THE BIG CLEANOUT!

Ive heard the saying "a clean house is a clean mind"...Believe me this is soooooo true.  Our house was getting so cluttered that it was truly effecting my mind.
Naturally I hate clutter.  It annoys my like nothing else.  I hate walking into my home and seeing a pile of...stuff just sitting on the dining table.  But this is what it was like, but instead of just being on the dining table it was on the kitchen bench, the 'supposed' study, the kids playroom, laundry EVERYWHERE!!!!.  My husband and I had a bit of a melt down over it 3 weeks ago.  I was angry becuase of the state of the house, he was angry because he couldnt find anything. 
I thought "wow...Im a married, 31 year old mum of 2...what is wrong with me!!!  why cant I be more organised????".
I have read about 'flylady' (flylady link here) Watched Peter Walsh on Oprah (Peter's link here)
and still I didnt know where to start.
It is all so overwhelming.  Anyway, as I said my husband and I kinda lost it about 3 weeks ago and so we just tore everything out of the study and kids playroom and started with a blank canvas...two actually.
Once the room were empty we cleaned, painted and scrubed.  The rooms actually looked amazing...empty.

The next job was the biggest.  3 weeks of sorting, clearing and working out what actually is of value and what actually is just...clutter.
I took a little bit of fly lady, a little bit of Peter Walsh and added them together with some amazing advice from a good friend of mind who used to live in the states.  She worked as a Professional sorter over there.  Yes, over in the states she told me that this is big work there.  So many pay to get people in (like Peter Walsh) top help declutter and sort and organise.  She said business is non exsistant in australia...hmmm I wonder why?
She offered me some amazing tips on how to organise and declutter my home.  An absolute wealth of information...that I will hold onto forever.
I have alot of artsy, crafty items.  Lots of toys, lots of magazines, lots of material, office supplies etc.  This is all now soooooo neat and sorted.  I know where everyhting is.  My laundry is now a laundry.  White, fresh, open and clean.  Again, a place for everything.
My study things are in place.  My bathroom is...you guessed it sorted.
Believe me when I say it was a big job.  I mean...BIGGGGGGG!  Im exhausted but I will tell you what.  It was completly worth every bit of effort.  We have taken 5 trailer loads to the tip...I feel like a weight has been lifted.

I am clearer.  Organised and on time.  I know where things are when I need them. I go to bed with a spotless house (thanks to flylady) and I wake up ready to take on the day rather than feeling that low, sinking feeling of "UGH...I just gotta clean today and look for this, and that..." I now get up, EARLY...Have an early morning coffee and breakfast with my husband before the kids are awake.  Next the kids are up, breakfast for them.  Lunches made and off to school.  No more looking for shoes, library books and hair ties...
Even the kids are happier, more organised and have even started helping with the cleanout.

Dont get me wrong.  I know I will still get my moments, Life isnt perfect but with a bit of organising life is so much more simpler.  Throwing out old baggage (mentally and literall LOL)  you feel so much lighter and clearer...like you can take on the world.  Here are a few tips that I have learnt over the past month...

•  Dont keep anything that isnt of worth...somtimes we hold onto recepts, junk mail, and other bits of papers/items...DONT!!!  Clean out your bag, car, table, messy spots as soon as you get home and again before bed.
• One tip my friend drove into me...IF YOU HAVNT USED IT IN 6 MONTHS DECIDE...to either throw it out, give it to charity OR if it is sentimental...USE IT, put it in an album or display it.  Dont shove it away in a box, put it under the stairs for the next 10 years.  Whats the point ??
• Do we REALY need ALLLLLLL those pictures your children draw/paint and make?  This is realy hard for me as I am a sentimental freak!  Im one of those people that have boxes and boxes and boxes of art from my kids.  I had to sort and decide what I was going to keep.  I got it down to 2 boxes...one for each child.  Here I place ONLY special picture/art as well as school awards etc.
• Kids toys...do I realy NEED to explain this one??  We threw out about 3 garbage bags full...yes, those annoying Mcdonalds toys do add up.  Also I was suprised at how many broken toys we were hanging onto.  WHY???  Just keep the ones they actually play with and are realy special.
• Dont keep magazines after 1 year.  My husband and I have a magazine subscription.  We get mags every month.  We purchased an accordian type file.  Here I put each month on a tab.  Each month the mags go into the appropriate month...after Decemeber...we will throw them out and start again.
• Buy boxes.  You know those big clear boxes that you can get from crazy clarkes, the warehouse and Sam's warehouse??  Well they are a life saver.  I bort about 6 medium sized ones. With these I sorted alot of my items into their appropriate boxes.  Now a tip my friend gave me was to mark EACH box..but dont mark it with 1, 2, 3 etc mark exactly whats in each box.  At first I thought "huh?" but once I did it I actualy did see the sense in it.  If you can see whats in the box you actually know whats there.  You can tend to forget whats in there otherwise.  Then as you use the box remark it accordingly.  Great tip, that one.
• For my small crafty bits and peices I was told to go get a fishing tackle box.  FANTASTIC.  It not only fits stickers, embelishments, small diamonties, and ribbons etc...but also my hot glue gun, staple gun and templates.  All neat and excactly where I leave them.
• Go to bed early...rise in the morning early....such a crucial thing for keeping and staying organised.  Weekends can be the exception...but even then its good to keep in routine and get up early and enjoy the day!  Good for the mind too.
• Clean as you go...clean as you go...clean as you go....( i keep telling myself this)
• Spend 15 power mins a day for a quick tidy up.  If you do this just a couple of times a day...its amazing how much this helps aliminate the big, big mess at the end of it.  In our house we call it a 15-min-blitz.
• Go to bed with the dishes washed and away, lounge room tidy, bedroom tidy and give the house one last sweep glance before bed...makes rising so much nicer.
• when you wake up get the sun onto your face.

As I mentioned earlier, you do get your days where you feel Blah....and in my opinion this is human and normal, if this happens, go with it after all we also need time to rest... but if you try to keep your house tidy and clutter free on most days...your mind and body (and family) will thankyou for it.

Now, I just gotta get into my kitchen and sort that out....