Housekeeping systems

That made me smile Monica 😊 up until last month that’s all we had in our loft!

We’ve since topped up the insulation and the Xmas decorations were rehoused in the garage yesterday and our large suitcase has relocated to the spare room under the sofa bed as we rarely have visitors any more!

The only things in my loft are - as mentioned - Christmas decorations and suit cases.

Same here for most of my husband's suit case collection (don't ask!), plus the four spare dining chairs for when we need to extend the table.
My suitcase lives in the wardrobe in a spare bedroom.
As does my husband's largest suitcase 🙄

Junk., Sorry things you don’t use,expands to fit the space available

Husband used to say if there was no room he would build another shed. Needless to say he could never find anything

As the subject of storing things in the loft has been mentioned, some of you might be interested to know that housebuilders are discouraging it in new properties. We recently visited a new build development and asked about the loft space, only to be told very firmly by the sales agent that if we stored anything in the loft, it would invalidate the NHBC warranty in respect of any subsequent cracks in the plasterwork! Not a very good endorsement for the quality of the build.

Gwyllt

Junk., Sorry things you don’t use,expands to fit the space available

Add to that: if you buy containers to put stuff in, where do the containers go 🤷‍♀️
Asking for a friend, I don’t do stuff.

Never watch the programme as I cannot bear listening to SS

Beware putting things in loft
Or should I say getting them out
When we moved into our present home, early Victorian, son was clearing out what previous owners had put up there so we could add insulation.
He shoved a large carpet through the trap door. Goodness knows how they got it up there nearly came through the ceiling Plaster all over floor. Only just missed the builders who were making tea

petra

Gwyllt

Junk., Sorry things you don’t use,expands to fit the space available

Add to that: if you buy containers to put stuff in, where do the containers go 🤷‍♀️
Asking for a friend, I don’t do stuff.

I have some in kitchen cupboards, they hold more than those carousel thingies. Keep plastic boxes, tins etc tidy

I am working on the basis of even just tackling one little area at a time and I'll get there eventually - ie have things sorted.

So even when getting, for instance, a little-used utensil from the kitchen drawer I keep for that = if I spot even one little utensil I never ever do use = I chuck it out on the spot. Every tiny bit helps I reckon.

As little bits of my house get cleared gradually = I can see better what I actually have.

I'm a bit of a fan of attractive-looking baskets - eg I've got a large felt type basket with handles that I've just chucked in all the charity shop etc cheapie books I've bought for one read and so I know where they are now. On one of my set of coffeetables in the sitting room are the books I've bought to keep and that I've not yet read (they're all non-fiction). Yep...I'm a fan of that online firm Wayfair and have bought various items for storage from there (don't think there's anything Chinese - at least in the price range I'm looking at and one can buy any price range from cheap to very expensive - dependant on taste and budget).

It's so easy to forget what one has - eg I'd forgotten I'd got most of a huge pack of loo rolls in my boilerroom and so I've now got the best part of 2 huge packs of loo rolls (as I then went onto buy another one).

I'll get there - but I did what I could in the first place when I looked at how little storage this house has and promptly worked out how to put a little bit more here, a little bit more there, etc - to get in as much as I could. People defo must have had a lot less stuff in the 1970s (ie the decade this house was built).

I recently took out a storage unit on offer. Now I am wondering what to do when the offer ends, but I think I'll take most of it straight to the dump...I clealy don't need it.

How I wish I could get rid of stuff, but DH is the culprit. He keeps EVERYTHING he has ever owned. Last month we had to have the house re-roofed and the stuff in the loft removed. DSiL did it and we filled 2 skips - but at least another skipload is all over the house and shows no sign of moving. There was stuff in there I never knew we had, like his old school books (all of them) and old magazines. We have 9 large rooms (plus kitchen, bathrooms etc), a garage and 3 sheds, but all are overflowing with his stuff. He even insists on keeping things that are MINE. He has instructions for equipment we ditched 50 years ago - the list is endless.

It drives me mad. At 78 and 73 we really should be looking at a small bungalow but he wouldn't get rid of his stuff. Meanwhile, he struggles with the stairs, can't get in the bath, and much of the house is very shabby.

This is how he lived as a child. His mum inherited the 6-room house next door so they had 12 rooms, all full of junk.

I initially lived in a 2-room house (yes!) then a 4-room palace.

This place is a nightmare.

It's not easy - I had to clear my Mum's property of 50+ years of accumulated belongings, much of it from a hard-to-access loft. Since then I have been ruthless clearing out 'stuff' that is never/rarely used in our home. We now live in a new build house and we were also advised not to put anything to store in the loft - mainly because of condensation. That suited me. If we don't have space for something necessary, I make space by passing on unnecessary stuff. We have very limited storage cupboards so it gives me great peace of mind to know that there is 'a place for everything and everything in its place'. I check each room every month or so. I wouldn't want my DD to have to sort what I had to.
I donate anything we don't need to a wonderful charity nearby.

Madmeg. Oh how I sympathise
My question is are they stored neat and tidy. Can he find stuff if he needs it
My husband is a stuffer and everything is mixed up. He can’t find anything and he won’t tidy
I have given up attempting to tidy cos if he can’t find anything I get the blame
A while ago I mentioned offices in the cellar there were eleven computers and eight or nine printers.

Oh Gwyllt, he does not put ANYTHING away in "his" rooms and often also in the "communal" rooms. No, he has no idea what he has or not, and wears the same 3-4 tops and maybe 2 pairs of trousers, alternating for months at a time. This Christmas we spent a week with DD and family and on packing I found SIX unworn jerkins in his wardrobe. He declared he had put on weight and couldn't fit into ANY of his trousers so I promptly found three pairs a size larger that were also unworn. He did not know he had them. He also requested, for Christmas, a couple of new leather belts. On searching his room I found four unused leather belts.

None of this stuff was in the jerkin/trouser/belt cupboard or drawer but either on the ever-increasing pile on the floor or in the underpants drawer. Needless to say, it all needed ironing too cos it was screwed up on the floor of a cupboard.

I don't get the blame if he can't find anything cos he is happy to wear whatever he wore yesterday rather than choose something nicer/newer cos he doesn't know he has got it and really doesn't care.

I despair!

As we go through life our needs change so you start in a bedsit with a couple of small pans, have a family and need the large pans and then they grow up and you dont need the big pans any more. So we do swaps, when I needed larger pans, my mum and dad were moving to live in a bungalow, so we literally swapped pans. Great ,suited what we needed at no cost at all. I have a big hi dome pressure cooker , which I bought for £5 in a car boot , but we sailed and camped and it was brilliant for sailing. We used to use bungee cords to keep the pan on the stove and on gimballs. But it was so good as once it was pressured up, it wouldnt spill or burn anyone, and it used less fuel and kept food warm too. So I dont want to get rid of it, especially if we end up with power cuts etc as my flat is all electric now, not my choice, so I like to have belt and braces and having a camping stove gas, means that any electric cut off due to the power cuts or floods . I also have a garage here that my car would not go into, so it is fine for things like the pressure cooker and any other large things that I rarely use but do occasionally need. I make sure that it is all clean, and all these larger things are lined up by the wall and easy to see. Clothes - of course we have had that weather lately where you can go from freezing to quite warm and need to have a thin cotton top but a thick jumper on top. Well now we are into winter, so at the moment pretty much everything is now washed and clean. So when my back will allow and when I am in the mood I go through the clothes. Summer things that I know I shall need are packed in plastic bags and mostly stored in drawers under the bed, or some of the summer jumpers are stashed in a suitcase. Winter things , I know the things that I will definitely be wearing, they get ironed and hung in the wardrobe. anything that I havent worn for a long time, or never choose as it is not as comfortable as other clothes, these are washed , checked for buttons etc and then good stuff is given to the charity shops, but first there will be one or two things that a friend has admired and I ask them if they would like them . Another thing we have done in our womens group after christmas is to agree to a middle of january meeting where we bring clothes (clean and washed of course) and we just put them on the tables and anyone can look and see if it is something they can use. Everyone gets to look through and if they can make use of them they have them for nothing, Anything left that doesnt fit, the owner is asked if they want them back or we give them to the charity shop. So you get space , know that things are being reused etc. I am not good at throwing things out - especially books - but I would hate anyone to just go through my things and throw things out without my sayso. My husband was a good thrower out! So we devised a good way. When he felt in the mood , he would attack a drawer or cupboard, and then all the things that he was happy to get rid of, he then put on a tray or on the table, so that I could go through it all. For the majority of stuff I was happy for it to go, but there would be little bits, "No dont throw that away , it is the thingamabob for the hoover or iron" So then end result was great , a tidied drawer or whatever, but my stress level not raised by worrying what have gone without my knowledge. Very occasionally I would be in the mood for sorting so my way say with clothes t shirts etc. I would tip all the whole lot onto the bed, Then , the easy ones were the ones that I was using a lot , so they went back into the drawer, then it was trying some on, and look in the mirror, So there would be the immediate "no way" why did I keep it and out it goes, good ones to the charity shop and old ones go into the ragbag where they collect material by the weight. By that time I would have had enough, i have learnt over the years, to accept when I have had enough, and not let the guilt trip that my mother was good at causing was allowed to happen, So I do as much as I am able and then stop. Dont force myself to do a whole cupboard. Before you actually start to clear stuff another thing you might do is to have a pen and paper, go round the room , say the kitchen, and look at items and decide whether you use them regularly and tehy need to be in pole position or something that is kept for when the whole family descend on you What ever you do, with 2 little bits or a whole drawer, reward yourself with something, could be a sweet, a cup of tea, or whatever. When I struggled with a large job I carried on because then went to local chinese takeaway and got something that I did not want to make and could sit and watch tv.

We installed metal racking in the garage and have plastic lidded crates to put items that only get used occasionally. As the racks are now full of crates I will have some sorting to do when the weather warms up.

Some great new posts, as well as the useful older ones.

I am reading through.

Mulling over the ideas.

Oopsadaisy1

We installed metal racking in the garage and have plastic lidded crates to put items that only get used occasionally. As the racks are now full of crates I will have some sorting to do when the weather warms up.

Metal racking defo a good idea in my opinion. I've bought several shelving racks (each several shelves tall) and they're perfectly sturdy and have wheels on the bottom for moving them and they've got quite a variety of possible uses.

What I would not buy again is sets of plastic shelving done for the garden from Amazon. I had to have through several lots of those (at Amazon's expense - not mine) as the courier had thrown them around in the process of delivering it and various bits had broken. The hassle factor there was a distinct nuisance - of having to do complaint after complaint to get sent replacement parts and find ways to get rid of the broken bits.

Funnily enough the slatted metal shelving I got was from Amazon too - but the quality of them has been okay/stood up to bad couriers.

I’ve decided to clear out my GN inbox and sents the first weekend of every month.
That’s enough for today.
#lazygran
🤣

Not found a good way of organising storage that works for me yet- apart from organising the cupboard under the stairs with metal shelves and plastic bottle storage things.
I have a huge amount of things in the loft- mainly boxes from my parents house that I had to move faster than I had hoped due to her illness. I found it too emotional and exhausting to deal with much of her stuff at the time.
I now allow myself (I try to think of it as a treat rather than a chore) to sort one box a month. I can deal with that comfortably and get rid of most things. I found doing more ends up with me putting it all back and / or getting upset. It’s slow but it’s really working for me.

I think I need to do that Dizzyribs.
It can be very emotionally exhausting.

Ever since I had the flour mite infestation I’ve kept most kitchen stuff in airtight containers, even spices. I buy a lot of containers from the plastic box company but have to be careful to use the proper one, not the dodgy one that copies it. I use ZipLok bags for some things because I can write on them so I know what’s in them. I am obsessed with keeping drawers and cupboards tidy even though everything outside of them is complete chaos.

I think Clean It, Fix It is better for storage ideas. Sometimes, on SYLO they make kitchens etc look very tidy but aren’t very practical. There are a couple of series on catchup. Mind you there is a new series of SYLO starting soon and I’m hoping it all goes straight onto catchup.

I havent seen much Clean it Fix it.
Sounds like I had better watch some more.

Slow has been working for me for years Dizzyribs - hence why now I in no way want to go backwards, and want better systems in some areas.

I agree with the everything has a place mentality - in the past, a few things didnt, and I want to sort that out.

I have used metal racking before. Seriously considering it out in the garage.
Though some items are big, eg things like log baskets etc when not in use. Brooms etc.

Madmeg I feel for you.

Still mulling some of the posts. Thank you.