When your house is a total mess, the floor is covered with stuff, the clutter feels like it's taking over. The laundry is overflowing and the kitchen sink doesn't have room for one more dirty dish. And then you've also got piles and boxes of things accumulating in every room. Like a box full of stuff that you don't know what to do with, a pile of magazines that you swear you're going to go through, books stacked on your end tables, and baskets full of things that you haven't looked at in literally years. This is ground zero when you're starting from zero. And there's actually an entire step zero that you need to take to overhaul your home. But once you have the strategy, it's pretty simple.
In this episode, we're breaking down what to do when your entire house is a mess and you don't know where to start. So, if you have been looking around your home, wondering how To get it under control before the holidays. You're definitely in the right place.
Hey there, I'm Nicole from the Maximizing Momma. And I am obsessed with creating a home that gives me more peace of mind, more time to myself, and more time with my kids. I teach you the tried and true secrets to clearing your clutter, getting organized and managing your household one realistic step at a time. This show is where we talk about things like motherhood, decluttering, organizing, creating routines, mindset, energy, and everything in between.
Our homes are the foundation for the rest of our lives. And I believe that with the right strategy, everyone can create a household that supports their dreams. So sit back, relax, and get ready to take charge of your home.
Hey, there. Welcome back If your house is a total mess, I know it can be one of the most overwhelming and frustrating experiences you've ever felt. When every inch of your floor is covered with toys, shoes, and backpacks. Every table and counter is piled high with random things. Half the time you don't even know what's there.
And you're also dealing with Laundry, dishes, and incoming paper. On top of your regular clutter staring you in your face, like unfinished projects sitting around everywhere, things that you've been holding on to for years or even decades, and piles and boxes shoved in the corner of each room. And every time you open a cabinet things fall out on top of you.
And you can't even shut a drawer properly because it's stuffed at a max.
This is what I call ground zero. When your entire house is a wreck. At disaster, when it looks like a bomb went off, a bomb of stuff. It's when your home is full of everyday messes, homeless clutter, and accumulated clutter. And it's like a never-ending Groundhog day, just trying to stay on top of it all.
I like to call this ground zero, because it's like, you're starting from the bottom. You want to declutter and you know, you need to declutter. But it's such a mess that you can't even figure out where to start. And this is why our homes can be so overwhelming. For years, I thought that our homes were overwhelming because of the accumulated clutter.
But it's actually a combination of all three everyday messes, homeless, clutter, and accumulated clutter. I used to have decluttering challenges where we would spend five days decluttering different areas in our homes, until it dawned on me that everyone was getting drastically different results, because everyone was struggling with different types of stuff.
Yet they were all using the word clutter to describe the stuff in your homes. And it's Awfully confusing because our homes look cluttered. But it's not all true, clutter.
Clutter is anything in excess and to de-clutter means to let go of the excess. You don't want to declutter your coffee table. You just need to clear it off and put everything back where it belongs. When I joined TikTok in 2021, I started watching thousands of videos from women talking about how their home is messy, so they needed to declutter it, but then they would proceed to tidy it all up and put everything away.
And then over the summer, I had a client who was doing this same thing.
And this is how I came up with the four stages of our home lives. So today we're going to be talking about stage one, the overhaul stage. This is when your house is a disaster zone. So we're going to dive into where you should start when everything in your house is a total mess. When you're in this stage, you're going to be struggling with all three types of stuff. Everyday messes, homeless, clutter, and accumulated clutter.
Every day messes are the messes that happen throughout your home because you live in it. These messes make your home look cluttered, but it's important to note that they're to be expected. Homeless clutter is the stuff that's getting left out because it doesn't have a permanent home. Like a charging cord that's left on your kitchen counters because you literally don't have anywhere else to put it.
And then accumulated clutter is the things that are accumulating in places like closets, drawers, cabinets, boxes, or even piling up on tables. If you haven't listened to episode number two, why your home is always messy, go check out that episode first. Because it will give you a better understanding of what these three types of stuff are.
Because we're going to dive right into where to start when your entire house is a mess. So when you're in stage one, the overall stage, when you're at ground zero. There's actually an entire step zero that you need to take before decluttering. I call this overhauling your home. This is when you're overhauling the mess, because when your house is a total mess, it needs to be overhauled.
So before now, I'll bet that you have spent all of your time tidying up and picking up the messes, and doing your best to put everything back where it belongs. 'Cause we feel like we're supposed pick everything up and put it all away. But what happens is within another week, your house ends up messy again, because you still have too much stuff too much clutter, and you still need to declutter. And that's why you're stuck in this cycle. So instead of only tidying or only decluttering, you need to focus on overhauling your home in a specific order. So you're actually making tangible Progress.
Here's what this looks like. First you need to start by tidying up the messes and putting things back where they belong.
Next you gain some quick clutter wins by decluttering some of the hotspots around your home that are a total disaster. During this part, you're actually letting go of stuff. Then you focus on implementing a routine to help you stay on top of these messes so your home doesn't end up messy again in another week, like a daily reset and a laundry and dishes
routine
And finally, once you've done this, once you've overhauled your home, then you can start decluttering in a way that is realistic. In a way that doesn't take up all your time or leave you with a bigger mess on your hands. Now the reason why this overhaul stage is so important, it's because just tidying your home isn't going to get you anywhere because you have too much clutter. But again, it seems impossible to start decluttering because there's too too much mess. So instead you need to follow a strategic plan for taking fast action so you can literally overhaul your home and declutter like a boss in about a week or so.
So that's really all that I have for you today. So let's go over a quick summary of what we've covered.
When your house is a total wreck, getting started with decluttering can seem impossible and it actually feels impossible. All you can focus on is the everday messes, the stuff that's getting left out.
So you spend all your time putting things back where they belong. But your home is both messy and cluttered. It's messy because of the stuff that's being left out. And it's cluttered because of the accumulated clutter, because you have too much stuff. So when you're in this stage, when you're at ground zero, you need to do a complete overhaul of your home to get it to a point where it's manageable so you can start decluttering. First you tidy the messes. Next you gain some quick clutter wins. Then you develop a routine to help you manage the everyday messes, the laundry, and the dishes. And finally you start decluttering with short and easy tasks that you can do quickly. And all four of these steps. Are meant to be done quickly. You're taking fast action and getting them done over the course of a week, maybe two max. When you follow this strategy, not only are you making incredible progress in your home. But you're also gaining momentum, which gives you the confidence and the motivation to keep going.
So this is how you take charge of your home when everything is a mess and you don’t know where to start.
It seems like you should declutter first because it is true that our homes look more messy when we have too much clutter. But overhauling your home first and foremost will pave the way so decluttering is a lot easier.
And over the next few weeks, we have some exciting things coming up that will help you put all of this into action.
First, we have a free training that will be released on November 21st that will break down all the different stages of your home so you know exactly what you need to focus on and when.
Then, I’m opening up a special Black Friday sale that will show you how to overhaul the mess and declutter like a boss in less than 30 minutes a day so you can take charge of your home for the holidays and beyond.
And I’m really excited for this getting this done before the holidays means you can move on to the decluttering stage right at the first of the year. Which means that 2023 can be the year you finally go from cluttered to calm
I hope you’re ready because we’re about to go on a journey to get you taking charge of your home for good.
So make sure you’re subscribed to The Take Charge of Your Home Show and come follow along on Instagram and TikTok for all the behind-the-scenes details. You can find me on all social media platforms by searching the maximizing momma
In the next episode, we’re going over the difference between organizing, tidying, cleaning, and decluttering and how they all fit together. I know these seem like 4 different concepts, but trying to focus on them all simultaneously is a big part of why your home has been a struggle before now.
But as I said, we’re gonna change that. We’re going on a journey so you’re not cleaning up after your kid’s childhoods for the next 18 years, but instead, you have a household that feels good and works for you.
Thank you for trusting me to be a part of your journey to a more peaceful home! I’m so grateful to have you here, and i’m truly honored to have this opportunity. I can’t wait to chat with you soon.
