So we've got Bedroom stuff in the Bedroom, "Bomb Debris" in the Kitchen, and "Kidstuff" in the Lounge. That's probably all part of the normal, everyday type of mess.
The fun (or troublesome, depending on how one looks at it
) part is:
- Bedroom stuff in the Kitchen
- Clothes, Mr G's tools, and study stuff in in Dining Area
- Dining Area stuff in Conservatory
I'm seeing a migratory pattern here, with things gravitating towards the kitchen & dining area, and then ultimately coming to rest in the conservatory.
I think the trick might be to reverse the flow:
+ Daily gather up the kid's stuff from the lounge, throw out any obvious trash, and dump the rest on their respective beds - that's what my mother did.
+ Keep after the "Bomb Debris" in the kitchen, and every day grab one - or three, or five - things off of the "Bedroom Stuff" pile and sort them.
+ Re-clear the bedroom, but sort stuff as you go so that it all winds up at its ultimate destination - tossed, recycled, donated or kept and properly stored (you're allowed one box of "undecideds" to stash in the conservatory -
if there's room).
+ Point out to Mr G that the boxes of tools in the dining area are an inconvenience and a hazard, and ask him to get them taken care of at his very earliest convenience. (Suggesting to him that, until he gets his tools out of the dining room, he might not get to use any of his other tools in the bedroom, is entirely optional.
)
+ Once the kitchen is free of Bedroom Stuff, move onto to sorting just a few of the things from the dining area every day - and then, sooner or later, you'll be ready to take on the conservatory.
Or, if the beautiful plan outlined above doesn't work out quite so beautifully, take heart in this:
If you collect 50 items from them bedroom, get rid of 10, and wind up stashing 40 of them still-unsorted in the kitchen, that's still progress.
If you later move the 40 bedroom items out of the kitchen and stash 30 of them in the dining area, that's more progress.
If the 30 bedroom items get moved out of the dining room, and 20 items get stashed in the conservatory - hey, progress!
And when you finally haul the 20 items out of the conservatory and toss 10 of them, you'll find yourself left with the 10 good things you really wanted to keep in the first place.
Good luck!
- Evelyn
