to ask those with nice, clean tidy home how you do it.

[FortyDoorsToNowhere]

I have spent 11 hours already this week trying to sort this house out. I have got rid of a lot of junk, but still have my wardrobe to sort out ( another 2 hours) as it is full of junk, clean the cooker and also do my nets and windows.

How the fudge do people manage to keep a nice, clean and tidy home.

No doubt by next week my house will be back to square one.

[BonaDrag]

Fly lady is good.

My home is reasonably clean and tidy. When I'm working I spend 15 mins tidying in the evening and then from Fri-Sun about four hours in total for cleaning and laundry.

I also tidy as I go, which I find helps a lot.

[ChasingSquirrels]

Cleanliness: cleaner (and before than low standards :) )

Tidyness: I am naturally tidy and hate clutter and junk.

[goodmum123]

Same here, I'm in a right mess. Lets hope for some good advice.

[CocacolaMum]

Loads of tips in the housekeeping forum

I think its all a shiny veneer.. I imagine that the people of these shiny houses either own absolutely nothing or are hiding the "stuff" in bulging cupboards and drawers

My sister keeps a lovely home but she has no emotional attachment to anything.. if my nephew draws her a picture it is put on the fridge for a week and then binned.

I must admit I have boxes of my dc's stuff they have made me over the years although recently I have started taking a photo of the picture to store on my laptop rather than adding to the piles of paper!!

[TigerBabyyy]

Do it as you go along.

Every night before you go to bed make sure everything is in its place, kitchen spotless etc that way you will always come down to everything as it should be in the morning.

After every meal, put things in the dishwasher or wash them if you haven't got one, and wipe all surfaces in the kitchen. That way it never piles up and looks a big job.

Iron all clothes that have been washed before the next weeks worth of washing is done, that way ironing never piles up.

Spend 20 mins once a week cleaning the bathroom, this way it never gets too dirty and doesn't take any longer.

Do cleaning when the kids have gone to bed.

Things are a lot harder and more time consuming to do when they are left. Little and often, and they don't become big jobs.

If something hasn't been used in 6 months, bin it!

[Rudejude7]

I've invested in a cleaner for the sake of my sanity.

[xuntitledx]

Lots of storage.

When DH and I bought our house, we were lucky that we were able to design the rooms and buy the furniture to suit so we've got loads of storage space and we're very particular about what we keep hold of instead of hoarding shit for all of eternity

We also clean little and often instead of storing it up - much easier to do 15-30 mins a night and it's easy to fit in around work aswell without feeling like too much of a chore.

Plus it's really nice to come home to a nice clean house instead of a pigsty, that is a motivator in itself!

[bimbabirba]

My house is far from perfect but I find that if I do a bit everyday, and I force everyone to do a bit too, it's just about acceptable.

[ThePearShapedToad]

Invite people round. It's amazing how quickly I can clean the house when I have people turning up in an hour

[fluffandnonsense]

Tidiness - I have 2 kids so being organised is the way forward. I bought a label maker and have all their toys in labelled boxes, when they are finished they go back in the right box. I also hate clutter so don't really have lots of nik naks or ornaments. I tidy the house every night when kids are in bed, putting shoes back in cupboards, toys away etc. I do at least one load of washing a day. All dirty dishes go in the dishwasher which gets turned in every night before bed and then emptied as soon as we get up so the breakfast dishes can go back in. The kids also have to tidy their rooms before going to bed at night, which because I keep on top of it only takes a few minutes.

If I see something on the floor I pick it up. I don't have washing baskets in bedrooms so when anyone takes clothes off they go and put them straight in the laundry baskets in the utility (which are colour coded!)

Cleanliness - dishes are done and put away after using or put straight in the dishwasher. Every time I do something in the kitchen I wash the sides down afterwards. If I spill something (or the kids do) it gets get mopped up there and then. I Hoover, dust and wipe over the bathroom once a week. I also pay a cleaner to come in for 2 hours a week and do a thorough clean including all the floors mopped etc.

Basically if you keep on top of it, it's never too much to do in an hour or so.

[Nusatenggara]

I agree with the theory of do it as you go along but what if you are just too busy or plain old tired?

I'm always sooo tired at night and just cannot be bothered to do much and then of course it does all pile up.

Mind you I appear to be able to type at all hours !

[FortyDoorsToNowhere]

cant afford a cleaner, so got to do it myself.

[moustachio]

thepearshapedtoad I 100% agree :) I work under pressure

[SinisterSal]

It's clutter. Clutter is the nemesis
Kids toys
Crayons and art stuff
clothes. In case I get thin. In case I get fat. In case it comes back into fashion. If I throw away the stuff I was wearing as a young hip thing around town, that's the last link to the old me gone. DS always looked so cute in it. DH was wearing it when he proposed. It's environmentally unsound Argh!
DH's football boots and gear all over the house.
I may have sewing stuff on the odd surface
Kitchen crap
Books

but i neeeeed all this stuff

I feel your pain OP

[CoffeeTea103]

Am also one of those whose home has to be neat and clean all the time.
Unload dishwasher at night so any dishes during day can go in
Have toy boxes for kids, teach them to put their toys in when done playing
Kitchen, bathroom, floor cleaning wipes are great in between the major cleaning days
Spend 15 mins before bed just tidying up
If you in the habit of tidying up immediately after you've done something it helps.

[FortyDoorsToNowhere]

It just seems never ending.

I am still pottering around now as I am still washing DC school uniform ready for the morning.

I think I will just have to be more organised

[AndHarry]

I was getting fed up of clutter so DH now takes the children out on Saturday mornings and I go through one room, sorting stuff into piles:

• bin
• recycling
• charity shop
• Gumtree/Facebook selling page/eBay
• put away somewhere else
• stays here

It's amazing how much stuff vanishes this way and I've made quite a lot of money selling bits, usually unnecessary furniture and baby stuff. It feels great every time I finish a room (I give it a good clean too) and our house is more manageable now.

[CoteDAzur]

I have a cleaning lady who comes for 3 hours per week.

[Lj8893]

Move house lots, means you declutter each time really helpful

I tidy as I go along and then do a deep clean of one room a day/evening. Means that clean only takes about 15-30 minutes.

Its taken me a long time to get into this habit though!

[Kiwiinkits]

A place for everything and everything in its place.

Often messy houses have bugger-all storage. Or storage solutions that are not practical.

[whois]

1. Live with a neat freak who puts anything left lying around into your designated box.
2. Have a cleaner.
3. Minor clean/tidy as we go so wipe down surfaces after cooking, everything in the dishwasher after eating.
4. No children.
5. Out of the house all day and many evenings. That really helps keep the place tidy and clean if you're not using it.

Hth

[Scarifying]

Get rid of anything you don't need and I mean EVERYTHING and stop buying new stuff unless its essential.

I love living in a clean and tidy but not show house house. It makes me calm and happy.

I have a cleaner 4 times a week so cleaning is contracted out but I do loads of gardening instead as I like a tidy garden too. Just call me Mrs Bucket

[itsn0tmeitsyou]

I'm with you OP. I can't seem to achieve it. I have 3 children under 6 but not all the mess is theirs, frankly....

I am either too tired after I've put the kids to bed, and just want to flop, or I'm going out to the gym or somewhere, and generally I see the 2-3 hours in the evening as the only bit of me time I get in a day, and the last thing I want to do is spend a large chunk of it cleaning/ironing, etc.

THePEarShapedToad is totally right. Somehow it gets done when I know I've got someone coming round... But not the upstairs...

[ToysRLuv]

We have lots of stuff from late MIL's house still to look through and decide whether to sell/keep/bin. I keep putting it off, as does DH (but he is also very busy with work). There is so much! I'm convinced it's not worth the effort or time to sort/sell, so I would just cart everything to the charity shop/bin, but DH thinks we could make some money (fair enough, as we're a bit skinned at the moment). I would love to have a clutter-free place, but our house is too small for all this stuff. I contain it mainly in the office, and bedrooms (boxes and bags on top of wardrobes), though, and the living room is completely box/clutter free.

Oh and there are all the books in boxes, as well. Don't know what to do with those. No room for book cases at the moment.

[foreverchanging]

Storage and a place for everything.

Sadly, I have none

It's like pushing water up a hill, honestly.