Anyone who has followed this blog from the early days or who has really looked at any photos I’ve posted taken inside the house, knows that we are not a tidy family.

Previously this has been multiplied by the fact that we had a lot of stuff between us and not a lot of space to put it in. We lived in a flat, then a smaller flat, then a terraced house with no loft or garden storage – but now we’ve moved to CFHW HQ? We have the space, we just need to work out how best to use it.

We have been here since September and we are far from ‘sorted’ – mostly because you have to live in a place to work out how you need and want it to be. We have moved our coffee table and front room furniture round endlessly for months and finally decided this last week or so that the problem isn’t where we want to put it so much as that it is too big for the space. So we are looking for one a bit smaller but still practical for the room.

Slowly, slowly though, things are finding homes. One bit at a time.

The addition of a third book case in the front room provided homes for our board games and books in a way that looks presentable (though the Smalls love using the shelves as a play-space so the lower decorative bits tend to be Tsum Tsums and Lego!)

Previously we couldn’t get to the patio doors because of a big pile of boxes, bags and stuff – but a few days spent properly going through it all and clearing out junk and finding proper homes for everything else has made the room look much bigger and lighter.

Next up was the space the bookshelves are facing – what was supposed to be my desk but was actually a dumping space for anything and everything.

Another day or two of sorting and clearing and now I am sat at that desk typing this. In an organised and useable space – I actually know what’s in the drawers at the side and can find stuff when I want it.

The only thing left to do is investigate that pile of boxes in the back corner. But one step at a time.

Getting the house presentable and sorted felt impossible and overwhelming because I was thinking of it as a whole. I felt like I needed to do it ALL in one go and my anxiety-brain’s response to this is to cry in a corner and ignore it all.

But I don’t have to do it all at once. That’s silly.

One corner at a time is just fine.

We have to live here too, and we are not immaculate people.

But the fact that spaces are starting to get better, one bit at a time, has massively helped me face the whole task.

By breaking it down into smaller tasks for each day – tidy a table, unpack a box, clear a corner – it is starting to feel like it might come together before I fall apart.

I love our house, I am determined not to let it overwhelm me. It’s a big house and there are four of us in it, collecting things and forgetting to put stuff away as we go.

But we are getting to a point where I’m not horrified to invite people in. That they will think we are dirty or incompetent.

It’s getting better and friends are welcome to visit, but as always, please excuse the mess – we live here.