Are you house proud?

I'm very proud of my house and garden. Some people when they visit rave about it whilst others are silent, probably because they don't like it. Neither my DH or I like cleaning but he does nearly all of it because my asthma doesn't like cleaning products. He sweeps or vacuums every day but major cleaning is only done when we are having visitors. this is fairly often so it's not as it sounds.

I certainly wouldn't remove the dog beds. We only have one dog now and she has never learned to sit on furniture - which is quite good. it means I don't have to change the cushion covers so often. She's the first of many that have not slept on the settee or on our bed.

We have many pots and pictures. About twice a year the pots are all taken down and dusted. I should do it more often because they sparkle when they have been dusted.

At the moment we are concentrating on getting the garden right. We've had a lot of rain this year and, combined with short periods of sun and heat, everything, but mainly the weeds, has gone beserk.

Monica your post reminded me of a time when we were staying in Pembrokeshire in the early 70s. Our friend wanted to buy some special fowl and we went along for the ride. The breeders were living in a caravan next to a ruined building that they were doing up. There was a baby in cot, laying on a plastic mattress, wearing a stinky nappy. We were offered tea or coffee which we all refused. The various fowl were living in very good conditions and were obviously healthy.

I'm just packing up to leave the house in France, so admittedly it is tidy, but it shows my minimalist approach. Enough seating for 8 or 9 of us, a TV, a lamp, a floor mopped every day, throws on the sofas, what else do we need? It's not posh, the furniture is rustic, but it's pristine!

I love my home and love keeping it neat and tidy. I clean both bathrooms and the kitchen daily. Hoovering gets done about 3 times a week and a whizz round with the carpet sweeper on other days . But I do love my collection of items I have collected over the 54 years I have been married, even if it is a lot of dusting. Yet my home is always welcoming I think, kettle and homemade cake always ready. As there is just the two of us now it's easy to maintain. I love ironing bed linen as well.

This thread has me worried as not long ago a visitor told me My house was 'lovely like a museum or something'. Didn't think much of it at the time but now I'm wondering if it's not welcoming. I am almost compulsively tidy but not at all interested in housework. I do what I have to do and had probably cleaned around before said visitor arrived but am not at all houseproud - another thing to worry about!

We have a family member who goes to extremes in being tidy and having a clean apartment - it's small but spotless! It's difficult to feel comfortable when we visit her.
Although I have a lot of 'stuff' it's on shelves or in cupboards or drawers. The stuff on shelves never gets dusted and today I fetched down a storage box from the top of a wardrobe and the lid was covered in dust. But I have to be tidy, so I don't leave piles of things on the floor or on the table or worktops. I put all the stuff away. Unfortunately this sometimes means I can't find what I am looking for!

I would LOVE a clean and tidy house. It seemed easier when the kids were small and when I had a full-time job - I don't think I had time to mess it up. It has gone downhill since we both retired. There doesn't seem to be the incentive to do it properly.

DH is a serial hoarder and all the cupboards/shelves and floors in his bedroom, study, attic, mini-cellar etc are a mess. He has encroached in my study and that is now collecting his stuff. I lost the wiill to do much about it around 20 years ago - he is simply furious if I throw anything out that he regards as "his" or even "ours", it isn't worth the argument. I gave him certain household chores when he retired. One was the hoovering after I developed a chronic back condition, but I could count on one hand the number of times he got out the Vac in a year.

I do keep on top of bathrooms and kitchen worktops. He doesn't notice they need doing or when I have done them. He doesn't even mow the lawns unless I tell him to. The garden too is always cluttered.

We used to have visitors but not any more, though lots have moved or passed away.

I hate the situation. That said, I am not "houseproud" nor wouldn't ever be so cos I fortunately have plenty of other things in my life. He doesn't even have any hobbies any more, and is perfectly happy not bothering.

I often wonder if he is ill, fed up with the marriage, but he isn't either of those things and has been much the same for the past 52 years. His mother warned me before marriage to be "prepared for a lot of waiting". I wasn't and am still not. I think it's very selfish of him.

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.

I’m much the same as you rafichagran if somethings needs cleaning it bugs me until I do it, my home is small in any case so I keep on top of things, in fact I have to or it would be chaos.
Friends who drop in always welcome.

I think it all depends on who lives in the house. When my extremely untidy DH was alive, I was constantly keeping chaos at bay. Now, living alone, I can often feel a bit proud of the way the house looks.
DD is married to a man who admits to OCD, so their house is a bit too perfect, while DSis married to a girl for whom a tidy house isn't a priority.

I'm nowhere near as active with the cleaning nowadays as I used to be. I'm limited with hoovering as I have a lung condition so OH does it sometimes and I have a robot vacuum which helps. I keep it all quite tidy though and have drastically reduced the amount of ornaments when we moved 4 yrs ago.
Atm I'm trying to follow the Flylady System to get more on top of things. With 2 dogs it gets quite hairy at times.

Being house proud means taking joy in maintaining a clean and organized home. It's about creating a welcoming and comfortable space for yourself and others, reflecting care and pride in your living environment.

I moved home from rented place to rented place many times when I was younger and value having a calm, clean, tidy, elegant house which makes me happy. I don’t spend every minute cleaning but have a daily routine of smaller and larger jobs which ensure the house is always at its best. Once done I can stop being the housekeeper and enjoy being the lady of the house. Luckily the other half does his bit and is, indeed, even more of a tidy freak than I am.

We don’t mind a bit of chaos and when the DGD came to stay the house was very messy indeed. But that sort of superficial disarrangement is easily put right. Her parents feared it would have taken hours to sort everything out but a quarter of an hour saw all righted.

As for those who say a messy house makes for an interesting person and vice versa I answer from observation that it really depends on the person. Some people can manage to be out and about, well travelled, engaged in all sorts of activities and yet none of it touches the sides and they will tell you about the airport queues they endured or the lovely cheese on toast they consumed rather than anything of wit, observation or insight and others could make cheese on toast hilarious and fascinating. It’s not always connected to how tidy houses are, and, in fact, a couple of women I know who are interesting have messy houses because their other halves are hoarders, non contributing and are slobs who undermine efforts to improve life.

I polished the DH’s Family silver yesterday. It, as Marie Condo would say, ‘sparked joy’.

I do have a bit of OCD however I rely on a cleaner to clean my home and there are certain parts I would like to be able to clean myself, before my stroke I went into every nook and cranny and I just have to live with her cleaning , she is such a nice young woman and I don’t want her to leave for such triviality so I take deep breaths and carry on smiling 😇😇

I think you misunderstood. I think she means it as a compliment.

Not wishing to be rude but 'one of our cleaners'??? I have a cleaner who comes once a week and I do bits in between. I like the house to look nice (or the bits visitors see anyway!) but wouldn't call myself houseproud

I am superficially tidy (cupboard interiors would not stand inspection) but so miss the mess DH created wherever he was in the house despite having a study where he was supposed to keep all his stuff. A quiet, tidy house doesn’t really feel like a home to me now though I look after it carefully (and expensively!). The only compensation is knowing that things are where I left them.

I’ve not been very well for a couple of months but have managed to keep up with the housework - or so I thought…

Got a message from DD this morning, ‘Mum, I have a day off on Wednesday so will come round and give your house a good blitz!’ 😐😮

It’s only a two bedroom bungalow and I thought It was pretty clean and tidy. 🤔

Bless her cotton socks! ❤️😮

Just a thought. I hope the avid cleaners amongst us are aware of the health risks associated with using some popular spray cleaning products. Many are perfumed and contain for example, VOCs which can be damaging to lungs if used regularly, particularly in poorly ventilated rooms, and this is well researched.

Many cleaning products seem to be in spray form now. I have switched to more eco, and hopefully safer products and use less frequently and more sparingly. That’s my excuse anyway 😀

What a lovely DD Merlot.

GrannySomerset I am the opposite - all my cupboards are beautifully and carefully organised! All the mess is on show here ad it hasn't yet made it into the cupboards. I think most people probably think that I am just super- messy. I even have a tick-bix list of what's on the top shelves in my grocery cupboard (so I don't have to climb up)! It says things like 1kg Brazil nuts, 2x 600g chia seeds, 4x500g pistachios etc.

Lucky you Merlot with your dil. Hope you’re soon feeling more the thing
A number of us have been less than top form recently / but we’re stiill here 🌞

merlotgran

I’ve not been very well for a couple of months but have managed to keep up with the housework - or so I thought…

Got a message from DD this morning, ‘Mum, I have a day off on Wednesday so will come round and give your house a good blitz!’ 😐😮

It’s only a two bedroom bungalow and I thought It was pretty clean and tidy. 🤔

Bless her cotton socks! ❤️😮

Wow! Hell would freeze over before my DDS would offer to do that.Sit back and enjoy her helping you out.😃

Wow! Hell would freeze over before my DDS would offer to do that.Sit back and enjoy her helping you out

I’d bake a cake but she’s on a strict diet to lose a few lbs before their Summer Ball! 🤣

Oh merlotgran, how lovely of her!