Mess how much can you tolerate?

I am tidy, DH is not so we live in a kind of compromise with regular blitzes. I can’t cope with chaos but find over-tidy houses sterile and even hostile. We all have our own comfort zone I suppose.

Charleygirl5

My mother was so houseproud we lived in the kitchen. We had a large, airy lounge in my parent's last house but I was never allowed to sit in it and eg read a book.

I like a clean house but I do have a lot of clutter.

Charleygirl5, my mother was exactly the same.
You couldn't put a book or a cup on the coffee table. It was exhausting.
She was absolutely lovely, but such a control freak.
And like you, I've just got too much stuff.
Too many books, too many clothes, too much art stuff, too many shoes.
It doesnt help that the house is small.

Less bothered as I get older. As long as the kitchen and bathrooms are hygienic, there are more important/enjoyable things to do with the time.
Don’t iron any more either - used to iron the kids’ undies

Lofts, not lifts!

I have just cleared my lofts before I get to old to scramble around up there. Bags of children's toys, boxes of memorabilia. Some skipped, some kept to be sorted through more carefully. Three piles, friend, acquaintance, enemy. Friends are kept, acquaintances go to the charity shop (if taking things), enemy thrown away. Now for the rest of the cupboards! I like things to be clean and tidy, so does my husband but he does have a degree of OCD! Bathrooms and kitchens clean, we have dogs so carpets hoovered and cleaned regularly. I get things sorted eventually. I have also just had to clear my parents house and I am in the process of clearing my uncle's house, clutter everywhere. I feel better for having cleared the lifts, tidy house, tidy mind.

I can tolerate clutter if it's temporary but not things left out for months on end. We have enough storage for everything so it all gets put away at some point and the rooms look so much better for being tidy. Husband would leave stuff dumped about indefinitely if left to his own devices so I warn him when I'm in tidying mode. He actually prefers the house to be tidy but it's always me who initiates the tidying.

Findingnemo I wouldn't call it boring but is it not a nuisance not having things to hand? My toaster, coffee grinder, tea and coffee containers, herbs and spices coffee machine etc are all on the worktop within reach.

Cupaffull - the remotes are next to the TV lined up neatly. Minimalist to me means hardly any ornaments, no photos, pot plants or papers hanging around. Cushions tidied at the end of the day. We tend to live in the kitchen where there is only a kettle, Alexa and kettle on show. I am sure people think I am boring!

Thanks but no thanks Namsnanny, two in this house is quite enough!

I clean kitchen and bathroom daily, I also vacuum daily as I have a dog. I feel more at ease if the house is clean and tidy, it helps my anxiety knowing everywhere is clean and tidy.Wish I could ease off a bit.

overthehill

I'd be overstating it if I said my house is pristine, but I do like clean and tidy. I maintain there is no one who would choose to live in a mess over living in clean tidy surrounding. You will get people who say 'life's too short to do cleaning' but what they are really saying is they are too lazy.

Haha, yes, I agree with you.
The house has to be clean in every room, but a bit of untidiness is tolerable, and I do have quite a few books, sometimes in piles on the coffee table, the bedside table, the conservatory ......

Living with one catladyuk
Why do you want one? I can share!

Any more hoarders reading this??

FindingNemo15

We have quite a minimalistic home, but I think that creates more work as things seem to quickly become clutter and have to be put away. My cupboards are another story. As they say out of sight out of mind!

I do wonder where people put "things" in a minimalist home... I mean where do the TV remotes go?

I'm not a slave to cleaning or tidying but given we have longhair cats the vacuum is regularly employed.

I do however like to know where everything is so my cupboards are tidy, as is the fridge.
I wonder what that says about me...messy on the outside and neat within?
Can never have enough storage as my Tupperware drawer will testify.

When the children were at home, clearing up took over my life, and the waft of bleach followed me everywhere. After they left home the house was relatively easy to keep clean and tidy, then I became ill. My husband is messy, and I've joined him. I do try to keep on top of it, but if I'm honest it's grubby and as my husband doesn't see it, I don't / can't really keep it the way I want to.

I wish someone would come and wave a wand and leave me with a timetable to follow to keep on top of it all, I don't seem to be able to, but it costs money, money that we don't have.

In conversation, someone I once knew, said that whenever she went into anyone's house she made a point of visiting the bathroom. In her own words "I judge people by the state of their bathrooms". Her own looked like something from Ideal Home. Everything matched and there were stacks of co-coordinating towels etc. Just made me nervous when I had to go there. Those words still hang around my head when I'm cleaning my bathroom even though I know she won't be judging me anytime soon.

Also, l have a cleaner once a week. She does the complete clean which means l only need to do little things (bathroom, toilet and kitchen) inbetween. As l work it is an absolute godsend.

I like a clean, tidy home. My husband has hoarding tendencies and doesn't bother where he puts things although he does like a tidy home. In early lockdown l sorted the hoard and find the best thing for my sanity is to tidy behind him.

My house is very clean and tidy I don’t like mess or untidiness. Everything has a home and I function much better if I have clean house.

I drive myself totally nuts cos I need the place to be clean & tidy. Everything has to be put away, can't cope with mess. I wish I could be easier going about it all. I have been renovating a house for nearly a year and the rubble, dust, etc has really, really got to me most days. I really need to learn to chill and enjoy my home.

This is my mantra.

Dust if you must but wouldn't it be better
To paint a picture or write a letter
Bake a cake or plant a seed
Ponder the difference between want and need.

Dust if you must, but there's not much time
With rivers to swim and mountains to climb
Music to hear and books to read,
Friends to cherish and life to lead.

Dust if you must, but the world's out there
Sun on your face and wind in your hair.
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain.
This day will not come round again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind
Old age will come and it's not kind.
And when you go – and go you must -
You, yourself, will make more dust

Tidy? Immaculate. Clean? Ah well.....hopefully the aforementioned tidiness gives that impression but.... so, so.

I like a house to look lived in, clean and basically in order, I do most of the cleaning, no big deal maybe 3 hours a week.
OH, anything goes, never throws anything away so it accumulates. I’d post a photo of her “woman cave” but it would get deleted for obscenity, as long as the door can be closed I’ll live with it.

I have a cleaner who is a God send, I like clean, but a bit messy, what I call the lived in look

My DH and I are both a bit OCD about everything looking clean, tidy and elegant. I use the morning to do a rota of cleaning tasks and have a long walk and then, in the afternoon, I can sit like Lady Muck in my palace and read.