Anyone get from super disorganized house to an organized one?

[Anonymous]

For a few years ago life got out of hand - messy home renovation, kids in high school then college, lots of work travel, family illness that was quite consuming. As a result our house exploded in chaos - boxes everywhere, closets full, packed garage where we can’t find anything. It used to be very organized. Our weekends and evenings are doing the life need-to-dos, and honestly taking it easier, giving ourselves a break and spending slow time with family.

The disorganization in the house though is driving me nuts! I feel like even if I took a week off of work to tackle it, it would barely make a dent. I’ve tried spending a block of two or three hours each weekend but I rarely stick to it, and when I do, it barely makes a dent and I get despondent.

Anyone else been in this situation and employeed a solution that worked? Help!

[Anonymous]

If you did take a week off, I would recommend the Marie Kondo method. If you do the piles, you can’t stop part way. It forces you to finish categories.

If you’re doing it in drips and you don’t have a problem getting rid of stuff, I think just going by stuff gone is good. Just commit to filling a big garbage bag. Or two. Or three.

Be ruthless about trashing things that maybe could theoretically be donated if you find the perfect place or have them repaired. Use freecycle and such but only for a day max - after that, trash it.

Take clean, high quality donate stuff to the easiest drop off.

[Anonymous]

There are definitely companies out there who can help (I wish I had a recommendation for you). Agree you need to just do it all at once, taking everyone out of closets, garage, drawers etc and get rid of 50%+.

[Anonymous]

Yes. I had to spend like four weekends cleaning out closets, doing laundry, donating, etc. I promised myself never again.

[Anonymous]

I hear good things about this company： https://beeorganized.com/

A friend used them and said it was a bit pricey but invaluable.

[Anonymous]

I did Fly Lady religiously for a month and it helped tremendously. I was ruthless about purging and drove everything to Goodwill immediately before anyone had a chance for second thoughts. We now have way less stuff, everything has a place to go back to and we are very mindful of what we bring into the house.

[Anonymous]

FlyLady might work. Her thing is to start small to experience success and then build on it.

Just clean the sink - no dirty dishes and actually clean it. Then that feels and looks good, so move onto the counter next to the sink. And so on.

I modified it to start at my front door. I want the first view of my house to look nice, not a jumble of shoes, coats, Amazon returns, half opened mail, etc. But same idea.

[Anonymous]

Yes- had something similar happen. I ended up hiring an organizer. It helped a lot.

[Anonymous]

Fly Lady advocates zone cleaning. It takes a while, but you can definitely get your whole house organized with this system if you stick with it. The advantage is not creating more chaos by pulling everything out all at once. You can work on it an hour at a time, as long as you need. So long as you aren't adding more stuff, you will eventually get to a comfortable home. It's a marathon.

Kondo is a sprint. She wants you to pull out everything in a particular category, like clothes or toys, and go through it one time. This works better for a small space than a large family house.

I suggest zone clean and organize with Fly Lady, and then use Kondo to get your drawers and closets totally perfect.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Pick your biggest issue. One thing. Do you want to organize the kitchen? The family room so you can all sit down? Perhaps your bedroom so it is peaceful.

Then decide how you want to tackle it. Maybe the kitchen is big, so you need to hire an organizer. Or maybe you want to do it yourself. Maybe hiring help for the family room will help you & spouse make decisions about things.

If you're hiring someone, this is when you call them and schedule it. If you're doing it yourself, break it down into manageable pieces that take a reasonable amount of time. Maybe you can organize the tupperware tonight, but need a 3 hour window on Saturday morning to reorganize the cabinets.

Come up with your three categories of keep/donate/trash and decide where to put each item. Schedule a pickup for the donate pile -- this will keep you motivated! Add to it each night.

It didn't get to be a disaster in a day, so it isn't going to be fixed in a day. Give yourself grace as you get it all back in shape.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I had to spend like four weekends cleaning out closets, doing laundry, donating, etc. I promised myself never again.

PP again. Sometimes I notice a certain category is getting to be too big and I will cull it down. Today I just went through all my gift bags and tissue paper and am giving more than half away to a coworker/friend whose children are in the birthday party season of life. This past weekend I went through all dry food goods and organized and threw things out that were very expired. It never takes more than an hour MAX this way. So I don't burn out or get overwhelmed. And I think the key is getting things out of your house quickly that you won't be keeping. So for example, I asked my coworker if she could take some gift bags Tuesday, went through them today (Wed), and am bringing them into the office for her Thursday.

[Anonymous]

I worked with an organizer for 3 years. Now I still have her come quarterly to make sure I can keep up. It's hard with a family of 5, dual working household and where I feel like I am the only one barely trying to work on organization.

[Anonymous]

I also feel that this is an emotional regulation issue for women. If we see a lot of clutter, we feel out of control. Try to get ONE room always good, and then you can work on others.

[Anonymous]

While my hoarder husband is in the house, the house will always be cluttered. He cannot get rid of his stuff. The times I've ruthlessly purged my stuff and the kids' stuff, he just takes over the spaces with his.