Honestly, my house is such a mess

Sounds pretty good going to me. The dog must have a lot of stuff.

You might be more enthusiastic in the colder months.

winterwhite

Sounds pretty good going to me. The dog must have a lot of stuff.

it's just a shelf above the fridge with her food and scales on

the dog isn't very happy with it all going on tbh

Keep going. I am like this with clothes. I thought I would never finish, but I have done alot.
You will notice the difference.

I also have alot of toiletries all will be used, but I will not buy anything now until the pile goes down. I am not tempted even by Boots £10 Tuesday. X

Sorry, not sending kisses.

You are making astonishing inroads, and in this heat too.

Time to call it a day and sit down with lashings of something cold to drink, read a book, or watch something on TV that doesn't require much thought.

Any hope of getting your husband to help tomorrow? Or is that more trouble than it is worth?

Gran22boys

You might be more enthusiastic in the colder months.

I am better in heat and sunshine.

In cold and rain I would rather sit on the sofa.

I have a tidy and ordered home, I’m not smug or trying to be clever.
Order is one of my coping mechanisms after a traumatic childhood.

Here are a few tips to help.

Make sure you have everything you need before you start.
Always finish one job before you start another.
Do a tip run or chartity shop run within 24hours of the clear out.
Do not use a garage or spare rooms as a halfway house between tip or charity shop.
Be prapared to spend a bit of money on good quality coat hangers, under bed storage, wardrobe storage etc.
Dunelm is great for food storage containers.
Small steps don’t bite off more than you can chew.

Once you have order it should be easy to keep on top of things.
Create a good routine and stick to it.
I appreciate it’s harder when you’re working but it’s really important to keep on top of it before it gets on top of you.

Good luck.

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.

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

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!

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.

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

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.

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??

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

valdali

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

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

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 …