Anyone else have 'tidy blindness' when it comes to their house?

[Howmanyflippingstone]

And no, not the one where you're oblivious to mess, mine is quite the opposite actually. No matter how much I tidy/clean my house, my eye always falls to one little thing out of place, and I find it difficult to take the whole room in as one tidy space. Sometimes I need to take photographs and look at them in order to fully realise that it's tidy

I grew up in a very messy/cluttered house, so it could be that coming back to bite me. It's very frustrating though as I feel like I can never fully relax as there is always something in my eyeline annoying me!!

Please tell me I'm not alone/how I can get a grip!

My house is sometimes tidy and sometimes a mess.

When it is a mess I can easily turn a blind eye - 'I'll do it tomorrow'. When it is otherwise tidy, one little thing is an abomination.

I grew up like you and I feel the same. My friends makes fun of me as I am that person that complains about the mess when my house is tidy. But to me unless I have deep cleaned everywhere and tidied absolutely everything away (fyi I have a dog and a toddler) it isn't 'good enough'.

I grew up embarrassed and ashamed of my home it was so dirty and messy so has definitely affected the way I see and look after my own home.

I have the opposite where I feel like I don’t see mess until it becomes overwhelming, so for example I don’t notice the washing up needs doing, the recycling needs taking out or clothes are piling up on the floor until there is a huge pile to do and then it feels like too much. I will often leave rubbish on the side, drop things like coats and bags on the floor as I come in or take my shoes off in the middle of the floor and don’t even notice myself stepping over them, the mess builds up until suddenly I will notice it and feel horrified but often by that point I don’t know where to start to tidy up. I’m embarrassed to have people over and wish I could get more on top of things but it’s generally like my brain just doesn’t process untidiness until it reaches a certain level.

@MolkosTeenageAngst

I have the opposite where I feel like I don’t see mess until it becomes overwhelming, so for example I don’t notice the washing up needs doing, the recycling needs taking out or clothes are piling up on the floor until there is a huge pile to do and then it feels like too much. I will often leave rubbish on the side, drop things like coats and bags on the floor as I come in or take my shoes off in the middle of the floor and don’t even notice myself stepping over them, the mess builds up until suddenly I will notice it and feel horrified but often by that point I don’t know where to start to tidy up. I’m embarrassed to have people over and wish I could get more on top of things but it’s generally like my brain just doesn’t process untidiness until it reaches a certain level.

I have an app called sweep that might help. Or just a general to do cleaning list for each room including 'quick tidy' each day might help x

Interesting that you are the same hellosunshine . I was always embarrassed too and it really seems to have stuck with me 🙈

Molko I second the idea of a list, or even just chucking everything that's out of place into one big basket, then cleaning and THEN going round the house but by bit and putting the stuff from the basket away.

But will you put the basket of things away or just shove it behind the sofa for a year or two? 🧐

I am exactly the same OP. I also had a similar upbringing and the sense of shame about my home. I believe my mum has OCD and where as she is overwhelmed by doing anything and a hoarder, I have the same tendencies but obsess about cleaning instead.

I live in a new build house, been in it two years and people tell me it still looks like the show home. But I absolutely dread people coming to visit and always have a huge deep clean before hand. I think it is anxiety about opening up to people and letting them into my safe and personal space.

Also the same - our home was AWFUL growing up and now I have no sense of proportion! I’ve relaxed a fair amount now I have quite a few children and pets, but everything gets tidied away at the end of the day (even if just all in the same baskets). I put the robot hoover on every night and then I’m comfortable that it’s ok ‘enough’.

@Howmanyflippingstone I’m like you on this, my partner is like @MolkosTeenageAngst and it’s a huge source of conflict between us.

I walk into the kitchen and someone has left a plate on the table and crumbs on the side and there’s toys under the table and it’s like my brain starts buzzing with how much mess there is everywhere. Then it takes seconds to sort but in sorting that I see something else that needs doing and do on and so on so that I never feel like it’s done. Taking pictures doesn’t help me because I always spot more in the pictures