It’s something I do when home/domestics get out of control. I guess it doesn’t really help anything much. The right thing to do would be to get in there, sleeves rolled up, and tackle the things that are bothering me.
Trouble is, there’s so many things bothering me it all feels a bit overwhelming and I don’t know where to start, and some of the things that are bothering me are (or feel) out of my control.
Maybe I should try listing my top ten issues with the house and then either fix them myself or try to figure out a way to work through them.
- the carpet
- the clutter
- the cockroaches
- mess
- darkness/dullness
- layout
- more mess
- more clutter
- carpet
- bed on floor situation
Well - that’s kind of it. Some things got listed twice. That’s because they feel SO big that when I run my eyes mentally around the house, I keep bumping in to them wherever I go. I think I will have to break the mess and clutter into definable areas that might be able tow work as bite sized chunks and then just make a schedule and figure out how and when I’m going to tackle each thing or area.
I’m going to have to get a huge amount of toxic (yes, it really really bothers me but I don’t know what else to do) cockroach spray and spray extensively as I go. The house has developed a really serious cockroach plague and it’s totally depressing and off-putting.
So - where do I begin?
Let’s take item number one - the carpet. I do absolutely, completely and vehemently HATE IT. It’s one of those things I feel very little control over. I’ve lived with it for a couple of years now. I accepted living with it in the outset because I thought it was something we would change. We haven’t and I’ve had a hate affair with it pretty much every day, for the entire time we’ve lived at the house. It’s a total deal breaker for me.
What can I do about the carpet right now? I can vacuum it and I can get someone out to give me a quote to do a full professional clean of it and subsequent to that, perhaps I can re-open the discussion with my partner about the potential for taking (at least some of) it out, and replacing it with something more live-able and less depressing.
That’s three distinct phases that need to be seen as separate actions.
CARPET ACTIONS:
- vacuum
- get professional clean quote
- discuss removal
OK. Next problem, clutter. Bad enough to make the list twice, so lets divide it into zones. There are in fact more than two zones. We have: ENTRY LEVEL CLUTTER, LOWER DECK CLUTTER AND UPSTAIRS CLUTTER. I’m not even going to go there with the flat - I just don’t look or function in there, I don’t see it as a place I have any control over or investment in. I’m going to completely ignore the lower deck for the time being too - it’s just too much. So - much focuses are going to be simply main house upstairs clutter and main house downstairs clutter. What can I do about these things?
For this, I may need to enlist the help of both the FLY Lady and my partner. The FLY Lady has some serious decluttering programs, which I think you can sign up for and get motivational emails regarding. That might help.
One of my biggest problems with the clutter at the house is that I own relatively little of the items that fill it. What we are ever going to do with many of these things and what earthly purpose they serve is a bit beyond me, but they are not my possessions to get rid of. That makes it difficult.
Clutter steps:
- sign up/commit to FLY Lady decluttering program
- enlist help of partner and commitment from him to declutter also
- carry out serious cull of own possessions
- fumigate all items during each step of the process
- set some boxes aside ready to move to new home
- MINIMISE MINIMISE MINIMISE MINIMISE !!!!!!!
That’s the top two problems. Dealing with them should to some degree help with the cockroach issues anyway - but I think the plague is bad enough it needs to also be tackled in it’s own right.
So - for the cockroaches, we need to:
- engage a professional pest controller
- work systematically through each nook and cranny of the house, removing everything and spraying, before returning anything to that zone
- start in the worst cockroach infested areas and work through slowly from those to other areas of the house. Top problem zones are:
- kitchen
- bathroom
- laundry
- lounge room
Decluttering and cockroach control actions which can be taken by us should be able to go pretty much hand in hand. It’s a public holiday today so getting a pest controller isn’t going to be a today thing.
We had been going to wait until we had at least partially moved out before getting a professional, but I think it’s gone a bit beyond the pale and we kind of need them now.
Next item: MESS
Yes, mess as separate to clutter. We have both. What I guess I should try to do is identify specific mess areas that really get me down and tackle them in order of depressingness.
Top mess areas to tackle in order:
- Single armchair under window
- glass table next to single armchair under window
- front door entry area
- long table in workroom outside laundry
- laundry
- main bedroom
That’s enough messes to think about and list for today. There is one area of the house that really haunts me as somewhere I try not to think about or look. It’s probably more clutter than mess. I know I don’t like it and that it’s a whole black hole full of stuff we won’t have room for at the new place. It’s the storage hole behind the toilet in the main bathroom. I hate that area. I try to only open the door quickly and slam it shut again without looking. I’ll have to gather up the courage to deal with it at some stage.
In fact - you know what - that’s enough of EVERYTHING to think about for today. It’s a four day weekend and then I have to be back on deck at work and it’s really crazy busy there at the moment. If I list anything else, I will be totally overwhelmed.
I’ve got some starting points.
I think it’s first stop the supermarket, for some cockroach sprays and baits.
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