Housekeeping systems

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).

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

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

Never watch the programme as I cannot bear listening to SS

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.

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.

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

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

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 🙄

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!

I'm a knitter and have hundreds of balls of yarn. I keep them in the plastic zipped bags that new pillows come in. I can see what I have without opening the bags.

Camry1952

Rosiesmaw2 I'm the same age.I live in a retirement community where many people are older than 80. I have seen what relatives have to go through when cleaning out their loved one's home when the die. I've been getting rid of lots of things so my relatives don't have a massive chore when I'm gone. So it's never too late while you're still living to get organized.

You assume that I am not! (Organised, I mean) 🤣🤣🤣
My point was just that this old dog isn’t really in the market for new tricks- been there , done most of them!

Rosiesmaw2 I'm the same age.I live in a retirement community where many people are older than 80. I have seen what relatives have to go through when cleaning out their loved one's home when the die. I've been getting rid of lots of things so my relatives don't have a massive chore when I'm gone. So it's never too late while you're still living to get organized.

I follow the ikea hacks page on Facebook but rarely go to ikea. I’ve had space in my downstairs toilet made into a cupboard with areas for wash baskets to be filled etc. understairs I’ve had some slide out drawers fitted for shoes etc
You have to work with what you have but follow the page for a bit and look on Pinterest

My mixer is so heavy I can't keep lifting it out of a cupboard so it stays on the worktop.

I keep large pots ,a slow cooker and pressure cooker in the utility room I have more frying/sauté pans than is sensible but they stack and live in the oven .Alll other pots,roasting pans etc have a cupboard beside the cooker .I keep spices and dried herbs in drawers next to the hob and everything except the ketttle and toaster is kept out of sight I like clear worktops.My cd collection lives on shelves hidden behind the living rooom curtains ….all 2000+ of them and the hi fi is in the sideboard Clutter makes me stressed so minimalism is better for me.I don’t “do” ornaments I do have a large Buddha with 4 copper candle cups in front of him and a banksy statuette”throw flowers not bombs” that was a gift bought at the banksy exhibition last year .Nothing else on surfaces anywhere in the house

Allira

^Plus I have a loft. Things have got put up there. Oh dear. Surprise, that needs a sort through.^
I wish you hadn't mentioned that, it reminded me 😁

As far as I am concerned, Christmas decorations and suit cases apart, if you are thinking of putting something in the loft, it is something you will never use again so it can go out.

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

We have as much space as we need. Everything has a place, not necessarily where one would assume. The rarely used pans are stacked in a certain cupboard, some are hung by handles in the walk-in.

Baking tins are nested and stacked in the walk-in, a linen towel wrapped over, on a shelf - always clean and ready.

The children's outdoor toys - lined up on shelves in the garage.

We keep a few rarely-used kitchen items on shelves in a covered area outside the back door. They include a very large sauté pan (no room in kitchen cupboards/drawers). and a massive baking tin, used twice in 2024 to make crumbles for 18+.

Plus there is also a collection of large ex biscuit/shortbread tins, used for transporting e.g. cheese straws and fairy cakes, to various family events.
And a few insulated bags (mostly from M&S) for storing excess supplies outside, esp. at Christmas.

I think that by my mid (nearly late) 70’s I am too old to think about “housekeeping systems” 🤣🤣🤣

Plus I have a loft. Things have got put up there. Oh dear. Surprise, that needs a sort through.
I wish you hadn't mentioned that, it reminded me 😁

It very much depends on the sixe of your house and whether or not it is plentifully provided with cupboards or not.

My mother kept pans she rarely used in the understair cupboard - I keep mine in the cellar.

Outdoor toys: Buy one of the big plastic chests meant for storing cushions for outdoor furniture in a DIÝ store, at a pinch it can be left outside in the garden, if tthere is not room for it in the garage.

Then get all the stuff you fin difficult to store out, and decide how much of it you need. If you have n ot used it for the last two years - throw it out!

I tried glass jars for small things, didnt get on with them very well, so think that is a no for me.

I can see that different things work for different people.

Shelves - I have used it in one area and it worked well.
I think it may work well for me in say garage[assuming DH is ok with that and will have them put up or do it himself].

Large pots and pans I use about 3 times a year. Say, Christmas, Easter and say Summer?
Which is awkward really.
Currently they clog up a cupboard.
Sadly, house and kitchen designed prior to the deep pan drawer era.

I am working hard on the decluttering.
Partly why now I can see the wood for the trees and that I need different housekeeping systems to what I have been using.
Yes, I think I may have to do some experimenting as to what works for me.

Tubs - I am finding that I have some. I declutter. I need smaller ones, or bigger ones if can then put two sorts of something into something.
I feel I need about 20 of all different sizes!

Really useful boxes. Sort of tried that.
Sort of feel I dont want to store more things. I want to get rid of things need to be stored.
But that may be because the stuff let to declutter is more of the need to store type, and I havent quite got through it all yet.
Plus I have a loft. Things have got put up there. Oh dear. Surprise, that needs a sort through.

I have learnt to get some tubs that are see through.
The grandkids can then see what is in them, say jigsaws, rather than having to open boxes or non clear tubs to have a look[which I notice they dont do as a matter of course].

Recently I’ve found those see through plastic trays useful for keeping dried foods and tins tidy, just pull out the one I want.

I store dried foods mainly in glass jars; the Douwe Egberts coffee jars have a good seal and are excellent for nuts, dried fruit etc. DD used them to store stuff in the fridge, I notice, rather than plastic.

M0nica

Horses for courses. books on shelves, kitchen stuff in cupboards. Easier to wipe down a greasy kitchen door than all those shelves and the items on them,

mian solution is to be ruthless and get rid of anything that you do not need or use and then just keep things tidy. ie put things back where you found them.

I think we all think and work differently, so we all need to find a system thata suits each of us individually.

I agree and also re shelves, especially in a kitchen. They are just dust collectors.

I have boxes of various types but no real system so I do need to get more organised.
Decluttering is the best way to begin, I think.

How is best to store very large pans[some are catering size] that are not in use all year around?
How often do you use them and do you really need to?
I gave a couple of hardly used heavy iron casserole pots away, as I could hardly lift them when they were empty let alone full of food.