My home is a mess

procrastinator

Hate laptop. Have lost 3 posts. Where and why do they go??

This time using word doc.

A massive thank you to everyone who has replied.

I am determined today. This morning have cleaned loo, sink and mirror in bathroom, hob sink and drainer in kitchen. These will be my must do areas before leaving the house each morning.

Clothes, I work in an office so have one set for there, eve and weekends more relaxed, socialising more dressy but not ott. Nothing seems to fit as I am very short and fat. However on plus have lost nearly a stone over the last 4 months so at last a change. Yesterday got out to shops and found work blouse in charity shop.

Bedroom, have managed to clear area round the bed and vacuumed. Still piles of clothes everywhere, some now getting dusty and will need to be rewashed. No furniture can be bought until had windows fixed, this will be done when we can afford it so not yet. Also will need to have cleaned more before can allow anyone in.

Slowly, slowly I must get to grips with this. Happy Sunday.

alec_eiffel

Good work deciding on your basic tasks for the day.

The one thing that leaps out from you post is an all or nothing perspective. X is like this becuae y has to happen and that canlt happen until z. So nothing happens. Until things are ideal there is always a work around. Relying on plan A generally ends in disappointment and that's what leads to things being left.

In terms of the dusty clothes. If they're dusty it sounds like you're not wearing them if they're hanging about to get dusty. So why make work for yourself now by rewashing? If they just go back to being stored where they are now they'll just get into the same state along the line. Is ther somewhere you can put them if you don't want to get rid of them? A vac bag, suitcase, box, big laundry bag..?

jpscloud

Hi messies! We've just had two glorious days of sunshine, but it was so wet from weeks of rain that I couldn't do anything in the[STRIKE] mud pit[/STRIKE] garden.

I got some towels dry in the sun, did a few other loads of washing, hoovered and mopped floors - all rather half heartedly, not getting into the corners, and I have failed to do the dusting!

Things are still tidy-ish except for the spare room of doom - so far the boxroom has stayed tidy, although this is at the expense of the spare room of doom which is, if anything, even worse now!

I have kept up some good habits and am dealing with old clothes that are no good for anything - they are finding their way into the bin at last. As someone very wisely said in an earlier post, nothing bad happens if you throw something away, especially if it doesn't have any known use!

Emm how is the new shift pattern working out? I am not on half term this coming week, like most schools... I have the following week instead. One more week to go... 5 more getups.

Nice to see the familiar names posting still, glad you are all still around to share our messy shame :rotfl::cool:

I think it's not just the mess in my case, but the fact that I don't have matching furniture or carpets, and the things I own are a bit naff.

I dream of the "beach hut" look in my house, minimalist with whitewashed walls, bleached pine and painted floorboards etc. but I am not really clever enough to know how to produce it, so my cheap pine furniture is still shiny and orange and my floorboards unpainted because I am afraid I'll make a mess that I can't undo!

I think I might have the answer to the horrid orangey pine though - part of my standing mirror (CS bargain) was a bit too close to the kettle I have in my bedroom, and it got sort of steamed. The wood has bleached beautifully (exactly like the beach hut look) which is the look I want for all my furniture - I have a little hand held steamer so might have a go at the rest of the bedroom furniture soon.

And then of course there's always the problem that no matter how hard I try, I can't be minimalist because I need my "stuff" around me. How do people live in those beautiful minimalist homes?

Well, almost time for bed here. Have a great week everyone!

alec_eiffel

Painting furniture isn't hard at all. People on the shabby chic thread would answer any of your questions about how to prep the wood and things. Like anything it's all about the prep - sand, prime (or not) paint. I did some bedside tables and a sideboard and they look very nice even though I do say so myself. If I have the patience to do it then I think anyone can do it! I whitewashed the floor in our bathroom the other week, just wire brushed and washed the floor then put on a few coats of watered down satin paint. Looks fine.

I don't think I could call my house minimalist in the sense that all the walls, floors and furniture are white, although a lot of my house is white but it is minimalist in that there's not a lot of "stuff". I love my things and I love colour so along with the white there are lots of colourful things but they're all there in a very deliberate way and everything "flows". I think the best way to start to get things like that, other than a really good declutter session a couple of times a year is to use tips for small homes. Those tips are all about making the place look as big as possible and making use of all the space available. They work for bigger places too and help to get the streamlined look you're after.

I was going to start the deep clean today but I'm still full of a cold so I've just put the laundry away, put a load of laundry on, had a two minute tidy in the dining room, tidied the porch cupboard, tidied the junk drawer (I only set up my junk drawer this year and it's brilliant), changed towels and put food out for the birds.

There's some ironing to do later, I need to do a two minute tidy in the living room, clean out the buns, sweep the living room floor and put new bedding on all of the beds. Have a good day everyone.

[Deleted User]

Re: clothes - I tend to be voracious with regards to de junking (we do not have a mess in our house due to my blunt approach).

two piles.
1) keep
2) charity/sell/recycle

as with all other areas of junk cleaning - be ruthless!!!

love, a organised person


ps when deciding what to do first as re: jobs in the morning....rule of thumb - the bed comes first. Always. Then at least when you're knackered out at the end of the day you can fall into it and not have to worry about making it before you do.

sonastin

Hmmmm... best laid plans and all that

Part of my clear out this weekend was to ditch pretty much all of the old pairs of tights that were filling up the sock drawer. Didn't bother sorting through because that's where the last declutter came unstuck. Kept a couple of pairs that were on the shelf with the socks that wouldn't fit in the sock drawer and binned the rest. Decided to wear a dress this morning, went to put tights on... hole in the middle of the shin :eek:. So they went in the bin. Got the other pair out... hole in the middle of the knee :mad:. So they went in the bin too. Had to quickly iron a pair of trousers instead! (yes Emm, they did need ironing - the curse of the tumbly drier last weekend!:rotfl:)

I was looking forward to treating myself to a few fresh new pairs of tights but didn't think I'd have to be doing it so soon!

Main reason for wanting to wear a dress was because OH has put me a new hanging rail in so I can actually get to them. He put a second rail into the wardrobe before we got together because he only hangs "short" stuff - t-shirts, trousers over a rail, etc. My long dresses have had to hang on the outside of the wardrobe because the bottom rail always got in the way, and they all fell off every time I tried to move one. Now I've cleared the corner of the room, OH has put be a high rail in there to put all my dresses on. Now if I can just find a way to stop them getting dusty :rotfl:

mcculloch29

Well done all those who've managed to progress. I'm here to report a success...

My DD (34) came over yesterday and we went through my wardrobe - I have far too many clothes, stemming from not having had much for years.

I discovered the X Catalogue shop some time ago and bought loads of clothes from there over the last three years. They are a NE England & Cumbria chain, not nationwide. So I'm not enabling most of you trying to declutter as the shops won't be in your locality.

I usually paid no more than £6 for good quality trousers and jeans. (All from the JD Williams mail order chain, inc. some Joe Bloggs stuff). I quite feasibly will never have to buy trousers or jeans again.

Money has been much tighter this year, so I have thankfully stopped buying and can now step back and enjoy wearing what I have.
I work from home now so have no need for "work clothes", though I usually wear smart-ish clothes at home to put me in the right frame of mind for work.

Old favourites re-emerged from the wardrobe in the sort out and today I'm wearing a favourite classic black jersey polo neck jumper that I'm almost certain I haven't worn in 2 years. I've had it since c. 1996 and it still looks good. (M & S)

Yesterday, DD went home with a large bag of really good stuff that suited her and there are two huge bags of clothes for recycling. I was worried about sending some worn out stuff to charity shops but DD tells me that most shops are using the rag guys who buy clothes, so nothing goes to landfill. I looked at some of the worn out items and wondered why I'd kept them for so long.

Money being tighter has also meant I've stopped 'treating' myself with food and wine and I've lost 23 lbs so far. I will soon be able to wear the -size -16 - but -marked -as -18 jeans I bought last year. Every cloud..

alec_eiffel

Well, isn't that just typical - never a pair of tights when you want them. Nice to have all the dresses hung up though.

23lbs weight loss is fantastic, wow, you must feel fab! Good work with the clearout and lucky DD to have a new wardrobe too, two for the price of one. Great stuff.

Emm-in-a-pickle

Hi Messies!
Gilly - I hope you`re enjoying your return to work today and I`m sure they`re glad to have you back safe and sound. Try to take things easy when you get home though!
YL - sorry your DS is still so troubled, and you feeling down and isolated. ((HUGS)) to you, and I`m glad you take comfort with `virtual` friends here. It`s what friends do, prattle to each other! It`s great that you can get out with your dog...very therapeutic as I recall. My poor old Daftie-dog can`t walk far now, and hates getting her feet wet too!
Bearcub - that pillow fight sounds fun! Very therapeutic too, not silly at all getting out of breath with giggling - I can just picture the pair of you!
Sonastin - well done on the clothes sorting. I really need to do this too. It`s easier with stuff that`s clearly junk, stuff that`s wrecked & ruined. And the `good` stuff. It`s all the `in between` stuff that makes the biggest pile here!
Procrastinator, well done on the weight loss, and on deciding where to start. Slowly, as you say, but enough each time so that you can see what you`ve achieved. (My recent re-claiming of kitchen windowsills & worktops is still a `feel good` factor,and egging me on to greater things!)
JPS - My new shifts don`t start till 3rd November, but I`m so looking forward to it! Minimalist doesn`t stand a chance here! (DS & DGD!!) I like pine, but mine is more browny-orange which I quite like. Fits more with the `shipwreck` look than the beach hut though. You could experiment with the steamer idea on bits that don`t show, good luck with that.
Alec, as always good advice - try the other boards here JPS, but don`t you get lost there, make sure you come back!!
Buffy, my perception of my size tends to fluctuate a bit too, that`s another reason for not getting rid of stuff...
Snookey, good to hear from you. Keep plodding on, any mess sorted is progress.
Theatregirl - welcome. I envy your ruthlessness!

Chez-Emm? Yesterday I was so tired after the previous 2 shifts I did very little. Just kept on top of kitchen, cooking, & did 2 WM loads. Today, I went out & bought a shoe-rack from CS and cleared the corner of bedroom where my shoes were piled. I put away a bag of summer sandals, put the rest on the rack, and filled a small carrier bag with rubbish, paper & dog hair. It looks ok, pity about the rest of the room! Working next 2 (long) days then 2 off, will try to tackle another corner then...
Have a nice week all.xx

farmerswife75

Hi all!

I haven't posted for a while but i have been trying to keep up with your posts!!

Not got much demessying done lately but tomorrow i'm aiming to get rid of all the old socks & pants that i don't wear anymore! Hopefully i'll also have time to get the kids socks sorted too!

My chaotic household habits have caught up with me today, i've 'mislaid' some really really important paperwork for the farm, my dad and mr farmer are NOT HAPPY with me at all! :mad: It's all my own fault for being so lazy and putting things off till tomorrow ! Not sure how long it will take to get out of the bad books with my dad and dh!

jx