Or is it impossible to have a perfect house

[Senoritaono]

I have a pretty small house and one DC. Everything except the kitchen is in nice enough condition I think, although we haven't changed the decor since we moved in. Seeing everyone's homes on video calls has made me feel like everyone has a beautiful home and mine feels quite shabby by comparison! Do people just show off the best bit of their homes with a lovely bookshelf behind them or are other people doing constant maintenance and decorating to keep everything perfect all the time? My kitchen is old and really needs replaced and the cheap linoleum floor that the last owner put in is a mess! Always planned to replace it but DD came along and there was never time to make big plans. The garden needs work - mainly just concrete and want to put some grass down for DD to play on. Bathroom needs painted since a new shower was put in last year and some ceiling paint flaked off when some tiles were removed to let the plumber get access. Are your homes always immaculate? How do you keep on top of it all? Not sure how we will be able to get a anyone in to do anything while Covid is around either!

[Twigletfairy]

I don't think my house has ever been or ever will be immaculate. In fact I think some people on here would probably rank my house as a house of horrors

[TheMandalorian]

My house was pretty good when we moved in and did it up. Then we had dc1 and haven't done any decorating since. Dc1 is 6 now and I was going to start redecorating while he and the youngest were at school/preschool this spring. That's set back now.
If we do a video call we pick the nice wall as background.
Its clean but the woodwork and downstairs paintwork look grubby.

[Alarae]

We have lived in our current house for two years and it's still not fully decorated.

[vanillandhoney]

We moved into a house that needed a lot of work. Five years later and it's still not finished! However, parts of the house are finished and look good so I tend to sit there if I video call people

[Bluntness100]

We do it as it needs done.

So for example we would do the things we could cheaply ourselves, paint and Lino from your list, and then save up and plan for other things, one big thing a year.

So it’s really a case of keeping on top of it, because if you don’t the jobs just build up and your home starts to degrade.

[Covert19]

I don't trust houses that look immaculate. It makes me think the people who live there have no soul.

[Almahart]

You can't tell from video calls. My house looks ok on zoom. In reality the kitchen badly needs replacing and upstairs is a tip

[Bestexoticmarigoldhotel]

My home is finished in terms of nice modern decoration, tidy, things put away etc. Your bathroom situation would drive me crazy. I would have painted it myself ASAP and then it’s done and you’re not looking at a job that needs to be finished everytime you go in. That would annoy me. If you aren’t too bothered by that or don’t notice it whenever you go in then I guess it doesn’t move high up your list of priorities. I also like everywhere to look nice. I get a lot of enjoyment out of that but not everyone does. Ironically where I sit for video calls faces a blank white wall.

[formerbabe]

I've noticed that about video calls too!

[Iamnotminterested]

What's the phrase?

"Only dull people have immaculate homes."

[Paranoidmarvin]

It depends. My house is better now than it has ever been. That is down to two factors. 1. I don’t have small children anymore. My son is 16 and isn’t around much ( pre Covid ) and when he is he is in his room.

1. I have much more money now than I did before. I have re done my conservatory in the last few weeks. In my opinion it is gorgeous. Never had a room like it before. We have been doing the rooms up one by one now we don’t have dogs or small children.
   

I also think it depends on age. I’m 44. But when I was in my 30’s my house was different. I’m definitely more house proud now than I was ten years ago.

[Paranoidmarvin]

I also can’t bear piles of stuff everywhere. Makes me feel feel a bit anxious. So my rooms are tidy most of the time. I also don’t have clutter. That makes a huge difference. Everything has a place.

[Iwalkinmyclothing]

My house looks so much better on camera than it does in real life that I assume everyone else's does too.

[FraughtwithGin]

Perfect is a very subjective word.
Your house needs to function for you and your family.
Whether it is immaculately decorated or "staged" is a matter of personal taste/choice.
I tend to prefer houses that are "lived in" rather than "on show", but others may have different opinions.

[LadyFeliciaMontague]

Moved in 4 years ago and still haven’t decorated every room. I do my conference calls in the very small spare bedroom so all that is behind me is a blank white wall. That way one can judge my awful looking house

[StrawberrySquash]

I think we get caught up in thinking there's one standard for houses to be. In reality, some people's are neater / more done up / fancier etc than other people's and that's fine. As long as it works for you it's okay. Which doesn't mean that you shouldn't make stuff nice if it makes it happy.

[Stefoscope]

My house always looks a bit shabby to me and I feel like I'm always on the go with some sort of DIY or gardening job. I blame the dog and clumsy DP (he once managed to coffee stain the ceiling)!

[strawberry2017]

I could have the perfect house, if I had no children, dog or husband.
Money to spend how I like on it, a cleaner or Mrs Hinch to look after it for me.
😂

[MrMagooInTheLoo]

if I was video calling I'd place the laptop facing the nicest part of my home.

[Lazypuppy]

I decorate and sort garden as soon as i move to new house. Normally decorate throughout as well, then do 1 room a year to keep it all updated and nice.

[BarbedBloom]

We can't afford to buy so we rent. Our landlord barely repairs anything. We do have nice furniture and I am pretty good at interior design. I have loads of flowers in the garden, but it is all concrete so they are in pots. The house is always very clean and tidy (no kids). I think we all have to do the best with what we have really.

The fact is that the people I know with lovely houses had their parents pay their deposit and both have well paying jobs. The catch is they barely get to spend any time at home due to the long hours they work, which is also why it is always show home tidy.

[NiceLegsShameAboutTheFace]

Well, mine's prefect because (a) I live alone, which means (b) it's as immaculate as I want it to be

Much of MN would be horrified if you visited though: I have a toilet brush, see?

[CoRhona]

I was on a Zoom call today, nicely positioned by the window, bathed in natural light. Then I saw how much grey hair was showing and swiftly moved to beside an inner wall instead

[isseywith4vampirecats]

my house at the moment is front bedroom pretty good as it was not long decorated, bathroom clean as that's been done, hall and stairs perfect as newest done over, front room clean but waiting decorating, kitchen half way through being ripped out and replaced, this was last week before the units were ripped out and the electrician and plasterer came in new kitchen going in end of next week so still needs painting right through so no my house is far from perfect