Tell us a bit about yourself

Hi 🙂

I’m Lucy, I live in a housing association house in Hampshire which I share with my partner, our 2 teenage daughters and our Chihuahua.

I set up my account back in 2018 after being stuck in a rut with my house. I struggled to find motivation and found that using Instagram as a diary really helped. Along the way i have met some incredible people and I feel so lucky to be a part of an amazing community.

I am a little bit restricted to what I can do within my house due to not owning it, but I always try my best to make it our own and enjoy it with my little family.

So if you love a little bit of everything, cleaning, hauls, home decor, lifestyle etc you will certainly find that on my account.

How did you learn to keep a home?

I am going to be totally honest, it was all through trial, error, tears, tantrums and help from my mum.

Growing up my mum liked to keep the house clean, and up to her standards. I am not ashamed to say that I rarely tidied my own room because I always knew mum would do it again as it wasn’t “right”.

When I became a mum at just 19, myself and my partner still lived with my parents, and apart from the sterilising of bottles my mum still did our washing and tidied our room.

We moved out when our eldest was just 6 months old and to say trying to keep up with the housework and a 6 month old baby was hard, I really didn’t have a clue at all. My mum was my rock for the first 6 months of moving out, helping me with the washing and the occasional hand with cleaning our home.

If it wasn’t for my mum I don’t think I would have a home like I do now, I will forever be grateful to her.

What is your favourite homemaking activity?

Believe it or not I LOVE to do the washing! The sheer excitement of putting it into the machine with lush smelling laundry products brings me so much joy.

Even hanging it to dry & putting it away makes me warm and fuzzy. No 7-10 buisness days in this house, as quickly as the clothes come off our backs it’s washed and back into its home.

What homemaking product couldn’t you live without?

I couldn’t live without vacuum bags! They are amazing for so many things.

I use them to store our seasonal clothes and bedding under the beds. I also use them to store the girls teddies that they don’t want to part with in the loft.

I invested in some hanging ones last winter, re reason being was our wardrobes were full of bulky coats and we didn’t have much room for anything else, so hanging out coats on the vacuum hangers and sucking the air out made more room for more clothes to fit in.

Do you ever feel overwhelmed, how do you cope?

Every single day!

I have a full time job, I am a mum of two, and juggling work, children and housework is hard.

I must admit I feel more overwhelmed in the winter, when my home has damp washing everywhere due to not being able to fry it outside, it makes my head spin and I just get stuck in a rut with my cleaning schedule.

When I feel overwhelmed I tend to do one room a day, and if I can’t do one the next day then that’s OK. The housework will always be here, and sometimes you just need to take time for yourself.

Why is #shinenotshame important to you?

Everyone’s home is theirs, to live in and enjoy the way they want too. Not everyone has the same standards when it comes to home keeping and that is OK.

As long as you are happy that’s all that matters.

BUT there is no shame in asking for help and advice if you need it. #shinenotshame is a supportive community who are happy to share advice and tips. We all struggle too sometimes, and trying to find the confidence to ask for help is hard, but there is no shame in it.

What is an interesting fact about you?

I really don’t think I am that interesting, so I don’t really have any interesting facts about myself

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