Are you house proud?

No. Life is far too interesting to be filled with house-proudnesss. What needs to be clean for hygiene purposes is clean. The rest has to fit around our lives rather than us fitting around its smartness. It's where we live not where we are trying to impress anyone else.

DD2 calls it "organised chaos" 🙂

I dont think I'm houseproud but I do like things done my way.Beds for example ,I dont let anyone else make a bed the duvet has to be at a certain length the pillows must be arranged the right way with the openings away from the mirror and facing the window.My kitchen is MY kitchen

OMG that’s “house proud” - with a vengeance - obsessional even!

As a child my mother always said my aunt was house proud, it was said in such a way that I thought it must be a terrible thing to be.
I wouldn’t say that I’m actually house proud, I have a cleaner, and I like my home, and love colour, so I’m always moving things around and buying accessories.
I have a friend who lives in total chaos, she has a cleaner but I don’t think the poor woman knows where to begin, I couldn’t live like that.

I dont think I'm houseproud but I do like things done my way.Beds for example ,I dont let anyone else make a bed the duvet has to be at a certain length the pillows must be arranged the right way with the openings away from the mirror and facing the window.My kitchen is MY kitchen I can put my hand on anything in it at any given time,worktops are kept clear as I cook a lot and like the space to use so all appliances live in the utility room.
I've always been busy ,jogged before breakfast worked full time ,took the kids with me to work from very early on.Liked everything organised and it has stayed that way for 49 years.We do have books under tables and magazines on them but cups get washed and put away and I hate clutter.No .or rather very few things that are for ornamental reasons.Its just who I am ,I dont keep things I dont use ,clothes get recycled regularly sometimes with the tags still on them because I like change .
Everyone is welcome here though and we often have 10 or 12 for Sunday dinner and upwards of 20 at Christmas .Its a home,maybe not chintzy or carpeted but its still homely and a friendly space where neighbours pop in for a coffee and a blether at least once a week . I've never had a cleaner because I like to look after us myself

Oh, PinkCosmos, what a nice poem, I have a lump in my throat!

Not being a Brit, I'm not sure if the term 'house proud' is a compliment or an insult!

We certainly take pride in our house and garden, but not at the expense of comfort and leisure time. I have a SIL who keeps her home like a magazine house, but I find it a bit uncomfortable to stay there.

...the hostess hovers round you in case you do anything that might sully there pristine perfection

My husband's grandmother was like this.
Sitting on the sofa, if you stood up to go to the toilet by the time you got back she'd plumped your cushion up and straightened it 🙄

Luckygirl3

A friend of mine has a house that is immaculate - it is like a show home. I always sit there praying that I will not spill my tea! Not somewhere you can relax at all. I find it chilling and off-putting.

Sounds like Hyacinth Bucket's (sorry, Bouquet's) neighbour

I know as grans we are a bit older now but this has always stuck with me.

When my three children were small and we lived in a small terraced house, my mum gave me a plaque with the last verse of this poem on it. My mum was quite houseproud. When I was a baby she used to put me in the garden for hours whilst she cleaned the house. Maybe she was trying to tell me something whilst being kind at the same time

Song for a Fifth Child (Babies Don’t Keep) by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Mother, oh mother, come shake out your cloth!
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking!

Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby, loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo.)

Oh, cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
But children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust, go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby. Babies don’t keep.

I hope I haven't broken any copyright rules !

A friend of mine has a house that is immaculate - it is like a show home. I always sit there praying that I will not spill my tea! Not somewhere you can relax at all. I find it chilling and off-putting.

No, to quote my Mum my house was always 'clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be homely'.
However, when I started to work FT -out by 8am home by 6pm sometimes later-I found I was doing the housework at the weekend so employed a cleaner, which meant we had to be tidier etc so appearances did improve
I retired in 2017 and still have a cleaner- I also have my food delivered ( started it regularily during the pandemic) and in true Urms style proudly declare myself a member of her lazygran team.

Calendargirl

^We are still storing guitars, trumpets and boxes of stuff that I wish the boys would take^

I think many parents do this, I have a friend who is cluttered with her adult daughter’s ‘stuff’. The daughter has her own home now. If I were her mum, I would say, “Please come and sort through your ‘stuff’, and either take it to your home, or get rid of it”.

Surprising how quickly this clarifies if they really need this ‘stuff’. I think often it’s the parents who can’t bear to out these reminders of the past actually.

We’ve still got quite a bit of dds’ stuff, although they’ve both had their own homes for some years now, but then we have rather more storage space than either of them. So we don’t mind.

Ultimately I dare say they’ll be the ones to have to get rid of it all once dh and I have popped our clogs. I’ve already told them to get a house clearance firm in - having of course removed anything they want, or anything valuable.

"What does steam clean even mean?" We employed cleaners on the eve of a move a couple of houses ago, for a thorough last minute clean which involved some steam implement which reached the unreachable parts of tiles in kitchen and bathrooms. We wanted to leave the house immaculate for the incoming people. Unfortunately the vendors of the house we were buying didn't do the same for us

My cleaner is due today and he can get on with the jobs I hate doing while I attend to my business and make money.

My rule is that if a thing doesnt bring me money or pleasure then I dont do it.

NO! I'm definitely not house proud - though I'd love to be but with a scientist and young people in and out there's little chance and I have to admit I prefer the company than a gleaming home

if you are a bit of a clumsy clot, like I am, such houses are terrifying.

Remember Mrs Bucket's neighbour?

I can never quite appreciate complete minimalism, I'm inclined to agree with a comment I read from India Knight who when faced with it in a friend's house had to suppress her inner thought "where's all your stuff?" Having said that I don't like unnecessary clutter either. My preference is for a house to look like a home and reflect it's owners to some extent. I'm not drawn to rooms that look sterile and devoid of character. We gave our house a makeover last year opting for bolder colours, my kitchen is aubergine which sets off the white units, the greys from the previous owner have been banished. I like colour in cushions and throws as well. Yes I'm houseproud I think, I couldn't live in a mucky messy house.

But some homes where the chatelaine is house proud are unwelcoming because keeping the house in perfect condition is the most important thing

I have been in houses where the vacuum cleaner is never put away and is used if only a crumb falls on the floor, carpet and decor are in very pale colours and the hostess hovers round you in case you do anything that might sully there pristine perfection

OK not all, but if you are a bit of a clumsy clot, like I am, such houses are terrifying.

To me being house proud just means you are particular about certain things. Not that your home is unwelcoming.

Winniewit

My s-i-l was extremely house proud. It was like walking into a museum.
She once gave my daughter a biscuit and made her stand over the bin to eat it..

But this, and eazybee’s MIL, is extreme? People with OCD surely? One of my daughter’s has an ex whose mother was like that and it was very unrelaxing to be around her.

My mother-in-law was very houseproud and her homes, including a static caravan holiday home, were always lovely, clean and tidy and apparently welcoming. But they were kept like that at the expense of other people's possessions which were discarded ruthlessly even when kept in their bedrooms; paperwork, study material, books, work in progress,(husband, son and daughter), personal possessions and clothing if left behind, (mine and guests), and it was impossible to leave a newspaper or book open while briefly leaving the room without it being immediately tidied away or thrown in the bin. Likewise with cooking; everything was tidied away the minute your back was turned even if in the middle of creating a meal, and decorating was a nightmare as freshly painted rooms and cupboards were filled before the paint was dry. Rooms were frequently reorganised, including the bedroom you stayed in and your possessions rearranged.

Needless to say she never had a job, most of the meals came out of tins and packets and no-one was expected/allowed to bring any sort of work-related item into the house; she would never have coped with anyone working from home.

rafichagran

I like a clean home and I do not have a cleaner.

My house is not a show home, and the two bedrooms need decorating, the rest is done. I use cleaning sprays and I steam clean the rooms once a week.

I have to admit to not like going to homes that are chaotic and dirty, where the person is proud that they are so 'busy' they do not have time to tidy and clean. They are also a bit superior and they sneer about people who they percieve to have a show home.

I cannot relax if the work tops need cleaning or if the cups I used are not put in the dish washer or cleaned straight away.

I think Kitty's cleaner meant the observation as a compliment, and I am sure her home us welcoming.

What does "steam clean" even mean!?

My s-i-l was extremely house proud. It was like walking into a museum.
She once gave my daughter a biscuit and made her stand over the bin to eat it..

Calendargirl you're right of course - but it is much harder when your adult children are living abroad.
My son took the best part of a day out of a 3 day trip not long ago. He was really intending to visit his sister.
I have spent a day sending photos of stuff (some of which I don't know what it is) for his decisions and info.
You can't remove anything if you don't know what you are offering and I don't want to just skip stuff.

Obviously I know what a guitar is - but had no idea what various electronic parts are - or the TRD Celica skirts (for Gen 7 99-05)!!

We are still storing guitars, trumpets and boxes of stuff that I wish the boys would take

I think many parents do this, I have a friend who is cluttered with her adult daughter’s ‘stuff’. The daughter has her own home now. If I were her mum, I would say, “Please come and sort through your ‘stuff’, and either take it to your home, or get rid of it”.

Surprising how quickly this clarifies if they really need this ‘stuff’. I think often it’s the parents who can’t bear to out these reminders of the past actually.

I have one close relative who never starts cleaning, and one who never stops. The contrast in their homes is remarkable - but I do feel welcome and comfortable in both. I fall in the middle - no routine, but if I see something needs cleaning, I do it, and the kitchen and bathrooms are kept clean.