ilovedolphins
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Post by ilovedolphins on Oct 23, 2013 16:51:08 GMT -5
I am cleaning and wishing that my house was uncluttered and looked like houses that are featured in magazines. I have way too much stuff and am slowing trying to ebay my way clean. I like an uncluttered house but so far haven't gotten there. I just finished cleaning the shower and sometimes wished I had a housekeeper to do it but I don't want to spend the money for one right now. With the holidays coming I love decorating but I probably won't do it. My front porch is in need of much repair that I didn't get to this year so I think decorations would just draw attention to it. My yard just hangs on each year and doesn't get any better. I am eventually going to get there but not soon enough for me. After working 60 hours a week I just need to put in a few extra on the house work.
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HoneyBBQ
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Post by HoneyBBQ on Oct 23, 2013 16:51:43 GMT -5
Er... I have 3 dogs and a toddler. The answer is: LMAO!!!!!!!!!
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muttleynfelix
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Post by muttleynfelix on Oct 23, 2013 16:51:59 GMT -5
I have 9 month old and a 3.5 year old. What do you think my house looks like?
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Angel!
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Post by Angel! on Oct 23, 2013 16:56:29 GMT -5
I wish. I have so much clutter everywhere it is ridiculous and I don't know how to get rid of it all and clean up. So frustrating
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Oct 23, 2013 16:58:45 GMT -5
Well last week my 6 month old puppy got out of the kitchen (where she stays during the day) and into the living room where she got ahold of about 4 magazines and ripped them to shreds. Magazines strewn throughout the living room. Is that what you mean by a magazine house?
I think my answer is no!
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ilovedolphins
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Post by ilovedolphins on Oct 23, 2013 16:59:02 GMT -5
I wish. I have so much clutter everywhere it is ridiculous and I don't know how to get rid of it all and clean up. So frustrating This is how I feel. My son moved back home for a while so all his stuff is in the house also. I just need to find a spot for everything and probably take one area at a time and clean it out. I just want it to look nice for when Christmas comes and people come over but I don't know if I will get there this year.
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Spellbound454
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Post by Spellbound454 on Oct 23, 2013 17:00:53 GMT -5
I can't stand clutter.........Its ok if its in the cupboard or tucked out of sight
...but clutter makes me distressed so if its not being used in the last year...it goes.
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Angel!
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Post by Angel! on Oct 23, 2013 17:03:13 GMT -5
I can't stand clutter.........Its ok if its in the cupboard or tucked out of sight ...but clutter makes me distressed so if its not being used in the last year...it goes. I used to be like this. 2 kids later and I realize if I let the clutter stress me out I will never be happy. There are days when certain things still get to me and I end up spending an hour cleaning up a certain area because it is just driving me nuts. But the rest...it sits. I keep thinking I will have lots of time when out on maternity leave to actually get the house in order. We will see how the baby cooperates with that plan
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haapai
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Post by haapai on Oct 23, 2013 17:03:37 GMT -5
It depends on where you point the camera. I have one freshly painted wall. If you stuck a fern in front of it and were careful to exclude the unpainted trim and mismatched outlet cover, it might look like something in a magazine.
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Oct 23, 2013 17:03:50 GMT -5
LOL! My house looks like it's lived in.
And about that 'clutter' -- have you ever REALLY looked at those pictures in magazines? There's usually plenty of clutter (and decorative craptastic whatnots that would make cleaning difficult/time consuming).
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mollyanna58
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Post by mollyanna58 on Oct 23, 2013 17:09:11 GMT -5
My house is a cluttered disaster area. I have a friend whose house is perfect. Perfectly decorated, perfectly clean; and it stresses her to have visitors because they might make a mess. She mentioned that they would be replacing the carpet in the family room once their elderly dog passed away. Her husband added, "Yeah, we'll also get the floor refinished and then she won't let any of us in the house."
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2013 17:15:19 GMT -5
How my house looks depends on who's living here at the time. If it's just me, the common areas may not be spotless at all times, but they're usually mostly clean and neat. Maybe a little dusty sometimes. My kids are still messy even though they aren't kids anymore.
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Phoenix84
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Post by Phoenix84 on Oct 23, 2013 17:16:06 GMT -5
Why do you want your home to look like something out of a magazine? I can understand not wanting to live in a pigstye, but it's your home... not a museum... it's supposed to feel lived in.
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Angel!
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Post by Angel! on Oct 23, 2013 17:17:30 GMT -5
LOL! My house looks like it's lived in. And about that 'clutter' -- have you ever REALLY looked at those pictures in magazines? There's usually plenty of clutter (and decorative craptastic whatnots that would make cleaning difficult/time consuming). True, but it is at least decorative clutter. My clutter consists of books, mail, and miscellaneous school crap all over the piano, toys all over the floor, closets overflowing with stuff, piles of laundry, etc.
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NoNamePerson
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Post by NoNamePerson on Oct 23, 2013 17:20:04 GMT -5
My house looks like a magazine's house - MAD MAGAZINE
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constanz22
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Post by constanz22 on Oct 23, 2013 17:21:56 GMT -5
If that magazine is "Hoarders"...lol. Seriously, not very far off. I don't know how anyone does it. It's just not in my DNA. I am so damn exhausted just going to work each day that I come home, make something quick to eat and fall on the couch. I'm in bed at 9:30-10, up at 7. I do almost nothing cleaning wise during the week and end up spending a couple hours on a Sat or Sun picking up a bit, but, my house is in a constant state of disorder. I hate it but am just too tired and overwhelmed to deal with it. I "inherited" a house with a lot of other people's crap so I started out already way behind the 8 ball here.
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Jaguar
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Post by Jaguar on Oct 23, 2013 17:21:57 GMT -5
I got rid of a lot of clutter this past winter cause I was going in for surgery. Now I'm in the process of getting new furniture and throwing out the old stuff.
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Spellbound454
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Post by Spellbound454 on Oct 23, 2013 17:28:39 GMT -5
Congratulation on the baby There has been times when there were small children everywhere and it was only the kitchen and bathroom that were clean. ...but if you have less things that you don't really need it stays tidier by default. I'm a bit particular about the living room in that if I don't really like the wall paper I'll change it before it starts to annoy me. Husband would be furious because he may have just put it up a couple of months before ...but if you don't like it....you don't like it.... so why sit and look at it.?
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Phoenix84
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Post by Phoenix84 on Oct 23, 2013 17:30:56 GMT -5
I don't have too much clutter, but one of my children constantly leaves a trail of toys everywhere. My boys will not allow the throw pillows to remain on the couch. At any given time, the couch cushions are usually thrown about on the floor or being used as a weapon. The bathroom sink is disgusting after they brush their teeth. When they do "clean" it, several puddles end up on the floor and the rug gets soaked. Because we homeschool, my walls are filled with posters of maps, solar systems, and their "art work". No, my house doesn't look anything like a magazine house. My mom kept an immaculate home when I was a kid and nobody ever felt comfortable there. Homeschooling? Man, that just means the kids are there for an extra 7-8 hours a day to make a mess, huh?
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ilovedolphins
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Post by ilovedolphins on Oct 23, 2013 17:43:58 GMT -5
If that magazine is "Hoarders"...lol. Seriously, not very far off. I don't know how anyone does it. It's just not in my DNA. I am so damn exhausted just going to work each day that I come home, make something quick to eat and fall on the couch. I'm in bed at 9:30-10, up at 7. I do almost nothing cleaning wise during the week and end up spending a couple hours on a Sat or Sun picking up a bit, but, my house is in a constant state of disorder. I hate it but am just too tired and overwhelmed to deal with it. I "inherited" a house with a lot of other people's crap so I started out already way behind the 8 ball here. This is how I feel. I am up at 3am 2 days a week and 5 am the other days to go to work. I get home at noon on the days I get up at 3 but then I have to take a nap to make it through the rest of the day. The other days I get home at 5pm if I am lucky. I get dinner and then nothing else gets done after that. I am just going to have to spend more time on it I guess. I am usually in bed no later than 9, most nights 8.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2013 17:43:59 GMT -5
Honestly, I try. NOT because I think some magazine will knock on my door anytime soon, but only because that's the way I like it. I don't have a lot of clutter, DH does, we have four kids. It is a constant battle against Stuff. I don't function well in a messy environment. I NEED things to be neat, and not have a lot of "stuff". So again, I do it for ME. I don't give a rat's ass about what anybody else thinks about my house. They don't live here, but I do. DH has his "zones" (ie the basement). The rest of the house is very neat and clutter-free. But with four kids and a borderline hoarder DH, it used to be a constant battle. Now that the kids are older, it's easier. (DH is older too but he hasn't grown out of it.) Dolphins there is a thread for this on the WIR board, you'd be welcome to join us! None of our houses are "perfect" (is there such a thing?!) but we have fun and encourage each other to clean up / clear up / declutter. Some of us are "regulars", others pop in and out. At this point I can honestly say that the only things in my house that need more decluttering are: - books (but DH refuses to get rid of any of his, and I refuse to get rid of mine just so DH can use the space on "my" shelves - the basement storage room (the majority of which is filled with DH's stuff / his late parents' stuff). I finally got DH to go through his Stuff last year, for the first time since 1999. At least there is nothing left on the floor, everything is neatly on the shelves. DH has 60% of the shelf space, and the 4 kids and I have 40%. - DH's clothes closets / shelves. He still has plenty of stuff from HS (he is 56). He complains about mold in his closet. The other closets have no mold. I have a one in / one (or two) out rule. The rest of the house (ie EVERY other set of shelves, closets and drawers) all look GREAT! ETA: I have no control over those areas (or rather I have chosen to relinquish any). For the rest of the house, EVERY closet / shelf / drawer gets gone through at least once a year, whether it needs it or not LOL.
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whoisjohngalt
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Post by whoisjohngalt on Oct 23, 2013 18:12:02 GMT -5
My house will NEVER EVER EVER look like magazine pics bc even if it was clean and spotless and no toys, no clutter, no nothing
1) I have too many books and too many bookcases and I NEVER see that in magazines 2) I HATE HATE HATE any kind of decorative crap and chachkas, I would only have paintings on the walls, but no stupid pillows and vases and fake flowers
I am not even going into the whole "my kids think it's their house too, so they decorate it on a weekly bases with various tapes and more and more and more tape" thing
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Oct 23, 2013 18:12:12 GMT -5
My living rom looks like Toys R Us puked.
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Angel!
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Post by Angel! on Oct 23, 2013 18:13:07 GMT -5
I think the "having too many things" is a big part of my problem. That and I suck at getting rid of stuff as it comes in. So stuff like mail and school papers just stack and stack.
So, without going through the really long declutter/cleaning thread on WIR, what are some good tips to help people like me who have a cluttered house?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2013 18:13:29 GMT -5
I'm not sorry to say YES IT DOES!
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whoisjohngalt
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Post by whoisjohngalt on Oct 23, 2013 18:14:17 GMT -5
I'm not sorry to say YES IT DOES! I want prove! Pictures, please!!
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Angel!
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Post by Angel! on Oct 23, 2013 18:14:44 GMT -5
I'm not sorry to say YES IT DOES!
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sheilaincali
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Post by sheilaincali on Oct 23, 2013 18:34:31 GMT -5
My old house that I built actually was in a Magazine. Granted it was a local one but still, I was proud of it.
We have been decluttering and organizing all year. It wasn't bad before but it needed some tweaking. Most days we keep the house pretty clean. To do a top to bottom clean, vacuuming, bathrooms, etc would take us about an hour (approx. 2400 SF)
To be fair- I only have one kid and he is 15 so no toys laying around.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2013 18:41:31 GMT -5
Keeping things tidy seems a lot easier to me when you live by yourself. I keep the common areas from getting messy by putting stuff away when I'm done with it. It helps if everything has a place to go. If I've been lounging in the den after work, I straighten it back up before I head to the bedroom.
I don't like cleaning for hours at a time, so I try not to make a mess in the first place and if I make one, I don't leave it. I'm not even close to being the neatest person in the world, but having a lot of random stuff laying around drives me nuts. I can't relax and watch tv if there's clutter or dust in my line of sight. My junky computer desk doesn't count. I can ignore it, no problem.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2013 18:48:44 GMT -5
I'm not sorry to say YES IT DOES!
Thank you! So does mine LOL!
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