Ring-A-Round-The-Clutter

[Trixie]

This is probably a common problem so I wanted to see if anyone had tips on how to combat this. It seems like every time I get one part of the house picked up and decluttered, another part of the house gets beyond messy. Its like a horrible messy game. I spent the better part of the last two days seriously decluttering the two girl bedrooms. While that happened the living room got ridiculously messy. I'm focusing on decluttering and not just picking up so that is helping. Are there any tips to keeping a house organized so I don't just feel like I am chasing piles of stuff around? I am going non-stop from morning to night, but rarely feel like I am able to relax and enjoy because there is always another mess to clean. The kids are pretty good at helping when prompted (mostly), but Spiff is pretty messy. Yesterday I pulled piles of socks out from under the couch and most of them were his. I think its harder to convince the kids to put things away when they are done because they see him leaving stuff every where.

[Aerynne]

We're minimalists here (well as much as you can be with four kids) so I don't know if this idea will be too overwhelming if you have a lot of stuff, but when things are out of control I do what I call a big sort. I go into every room in the house and gather up everything that isn't where it goes. I take it to the living room in laundry baskets and sort it all out into piles- kitchen, office, upstairs, playroom, garage. I have the kids help me take things and put them where they do go. Some things that they can't put up I then put away, and then the whole house is picked up. This usually takes about 20 minutes to complete.

[sunflowermom]

I'll along because this is something I struggle with too.

[mamacat]

Keeping kids out of bedrooms during day or at last not having toys and cluttery things or acivities in there can help.If you are all pretty much in one space or outside during day then there is that main room to keep up with.When my kids were littles they didnt go in bedrooms during the day unless for naps (ha!)and I kept all toys and games in one area of a room for usit was an end of a front room that is supposed to be a more formal sitting room area. It would be ideal to have those in cupboards that can be closed.Also tried to inforce one set being picked up and put back before another st of things came out.Like if they played with Legos they had to be put back nto covered box and back inbefore the dinosaurs and animals came out or whatever. Trying to get everyone on board with throwing things away like wrappers and bringing used dishes into kitchen right away helps also

[2sunshines]

The absolutely only effective way to manage clutter is to purge, purge, and purge some more. Otherwise you're just moving clutter around and organizing clutter.

I also don't get stuck on a deep clean of any area until the basics of the house are picked up. So my first cleaning task of the day includes a quick sweep of the house, picking up everything that is out of place (and/or assigning to kids). Then I delve in to the deep clean of a particular room.

[Beth1231]

To beat clutter I:
Purge
Put away half of toys that are available and rotate when kids get bored.
For clothes,I watch to see what is actually being worn and put everything else in under the bed bins for emergencies and or strange weather.
I do similar things with dvds,my counter appliances and other extras,bedding that rarely gets used and so in. I either chuck it or put it high up/out of sight.
Then there is only what you truly need to work,play,get dressed etc available and it helps so much!

[Quiteria]

One thing that has helped me is the book The House That Cleans Itself. It's about setting up your house to make it easier to keep neat...the more effort it takes to put things away or clean, the more people will tend to leave a mess. So, when you see an area that repeatedly tends toward clutter, the book talks about how to problem solve why so that you can make it easier to be neat. There were a whole bunch of posts the year it was published...maybe three years ago? Try searching HTCI as an abbreviation.

Common example: People don't want to get back up to put away dirty socks. They're probably under the couch because that's where he sits to get comfortable. Possible solution might be tucking a small wastebasket next to the couch as a mini-hamper for socks. Another option is adding one near the door so they can be peeled off when the shoes are taken off, but that involves either doing that standing up or the extra step of sitting on a bench and getting back up...so less likely than finding a solution in the living room. The path of least effort is usually the one with best compliance.

[greengirl19]

I feel like some part of the house being a disaster area is part of my job description with 3 little boys. I'm working on purging everything. And setting things up so they don't accumulate clutter, ie removing clutter landing spaces.

[ChristmasGirl]

When my kids were younger i used to say that only one level of my house is ever clean lol.

It does get easier! Hope you find some good solutions!

[mummy2boys]

I'm trying to declutter one room totally at a time. Am trying to be more minimalistic but the rest of the house don't agree

[Trixie]

The clutter has been a bit less pervasive the past few days. I've purged 4 large garbage bags worth of stuff and have 2 more bagged and ready to go. My next big decluttering will be our bedroom which I am looking forward to. I don't like my room always being the dumping ground for everything. Hopefully getting the rest of the house under control will help. I am still having problems with the shoe bench. We have a bench by the front door with shelves for shoes. I limit the kids to one pair of dress shoes and one pair regular shoes because that will fit in their place. Spiff takes up 1/3 of the space by himself and still has several pairs thrown in front of the cabinet. He gets upset if I take the excess to our room because it isn't handy as he is trying to rush out the door for work. I probably need to find out which pairs he wants to keep and relocate the rest. Whenhis shoes are on the floor the kids don't put their shoes away either.
My other issue is laundry. When I get in declutter mode the laundry piles up. I need to keep up folding and putting away.

Thanks for the ideas. I still have a lot of purging to do then I can focus on keeping things organized.

[Quiteria]

Can you give him an extra basket or crate or something near that cabinet? Or at least still downstairs somewhere?

[ArmsOfLove]

several of us enjoyed a read through together of A House That Cleans Itself a few years ago. it had a lot of great ideas.

I'm doing my seasonal decluttering as well and I find that I have to keep in mind that the house looks worse before it looks better, or set a timer to make sure I have time and energy to straighten the areas that are still important to me to look good every day.

It would be better if I could do the decluttering regularly but with a large family it seems people bring in or create clutter and then I find it later

[2sunshines]

And I do think it's important to remember that you are in a difficult season of life. Life with littles is very time consuming. My house is very much under control and orderly right now, BUT my littlest is 7. I didn't always have this much time to dedicate to maintaining the house. It's ok and a season of life.

[Trixie]

I've been giving myself some slack about some of the clutter while I am getting things in order. For instance, I am not worrying about the empty boxes in the hallway until I am sure I won't need them to store things as my room gets worked on. I'm disciplining myself more which is making it easier to direct the kids. It also makes it more tolerable to help pick up after Spiff. Honestly its easier to pick up a few socks and shoes than nag. I am blessing him without him increasing it! I also put a laundry basket in the bathroom to corral clothing taken off at bath time. It keeps the floor clean and once a week or so I can direct everyone to take their own clothes to their bedroom.

I've found taking breaks is actually helping. I've been following a pattern of declutter, laundry, break and it makes it seem to come together quicker without letting the laundry pile up.

Decorating for Christmas hasn't been a big stressful messy event it normally is. It took me very little time to pull down all the old decorations and put up most of the Christmas stuff. It even gave me a built in need to declutter and clean a few surfaces! The boxes are still out since we haven't decorated the tree, but they are regulated to the shoe bench until we get it done. Then the boxes will go right back to the storage area. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and it is giving me hope.

And I do think it's important to remember that you are in a difficult season of life. Life with littles is very time consuming. My house is very much under control and orderly right now, BUT my littlest is 7. I didn't always have this much time to dedicate to maintaining the house. It's ok and a season of life.

I understand and appreciate the sentiment, but I'm at a season of life where it is time to be more organized. I am not working full time so I am home more and I want to enjoy my home. I notice how badly visual clutter changes my mood and makes things more hectic. Sunshine has been begging to have her new friend spend the night and I am glad that I can say yes without being embarrassed at the state of the house. I feel like I finally have some time and energy to work towards the life I want and that definitely includes a clean house. Plus it doesn't require any money so it is something I can work on while we get our finances in order. It is nice to be reminded that it doesn't have to be perfect, and that this will be an ongoing task.