Messy House; Messy Life Thread ??

kevincharley, agree completely, it's just not the best use of my time. I'm so glad I don't need neat and tidy surroundings to feel good. It must be an awful pain!

Happysexagenarian

My daughter (now 45) and grandson (now 26) plus dog had problems with their landlord a while back, I said I wouldn't see them on the streets they could come here for a short time (in my mind 3/6months) they came along with almost the whole house packed up in boxes of several sizes.....they are still here 8 years later....with said boxes dotted all over the house !!!!
OH when I say I'm going to start going through the boxes tells me it's their job to do it, I know they won't so stalemate!
To say I'm getting a little bit fed up is an understatement, I'm weak I know but hey ho, I'm hoping to win the lottery and leave them ALL behind me.

I haven't had time to read all the post so apologies if this has been mentioned. I follow 2022 Declutter campaign on MSE forum and have done for a few years the aim is not to have a pristine home but to get rid of unnecessary clutter I do find knowing where most things are makes life a lot less

kevincharley

Oh dear, someone else trying to shame me into being tidy.
Sorry but I won't be clean and tidy at the expense of something else that I enjoy doing.
Walk the dogs or tidy up?
Read a book or tidy up?
Watch paint dry or tidy up?
Too many people telling us that being tidy will make our lives better.
Poppycock!

Not at all you do what makes you happy
When my house is tidy I happen to feel better.

We’re not a messy household or untidy people to begin with, but certainly not paranoid about the house being spick and span! Over the Christmas period, we both had a major clear out, inside and out, and I can’t tell you how clear our brains feels now…clear and uncluttered to say the least!!

Art stuff that is. I have loads of stuff from my TA / teaching days.

Calistemon

Craft items: ask if any of your local craft groups would like them rather than throw them

Unwanted but unused toiletries: the local Women's Refuge may welcome them
Likewise good toys

But they aren’t unwanted
I just don’t have room for them.

Oh dear, someone else trying to shame me into being tidy.
Sorry but I won't be clean and tidy at the expense of something else that I enjoy doing.
Walk the dogs or tidy up?
Read a book or tidy up?
Watch paint dry or tidy up?
Too many people telling us that being tidy will make our lives better.
Poppycock!

Direne3
Compared to my Craft Room Einstein was quite organised!

I turned a corner a couple of months ago and got rid of items that were `sentimental` because my husband made them and I also got rid of his large framed pictures., except for one. I only kept three very small wood carvings that were extra special. Hanging onto the others did not help my psyche because memories and not possessions are what are important to me. Same as me getting rid of my past cross stitching, it was the making that gave me the safisfaction

Family photos too, all framed and all in a box. I don`t need photos to picture my loved ones. My surfaces are now much clearer and energy can flow around my rooms

Doing this has very much helped me through the last stage of my grieving process, I turned that corner to make a new life for myself. Hanging onto clutter can only contribute to being `stuck`

Lucca

I’m definitely a tidy freak but I don’t like clutter.
Some of the descriptions on here of multiple lofts and cupboards and sheds full of stuff and piles of things on the floor and dust and dog hair are making feel really uncomfortable !
What happens when you shuffle off this mortal coil ??

OK Lucca I promise not to invite you round for coffee!
When we eventually kick the bucket our kids will have to do the same as we did with our parents possessions: decide if they want to keep anything and dispose of the rest, maybe in a skip. It won't matter to us then. But I can think of a number of things which I know they will keep. They will encounter lots of memories, tears and laughter in the process which will help them deal with their loss. Until then we'll continue to enjoy our chaotic, cluttered home, the home which our children and grandchildren also love visiting.

Craft items: ask if any of your local craft groups would like them rather than throw them

Unwanted but unused toiletries: the local Women's Refuge may welcome them
Likewise good toys

It's perfectly sensible to tidy first. Not possible to clean properly if the place is a mess. Can't expect a cleaner to know where to put things.
A dear but messy friend's new cleaner walked out on her first day but promised to come back when she could see what needed to be cleaned! That worked. The house was duly tidied and the cleaner returned and made the place immaculately clean.

Enough said, ladies.

Book a cleaner if only once. Book well in advance and I bet you will be like thousands of other people and tidy before the cleaner arrives. Give it a try. It worked for my sister-in-law and works for me.
My cleaner has just left and the house is immaculate. It won’t stay perfect for long but every time I book her the house gets a little more organised.
This may only work for people like me who lack self-confidence. My daughter’s house is a wreck and she couldn’t care what people think. She entertains constantly.

FannyCornforth

What has everyone done with their dvds?

Get a DVD ripper for your PC and a hard disk. Copy the films onto the hard disk (easy to do but time consuming) and get rid of the DVDs. We have literally hundreds because we rarely watch TV but like a film now and again. Mr A is the sort of person who likes to hoard ? We recently sold a load on Ziffit for nearly £200 all together, which paid for the hard disk, and the rest went to charity shops - not all at once or all the same shop. We still have loads, it's a slow job getting Mr A to release them, but at least now they are neatly shelved not all piled up all over the place.

Mummer

Lucca

Aaaargh! I’m definitely NOT a tidy freak

Freak? Really! Why isn't to be organised clean and tidy is described as freakish behaviour? Yet slovenly, dirty disorganised slobbish is viewed as somehow acceptable and 'free spirited'? Warped I say! Like those who chant "life's too short to be cleaning" read: " life's too short to care about oneself and others who have to shovel through your crap after her die!" Done that- disgusting!

I never said being tidy was freakish.

Mummer

# why IS IT

PLEASE. Can we have an edit option to avoid mis types?????

Mummer, I think there isn't one because you can always "Preview" your message before posting it.

# why IS IT

PLEASE. Can we have an edit option to avoid mis types?????

Lucca

Aaaargh! I’m definitely NOT a tidy freak

Freak? Really! Why isn't to be organised clean and tidy is described as freakish behaviour? Yet slovenly, dirty disorganised slobbish is viewed as somehow acceptable and 'free spirited'? Warped I say! Like those who chant "life's too short to be cleaning" read: " life's too short to care about oneself and others who have to shovel through your crap after her die!" Done that- disgusting!

Fantastic idea to clear stuff redundant! Would struggle for the items over 20 maybe but up to there? Game on! Thanks notgran!?

FannyCornforth

notgran that’s brilliant!
Thank you for sharing!

I think so and it is a bit addictive I find. (Probably just me)

There's a subtle difference ,maybe not so subtle, between messy and dirty. Messy that's persistent and habitual to me is associated with lack of clean. I can't stand not clean. No excuse. Messy?untidy? Disorganised ? Ok with those but dirt/filth/ associated smells....no siree Bob! You can wallow in it cos you may be nose blind but I cannot stomach others' filthy habits. There's a BIG. Difference really!

notgran that’s brilliant!
Thank you for sharing!