Wanted - Eglu Cube Mk1 Roosting Bars

[Charlottechicken]

I really need to get over CHAOS (can't have anyone over soon!) syndrome and ditch the junk and keep it out . Wonder if anyone else wants to join me? We can make up our own rules and support each other through the cleaning, tidying and decorating of our houses into lovely places to be! I need motivation to do one job at a time and finish it

 

I've taken some pictures this morning of really junky areas of the house , there are so many photos I am going to have to upload a room at a time I'll post them on here to shame myself into acting on the mess.

 

I intend to grab a bin bag and clear a room at a time, binning what really can't be used by anyone else and taking useful things to the charity shop or freecycle.

 

Feel free to join in. If anyone wants to post pictures, how about we all take it slowly and only post the next project. That way we won't overload ourselves. I think my first project will be the landing I'd like it re-carpeted/decorated in the summer but that can't be done whilst it is gathering clutter and lacking a loft hatch! Pics soon!

[Egluntyne]

Brilliant idea.

 

Have you got your lace up shoes on?

 

I won't be posting any pics of the chaos in my house - except maybe YS's bedroom, which is a health hazard.

 

Am feeling quite smug as I have given the ground floor a good fettling this morning.

 

My main problem is Him Indoors, who is incapable of seeing a horizontal surface and not adorning it with piles of 'crucial' paperwork.

[Charlottechicken]

Have you got your lace up shoes on?

 

But this is Omleteer style, Egluntyne, crocs surely?

 

Am feeling quite smug as I have given the ground floor a good fettling this morning.

 

I hope you will be popping by with inspirational hints and tips then. Please!

[Chicken shack]

We live in chaos all the time, hording things that may come in handy. My stepson and son started converting our seperated toilet and bathroom into one large bathroom last January and we still don't have a basin, tiles or shower screen. It is like camping out. I am able to see light at the end of the tunnel we are paying for a tiler who will be here Tuesday. Fingers crossed I will have a brand new bathroom by the end of the month. I will post picture if and when it ever gets finished.

Edited January 1, 2011 by Guest

[Couperwife]

I will happily join you with this

 

I am notoriously untidy and know I can do better, we are part way though decorating the lounge, the new settee is on order (about 7 weeks max ) and Ive decided that my new years resolution is to sort out the tip I know as home (i was asked to look after a dog for the weekend because "I wasnt houseproud and it wouldnt matter if the dog trashed the house )

 

so this is my tidy time

 

are we going to have "missions"?

 

cathy

x

[catherinedon]

like the idea of this I love fly lady. I am actually very organised but with 4 small children on With ADHD and one awaiting full assessment but have been told his is most likely Autistic life can be busy. I also work one 12 hour shift every week. I work really well at keeping surfaces tidy and clean and following a good housework regime but am very guilty of hoarding things in cupboard no one can see. So it all looks tidy but I know its not I have a walk in cupboard full of junk and my neighbour has one the same. He is a builder and has put a shower and toilet in his and it looks amazing. This is my aim for the year but I have to seriously de clutter this cupboard first. Will be so pleased if I achieve this. can I reccomend the site www.organisedmum.co.uk and particularly the family life book

[Olly]

ooh can I join in - I've read the Flylady site but not really taken it on board, but 'being more organised' is a constant goal. I am not too bad at hoarding, I strongly recommend Don Aslett's 'Getting Rid of Clutter' as a handbook to help you break this habit! For some reason, at this time of year I often get the urge to have a big throw-out, and I've already done two of the kitchen drawers after realising that I have THREE devoted to 'bits and pieces'.

 

First job of the New Year tomorrow is to do the filing (and that means putting it away, not just removing all the envelopes and putting it in a 'to be filed' pile).

[Egluntyne]

Right - I'll go first.

 

Massive blush factor here ... but this is my son's stinking pit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please be gentle! I implore you to believe that just a couple of weeks before Christmas, the room was fettled to within an inch of its life. Paintwork and windows washed - the lot.

 

I wish I'd photographed it then.

[Olly]

Well, forgive me Egluntyne - but isn't that HIS problem rather than yours? I'm fairly certain that your DS is over the age of 18 - I think I'd just close the door and let him fester!

 

If I can find the camera under the piles of rubbish, I'll try and take a picture of my 'study'/spare room. I used to have a house with two bedrooms, and it was always a struggle to keep the spare room tidy enough for visitors. Now I have three bedrooms -so why the heck is it still a struggle to keep the other bedroom tidy?

 

I could do with some tips on paperwork. How long should I really keep bank statements, bills etc for? Without even going upstairs, I know that I have bank statements going back to, er, about 1997 I don't need to keep them, do I? and I am not going to destroy valuable social history by shredding them, am I? Help me out here, fellow Omleteer Flyers!

[catherinedon]

olly a tip I once head about paper work is as follows. each time you pick up a doccument/bill etc you put a fold in the corner when you have folded all the corners its time to deal with it properly ie file it, post it or bin it. I love the fly lady way of decluttering . 3 big black bags one to 'put away' one to 'throw away' and one to 'give away' fab as for bank statements I dont have any as have internet banking and have asked not to have any sent. I have a very neat little budgeting book again from the website organised mum. My problem is with hoarding stuff related to my 4 children ie things they have made , cards they have received and clothes they have worn. THey already each have a big wooden box each filled with memories and a beautiful box each from 'the empty box company' filled with special clothes birth, Christening, communion etc

[Egluntyne]

Well, forgive me Egluntyne - but isn't that HIS problem rather than yours? I'm fairly certain that your DS is over the age of 18 - I think I'd just close the door and let him fester!

 

Oh I do. He was given an ultimatum just before Christmas and did a big clear out. I took the chance to do a bit of a spring clean.

 

It won't get done again until next December I'm sure.

[Olly]

Well I'm relieved to hear that, Egluntyne!

 

Thanks for the 'folded corners' tip - that's a good one. Still doesn't solve my problems with storing old bank statements etc, I think I will fire the woodburning stove up tomorrow and have a bit of a destruction session. I know I'm not going to sit in my rocking chair reading them and muttering 'I paid HOW much for my shopping in 1999?' but having hung on to them so long ... you know.

 

I've just revisited Flylady and I'm now going to use the mantra 'does it make you smile?', in fact I think that's going to be my phrase for 2011. A bank statement never made anyone smile, surely!

[Snowy]

Good one! I've started on the loft today. I can't believe we have a reasonable sized house, but no room to swing a cat! My desk has disappeared under a heap of paperwork - although I do try to only keep the current bank statements. As soon as I get a new one, I shred the last one (actually, no I don't, they go into a bag to await shredding, or for OH to get fed up and have a bonfire ) Dining room is overflowing with craft stuff (mine and the kids), bedrooms are stuffed. Doesn't help that we don't have a garage, so overflow goes into one of two (already full) sheds. Be fun to keep tabs on each other

[Bramble]

Ooo what a great post, canI join in!? I'm NEVER tidy, I just don't know how people manage to have perfect, uncluttered homes? I've not heard of Flylady, I'm off to find her website now ...

[Charlottechicken]

I could do with some tips on paperwork. How long should I really keep bank statements, bills etc for? Without even going upstairs, I know that I have bank statements going back to, er, about 1997 I don't need to keep them, do I? and I am not going to destroy valuable social history by shredding them, am I? Help me out here, fellow Omleteer Flyers!

 

 

I keep all paperwork for 2 full years and the present part year, IYKWIM. I think if you are self employed the do you have to keep all documents for 6 years? If not, and you don't want to throw it away, how about scanning them and chucking the paper copy? I am paper free for bank/phone/energy/credit cards now. I can download the bills onto my PC if I feel the need too! Much easier, and sometimes you get a monetary incentive to go paper free

 

I'm in a quandry as to where to start first. If I do the landing I will not be able to decorate or finish the loft hatch until Spring anyway. I might start somewhere easier, like the Christmas decoration boxes (before they go back in the loft) or the living room. Wherever I start there's going to be a collection of stuff for the charity shops

[Snoxy]

Mr Snox cleared a pile of his rubbish from the lounge today...it has been there since we moved in...beginning Sept 2008! I cannot tell you how happy I am that it has gone He also cleared some of the garage which he was suppose to do in the Summer There are now 3 boxes of his 'stuff to sort' in the dining room but he has agreed to move it to the conservatory tonight as he wont get a chance to have a look at it until the weekend...I will eat my best hat if he deals with it this weekend coming

 

The conservatory has become his dumping ground in the last couple of months How much paperwork does one man have It was stacked to the brim for a year and a half...then it was cleared and looked beaut Mr Snox bought some homebrew and wine making equipment and having taken the temp in each room has decided that the conservatory is the place to make it come Spring

[Olly]

Well,I managed to do the filing, and like most jobs that you put off, it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought. Several files should be pulled out and reduced in size but that can wait for another day. While I was doing it, I found the stuff for my tax return, so I thought I'd get on and do it instead of waiting till the last day - not only was that easier than I thought, but it seems the taxman owes ME some money.

 

Now, if I could get round to doing my expenses at work tomorrow .... I could probably pay for the new computer I want! Other parts of the house are still in a bit of a pickle, but I'm determined to move on with a drawer/cupboard each day. Flylady recommends that you put the charity stuff in the car as soon as the bag is full, and I think that's a good idea because usually I forget to take it. I cannot bring myself to do the routines/control journal, but she does have some good ideas.

[Couperwife]

oh, wow, people getting sorted already

 

snoxy, Kev does home brew, i usually find demijohns and barrels everywhere, the bonus is...one bottle of wine costs £5 ish (give or take depending on taste) a 5 gallon kit costs £20 (depending on what you get) makes perfect financial sense.

AND...

you are always ready for a party!!!

 

Olly, money from the tax man!!! great result

 

ive got 3 bags of books in the car to go walkies , and yesterday, I planned the weeks dinners and shopped for EXACTLY what I needed I wrote a list and everything

 

cathy

x

[Lesley]

I'll join in - I actually started just before Christmas with all my craft stuff. I moved a cupboard from the conservatory where it was housing the TV and not much else into the office. It is a bit big for the space really but it keeps a lot of 'stuff' tidier. I still have three large containers upstairs but they are accessible and the contents are visible so I know exactly where everything is. We went to Staples and invested in lots of storage boxes.

 

 

 

I have since made proper labels for the boxes.....

 

 

In the first photo there is a purple lever arch file to the right of my monitor......it has been empty all year.......yet I have an ever increasing pile of paperwork - delivery notes and invoices - in a crate I may tackle that today. We did have the office very tidy before Christmas but at the moment it is full of Christmas stuff - I have new plastic containers to use when it goes away though, instead of the cardboard boxes I've been using. Everything will be labelled properly and put in those. I've already removed the surplus wall planner which show in the first photo.

 

January is for sorting out my paperwork - I like the corner turning thing........and I have a big box of photos to sort out.

February I have planned to go through all my clothes. I have big built in wardrobes and a hanging rail in a large storage room upstairs......my clothes go from size 10 to size 18 - the 18s are now too big and I probably won't ever make it back to a 10 so I'm going to try to be ruthless

 

I also have rooms that look tidy but know that the cupboards are full of junk..........thank you for making me think about those I started on kitchen cupboards before Christmas so only a few left to do in there.......and I also did the drawers in the bedroom......OH still has to do his, one drawer a day he said......

 

I'll take photos of the upstairs storage rooms......

[Aunty e]

Ooh, I made a start on this before Christmas as part of newbaby prep! Since we moved, all of my fabric and haberdashery has remained resolutely in the boxes and bags it moved in (a year ago) in one of our loft bedrooms. Before Christmas we had a friend coming to stay in our 1st floor spare room, so I moved the divan into the loft and put all of the fabric into the base of it. Then I sorted through the boxes of computer stuff my husband left up there and got it down to one box to go into his office in the garage. I have two big boxes of 'memorabilia' up there too - one is done, and one is pending. My next plan is to get hold of a cheap aneboda chest of drawers to keep my haberdashery into (and to reduce it again when unpacking it).

 

Once the divan was out of the spare room, I put up our old double bed, as this is going to be Imogen's new bedroom. There are two ANCIENT built in wardrobes, very solid wood, probably from the fifties, which are totally useless as wardrobes. The doors have fallen off one, and the other houses all of my formalwear, shoes and pre-baby wardrobe. New Year's day, I cleared the contents of the clothes wardrobe into one laundry bag and two big binbags for the charity shop (I hate getting rid of clothes, but I was totally brutal, even with the sentimental bits). I was less good with the shoes, and only managed to dispose of three pairs for the charity shop and one for the bin, but they are at least now down to only one ikea bag. I got out one of the built in wardrobes, but OH will have to help me take most of it to the tip. I've saved as much as I could to be chopped and burnt, but the panels are too big for us to do anything with. Our tip at least has a wood recycling section, so it's not like I'm chucking them on a bonfire. The problem with this room has been the order in which everything has to be done. It housed our tumble dryer for a year until I managed to get the garage roof fixed, then the bookcases from the living room until the new sofa came, the bed from the attic until I could clear a space for it, and nothing could be done until these bits were out (or so I told myself). It's been really difficult to get going with it as I know how much of a fag it's going to be (there's woodchip on the wall and replastering to do for a start where the wardrobes were). But it has to be done so that we have the nursery for the new baby (although he'll be in with us at first, he needs a changing station and clothes storage, and that can't be in with us as we have NO room) so I have two months to get it done. Eep.

 

I try to be better in this house than I was in the last. But I have a terrible habit of just putting 'thing', paperwork, bits and bobs, onto surfaces and just leaving them there. When we moved, I was pretty good at chucking out stuff that hadn't been used, but I know that there's more to go. I know this, because I haven't unpacked several boxes of kitchen stuff and they're still in the garage. The woodburner has been great for reducing paperwork though

[The Dogmother]

I don't know the site, but have the same principle of de-cluttering. I also never buy things unless I really need them.

 

My problem is with Rosie (as Lesley knows) she has turned from a tidy child into a very messy teenager; her bed has been unmade now for weeks and you literally can't see the floor in her room! Leverage at the moment is in the form of a pair of purple jeans that she is coveting

 

Phil came to help me paint the living and dining rooms before Christmas, they look lovely and sparkly now and are de-cluttered Am working my way around the house and adding anything to either Freegle or the local hospice's charity shop as i go. It will all slow down now that I am back at work

[Sheilaz]

Yes, I'm joining in. I felt inspired at first by the get rid of 100 items topic, but then drifted, and also decluttered a kitchens utensils jar that would be useful, rather than addressing the real clutter.

 

For various reasons, I have a real clutter problem, not just a bit of a post Christmas or teenage mess to clear.

Although I've made a start before, I never allow enough time and end up moving piles. Every time a pile is moved, perhaps to make room for a returning child or a visitor, it gets harder to tackle. At least I knew where important things were before I moved piles, and moving them doesn't properly tidy anything.

 

Now I have ditched some time consuming work and other commitments, and as a carer will be homebased, I know I am ready to do this properly this year.

I nearly didn't post because of Egluntyne's photos, mine will be totally shocking by comparison! Most of you will just have a bit of untidiness and mine is a major house clearance.

But, sleeping on it, I think this thread is brilliant, and I have some tips to share as well as admitting my embarrassing state.

 

So, step one, I have taken some photos around the house. I'm not ready to post them (neither technically nor psychologically) but taking them made me face it.

Today I'm tackling one small kitchen surface, followed by one paperwork pile. Anyone else?

[The Dogmother]

Well, the incentives worked and Rosie finally cleared her bedroom yesterday... well, mostly. I can see the floor and lots of stuff has been put away, other things have gone into the relevant bags for freegle or charity shop. She's back at school today with a clean slate.

[catherinedon]

as well as the house clutter I am getting rid of the body clutter so joined slimming world last night and at this minute would kill some one for chocolate Today I ahve sorted out the little boys clothes and removed pants and t shirts that are too small. small job but it all helps

[Charlottechicken]

oh, wow, people getting sorted already

 

 

Isn't it great! I'm so inspired now!

 

Pity I can't admit to anything more than sorting through a pile of batteries with a tester and taking them to Boots today for proper disposal. Small steps indeed