Sue Cotton is the mum of a teenager but openly admits her daughter’s bedroom is tidier than hers.
The mum-of-two has reached the finals of a national competition to find the messiest room in the country, and said: “I don’t know whether to be thrilled or horrified.”
She admits her spare room is a “dumping ground for things they don’t know what to do with” and explained that the debris started building up after an extension was built at the family home in Woolverstone, near Ipswich, seven years ago.
“After that was ready to move into the whole family swapped bedrooms and this was left empty. Nobody really comes to stay anymore and we can’t use the loft because it is occupied by brown long-eared bats so we tend to use this room for the things we don’t know what to do with.
“There are items from my father’s room that I couldn’t bear to part with, Christmas decorations and unfinished projects.”
Sue, who runs an energy consultancy business from home with her husband, has a daughter of 16 and a 20-year-old son still living at home.
“Usually it is teenagers who have the messy rooms, but in our house it is mum,” she laughed.
She revealed that she entered the competition, launched by online bed retailer time4sleep.co.uk, in the hope the embarrassment might shame her into clearing it out.
“I do want to tackle it, but it is just a case of not knowing where to start. With the kids, when their rooms are messy, I help them clear up but I will have to do this one on my own.”
Jonathan Warren, owner of Time4Sleep, added: “We’re all guilty of being a bit messy sometimes, but this competition has really opened our eyes to a whole new world of disarray!
“We were inundated with entries so it’s been extremely difficult picking our finalists, but Sue’s room was one that really caught our eye.”
To vote for Sue’s entry, visit their Facebook page and follow the instructions on how to vote.
To view the full list of entrants, visit time4sleep.co.uk
Have you got a messier room? Share your photos via email or share it with us on Twitter.
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