Are you houseproud?

I like things clean, but get caught out quite a lot when I discover somewhere that should have been cleaned and hasn't. Don't tend to look up that often.

Shizam... 'pot fell under your bed'... maybe i need some of that to cure me of my constant cleaning!

Very little ironing done here either. I tumble and shake and fold whilst warm. That is fine. dh irons his own shirts for work.

Once when I went to visit my Mum when she was 80 we caught her on a little step ladder cleaning the top of her doors. She made a career out of housework as many of her generation did. Our house it not a show home but our home for living in. The kitchen and bathrooms are cleaned more regularly than spare bedrooms. It is cleaned and tidied each week but I do not have a strict routine for cleaning skirting boards and the like. If I know we are having visitors then I will do a clean before they arrive as I expect most people would do.

Definitely not houseproud and proud of it! Aunt visited years ago when children were small and we told her we lived in squalor but she said it was “happy squalor”.
Recently 2 year old GD was visiting and was fascinated by her uncle’s feet- he likes to go around the house barefoot. We would ask her “ what colour are A’s feet?” She would reply “black”. (I recently bought a steam mop so things might improve).
We do live in the country and DH tends to track mud in from the garden. However, neighbours and friends are always made welcome and come back, so they can’t be too put off by our slovenly habits!

I hoover the bits I can see daily because wood floors pick up dust and dirt easily otherwise it’s a once a year effort! I wonder if she pulls the bed out every day! Don’t ask! Life’s too short!

Are you house proud, what does that actually mean.
Does it mean you dust, vac, wash floors, windows, window frames, paint work, hob and oven, fridge, freezer etc etc etc everyday.
Years ago I worked with a women who actually did all those things everyday.
What fits in with my life is a good clean once a week including the bathroom but my shower as and when I use but I clean my kitchen more often. However I am very tidy putting items away when I have finished with them. It gives the illusion of a clean home.
I certainly don't move beds, wardrobes settees or anything heavy without help.
I personally think to be happy in life do house work to your standard not other peoples.
I iron very rarely.

Some pot fell under bed yesterday. When I went to retrieve, it’s eeks dustsvilles under there. Really need to do it. But that bed is big. Likewise behind dishwasher. Looks grim. Really should get to grips...

Good for you Greengage and good luck!
I think I’m averagely (is that even a word?!) house proud as I like the kitchen and bathrooms clean and the rest reasonable. I like ironing and do it listening to the radio.
Today my DGD (aged 6) asked for a duster and polish as she was going to “get into all the nooks and crannies”!! I hate cleaning DGC’s finger prints off the glass doors ...

Greengage indeed I do. You have already shown what you can do in one area of your life, an area requiring far more willpower than needed, to clear the house, so I am sure that you will succeed in this as well.

These postings have done me no good at all! My blood pressure has raised considerably! I am not houseproud. I hate housework. I am a hoarder so my house is cluttered, untidy and dirty. I hate it. But I am trying to declutter so that I can finally return my house to the lived in home it once was. My husband died over 10 years ago and everything went down hill from there, nothing seemed to matter anymore. Life has changed in the last two years. I have used my willpower to lose weight, and now I have to use my willpower to turn my house around. I have made a start but it could take months if not years. Wish me luck.

Not house proud. More of the 'manyana' type. I took Mary Berry's book of household hints and tips out of the library, and have had it re-issued twice, but still at page 11! I really do want to read it!

Response for Saggi. For me it's 'all about' the feel good factor. In an un-ironed garment I would feel and look scruffy. Also I just love the sensation of smooth sheets. Tried the alternative. Awful. I just iron away as I watch the telly and don't find it either onerous or any sort of chore. I'm a little curious as to why you do the deed for weddings and funerals. Surely it either matters or it doesn't? Interestingly my children say they love coming to stay because I iron their garments. Both are totally able and equipped but are prepared to sacrifice appearance for laziness - their words, not mine. Funny old life but I enjoy it.

I do like to know roughly where everything is in my flat. I get quite distressed if I realise I'm unable to locate something. I have four huge, walk in cupboards full of stuff, so its quite a job to keep track of stuff if I'm not vaguely organised.

don't think I've ever hoovered under my sofa! I do keep the kitchen very clean though.

Hi, I too like a lived-in house. To me that says welcome etc etc. However, I have to admit staying at an in-laws house for several weeks. One day I counted how many times the vacuum was out because I couldn't believe it needed to come out so many times when there was no-one home. FOUR times that machine came out.!!!!!! No, we didn't feel welcome. who would?

Im not a keen cleaner either. Dh vacuums much more thoroughly.
But when the GC play hide and seek and emerge from under beds convered in dust its a bit embarrassing!
But I don't dislike ironing and hate wearing creased clothes so I do do most garments (not underwear or socks) and I do teatowels so they can be nicely folded in the drawer. But not towels.

Me too Saggy

I don't iron although I do own one AND a steam cleaner. My OH who does not live with me, has his shirts and bedlinen laundered at the local valeting service and suits, trousers and other clothes dry cleaned but then, he's a City professional who dresses for the job. I, on the other hand, am retired and my City suits are long gone. I only iron that which absolutely needs ironing. Most materials don't.

Last year my DH cousin came to visit from S.Africa. They slept in our spare room (which has two plugs near the built in dressing table.) She took great delight in telling me that she had found the plug behind the bed for her hair dryer. I was mortified, as I only vacuum under the bed every now and then. Needless to say there was a mighty pile of fluff where she had been searching.

My sofa is on very low block legs so no dust could possibly get under it as it's 1/2" off the carpet.
I have a cordless vacuum so it takes no more than 15 mins to do the whole house excluding stairs which get done weekly. I pull out the 4 opaque boxes from under my bed which house my handbags, spare linen, some summer clothes etc and vac there weekly and wipe boxes with a cloth. My 'thing' is having clean windows, which I do inside weekly and the outside done monthly by my window cleaner. Because all of my children and CG and GGC live more than 100 miles away it's usually me who visits them and not the reverse, hence few toys are left here. I suppose I'm tidy by nature and hate dust gatherers like ornaments. Some occasional tables such as the hall console, side tables and coffee table are glass and get wiped with a microfibre cloth every day but in all I spend no more than 45 minutes a day on cleaning. If I'm going out I don't do more than the dishes and my bedroom. One pet hate is when people plump up the sofa cushions the minute you stand up to leave. My SiL was annoying my brother so much about her inability to be done with faffing around dusting lampshades etc that he made her seek help from her GP.
Making your visitors welcome and comfortable is much more important than dust or magazines and toys lying about.

My DH and I are both OCD about tidiness and, additionally, I use my house cleaning duties as my fitness regime. Everything is done in the morning so I can go out, walk, read and indulge in other pleasures in the afternoon.

I do manage to Hoover under the sofa as it has legs rather than a valance and I move a couple of items as I go round.

However, I would say that a proper job is only done once a year when the Christmas tree comes down and the needles have crept into corners and crevices one hardly suspected existed! Once done, it's all forgotten for another twelve months.

I have to say, though, that when friends visit they often comment on how clean and tidy the place is as if that were a very bad thing.

I don't ever remember my mother playing with me. It was always warnings bout not dirtying the kitchen or my clothes. And the only hug I remember after about the age of 4 was when my guinea pig died. I was about 12.

I had an aunt who was so house-proud, she would move the cushions as you sat down, in case they got creased!! How sad is that?

Clean bathroom and kitchen hob and no bits on the carpet. That’ll do me most of the time. Yesterday I noticed a dirty mark on a picture rail, stood on a chair to wipe it and then saw about three years of accumulated dust on top so ended up cleaning the lot. Felt so virtuous that I told my DD when I saw her in the evening. Her reaction was that I need to get a life!

Blimey. If I was asked if I pulled furniture out to vacuum underneath my response would be, "You must be effing joking!" Do I roll about under my furniture for the fun of it and get covered in dust? No, I do not.
I can think of much better ways of spending my time, and cleaning ain't one of them.
My house is clean enough to be healthy but dirty enough to be happy. 'Nuff said.