Neat as new pins

Well my DGC are trained to take their shoes off when they come to mine as they tend to be covered in either mud or horse sh*t or both !

I also have a cream stair carpet and my lounge/sitting room is on the first floor.

But I do have a VAX carpet shampoo thingy which is marvellous

Whenever I make one of my feeble attempts to tidy up -usually just before the cleaner's weekly visit, it's why we have one - I can't find anything for ages afterwards. I wonder where people who have pristine houses keep all their kelter, or don't they have any? I'd much rather be doing things with my hoarded material etc. Also, we shouldn't confuse order with hygiene. An earlier post referred to a Spanish home an how tidy it was. Well, I have been shocked during a concert interval loo dash to see that the majority of these women don't bother to wash their hands. Fur coat and no knickers!

Yes Galen, it is normal curtesy to remove your shoes when entering any South Asian home. This is a practice observed throughout the Middle East, South Asia and the Far East, where it is considered unhygienic to wear outdoor shoes indoors. Understandable when you consider that many people in these places sit on the floor, even to eat.

My house is full of 'Grandma's jewels', ie dinks in the table, small handprints on the windows and painted walls, juice spots on the carpet, smudges on the settee and chair seats, heaps of stuff that's "really important, I need it", but I wouldn't have it any other way. They automatically take their shoes off when they arrive, and they know not to have food or drinks anywhere but at the table, but hey, accidents happen!

We have tiled floors, no carpets. So it's not the end of the world if someone comes in with muddy shoes.
We do change shoes when coming in from the chicken run though because we always seem to bring in a little something.
All our adult children except one have carpets so expect people to remove their shoes.
The son who doesn't have carpets lives in India so as per Galen's experience, everyone takes off shoes anyway.
Otherwise tidy but not spotless - we had some visitors in the summer and the man was very fussy and tall . He checked our kitchen and unfortunatey found some mouse and larger droppings on a high shelf which I didn't know about

For the lady that posted with the painful feet. Have you tried 'Crocs', the American shoes? I know they maybe do not look that great but I bought a pair to wear around the house and they really helped my feet.

I have a condition called Plantar something (cannot remember the second word) someone recommended Crocs and they have been comfortable, even though they don't look great. The pain has not been too bad since wearing these at home.

I also find M&S shoes Footglove range very good, a bit pricey but they usually last.

I once came across a motto which I took to heart: a clean house is a sign of a wasted life.

I hate that feeling you get when you walk into one of those pristine, clean and tidy homes but I also hate dirt and mess - something in between is the ideal and that's what I try to aim for. Someone once told me she liked coming to our house because there are lots of interesting 'things' lying about. I'm still puzzling over what these things are - is it the chocolate bar wrapper DH left on the floor by his chair, or the pile of junk mail on the coffee table, or perhaps it's the empty cereal box waiting to go in the recycling?

wendylou - how about 'everything is more important than housework'? My lovely Mum used to say that, mind you her house was dusted EVERY DAY (shock, horror) so I doubt she lived up to that motto!

I have a cream carpet in my lounge which I inherited when I moved to this house 8 years ago. I spot treat the odd stain and take reasonable precautions with TV dinners etc. If I started moaning about shoes on/off etc I would have no friends after a while. Life is too short and there are far more important things than worrying about material things now at my age.

Crocs don't fit and I can't walk in backless shoes. I also need a bar across to keep me from walking out of my shoes.

Plantar fasciitis is what you're looking forcher
dida thanks for the info.

I have cream leather furniture and a pale green carpet.

What a peaceful looking room Galen
Years of farming means we still automatically remove shoes at the front door and put on slippers or go barefoot. It's up to the visitors whether they do or not.

My corner of the room sounds like marelli's

I'm not house proud, it's reasonably clean and tidy.

Planning on redecorating after Christmas so new carpet etc might make me change for a very short time, probably it won't last!

Most of the family coming in to our house automatically take their shoes off but I would never actually ask anyone to do that. We have wooden floors so they're not a problem but I do have a very large rug with a cream background not more than about 18 months that's showing signs of grubbiness. I do like a bit of order but if anyone was to open any cupboard or drawer in this house they would most definitely drown in "stuff" everything is crammed into them and the spare bedroom.
We are pretty untidy people at heart, so I have to force myself to keep on top of things but looking after a 2 year old three and a half days a week makes it hard and after all a home is for living in.

Peaceful until the DGDs come

Luckygirl I'm with you. My house is full of books and papers, flowers, real and dried, a cat, a husband who can't take off his shoes as he has a hip problem so once they are on in the morning, they stay on.

There are cobwebs in the store room and sometimes in the living room too if I fail to notice them. My excuse is that the spiders catch and eat the flies that do spread disease.

What I want from my house is for anyone who comes to feel welcome and relaxed.

My neighbour of many years has just moved and the new people are very, very fussy. I'm not sure I want to be invited over to their pristine palace of utter whiteness, I'd be too scared and would leave feeling bad about myself.

My daughter in law calls herself a " clean freak". The house is always immaculate, but is still very much a home. There's never a fuss if there are spills or stains. She seems to keep on top of the tidying and cleaning, and the children are trained to put stuff back where it belongs.

Galen have you tried Hotter shoes? I need EEE because of previous ankle surgery and they are the only shoes that I find are comfortable. Unfortunately there is not the selection - only around 5 pairs but I choose the lace up each time.

I love (and cling to) this adage, "Tidy house, empty mind!" My mind is, therefore, very full

Sorry. I don't have room in my life to worry about whether people like my house or not. If you want a chat or need a cup of tea drop in anytime. I do like to be tidy but I don't hoover after Christmas dinner before you get to sit down. I don't tidy the cushions when you go to the toilet, and To hang with always having a cloth in my hand to wipe up in case something is spilled. Life is too short.

My house is immaculate because my youngest child moved out and the eldest virtually lives in his bedroom (which is not immaculate). My dear OH and I love tidiness and both tidy as we go so there is never a big sort out to do in one go. We don't even notice we are doing it now. Visitors have said our house is like a 'show home' - but didn't mean it in a good way!

When the children grew up we researched cleaning up the old navy blue sofas and found that the cost of new cream sofas was the same as dyeing or recovering the old so we bought them. That was because the cream sofas were in a sale as only lunatics would buy cream sofas and they were left over after all the sensible people had bought the dark ones. They are absolutely gorgeous and the other day I spilled a whole glass of port over the arm of one. I used both homespun methods and vicious chemicals and cleaned it off.

I don't take my shoes off indoors as I hate slippers and if I go anywhere where there is a 'no shoes' rule I bring a pair of New Look ballet flats with soft soles to wear.

My house is my castle and my haven and I absolutely love it and being in it.

"Only dull women have immaculate houses" says a magnet in my kitchen. It's tidy and clean enough as long as you don't look too closely, and I never did want to be dull....!

We always take off our shoes indoors. It m̶e̶a̶n̶s̶ ̶l̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶h̶o̶u̶s̶e̶w̶o̶r̶k̶ helps keep the house clean and to be honest I hate the thought of walking mud and d̶o̶g̶ ̶c̶r̶a̶p̶ goodness knows what else, through the house.

Misha - I agree with you about cobwebs. I never touch them, just let the spiders get on with their job of trapping mosquitos , flies etc.

Yes! But Hotter are so b-o-r-I-n-g and lace ups don't go well with evening dresses and pearls!
I mean one always has to dress for dinner doesn't one?
Even if it's beans on toast on a tray in front of the box!

Oh, I always wear the full works for dinner, even at the kitchen table
I do find the grease from the chips difficult to get out of my evening gloves however. Perhaps I should use a plate and a knife and fork and not eat them straight from the paper.

I wear shoes indoors, can't wear slippers or none because my feet feel as if they will collapse without shoes. At school we had 'indoor' and 'outdoor' shoes and I still change into indoor shoes at home.