all down the sink and put the bottles in the recycling, wiped down the cupboard and made way for stuff that was out on the side (including spaces for eggs and oils etc)

I've also made space for the water bottles that were in the hall in the understairs storage but really I need to go through that storage as well

Now I just need to have a shower and take the two bags to the charity shop and pick up a too good to go bag and a bottle of wine

Husband is working unfortunately plus he would just get on my nerves

I'm really sorry I didn't see the decluttering thread earlier.

I think it's better to just wipe down and declutter and then to deep clean at the end? I think I might declutter whilst I am off and beg my husband to pay for a deep clean??

I decluttered last year, it was tiring and really boring but getting there gave me a real sense of achievement.
You are doing really well JaneJudge especially seeing as you are off work and some would see that as time to rest with your feet up.
I am struggling to do much at all in this heat so would give yourself a pat on the back.

Also not being smug but don't buy or acquire "stuff" that you don't need.

A tip of mine is to be in the right mood.

Some days you just don’t want to do certain jobs.

Other days, you really feel, ‘Right, today I’m going to sort my wardrobe/ bottom the kitchen cupboards/ go through some paperwork/ etc….

You need to be motivated otherwise, it’s not gonna happen.

Get on with it JaneJudge! 😂
You’re doing well, so now you can tick this off your list. Sago has the right approach, from her experience. Focus on one cupboard at a time and complete it before moving to the next.
Good luck!

I kinda like order but it’s my order which probably doesn’t have the same order to it in anyone else’s
I like stuff and working in a charity shop is probably the worst place for me 🤣but hey ho
My order is mine like putting all my plastic containers in the same cupboard and they start off in sizes and fitting in together but after a week they are thrown in but at least it’s the right cupboard 🤣
I have a cupboard under the stairs which we used to call the ‘glory hole’ but after embarrassed hoots of laughter from my adult grandkids and some education for me I now know what a glory hole is these days so it’s now the cupboard under the stairs. say it as it is eh and that’s full I have a spare bedroom and that’s full-ish but the door shuts so all is well

The rule I try to stick to that helps avoid clutter is ...
If you haven't worn it, used it or looked at it in the previous 12 months it's time to move it on. Of course there are exceptions but not too many.