Seriously. Over the past year I've have taken countless *trunkloads* to the thrift. And I am not, for the most part, replacing it with more stuff.
I'm really quite bummed about this. My house looking like a trash hole makes me feel like crap. I love to visit people whose homes look spartan yet inviting, IYKWIM. I want my home to be like that. Currently, it pretty much looks like this:

http://www.amitymama.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=1022460

I hate it. I want to love it. I want my home to be a haven. I feel like I go through stuff and go through stuff and there's still STUFF. And you know what? I don't give a crap what flylady says, *I* am lazy. Yep. I am. I look at this hole and I can't take it. I plop down in front of the computer.
The mess is robbing me of the things I want for myself, for my family. I don't sew nearly as much as I'd like to because there's no place to spread out and cut, no place to trace patterns, can't find the scissors, can't find the ______, etc, etc.

I don't want to set this kind of example for my kids. I don't.

I am getting chills and goosebumps... I could have written that EXACT thing this week! I am living in a hole... and I am NOT lazy (NOR ARE YOU) I am a mother, doing 500 things and they all never get totally done! (It does not help we have little "helpers" either.)

I am dedicated to two things this week...

#1 I am going to turn off my computer and cover it with a silk for the hours between 8:30am, and 8:30pm (choose your own).

#2 I am going to clean ONE room everyday... from top to bottom... no decluttering or major organizing... just CLEANing besides the challenge room unless the urge strikes me and I can get it done THAT DAY.

and if you would like to get on the band wagon with me I would love that... I will send you e-mails... and pictures... and perhaps even cards (snail mail) and suggestions for rooms that we have trouble with... what do you think? We could be encouraging together and we could get things done... even if it makes me feel better about the rooms I spend the MOST time in that would be worth it... I would love a buddy for this process.

I am going to start Motivated Moms agian.... it really worked last year before I got sick. And not a whole lot of depressing e-mails (I found Fly Lady depressing because I can not always decrumb my toaster at a moments notice and it filled up my inbox when I got behind by ONE day.)

Love Val

Val, covering up the computer is a *great* idea. It is my #1 distraction. I have been trying to relocate it, with no luck. I'd like to get it out of view stuck in a far corner of an unused room, lol. Covering it is the next best option.

Pictures are a good idea too. i'm headed to bed soon, but tomorrow will take pics. I think a buddy would be great. I have the motivated moms calendar too, and also found it worked well. I never felt overwhelmed, and (as dorky as this is) it always felt good to put the little check mark next to the task after I finished. :thumbsup:

I am gearing up for garden season, I think we will be spending 90% of our summer outside, so i figure if I could get the house in good shape now, it might stand a chance of staying halfway decent since we won't be inside much. Also, I always drag in tons of dirt, and it would be so much easier to keep the floor clean if there isn't stuff spread all over it from here to eternity. :rolleyes:

What room are you starting in tomorrow? My goal is going to be to get my kitchen clean. It's always the worst. I have a big island that we just put in last winter when we remodeled and I wish I would have never had it built. It's just one big HOTSPOT. everything lands there. (as you can see in that photo). When that island is bare the whole rest of the room looks sooooo much better.

I feel the same way sometimes. One suggestion for the island. Could you find a large wicker type basket, put that in the center and put all the papers etc in that. They'd all still be there but it would look a little neater. Also, where you hang the jackets jumped out at me. Could you somehow frame it out and put doors on it and then it would be closed? I think that would be great b/c you would have the storage and not see it. For me, i think that i have to just work a level at a time (LOL) Good luck

It does look like a storm went thru that room in the picture.........

the key to keeping things looking neat is to not let things set for a while somewhere but to put them away when they are done bein' used.

Did Lydia read the newspaper?! When I read the paper....that sucker gets folded and put somewhere it won't entice a child to grab a section (behind a piece of furniture in a rack)

The stuff on the floor could easily be tidied up by Lydia too at this point.

Call out "10 second tidy Lydia....ready.....set......GO!"

Weed things like mail and papers out as it comes to you and put stuff away ASAP when done being used and then flake out in front of the puter screen or on a couch.

HTH:juggle:

Originally posted by Lydiasmomma
What room are you starting in tomorrow? My goal is going to be to get my kitchen clean. It's always the worst. I have a big island that we just put in last winter when we remodeled and I wish I would have never had it built. It's just one big HOTSPOT. everything lands there. (as you can see in that photo). When that island is bare the whole rest of the room looks sooooo much better.

Kitchen, yep... just taking a break from rearranging it... ie: I am running away. :p What do you do with cookbooks? I have them on a cool shelf thing... but I have so many that I don't use often... I have a little recipie book thing... I should just copy the best down in there and get rid of the whole book. I always get ideas from them, but rarely use the recipies. What do you do?

Ours is the same way... I have tried a couple things with the island, and now we removed it and put in a moving dishwasher... at least things can't get too bad, because if they do they all fall off of the dishwasher when we move it to wash dishes... lol... seriously... my house is worse than it has EVER been... it is not dirty... the floors have been swept, the counters wiped down, and then things dusted (with in the last four months) but things have really gotten away from me. The kitchen is also what I am working on. I figure that so much goes on in there that it can be first. Next will be the craft/sewing room which will be the challenge this week. And then I will go on to the dining room on wed. I am starting Motivated Moms tomorrow, and adding a few things that I know need to happen for my personal house (like adding "Water Garden" to the daily chores, recycle and garbage to thier days etc.) It worked so well for me last year.. but with no help this year, I am starting to feel like I live in a pit of tidy squaller. Yuck! I want out... But when I start a project (like last week when I went crazy and got rid of TONS of stuff) it takes me FOREVER to get it all done... grrrrrrr... and Don, as much as I love him... is NO help and even less motivation because when he is home all he wants to do is sleep... so much for turning up the music and getting a good cleaning grove on... (that is what I ususally do.)

Ugh... this turned into a vent and a half... sorry.

My e-mail is BlondeRose9@hotmail.com... I will take pics and keep them ready to send you tomorrow. Trust me, they will make you feel better (or worse... unsure about that... :) ).

Love Val

One of the things that helps me is to have lots of storage for everything. I am the queen of baskets. I use them for everything. I will try to post some pictures tomorrow.

I find that if everything has a place it is more likely to stay picked up and it is easier to organize and clean.

Another thing I have just started is that I clean on Mondays (pick your day). On cleaning day, I throughly clean the house. I do both bathrooms, including washing the rugs and shower curtain (about once a month on the curtain). I clean the kitchen (wipe down cabinets and top of fridge, clean out fridge) clean the floors and inside the micro and the stove. I dust the living room. I change the sheets and dust in the bedrooms. I vacuum the entire house. All the laundry gets put away.

I love this because then I don't feel like I am cleaning everyday. I hated doing one thing a day (dusting, floors, etc.) because I don't really enjoy cleaning to begin with and this just seemed to make it drag out. NOw I have one day a week when I get it over with and I have a couple of days of a pretty much spotless house. By the end of the week yes the bathrooms need to be cleaned (floors and tubs) the floor in the kitchen needs to be cleaned and the house needs to be dusted. But it isn't overwhelming even then.

Everyday I do about a half hour total of housework to keep things managable. This includes laundry (washing, drying and putting away), picking up toys and living area, making beds, and cleaning up the dishes. The housework is broken up during the day so it doesn't take away much time from the kids and they understand that Mondays is my cleaning day. I like the way I feel and how the house looks.

OK, I will take pics of a bunch of different areas, so you all can give me some suggestions. I think dh took the digicam to the farm though, so I have to wait until he comes home.

that if you have children your house will never look like those in magazines! Just yesterday I found a spatula on the living room floor!?! I would never put it there - these kids are sabotaging my efforts! LOL!

Also clutter is something you have to dela with daily like picking up the kids toys. Unless something is never used then it will need to be maintained.

Best wishes. I think most if us can empathize. Some days I don't have the energy and it really shows so I know how much I do to keep the house tidy.

I agree with the storage idea & everything having its place. Makes it easier for the rest of the family too.

I also have a basket that I use to quickly scoop up stuff that belongs to the kids, but doesn't belong downstairs. I give them a chance to clean it up. If they don't sometimes I even revert to charging them for my effort to pick it up if they want it back!!

Kerri mom to Amanda(13), Emma(12), (11, foster dd), Maddison(10), J (9,foster dd), Jonah(7), Saige & Claire(3, ID twins) & sweet baby Teagan (8 mos)