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Mess how much can you tolerate?

(91 Posts)
Sallywally1 Tue 08-Sept-20 12:24:05

I think I am somewhere in the middle, I don’t like mess and clutter, but am sometimes too lazy to clear it up. I also work three days a week. Today I have hoovered, cleaned bathroom and did a bit of light polishing. This afternoon I am off out, enough is enough! I also do all the shopping and most of the cooking. OH is retired and is better than I am at clearing up. (My job makes me feel exhausted even the three days I do now).

My late MIL was a ferocious housekeeper and her house was like a showroom. On the other end of the spectrum I know someone who was evicted because the dirt and mess in the house had got out of control it was horrible.

How do others feel about mess vs pristine?

win Wed 09-Sept-20 10:20:22

I like tidy including all cupboards, even the "messy" drawer in the kitchen that everyone has, must be tidy. I clean weekly, and do not worry about a bit of dust, but hoover daily. I live alone but have a partner visiting daily. I cannot stand a mess or untidiness at all, slightly OCD they tell me, handles have to face the same way, tins with names forward facing and son on. I love OCD people in my home.

Chimaera Wed 09-Sept-20 10:18:15

I follow The Organised Mum Method - or try to - for the housework. Basically a rota for different rooms on different days, different levels of cleaning. It's made me less tolerant of mess and untidiness! I used to be quite relaxed about it but at least now I can lay my hands on documents etc!

Craftycat Wed 09-Sept-20 10:17:47

Having had DH home since March I am actually getting immune to mess. The house is a tip & the drive is like Steptoe's yard.
Oh please let him go back to work soon!!!

Furret Wed 09-Sept-20 10:16:48

Can’t stand mess and clutter!

Yellowmellow Wed 09-Sept-20 10:16:17

My mum always used to say 'housework will be here long after lm gone. Housework never stopped her going out and her house was pristine. I like a clean and tidy house but not in any routine. It is cleaned thoroughly every week and bacterial wipes the rest of the week. Who invented them??? Genius and saves so much time ??

Luckygirl Tue 08-Sept-20 22:33:24

Mess! - what mess!? grin

Chewbacca Tue 08-Sept-20 22:09:36

How much mess can I tolerate ? Any amount if made by my grandchildren

Exactly the same as Lucca!
The only exception is: the bed must be made before I leave the house in the morning can't bear an unmade bed and the bathroom and kitchen has to be immaculately clean. Other than that, I'm a slut!

Oopsminty Tue 08-Sept-20 21:56:22

I'm very messy

Bosses at work used to despair at the state of my desk. But I genuinely couldn't work with everything neat and tidy

Einstein possibly said this

If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?

Esspee Tue 08-Sept-20 21:50:56

diygran. Love your charity shop motto.?

Curlywhirly Tue 08-Sept-20 21:44:44

Quite houseproud, so I clean and tidy daily. Don't mind the grandchildren making a mess, happy to leave it until they go home. We have a dog and I am forever cleaning up after her, and I clean my son's house too (he's single). Good job I quite enjoy housework!

V3ra Tue 08-Sept-20 21:10:14

My husband is an untidy person, I'm not.
Many years ago in a fit of temper I scooped up all the papers and clutter he'd accumulated in the lounge and threw it away.
Some time later I needed to apply for a passport in my married name. Could not find our marriage certificate anywhere.
Eventually we remembered he'd last had it out to nominate me for his death in service benefits at work.
Ooops...
I had to order a replacement copy to get my passport. My, how he laughed ?
From then on I've put all his clutter in a box for sorting, not in the bin ?

Cabbie21 Tue 08-Sept-20 18:24:39

Kitchen and bathroom are clean enough, and I put the Shark round the floors Regularly, but I don’t dust very often. It means moving so much stuff.
I like the place to be tidy but lived in. As nobody is coming into my house at the moment I don’t worry too much about the state of it.

sodapop Tue 08-Sept-20 17:27:26

My work desk was always cluttered, used to drive my colleague mad when she took over from me.
I don't mind a bit of mess around me whilst I am relaxing,books, magazines, tablet, chocolate etc. I always tidy things away before I go to bed.

Fennel Tue 08-Sept-20 17:11:08

I'm another one who hates clutter. I try to put everything back in it's place before moving on to the next task. When I was working I was the only person in our office who always had a clear desk. I suppose I'm neurotic about it, can't think if my mind is cluttered.
Hate cleaning though, husband used to do the cleaning, now we have help.

TwiceAsNice Tue 08-Sept-20 17:08:12

I give the flat a big clean every Friday, changing bed, comprehensive bathroom/kitchen clean, floors mopped etc. Other days floors get swept/vacuumed as needed, and I tidy things away every day. It’s not pristine but it is clean and mostly tidy. I can stand a bit of untidiness but not dirt.

ginny Tue 08-Sept-20 16:54:10

I like tidy and uncluttered so put things away as I go. Loos and basins must be clean and no bits showing on floors , carpets and work tops.
Otherwise, jobs get done as required.
No problem with toys etc when DGC are here but they are expected to help tidy up a bit before they leave.

Jaxjacky Tue 08-Sept-20 15:34:31

Kitchen always clean with, other than the odd cup or glass on drainer, everything put away. Bathrooms cleaned regularly, especially toilets. Living room, we both have ‘our corner’ mine with odd shoes, magazines and other ‘papers’ it will get to a point where I tidy it. His...well, it’s his, I can’t see most of it, so up to him.

Grandma70s Tue 08-Sept-20 15:24:00

I much prefer some mess and clutter to pristine. You sometimes see houses where the rooms are so tidy they are more or less empty. Where are the books, papers and magazines? What do these people do all day? More tidying and polishing, I suspect. I had an incredibly houseproud aunt. My brother said he believed she even polished the soap. Needless to say, she was also very boring. I also once had a boyfriend who arranged his pens and pencils in order of height on his desk. He didn’t last long.

On the other hand, houses do need to be more or less clean.

Lucca Tue 08-Sept-20 15:23:22

How much mess can I tolerate ? Any amount if made by my grandchildren

H1954 Tue 08-Sept-20 15:21:30

I tend to do what I feel like doing at the time to be honest. However, I am stringent with hygiene, so the bathroom, kitchen surfaces, light switches door handles are always kept clean (even prior to Covid 19). The bed is always made and turned down soon after getting up in the morning, OH cleans the windows inside, I dust, we both hoover (depends on what's happening otherwise), my sewing room is my domain and gets a good clean after a project is completed, OH keeps his workshop tidy, gardening is shared, but why oh why is there only me who can use the iron???? Can't grumble, OH is a little treasure ?

FindingNemo15 Tue 08-Sept-20 15:14:26

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!

trustgone4sure Tue 08-Sept-20 15:03:49

Dh does most of the housework,and he is reasonably good at it.
I tend to keep the house tidy though.
He does however drive me mad as he doesn`t put the tops back on bottles/jars properly and inevitably things end up on the kitchen floor.

tanith Tue 08-Sept-20 14:54:32

I do like tidy and I don’t like clutter as others have said a place for everything. My house is small and I like it clean and tidy.

paddyanne Tue 08-Sept-20 14:26:24

I 'm not excessively tidy but I dont have things around that need dusted daily.My house has a pile of magazines either on the coffee table or the floor beside the sofa and stuff on the stairs to be taken up when I'm going.I dont let anyone work in the kitchen because I like things put where I can find them .I think thats fair. My mother was excessively houseproud ,my daughter had OCD and was even more obsessive than my mum .

craftyone Tue 08-Sept-20 14:24:18

Tidy (ish) I do love it after I have sparkle cleaned my kitchen but it doesn`t last that long. I do try and leave the kitchen nice when I go up to bed, only me so no else makes it messy