u/Jack-of-not

Just restocked some stuff.

(My dog, Amy, is a star appearance)

I’m looking for advice for me and my partner. I’ll include pics of the worst vs after pics (no after pic for kitchen bc we can never get it back to fully clean).

Me and my partner both work three jobs each, six total. We have three dogs and we are TIRED.

Cleaning usually doesn’t come to mind until it’s out of hand. We mainly struggle with dishes and laundry, but overall dirtiness and clutter too.

I love to organize and have lived cleaner before but my disorders make it difficult to keep with for long time periods. My partner was a foster care youth and homeless adult before he was housed, so he doesn’t have much experience with cleaning.

Any tips would be appreciated! I have tired a chore chart but idk why it does not work for us. It’s really cute and interactive but we didn’t stick to it. I have a block scheduling app, Tick Tick, for my daily tasks that aren’t cleaning. I have tried Sweepy but it was hard to stick to.

Edit:

Thanks for all the tips! So many comments were very helpful and I’m taking notes (literally)!

We are going to get rid of some stuff but I’m sorry, getting rid of half of our things just simply isn’t possible and wouldn’t bring us joy.

We love our decor. We love our books.

We obviously need to declutter and purge, but getting rid of everything we own isn’t helpful or a solution we can get behind. Hundreds of you have suggested this.

I’m happy you’re all living minimalist lives but we aren’t minimalist people, we just want a functional life and that’s possible without getting rid of everything we know and love.

It only took an hour… I feel silly for pushing it off all week. I’m trying to do smaller tasks every day instead of big cleans, but new habits are hard.

Pls give me encouragement this is a the house rn, not horrific but it’s gonna take some effort…. I want maybe the bedroom and the living room clean by the time my partner gets home at 2 am. I think i can do it!!!

I miss this apartment so bad. I dream of her.

Took some of your feedback and got a rug, tried to declutter/reorganize the shelf, and in general just put stuff away. We also have more art to add to the gallery wall, we’ll do that soon! We’re definitely ordering new ceiling tiles to cover up the ugly tiles the house came with too!

Going room by room to make my home cuter and more organized. Y’all suggested I start small and the bathroom is tiny, so I started there. Everyone suggested small organizers to hide stuff so I got some from Five Below.

All it needs now is a small rug or one of those wooden things for getting out of the shower.

Trying to be more organized, I tried my best to do the bathroom on a budget!

People either love or hate our home, I want it to be more inviting and just overall better vibes. I have lived here for two years with my partner and we love it, very cozy but I feel like it could be ✨better✨ and I want your help, please! I included pics of how it is set up rn and I included floor plan of the whole house too with the furniture how it is now and blank as well.

Do y’all like how it is set up now? What would you change? What could be better?

We are poor but down to save up for new stuff over time to improve this place. We’re trying to stay here for at least another year or two.

Things we know:
- we have too many things (working on decluttering, but we work a lot/don’t have anyone to help)
- our daybed/couch is too big (we want a smaller L couch or something so we can get rid of the brown chair)
- bikes are in the way (thinking of putting them in the kitchen beside hot water heater)

I open a coffee shop, got home from work in the afternoon. Found a hair tie by our shoe rack. I’m engaged. I have short hair. Even when I had long hair, I didn’t have hair ties. I’m trying not to freak out. He says it is probably one of his sister’s who visited last fall, that our dogs must’ve been playing with it.

I have these two shelves, one is in my room and one is in the living room. The one in the bedroom is more for my miniature builds and book collection, while the living room shelf is for art supplies/odds and ends. Idk where to start with either, they both give me anxiety. I’d like them both to be more aesthetic but functional. Any ideas or advice?

I did the dishes y’all!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Tidied the kitchen. My partner did LOADS and LOADS of laundry. I put it away. Also tidied up my room while i was at it.

Avoided time/time procrastinated: 2 weeks (more like 2 months for for the laundry)

Time taken: less than 2 hours for dishes and tidying (all of the laundry is almost done and it took almost all day)

WE CAN DO HARD THINGS!!!