What are your worst clutter demons?

I'm booooored, so I'm going to muck around designing all the storage for the house.

I'm going to start with the laundry - I need places for lone socks and outgrown clothes. Maybe somewhere to store handwashables until I have enough to justify doing a load.

Do you have washing hampers in everyone's bedrooms, or just a central one in the laundry? Does it work well? My laundry is the most used entry point for the house and I'd like to keep it a little more tidier...

Where do you keep your extra doonas, sleeping bags etc?

My big kitchen bench is wonderful but attracts all sort of crap from everywhere - has anyone found a way to deal with this?

School notices etc. Bills - I can't keep them in a file cabinet because it's out of sight out of mind for me. I used to have a little pile on my desk, but then the pile had babies, then grandbabies....Maybe I should learn to use my NASA ready phone properly?

Kids lunchboxes etc - where do they live in your house?

Are there any other potential black holes of clutter I have missed?

Do you have washing hampers in everyone's bedrooms, or just a central one in the laundry? Does it work well? My laundry is the most used entry point for the house and I'd like to keep it a little more tidier...
I have a basket in the girls bathroom, a basket in our bathroom, an empty basket in the laundry (to hang the clothes out with), a bin in the laundry for nappies, a basket in the laundry for towels, and a basket in the laundry for sheets. BUT, I have a large laundry, so all of these baskets hide under the laundry bench.

Where do you keep your extra doonas, sleeping bags etc? I have them stored in those vacuum bags in the linen cupboard (I also have a large linen cupboard).

My big kitchen bench is wonderful but attracts all sort of crap from everywhere - has anyone found a way to deal with this? The 3rd draw ;)

School notices etc. Bills - I can't keep them in a file cabinet because it's out of sight out of mind for me. I used to have a little pile on my desk, but then the pile had babies, then grandbabies....Maybe I should learn to use my NASA ready phone properly? I have an Excel spreadsheet which I use. A bill comes in, it is put on the Excel spreadsheet, then filed.

Kids lunchboxes etc - where do they live in your house? I use one of my pot drawers for my plasticwear. That's where lunchboxes etc goes.

Are there any other potential black holes of clutter I have missed? ummm, I think about that and come back to you :)

We have a central hamper in the laundry - DH and my washing goes straight into the machine, DD's goes into the hamper. We don't have much that requires handwashing. Once our clothes are washed, then goes in the sheets and towels, straight from bedrooms and bathrooms into the machine, so no build up in the laundry.

We don't have any extra doonas, but sleeping bags are in the bottom of our walk in robe.

For the kitchen bench, any new bills to be paid go into a folder, one side has a pocket for the bills and the other side has a part for a notepad where we write what we need grocery-wise. Works well for us.

My biggest clutter spot seems to be my dressing table. I tend to put things there to deal with "tomorrow" as I go to bed, and then somehow, tomorrow never eventuates.

Do you have washing hampers in everyone's bedrooms, or just a central one in the laundry? Does it work well? One in each room (no room in the laundry or bathroom for hampers). It works well as long as DH can aim properly lol! Have to wait & see for DS. I do normally have to gather up clothes scattered all over the living room on washing day though.

Where do you keep your extra doonas, sleeping bags etc? Linen closet - top shelf.

kitchen bench - has anyone found a way to deal with this? No. Sorry. Mine's always buried in a mound of stuff too.

School notices etc. Bills - I have an in-tray on my desk. Which is currently overflowing waiting for me to file stuff. I arrange to pay bills on the day they come in. I pay most bills by BPay so I can set the date for the due date. I'm rarely late. If I'm late, it's because they haven't sent the bill ;) Then I place in the in-tray so I can eventually put on the computer (for budgeting purposes) then file/throw.

Kids lunchboxes etc - where do they live in your house? In the cupboard above the rangehood or on top of the microwave.

Are there any other potential black holes of clutter I have missed? Most likely but I'm at work. Like you - out of sight out of mind for me too.

ETA - I forgot - the spare room! It's going to be Hatchlet's room. But at the moment, welllll, I swear there is a floor in there somewhere :lol:

Are there any other potential black holes of clutter I have missed? .....
Rowellen has reminded me. The spare room. That room is awful! If we're not sure where something should go, it goes in the spare room and the door gets closed. lol. Really need to fix that issue!

Hahaha Jodi! We keep that door closed too :rofl:

Wet towels drive me spare. I'm buying 8000 hooks for the bathroom wall....

Do you have washing hampers in everyone's bedrooms, or just a central one in the laundry? Does it work well? I'm a tad pedantic: a big washing basket in DH's and my room, one in DD1's room, and one in the lounge room (the kids tend to strip off in front of the TV when we get home from the shops) AS WELL as a massive (like, bigger than my 8kg washing machine) hamper in the laundry where it all goes to get sorted before washing!

Where do you keep your extra doonas, sleeping bags etc? We have a linen cupboard in the hallway where sheets, doonas etc are all kept. Sleeping bags live in the shed as they're for camping (and usually full of sand), otherwise they go in the spare room (which, I promise, DD2 will be moving into ONE DAY...).

My big kitchen bench is wonderful but attracts all sort of crap from everywhere - has anyone found a way to deal with this? That's what our sideboard is for :) Right next to the kitchen bench, looks nice (when not covered in junk) and even has drawers and cabinets for EXTRA junk! :)

School notices etc. Bills - I can't keep them in a file cabinet because it's out of sight out of mind for me. I used to have a little pile on my desk, but then the pile had babies, then grandbabies....Maybe I should learn to use my NASA ready phone properly? Our solution - a big wire basket (kind of like a peg basket, but bigger) that lives on the sideboard - every 'incoming' item goes in there to get 'sorted' and once dealt with (bills paid, letter replied to etc), it goes in the neighbouring filing cabinet, which is just one of those cheap plastic ones from Kmart with a few manila folders labelled 'Tax', 'Centrelink', 'Loan stuff', 'Telstra', etc etc. That way it's all in my face until I can be bothered dealing with it, but it doesn't get lost. If I need it, it's 'in the basket'!

Kids lunchboxes etc - where do they live in your house? Lunchboxes (and DD2's spare bottles for daycare) live in one of the top cabinets where I keep things like glass serving/salad bowls, gravy boats etc. Stuff that I rarely ever use, but can't throw out because I might need it 'one day', so other stuff gets thrown in on top. Thankfully lunchboxes get used regularly so they're always on top of the pile!

Do you have washing hampers in everyone's bedrooms, or just a central one in the laundry? Does it work well? I have a hamper in each bedroom for clothes and a basket in the laundry for towels/face washers/etc. I used to have one of those Ikea hampers in the laundry for towels but it tended to get mouldy from the damp towels at the bottom. I find that the baskets have better airflow and I don't get mould.

Where do you keep your extra doonas, sleeping bags etc? Folded up on the top shelf of the wardrobe in the relevant bedroom.

My big kitchen bench is wonderful but attracts all sort of crap from everywhere - has anyone found a way to deal with this? I have one corner where I pile things. Needs to be sorted through again.

School notices etc. Bills - I can't keep them in a file cabinet because it's out of sight out of mind for me. I used to have a little pile on my desk, but then the pile had babies, then grandbabies....Maybe I should learn to use my NASA ready phone properly? I have an in tray on my desk. I'm on the computer most evenings so they are always in sight plus I tend to put them in my calendar so I know when they're due. All other bits and pieces tend to accumulate on the dining table (drives me nuts!) or the sideboard top drawer.

Kids lunchboxes etc - where do they live in your house? I have one cupboard in the kitchen for all my plastics and the lunchboxes get kept here too.

Are there any other potential black holes of clutter I have missed? Our dining table seems to be the drop off point for everything. It's the centre of our house on the way in through to the kitchen and then through to the bedrooms, so things tend to get dumped on here. I clear it daily or at the very least stack things neatly at one end of it. Currently, it is covered with Christmas presents to be wrapped :)

Do you have washing hampers in everyone's bedrooms, or just a central one in the laundry? Does it work well?

We have one in each room plus a sorter (3 compartments in one on wheels) in the laundry. It's not the dirty washing that's the problem... it's the clean washing GAH!

Where do you keep your extra doonas, sleeping bags etc?

In cupboards in the bedrooms.

My big kitchen bench is wonderful but attracts all sort of crap from everywhere - has anyone found a way to deal with this?

Clear it off as soon as you can. And do the "Don't put that there" with everyone. Its the only thing that works.


School notices etc. Bills -

We have a drawer. The drawer is used for shoving crap in and then when it's full it gets filed and sorted out. You should keep a control journal next to the microwave. Just a little ring binder with sleeves to keep bills and important stuff in. If it gets full then it gets cleaned out. And yes! As soon as you get a bill put it into your phone. I'll even help :)


Kids lunchboxes etc - where do they live in your house?

We keep them in the cupboard with the plastics. You can seperate them by stacking and having a container for lids but we just stack them inside each other.

Are there any other potential black holes of clutter I have missed?

Our biggest problem is kitchen stuff, I just have too much we need a new kitchen. Better furniture and other stuff. I would definitely look at furniture that has storage in it. My gf has this and it is brilliant you never see ANYTHING. She even has an ottomon that she used to keep the nappies and wipes in so when changing bubs in the loungeroom it was right there and no one knew. Her house is always immaculate and it is because she has good storage and clean surfaces (no nick nacks or rubbish!)

I have one dirty washing hamper in the laundry as well as a nappy bucket. Hamper is full after two days, but I like everything in one place so having several hampers would annoy me!

Sleeping bags are out in DH's shed and spare bedding is in the laundry cupboard.

I also have a massive kitchen bench that attracts a multitude of things! Drives me crazy, if the bench is messy I can't handle it. I have a wire basket that sits on the bench and it all goes in there. Papers, tools, postcards etc etc. Then when it's full I go through it and put everything in it's place, or if it's DH's I give it to him to deal with. Works for us as the bench can become tidy in a minute!

Bills get opened straight away and put into a different basket on the computer desk. I have a calendar just for bills and expenses that I note the bill onto. It sits in the basket until it's paid, then I'll cross it off the calendar and shred the bill. They used to also go into the bottomless kitchen bench basket...but they don't always get paid that way!

Lunchboxes all go into the plastics cupboard, this generally spends most of the day on my kitchen floor thanks to DS.

Our spare room is a giant black hole of clutter, I'm yet to find a solution to it though :D Better think of something before this bub comes along!