Are you house proud?

I've got lovely connotations with 'house proud'. I think of my gran, housecoat & rollers singing through her morning of scrubbing, mangling & polishing in a whirl of yellow dusters.
She'd had such a hard life in so many ways but was marvellously house proud of her tiny council bungalow.

Yes and not so much!
I’m proud of the house itself and how, through hard work and careful planning, DH and I were able to afford it. On a small development, tradespeople etc often comment on it.
Inside is comfortable, clean but certainly not pristine, but I do like a place for everything, as the saying goes.
I keep on top of re-decoration and the house and garden are well maintained and in a saleable condition should that be on the cards at some point in time - then it will be arranged like a show house (was DD1’s job).
I’ve never had a cleaner here (30+years) but I’m nowhere near as thorough as I was - cleaning through the house in one go. I had a bit of a blitz earlier this year and gave a lot of unnecessary stuff away, but there’s still more to do, especially in the loft and garage.

Um...as someone who gets to wear the Domestic Goddess crown very infrequently ( but tries hard in between times) could someone tell me what 'bottomed' a room means please.

No. Sterile, empty houses freak me out.

I may be wrong*Naughtyneine*, but I think it means a ‘super’ spring clean - cleaning out cupboards, wiping skirting boards and tops of doors, etc

I take it to mean cleaning every inch of the room or house.

downtoearth

Kitty whenever you have posted a picture of your home it looks warm and welcoming,I am sure it is a compliment.

👏👏

I used to be very houseproud, unbearably so, but as I have got older, I have come to realise that having a day out here and there, or spending time in the garden or just sitting reading a book is more important than dusting and vacuuming every day. I do like things tidy and I hate clutter, but when you live alone, how dirty can your home get. I have a central heating system that has a dust and allergy filter and when the engineer services it every year he always says, you have a very clean home as there is hardly any dust in the filter.

If I ever cannot flick around with the duster and vacuum my home myself I will employ a cleaning company, but for now, my home gets cleaned when it needs it.

I'm not houseproud but my home is clean and tidy'ish. My mother suffered from mental illness for most of my childhood and she actually spent some time in an institution.

One of the manifestations of her illness was obsessive cleaning which superseded everything else. I would have to move from room to room as she cleaned each in turn and I dare not make a mess (which could be simply getting a book out) or speak.

Days out were frequently shelved and I don't remember her ever attending a school play or even coming to see me when I was once in hospital because she hadn't completed the "ritual".

I'm sure I subconsciously decided at a young age not to be like her. You're far more likely to find me tending my vegetable garden or walking my rescue dogs in the nearby woods.

It means cleaning from the top of the house to the bottom, it is what we oldies used to call spring cleaning in the 40's and 50's. Rugs were hung on the clothes line and battered to death. Everything was cleaned to an inch of it's life. Net curtains were soaked in Dolly Blue to make them look whiter. Ah, the good old days of outside toilets and tin baths by the fire and the old dolly tub and wringer.

Naughtyneine

Um...as someone who gets to wear the Domestic Goddess crown very infrequently ( but tries hard in between times) could someone tell me what 'bottomed' a room means please.

Is it a north country expression? I’m sure my late Yorkshire mother in law used to say it.

I loved it when she came to stay and said, ‘Anything I can do to help?’

I think she packed her own dusters. 😂

I used to be convinced that all tidy houseproud people were very boring, but I eventually discovered that wasn’t always true. I do dislike very neat houses, though. I think you should be able to tell a person’s interests and lifestyle the moment you walk in. A room without books and papers is dead.

Needless to say, I am not houseproud. I’m reasonably clean. I’m tidier than I used to be, but still not very. I like a healthy mess.

No, I'm not household in the traditional sense. As long as my kitchen and bathroom are clean and the rest of the house is fairly dust free and the carpets are hoovered I am quite happy. If you visit me, you'll get a warm welcome.

petra

^dull women have immaculate houses^
That makes my piss boil 😡

Haha, it's meant to be light-hearted! I love how it always gets that kind of reaction from certain people though

petra

^dull women have immaculate houses^
That makes my piss boil 😡

And mine. Its the excuse of the I'm to busy to clean, or the lazy. I can understand untidy though not for me but chaos and dirt, no.

I like it reasonably clean and tidy, but I’m not endlessly going around dusting or wiping surfaces with Germ-O-Kill.

I will admit to having a bit of a blitz when guests are due, which entails making sure I have my glasses on so I can see the dust!

rafichagran

petra

dull women have immaculate houses
That makes my piss boil 😡

And mine. Its the excuse of the I'm to busy to clean, or the lazy. I can understand untidy though not for me but chaos and dirt, no.

Like I said, it's meant to be light-hearted! People always take it too seriously...'ooh, my house isn't dirty and I'm not dull'!

I'm trying to be house proud, whatever that means, but it's getting more difficult now.

Yes I'm house proud and always have been but no one ever feels uncomfortable when they come to visit or stay.

We've just put our house on the market and the estate agent said it's an estate agent's dream and has described it as 'immaculate' and 'in move in condition'.

Ah...so I now think I'd better relinquish any thoughts of being described as house proud in the sense it's been described here. It's a happy home and certainly not either filthy or very untidy. Below probably explains it more clearly. Storm is 5 and the puppy is 3 months at this point.

I could hear the conversation between Storm and Finlay as they sat at the top of the stairs and watched me remove a cat sized load of fluff off each step with that fabulous tool thing that every pet household should have...it went like this..
Finlay....Bro what is she doing?

Storm...stay put little one... It's called housework ..she is either ill or more likely people are expected anytime soon. Either way she is dangerous....she hates housework and avoids it if she can and would much rather be in the garden or baking.

Finlay....why does she do it then?

Storm....because she likes to think that she is some sort of domestic goddess in the eyes of the people that come and visit.

Finlay...isn't she?

Storm..you have a lot to learn... Never venture into a cupboard and if anyone opens a drawer...run for your life. My advice to you today is lie low... Don't be tempted to sink those baby teeth into her heel when she is on her hands and knees scrubbing the bathroom floor. Take a leaf out of Ned's book and pretend to be unconscious as sure as eggs are eggs it's going to get messy and block your ears when she screams...'How can a dog shed SO much hair and not be bald'

Finlay....eek...she actually screams?

Storm.... That's just the beginning...if it really goes tits up she starts muttering words no self respecting fur shedding...mud spreading..tissue shredding dog ever wants to hear.

Finlay...oooh what's that?

Storm.... Where is the nearest Dogs Trust?

Finlay... How long does all this last?

Storm... Until all the visitors have gone... Then she reverts to her usual slutty housewife role and we get patted and cuddled and given treats galore.

Finlay...I think I'll just creep in to this corner and look cute.

Storm....wise move... I'm just going to creep upstairs to the bedroom and shred a few more tissues before all hell breaks loose.

I'm off round to Absent's, sounds like my sort of place

Naughtyneine

Um...as someone who gets to wear the Domestic Goddess crown very infrequently ( but tries hard in between times) could someone tell me what 'bottomed' a room means please.

A granny of mine used to ‘turn out’ a room. When she had dementia I well remember her fretting that she needed to go and ‘turn out’ a room in a house she hadn’t lived in for 30-odd years.

I’m not houseproud, I love my home with its books, paintings etc. but it’s regarded as rather eccentric by some people. I’ve inherited old furniture and I think shabby chic is the best description. The odd cobweb doesn’t bother me or the clutter, but I set to when guests arrive.

One friend’s house is immaculate as well as my BIL/SIL and I do prefer my cosy nest I must say.
Good job we are all different.

Oh Naughtyneine, I like your style! Absolutely Fabulous

PGTowers here in Wales and Mi Casa in Spain are at their cleanest on the day I trot to the airport back and forth!

Other than that they get dust, hoover and damp mop fortnightly with bathrooms and kitchen wiped down every few days depending on how much use they’ve had…a quick wipe is so much easier than a scrub if you leave it too long!

I am very tidy with things put away if not in use as I don’t like too much clutter. Clothes are in the linen basket or the wardrobe and on me or the washing line at any given time. Certainly not draped on furniture or dropped on the floor like my DGD does😱

I have as many friends cleaner/tidier than me as I do dirtier/messier but I find it makes no difference to the welcome we give or receive and why should it?