What naice things do you make sure are visible to visitors

DSis ( bit of a domestic goddess ) uses Harvey Nicks washing up liquid. Lovely smell, i thought as i did the washing up after a delicious meal. Only after I had finished did she hiss ’that's just for show, the stuff for using is under the sink'. Pah.

Oh and I make DD put some clothes on!

Love the stunt pineapple and the fake washing up area!

I get the fancy tea set (bought dead cheap in a charity shop - proper vintage English china), fancy dinner plates and the fancy glass candle holders (another charity shop bargain) but that's about it. I get the tea set out for my weekly cribbage and cuppa session too just because I like to use it.

It's not that bizarre, honest. Through the kitchen is a sort of utility area, and the sink is through there. I think people normally have a sink in the kitchen and the utility don't they? It's not a big house though, so doesn't really warrant a second sink. But most people walk into the kitchen, mutter 'yes, yes, very nice' then pause, look around and say 'but....there's no sink?! '

Except MIL. Her words were 'oh how lovely, you can stack up all the dirty dishes round the corner after dinner and not stare at them for the rest of the meal!' - I knew right then that she was my kind of lady

The utility 'area' is rather hideous though apart from the wonderful washing up area so I shall only post a picture if you promise to be kind

I've just remembered one. Dh bought a house once where he admired the lovely cooker & top,can't remember the brand but it was a fancy pants one. Apparently the lady blushed & said she had her show hob top on & her knackered bits were out of sight to visitors.

I'm to busy shoving shit away to get other shit out!

When my mum and dad started to do a bit better for themselves and actually had a bit of money to invest, my mum left a folded over letter from the bank on the kitchen unit when my jealous aunt came over because it said 'ISA Statement' on it.

Hah great thread. We don't have visitors often, but when we do I have to do a crazy clean up, make sure there are no pants on the bathroom floor. I do admit that I have this crazy tidy then I put a few things out of place so I look like I was doing something other than tidying like crazy before they arrive. So I'll scatter a few of the children's toys, or maybe have a few dishes left to dry on the draining board.

I've just asked a friend what brand her reed diffuser is as it smells amazing and 'wooed' me as I stepped in to her gorgeous parlour

Anyone who comes to visit for the first time is normally too baffled by the fact the kitchen sink isn't even in the kitchen, to notice how pristine my sink area is. Sigh.

Where is your sink? In the hall? An upstairs bedroom? A decorative feature beside the front door?

We need a photo ginandonit!
Where is your sink?

The only guest I ever seem to have is MIL, and the last time she was here I accidentally put gone off milk in her tea.

I'm completely sure she would have been far too impressed with my clean sponge to notice though, so it's okay.

Anyone who comes to visit for the first time is normally too baffled by the fact the kitchen sink isn't even in the kitchen, to notice how pristine my sink area is. Sigh.

Life is too short to save things you really like "for show" i buy nice handsoap (often not even mega bucks - i love Baylis & Harding) and have bright coloured matching towels because they make me smile. Ditto candles - if i like the scent i want to burn them - not leave them to sit for years!

Yes, exactly! If you like something, do it for yourself, rather than needing the excuse of visitors! I grew up with a mother who wanted nothing more in life to have a 'good room' that she could keep locked, to be unlocked only for important visitors, and who believed strenuously in the 'keeping your new clothes for best' philosophy. (Hardly surprising, as her own mother virtually starved her children, in order to afford Sunday clothes for them, which tells you everything you need to know about my grandmother.)

I will say that I had loads of "just for best" wine glasses candles towels etc. But now just use then. No point having lovely things if they're not going to be loved and enjoyed (I love my size of a balloon red wine glasses - half bottlers those are...)

I actually like properly cleaning and getting ready for guests, even if its only my mum!
But then I also have a wine cellarcupboard in the living room with a wine tack in it

Life is too short to save things you really like "for show" i buy nice handsoap (often not even mega bucks - i love Baylis & Harding) and have bright coloured matching towels because they make me smile. Ditto candles - if i like the scent i want to burn them - not leave them to sit for years!

I pose the lovley wooden toys and kick the tat under the table as well

I love this thread. I've been googling for posh washing up liquid and am totally going to stage a washing up area!

at setting up the Play Mobil!

I was laughing along at posters idiosyncrasies and then I realised I have unintentionally developed a cracker: I instruct guests to call at the front door "just come up the stairs the knocker is a bit stiff..." so they walk straight into my lovely hall and on into the sitting room thus diverting them from the basement entrance (the only one we use) which leads straight into chaos....

pineapple just makes my mundane life feel that little bit more exotic. "Ooh look at wiggles84 she must peel her pineapple fresh each morning for her delightful childs breakfast" ohh ! We don't peel or cut. Pineapple. The Best Buy we have in the house is screw for pineapple. Works in seconds and it looks immaculate. The middle bit taken out plus the skin. All you have to do is pull out the slices. Yum!

Your soap and hand moisturiser will be well out of date now!

I can't be arsed with stuff like that. Our soap is an own brand which is in a bottle hung on the wall by the sink.

I love that people do anything like this, I don't understand why some posters are seemingly 'looking down' upon it. People are quirky, doing little things to make yourself happy to receive visitors is brilliant.

Personally, in the winter I spray just a little polish onto the radiators so it all smells warm and fresh, but not overbearing.

I agree Gin most of what I do is for my own benefit, it's a shame I can't be that motivatied to keep it nice for "just us"

My fake washing up area started when I noticed a similar one at a new friend's house. It looked so nice! I've no idea if hers is fake - they have a dishwasher so it could just be barely used, but I'm not taking that risk with mine

As I said earlier though, a lot of the stuff I do is just as much for my benefit. It makes me feel instantly deflated to see a tired old sponge next to the sink.

This is a hilariously weird thread! (Though, yup, there's a long historical precedent for the 'there for show, return uneaten' pineapple - it was the height of guest rudeness to cut themselves a nice chunk of pineapple, given that many visitors knew that if their hosts weren't aristocrats with their own hothouses, a bought/rent or return pineapple was a massive expense...)

If I thought someone had started to burn scented candles, created a 'just for show' washing up area or put out Special Visitor handsoap just because I was dropping in for a cup of coffee, I would think they were completely mad! Do the people in your lives really notice such things? Do you notice these things if you go to someone else's house??? I mean, who checks the label on the towels?

I have to say this completely explains one of those other frequent threads that have always puzzled me on Mn , where posters complain that the reason they don't like unexpected visitors is not because they're busy or exhausted or feel like having their house to themselves, but because they haven't had time to tidy.

If the pre-visitor tidy also involves burning candles so you can pretend to have made cake, replacing the towels, cups, shampoo, washing up liquid and soap with more expensive varieties, panic-buying flowers and fruit etc etc, then I'm surprised you don't need a warning of several days before the most casual caller for coffee!