Bad homemaker

Oh my goodness this is so refreshing to hear. I am a home body but I tend to nest. So I’m surrounded by stuff that I need/want. But I’m in a mess. My compromise is that my toilet is always clean and I try in the bathroom and kitchen. Other than that I just don’t care lol

I’m an appalling housekeeper, and quite lazy, but somehow the little I do manages to keep things the way we like them.

When I had a B&B years ago I had to be pristine, every day bloody housework , mind numbing but also an income of course.
Now, decades later I simply do as is needed. Admittedly our new home still looks pretty good so no areas look ( at first glance ) a mess or dirty.
We have guests here very often so then I go into Superwoman mode !

I used to love both, now I am alone and doing charity work that comes first. I can't do heavy housework any longer I would love to re-decorate the whole house, but who will empty cupboards, move furniture and so on so the decorators can do their job. It is something I can no longer overlook, so it does not get done. I have several rooms with a lot of storage due to the voluntary work I do too, every time I get rid of a lot more comes in. I love what I do, but would like my house updated and fresh. At least the rooms I use are fairly tidy.

I like my living environment to be Bloomsbury groupish. Pleasing art and objects. But I abhor housework., possibly because my mother cleaned and tidied and then wanted us all not to be at ease or comfortable in any room. Always uptight in the house and our friends never allowed in the house . This was in suburban Toronto in the 1960s. Plus I had to do chores and my brothers didnt. Thought this was pretty unfair. These days I employ a delightful cleaner who shows interest in my art and ceramics and is happy to dust and clean and tidy and if I were a bit more able I'd do a Vanessa Bell and paint my fireplace. And the curtain rail. And the bath surround.

I don't associate home-making with housework, beyond a rather low bar.
I'm not normally fanciful but I think that a house can have good vibes, and be a happy house, or not. The two 'happiest' houses I've lived in have both faced east-west which is lighter and warmer than north-south.
And then not everything too new or matching.

We moved here 6 years ago and accepted the left-behind dark mushroom carpet throughout because it's good quality, but I hate it and I hate most of the curtains ditto. So even with our own furniture and our pictures on the walls it doesn't feel very home-like to me - and it faces north-south...

I am poor at keeping on top of the housework. I get stressed by dirt and muddle so really should pull my socks up! The bathroom and kitchen are usually clean- and all carpets elsewhere vacuumed regularly- but the rest just gets a lick and a promise. Before I retired I had a bit of a routine- because I had to - but now I am disorganised. It doesn’t help that I need to pace myself! I tried cleaning the window glass as black mould tends to gather in the winter ( old house so often get damp windows) but ended up wheezy so only got one lot done!

You sound like me!
There are many more interesting things to do.

Just in case anyone here is not feeling inadequate enough. here is the link to a site that appeared on my computer this morning
lifehacker.com/checklist-of-everything-you-are-forgetting-to-clean?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-gb

I do hope you all disinfect (not sanitise or clean) all your light switches and door knobs, clean under your coffee tables and chairs and clean all your light fittings.

Actually the best bit was the comment posted on th site yesterday by a reader

Could this be made into a pictograph pdf? I would love to put this around the house so my kids can learn how to clean thoroughly.

I just tried to imagine even trying this one on my children when they were small.

I hate that you can spend ages cleaning, a fortune on decor and furnishing then you turn round and every thing needs cleaned again or is out of fashion. I like comfort. My cleaning concentrates on kitchen and bathrooms. Everywhere else gets done when I feel guilty.

I run a home not a show house I've better things to do than clean I'm fortunate to be able to have a cleaner though so it is clean

I agree that homemaking and cleaning are two different things.

Thepanaramawoman

I’m a very poor homemaker.
Never had a house that looked that nice and sometimes felt embarrassed when people came.
I’m tidy ish and clean ish if having guests. I hate housework and cleaning and haven’t much interest in home decor. As long as things are functional that’s about as much as I can do.
In the past I’ve wished I was but it’s just the way I am and I’m learning to accept it.
I admire people who love home making but I have other interests that I put a lot of effort in to.
Are there any other gransnetters who aren’t too bothered about home making and/or aren’t very good at it?

Oh ditto …there’s so much more to life than having a neat and tidy home. I’ve often wished mine would be ( so do my sons!) but it’s never going to happen and at 80 next year I no longer have the energies to do what I used to. So people accept me as I am …or not! And if they don’t it’s no great loss. I’m relatively happy as I am … if I had help it might be a LITTLE tidier, but that costs money and disruption… so keep to being YOU. I DO!

Betty18

Oh my goodness this is so refreshing to hear. I am a home body but I tend to nest. So I’m surrounded by stuff that I need/want. But I’m in a mess. My compromise is that my toilet is always clean and I try in the bathroom and kitchen. Other than that I just don’t care lol

Hooray Betty18. Ditto!

NotSpaghetti

I hate cleaning.
I've bought robot vacuums and it seems to make things look way better to have that vacuuming done early morning.

I'm fussy about sparking crockery and cuttlery and the kitchen table. I like a clean bathroom/toilet but I'm really untidy.
I used to think it was the children that made all the chaos but as they left home one by one the mess didn't diminish!

Unlike you, however I also love "home things" of beauty. I like a few beautiful pieces (a painting, a lamp, a chair, a kettle) and am very fussy about colours. I will spend a long time (way too long) on details but they do give me lots of joy. I try out numerous colours on A3 or larger sheets before I decorate and take pride in finding just the right colours for me.

In terms of "household things", carpets etc, if I can't afford what I really fancy I can happily live in a half-done space till I find something very similar or at least as lush.

One of my good friends is hopeless at making things look lovely - however I love her for who she is, not for her home! It's quite irrelevant if it doesn't make you happy!

A robot hoover would be spinning in a circle in my room … no space to get going!
In my defence I work from home and am surrounded by piles of ‘things’ necessary for my job!
Sounds as if you are really one of the ‘nice’ home brigade ?

Why is it assumed that people with tidy clean homes have nothing else going on in their lives?
From my own, and my friends experiences it’s just not true.

Please resist flicking through those back copies of Homes & Gardens in the dentist waiting room, with glossy, fantasy homes, kitchens as big as a ballroom, chandeliers in the bathroom, etc, etc.
They're an ostentatious fiction cobbled together by a regiment of stylists, calculated to make us feel inadequate enough to part with our cash for a kitchen remake we probably don't need - or want.

Ha ha! I can't let them go into my studio or bedroom - or study!

Yes, it's definitely a "nice home" and some areas (the downstairs loo for example) are really lovely - however my mess and chaos is on another scale!

My work takes over two rooms - one is my studio and the other is basically "overspill".

I would^like^everywhere to be beautiful!

Apologies, the message (above) was replying to suelld

I grew up living mostly in my grans house that was kept very clean and tidy. She had a routine that was followed every week. The living room and bedrooms were dusted daily the floors hoovered and mopped as well. Her bathroom and kitchen were wiped down after every use. Her windows were washed inside and out every Friday along with the window ledges and front door step scrubbed. Her brass candlesticks and other brass items cleaned with brasso on a Saturday morning. Some of these jobs were done by my mum and aunt, following the death of both I took over the windows and door steps. Needless to say once I had my own house I followed some of her routine and now 40+ years I’m still doing it, but with lots of modern technology. I have 2 robot hoovers one is kept upstairs and the other downstairs. A window vac makes short work of streak free windows. I also got rid of a lot of clutter so dusting is completed quickly. Whilst my home may not look like a castle to others it does to me.

M0nica

Just in case anyone here is not feeling inadequate enough. here is the link to a site that appeared on my computer this morning
lifehacker.com/checklist-of-everything-you-are-forgetting-to-clean?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-gb

I do hope you all disinfect (not sanitise or clean) all your light switches and door knobs, clean under your coffee tables and chairs and clean all your light fittings.

Oh goodness MOnica, now I feel really boring! I do all the things on that list when I Spring clean, and disinfect touch points weekly - a hangover from working with small children who carry a multitude of germs on their hands.

Deedaa

I do have some nice things round the house but they are rarely seen at their best because I loathe housework. Cooking is fine, I enjoy cooking, although even that is beginning to pall after so many decades doing it. My daughter once bought me a fridge magnet that said "A mind is a terrible thing to waste on housework" and I have to agree.

I have a fridge magnet which says 'An immaculate home is a sign of a wasted life!' My husband said it was just an excuse. He's now my ex husband!

My house is a mess and I need to do some cleaning this week as DS, DiL and GC are coming next week. They are used to it being a tip but last visit it was particularly bad as I'd been ill so need to make a bit of effort this time.

I find housework relaxing and enjoyable.
I tend to stick to a routine, but can defer a task a couple of days, if I either don't feel like doing it, or if something crops up.

I think the art of a clean house is to have a tidy house. It gives an impression of cleanliness, even when it isn't (within limits). An untidy house always looks dirty and unkempt, no matter how clean it really is.