Are you house proud?

"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

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.

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.

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.

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 !

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

...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 🙄

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.

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

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

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

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" 🙂

V3ra

^...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 🙄

My MIL did the cushion thing too. When you came down from the toilet she would rush upstairs to 'tidy' it.

My MIL did the cushion thing too. When you came down from the toilet she would rush upstairs to 'tidy' it.

Oh that's even worse Bumface !
Was she expecting you to have left drips on the seat? 😅

I find it really amusing when there are discussions on design programmes as to how to place the cushions and how to slice the hand down the cushion for an indentation ... I mean, do people really notice those things...

Having spent many years living in the military life I’ve always been house proud. Better to be house proud than a dirty house. I used to do march outs in military and some ppls houses were shocking and one of the worst was a health visitor never forget that house all these years later. My house is clean and tidy until the grandkids turn up lol

Kittylester, imho, your cleaner has given you a left-handed compliment? She praised you and criticised you at the same time.

My daughter is also very houseproud. Two of her partner’s friends, both males, gave her a left handed compliment. Told her that her house looks like a show room but it was like walking into a John Lewis store.

She used to live with a female house mate who was very messy, chaotic and who never ever clean the flat or clean after herself.

I have never been a houseproud person. Our house is cleaner and tidier nowadays simply because I am no longer working and have more time to clean.

This thread has been an education! As a HPP (house proud person) I was unaware that I wasn't to have artwork, books, houseplants or collections of any sort or in any way try to create a cosy welcoming ambiance.
Makes me dizzy with delight to think of how interesting I shall become when I do away my cleaning routine!
Didn't realise that I only meant to be living this way to impress people either!

absent

Nope, but I am friendly and make good coffee.

All round to your house then!!

I have dipped in and out of this thread. I must confess I never realised until I was following this how het up so many women still get about how their house looks (or not) or how clean it is( or not).

How my house looksa and how clean it is, is based on what I can live in and feel comfortable in, and while I do notice the extremes of house care, I can remember, in my baby sitting circle days, baby sitting occasionally for someone where I quietly took my own mug to drink out of because the lack of cleanliness and tidyness was so extreme, I am otherwise quite happy to accept other people's houses as them living the way that suits them.

As I said, in these days of equality I am amazed how defensive so many women are, even though they share their homes with children and partners, who also presumably have some input into how the house looks. I have DS down for the weekend. There is a sitting room chair with a pair of socks under it and a sweater abandoned in it. Still it is only until Monday.

We had our daughter and three young children living with us for several years, and if I hadn’t have lowered my standards, I’d have gone mad. But I don’t think I’ve ever gone back to my obsessive tidiness, which is probably a good thing.

I have standards I too hate the expression dull women have immaculate houses. No I do not have an immaculate home but what I do have is a clean one. I love our home it’s not a show home by any means it’s a big house that’s lived in. No I do not have a cleaner I love to do things myself although can take some time to get round life for me is not a race. I would think the cleaner was giving a compliment in her own way, meaning it’s lovely and welcoming.

I am, but unfortunately DH is not, he is the untidiest person I know.
I have given up trying.

NO I run a home not a show house My sister on the other hand is a slave to being house proud . I have far more friends and visitors

My house is clean enough to be healthy, and dirty enough to be happy!