What naice things do you make sure are visible to visitors

The fake washing up area is amazing I can not stop laughing!

I don't do any of this stuff, maybe this is why I don't have many visitors

The only thing I do do is arrange the kids toys nicely on the floor so it looks like they've been playing a lovely gentle game of trains and farms together like they like each other before they skipped out into the garden together to extend their play - instead of dumping a load of boxes on the floor, beat each other up then I kicked them outside because they were doing my head in with the screaming

I don't do much for adult guests (all my friends and family know what I'm really like so they would just laugh at me. Having biscuits in the biscuit tin is about the limit.

But if I know that the DC are having friends over for tea I like to pretend to be far more of a 'proper' mummy that I really am. I make sure that their bedrooms are clean and tidy (rather than leaving the mess they've made in the morning for them to clean up when they get home), make hot chocolate for them when they get home (the nice stuff made with milk not the instant low calorie stuff), have a selection of healthy snacks ready, make sure that there is a proper home cooked meal part prepared and ready to finish off for an early tea, make a selection of deserts/cakes plus get in plenty of fruit/yoghurt etc.

I know I do this because I can remember when I was a child I loved visiting people who did this sort of thing. If they tell their parents what I do they will probably wonder how my DC have managed not to be obese given the amount of food I seem to offer.

Gin your fake washing up area makes me happy because part of me completely understands the thinking behind it even though I don't think I could ever be bothered enough to create one

Oh no, it's not clear, it can't possibly go on my fake washing up area

The origanal liquid was crap, so filled with fairy!

I have a gorgeous panettone tin (but I just use it to keep crisps in). I love the idea of the cook book on the stand. And I'm also intrigued by the idea of posh washing up liquid . . .

Smellies & music are generally on the go, but might swap the heavier hippy scents for something more floral, swap opera or rock for something a bit less intrusive. We only get cake or bikkies in when visitors are expected.
We made the mistake of having a 4 ft square coffee table, so we have to clear away all the detritus that accumulates on it during the week (months)

I also need to know what a nice washing up liquid bottle is? I'm clearly a heathen. As far as I'm aware this is as posh as they get

tigerdriverll Last year my lovely neighbour gave me her panettone she had received from her sil because it clashed with her decor!
I always put my "nice" towels out, fresh flowers and make sure the front door I clean!

Gow what is your nice washing up liquid bottle?!

My nice washing up liquid bottle us 3 yrs old and filled with fairy, I also have a carrier bag heirachy with dh snorts at....

Oh a recipe book open on a book stand! That is good!

I forgot we also have a bar of fancy soap on a wooden flat dish in the bathroom which is just for show too. There is a pump next to it.

Half of this stuff is for my enjoyment as much as guests though.

I hate clutter, so we don't really have anything in the house that isn't used. As soon as something is past its best it gets chucked out and we buy new, so everything's already quite...nice. I'm also of the opinion that life's just too damn short not to use the fancy soaps I get at Christmas on myself. I think the only things we keep around that aren't used often would be the Halloween/Christmas decorations.

I have some lovely cups and saucers, a teapot and a cake stand that I've bought out of various charity shops over the years. They're all different patterns but DD and I are massive Alice in Wonderland fans and enjoy the odd random tea party between us If I've got visitors coming over, I'll always bring those out. I like the house to always smell amazing so there is always a Yankee candle burning anyway. We are in a cottage bungalow and you pass the bedrooms before reaching any of the communal areas, so I'd definitely make sure the beds were changed and spread up if we had people stopping by. I'd also remove the clean washing from the radiators and make sure the towels were freshly laundered.

Fresh flowers, bit of candlescaping, nice placemats and I put a cookbook open on my cookbook stand in the kitchen, bonus points if we are actually eating what the recipe book says we are. Swap the sainsbo's mag for the waitrose mag, new soap and put the britta filter in the fridge! Real butter in the butter dish and try to bake something or if I don't have time make something shop bought look homemade!

Nice towels, the best sheets on their bed, a good scrubbing of the bits that are usually ignored. The cafetière comes out if I have somebody to share it with; usually my brother. I don't save poncey toiletries for best any more, I've had too many disappointments of keeping them too long and finding they smell stale and horrid. I will put a new bar of lovely soap out for visitors, but I'll use it up after they've gone.

DP asked if we could just fill an old washing up liquid bottle with water so it looked clear for guests, and did some demonstration of 'ooooo look at our fancy clear liquid' while he squirted the yellow stuff in the sink behind his back, then saying 'oooo look it really bubbles!'

I get Dh to check the kids loo for 'evidence'. Does that count?

My friend got a pineapple for her 5th birthday, a treat in 90s Poland!

I like tablecloths, hardly anyone my age I know has them (am under 30)

Soggy I know. I like looking at it. What's worse is DP rang me once from the supermarket to ask if we needed anything, and I had him in the sponge aisle describing every sponge for about 20 minutes until I decided which one he should get. When he got home, I placed it in the fake washing up area and gave a happy sigh. Then told him never to use it. How he hasn't LTB I'll never know.

I love the fake washing up area. There's something so satisfying about a clean washing up area isn't there. It just proves how clean you are.

Oh, I also have clear, unmarked bottles for the shampoo and conditioner, and fill it with Aldi shampoo

I have a 'fake' washing up area with things that are never to be used but are just there to make me look organised/clean if a guest should take it upon themselves to put their mug by the sink before they leave -

It's a white tray, with a bottle of sensitive washing up liquid (so it's clear and not glaring yellow or green), plus a lovely plump, clean sponge and a wooden washing up brush.

Under the sink is a pot with a manky brush, a bright green stick with a sponge on and yellow washing up liquid. I once saw DP reach for the stand-in sponge to clean a dirty baking dish. I yelped 'noooooo! That's just for show!' And he just looked at me like this for about 30 seconds.

I'm ridiculous.

I'd tell the dcs to turn the tv off.

No one in our house drinks tea or coffee so I doubt most people think we're good hosts anyway.

I put out nice towels and buy a more expensive wine !

Cwtch - that's so posh!