Are you houseproud?

I used to be friends with a girl who was excessively house proud. I HATED being in her house. I felt I was making it look untidy just by being there. I always felt like Hyacinth Bucket's nervous next door neighbour. I am sure she felt equally uncomfortable in my home.

I also used to iron everything that wasn't nailed down lol. Kids socks, underwear, towels (towels!!!) - everything.

I have now gone from one extreme to the other, and for the past 15 years, I haven't picked an iron up. I literally iron NOTHING. This came about because I finally realised that ironing everything, only for the kids to shove a pile of beautifully ironed clothing into the bottom of the wardrobe, was really not a good use of my time.

My home is clean enough to be hygienic, dirty enough to be comfortable to be lived in. I have no intention of arriving at the gates of heaven or hell, regretting not having lived in a cleaner house!

Absolutely not. Our sofas are so heavy that I wouldn't be able to move them anyway!

I am guilty of ironing sheets and underwear because I like smoothness and I find things fit in drawers better . Don't pull out furniture very often just like tidiness but I'm not obsessive .

I clean under the sofa maybe once a year, under beds when they have to be moved for some reason (drawers in all so cannot just shove the hoover under). I like the place to be tidy, hate stuff sitting around - cannot do ornaments/photos etc.
I iron what I have to, if I can fold the stuff without worrying about creases that's what happens. My ex in laws had a neighbour, lovely lady, who ironed everything - even the socks!
I do have a good kitchen clean up regularly and of course the shower room/loo.

I start off at a disadvantage s my darling husband is probably the untidiest man on Earth. I like "clean & tidy but lived-in" and because I actually enjoy ironing I must admit to ironing my teacloths (not my knickers though). My best friend, whose idea of a relaxing time is clearing out her cupboards, once said that, now aged over 70, she was only cleaning her skirting boards every other month; I had to confess that if mine got done every other year it was a bit of a miracle!

My DM starched and ironed her tea towels! She completely flummoxed the salesman when she was buying her first automatic washing machine by asking at which part of the cycle she could put the starch in.

I started married life trying to emulate some of her domestic mores and was hugely relieved when very early on DMiL gave me permission to abandon them all.

I do have a dirt threshold but on not over fussy. If I kept on top of everything I would lose that feel good factor of having a big clean and chuck out every so often.

This week it was the kitchen drawers, one big bin liner and a box for charity. It was brought on by finally after 12 years OH put the kicking boards on the kitchen units. I manipulated this by calling the areas underneath the Typhus Pit. Job done.

As long as the kitchen counter is clean and the loo / basin / bath I'm reasonably happy. I'd like to be houseproud but with umpteen GC and a wonderful but messy DH there is no hope in so being. I have to admit to being a teeny bit envious of friends' homes which always seem to be clean and tidy. I do feel a bit ashamed of our mess sometimes but too busy with more interesting stuff to do much about it.

What a relief. I have a hubby and three cats with, predominantly, black fur so the lounge gets vacuumed pretty much daily. Dusting gets dine when I think about it. I do chores when I see and have the energy to do them. I have a vacuum cleaner upstairs and downstairs to make life easier. However, the last thing I would want said on my gravestone would be...her house was immaculate. I'd rather it said she knew how to live and did it successfully.

Also years ago, I saw a 'Household Hint' in one of those women's magazines which said "I never feel I have finished my housework until I have dusted the keyholes with a cotton bud" !! What a sad life she must have lead.

We have wooden floors so it's really easy to pull the furniture out and hoover underneath. I do it about once a month. When we had a cat there would be fur balls under the chairs. She's been gone a year now so I probably don't need to be pulling furniture out. My mum ironed towels, tea towels and underwear. She loved ironing and couldn't wait to get the things off the line to iron! For some reason I loathe hoovering our bedroom and hardly ever do it.

Years ago I had a neighbour who ironed all the nappies - thought I was a terrible slut because I didn't!

I Hoover every year whether it needs it or not! My Mother despaired of me when I first attained independent living. She shrugged and said 'well will you at least keep it tidy? That gives the initial impression of clean'. Bless her, I've always tried to practise this and think of her warmly and regularly in that particular context. I do very little in the domestic goddess scene but every now and again I say to myself 'Thank God for visitors!'

The secret to dust is just not to move things, I have a dresser covered in China and treasure andthe mantelpiece sports a pottery vase and hydrangea heads, two old bird nests with stones from the beach that look like eggs, a wooden mask from a trip to South America, small terracotta warrior ornament, two wooden book marks from Ushuia, a few shells, an owl candle - only find the need to dust once or twice a year, like looking at these things and remembering being in various parts of the world, rather be doing than dusting.

Only the bits that show usually! My older neighbour has a pristine house and I always come back very ashamed of my skirting boards, hers are stunningly white! The shame usually wears off when I sit and have a cup of tea and get out a good book! Toilets and sinks and kitchens are my priority and the rest is very relaxed!

You would think that as we age we would get more particular. That doesn't seem to be the case at all. I don't know how (or why) I found the time to do all the things I thought I must do every day.

Standards have slipped over the years - I used to be the nutter who ironed nappies...

I have cleaned under and behind the sofa more often ever since we found a dear little mouse living behind it one Christmas. He had a larder, a sleeping area and a bathroom area! Our three cats hadn’t noticed him, they really are quite useless. We moved him out to the garden, behind the shed with some of his food! ??

When I was working full time as a teacher I did 'spring cleaning' every school holiday. When I retired I expected my house to be pristine. It's not, I no longer have time for light cleaning let alone 'spring cleaning"

sheilasue, once a month!

Yikes. My settee is lucky if it gets moved once a year! I've never found anything worse than a dust bunny when I did move it.

Bet your house is a million times more intersting to be in than your MiL's, skweek ?

One of the best 'compliments' I've ever had was from a very good friend who said: "I love your house; there's always something interesting to look at".

Once a month I pull out the sofa and chairs with the help of my dh.
Have a sister in law who is over the top, house cleaning is a priority in her home.

I'd like to be houseproud. but keep starting decluttering and never finishing. We just have no space. All 3 of us have so many hobbies and interests that we have endless books, bits and bobs; will definitely get the house licked into shape and then the garden. MIL wants to be able to eat off her floor. Left to her own devices I believe that she would hoover 10 times a day, but I just couldn't.

I wouldn`t use the term houseproud to describe me but I do get anxious and can`t relax if the place looks untidy or mucky . I always clean when I am worried about something which is quite often ! I only move the furniture about once a month so guess I am not obsessive about cleanliness but I must say I do feel better when I have done `a big clean` . I have only been this way since my divorce so imagine it is anxiety related !

I don't look up often enough radicalnan - my light fittings are covered in cobwebs when I do

I've just had the kitchen light bulb changer for a higher wattage one and it is like Miss Haversham's place in here.

High ceilings are a menace!!!