Where we start...

We moved into our house more than a few years ago, and dumped everything in the allocated rooms ... You know - saucepans in the kitchen, papers in the study, beds in bedrooms - but nothing actually had a home, so it was NEVER TIDY.

Everything has been hidden away several times in the years that we have lived here, but nothing remained that way for long. I think it was because nothing had a home. Things would just stay out instead of going back into their place. The coffee table in the family has junk on it that has been there for years. Things wouldn't magically disappear back to where they lived - and I think that is because they don't live anywhere.

I have heard that if you do some routine for 20 days it will become a habit, so I have decided on SLOW TIDY...

• SLOW TIDY is taking a long time to clean a room - I have allowed eight weeks per room
• SLOW TIDY is doing a small thing each day - tidying one drawer in the kitchen or filing one pile of papers...
• SLOW TIDY is finding a home for each of the things that get tidied that day
• SLOW TIDY is KEEPING what has already been tidied that way
• SLOW TIDY is getting rid of things you never use... in a sustainable way