The messiness of old age!

Primrose and Madmeg.

Your posts made me realise how difficult it must be to adapt to all the equipment needed when partners are poorly. Most homes just aren’t built to be like mini hospital wards.

I too have a cover for my reclining chair with four pockets which hang over the sides. Very useful and contain my remotes, notepad, napkin, hand cream etc.

Our lounge now also has a hospital bed, plus commode, rollator and Rotunda thing that turns my DH from bed to wheelchair. I hope it isn't permanent cos the room is virtually unusable for its original purpose.

The rest of the house is getting more and more untidy cos I have no time to bother about it.

Doodledog

I have the Laura Ashley Garrat coffee table, that has 12 drawers and a large storage space at the back. It's really useful, but I still end up with 'stuff' all over the top of it.

Oh my life. I could put so much stuff in that #coffeetableenvy

Eccentric!

I have a bag at the side of my reclining chair with my essentials in hairbrush lipstick eyebrow pencil small hairspray keys umbrella hand wipes etc etc.
On the chair opposite mine I have three bags all with my essentials duplicated in them.
When friends or family come around I shove them at the back of the chair so it looks tidy. I have come to conclusion that either I have a compulsive disorder or I'm eccentic.

Our house is like a hospital sadly.😥
Hospital bed in lounge but luckily it’s a large room so it’s not overcrowded. Boxes of splints, notes, hospital records, ointments, bandages. In the hall is a huge wicker box full of medication. There is a wheelchair, quadstick, toilet frame downstairs and another wheelchair in the summerhouse. Upstairs the spare room/office is full to the brim with a round dining table and chairs which we had to take up to fit the bed etc in.

Doodledog

I have the Laura Ashley Garrat coffee table, that has 12 drawers and a large storage space at the back. It's really useful, but I still end up with 'stuff' all over the top of it.

That’s a lovely coffee table! Handy having all those drawers.

Jaxjacky

A side table with drawers?

My side table drawers are ram, jammed with pills & portions 😂

It’s more of a small cabinet than a side table, or you could call it a chunky coffee table.

henetha

Instead of a little side table by my reclining chair where I mostly sit, I could do with a little cupboard instead, as I'm the same, - loads of little things I need near me. But I have never found a suitable one.

I found a nice side table with one deep drawer that appears to be two drawers( but isn’t) it’s ideal for everything necessary but unsightly to be tucked away.
From The Cotswolds Company ordered online.

I have got tidier as I have grown older, cannot cope with a messy house, or clutter. Even my car is clean and tidy.

I bought a nest of tables at a car boot sale, £5 (bargain) as we always seemed short of little tables.

The biggest one now holds a large spider plant, DH commandeered the middle size one to put his ‘stuff’ on as he watches tv, and I’m left with the smallest one which sits beside me as I watch tv, and it holds my two pairs of glasses, my library book, my mug of cocoa, my remote….

Still have no tables for the rare occasions we have guests and need somewhere to put coffee cups or wine glasses on though.

Must head off to another car boot sale.

Mine’s not too bad - 3 RCs, a coffee mug, a notelet pad , a pen and wetwipes

ROMILO

I recently bought an ottoman/footstool with an opening lid. Inside there is plenty of space for lots of essentials. When lid is closed all looks tidy and it is very comfy for putting your feet up. 😄

We have one of those as well. It usually sits beside the sofa but useful for putting your feet up or for one of the GCs to sit on.

Thank you for all of your replies. Many good tips here. I already use a few of them.
I have things in baskets, boxes on my table etc. Things fall off and there is only room for me on the sofa.
I think I need to give myself a good shake and ask myself when did I last use this. It's good to know that I am not alone, so thank you again.

shysal

I started with one lidded basket and now also have another, open one. As well as those I have in/out trays, a letter rack and box of medication including pill box for the week, on my dining table. If anyone visits I hide it all in the cupboard under the stairs, which is already full to bursting.
I only have one reception room and a tiny kitchen in my 2 bed terraced house with no garage. The shed is stuffed full and the spare bedroom a dumping ground. Whenever a try to de-clutter I think I need all the 'stuff'.

Sorry that really made me smile

You’ve just shamed me into having a tidy up - junk mail, iPad, sunglasses case (sunglasses are on a string thing round my neck), ear phones and a clothes peg (😳)! My current knitting project (cotton bed socks since you ask) is still here and my glass of water and lemon is on a table beside me.

I have a nest! My sofa has cushions and throws, the coffee table in front has all the remotes, phone bank charging, empty cup, diary, pens, books. It's normal. Don't worry.

Thank you OP for starting this thread. I actually feel a bit better after reading all the comments. I use the middle of a nest of tables and it has diary and pen, remote, phone, currently an empty cup and lsome post that needs filing. Because it’s quite small it doesn’t take any more and things do often fall off.

I have a basket by my chair like Kitty but mine is far less pristine. In it I have my iPad, the book where I have my to-do lists, pens, the household diary, at least 2 books that I have on the go, and the Sunday Times culture supplement which passes for the radio times. On top are my reading glasses and my mobile. It overflows.

Every time the family co e round and we use the sitting room, I have to move off my reclining sofa: two pairs of spectacles; a box of tissues; the tv remote; my portable radio; sundry items of stationery including a staple, an eraser and four ball point pens; a crossword book and a book of poems by Brian Bilston. In front of the sofa is a knitting holder with a cardigan that I may or may not finish within my lifetime!

On the other side is a small table with a large coaster that GS brought me back from Canada, and a carved wooden box DD gave me at Christmas that contained all sorts of goodies. It now contains a calendar, a book on linocut printing and nine poetry books. The matter of all the other books I have piled up around the room is currently under discussion!

I will confess to a large footstool with storage, you wouldn’t want to know!

I have the Laura Ashley Garrat coffee table, that has 12 drawers and a large storage space at the back. It's really useful, but I still end up with 'stuff' all over the top of it.

I have one of those cushioned tablet stands. It's adjustable, so in the space made behind it I have a pen, three crochet hooks, a stylus, pair of scissors, emery board and a couple of doctor's letters which I really must dispose of since they are no longer needed. I also have beside me on the sofa a ball of wool, mobile phone and a microfiber cloth for cleaning glasses and screens.
I think I'm relatively tidy.