A clutter-free zone - for how long though ?

The great declutter of 2015 continues. It's picked up since I watched a programme about obsessive compulsive cleaners and hoarders. I fall somewhere between the two. I have far too much stuff and I aspire to a clean and tidy home. Not in that minimalist way that indicates no-one lives there or where you wonder how on earth they have such clean lines when kids live there. I mean I am constantly making lists of all the things that need tidying, cleaning and sorting. Except I often find I'm so overwhelmed by how much needs to be done that I just put it off until another day and sit down with a cup of tea and a programme that I've recorded for later.

Except last weekend when I decided to take a different approach. Just do one room and finish it. I know it's pretty radical isn't it ? Well the first one was the kids' playroom and while I found it arduous sitting on the floor sorting through boxes of small cars, plastic toys from McDonalds and those 'gifts' you get on the front of magazines it was worth it for the end result. 

Decluttered (not for long)

Of course now I don't want the children to actually play in there - they'll only mess it up. And here we come to the crux of my problem with decluttering - it's always temporary. I throw out papers and more come through the letterbox. I give away toys and the boys get given more. I donate clothes and then go against my own plans by getting more because they look cute or like something I threw out earlier that I now have to have. It's a never-ending carousel really. The main thing is once I've actually made somewhere look like home instead of Steptoe's Yard I want it to stay that way for more than an hour. The only way to ensure this is to make sure that none of the boys go into the room or touch anything. 

As a friend once wrote on the toilet wall (relax, it was allowed, it was a freedom of expression thing) when he was training with the military, 

"No plan survives contact with the enemy."

Getting Big Boy into good habits early.