Does anyone's house look like a show-home?

[ThatFraggle]

If so, how do you do it?

[Beezknees]

I don't know about show home but my home is always very clean and tidy. There are only 2 of us living here, me and 15yo DS who lives in his bedroom. So nobody to mess it up. I finish work at lunchtime on Fridays so I come home every week and do a big clean, then I can relax for the weekend. I also can't stand clutter and hoarding, I'm really minimalist so I don't keep loads of unnecessary crap everywhere.

If you have young children you're probably not going to have a show home unless you spend all your spare time cleaning or have someone to do it for you.

[YoSof]

Mine isn’t show home, but it’s clean and mostly tidy.

I don’t worry Fridays, so I do the windows/skirting’s/change bedding/give the bathroom a proper clean, dust everywhere and hoover through/mop floors while the kids are at school, and I wipe round and hoover every day on my lunch break, gives me time to put a wash on or put away dry laundry if needed too. I love cleaning and can’t relax if it’s not done, but I don’t like it to interfere with my time with my children so that works well for me. Obviously if I was office based and worked five days it would be different!

[OttoGraph]

No, my house is lived in and has stuff. Its tidying, but things are left out. Its primarily a home. I clean a bit but on a circuit so the spiders catch flys

[Randomuser9876]

I wouldn't say my home was a show home because I'd sound like a dick but it's always clean and well presented.

How I've achieved this is down to having an extension built 2 years ago and a big remodel of the house. We literally had nowhere to put anything as the roof was off etc so i just threw 80% of it away. It's been brilliant and made it much easier to keep on top of cleaning ect now the house is finished.

If the kids bring craft things home from school I just chuck them away. If I haven't worn a top in a year i have a charity shop bag etc etc. I realise a lot of my house work struggles prior to this were because I had too much "stuff"

Be ruthless!!! So many peoples house work is just moving stuff from room to room.

Also having a utility room is the best thing ever as just shove all the washing and dirty football boots in there.

[MIBnightmare]

Personally I can't imagine anything worse .. a house is meant to be a home where people are comfortable.. not lining in fear that it may not be perfect..

[icelollycraving]

No. Sadly.
I work full time and spend both my days off going housework, washing, ironing etc. A dh who is very ill and goes nothing in the home and a pre teen Ds who leaves a trail of destruction.
When I was single my home was absolutely immaculate.

[MrsElsa]

Yes, mine looks like the show Hoarders.

[geoger]

Before you clean have a good clear out. Go through every cupboard, drawer, box, wardrobe etc etc and get rid of everything you don’t need. Then once these spaces are cleared out, wipe them down and put things back. Then you can do a proper deep clean - walks, skirting boards, doors, cornices etc etc. After this it’s much easier to keep in top of everything. I clean everyday after work. The kitchen gets cleaned properly after dinner (worktops, cupboard fronts, floor, bit of dusting downstairs and then hoover. Bathrooms get done everyday too. Big blitz on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday - on these days I move all furniture, skirtings, ceilings and change sheets too. Sounds like a lot but it really only takes 2.5 hours max to do. A little bit everyday is key and always put stuff away at the end of the day

[MyMachineAndMe]

Lol no. Or house is so cluttered and it bugs me but I refuse to tidy it all by myself.

[Lissadell]

I wouldn’t mean it as a compliment if I thought someone’s house looked like a show home — they’re usually furnished with identikit, bland, matchy-matchy, slightly smaller-than-standard furniture to make the rooms look bigger, and there’s something existentially awful about those fully- set dining tables with brightly-coloured napkins and a tall vase of artificial flowers. Ugh.

Actual homes where actual people live are invariably more appealing, regardless of tidiness.

[ThePoint678]

My house is very clean and tidy all the time. It’s still a home. I have plenty of time for my kids, work and social things. So the suggestion that if your house is clean you must be a bad parent or bore is just offensive. No one is ‘living in fear’.

We have only things we need or love. Everything has a place. We all put our things away all the time. We all clean a little bit every day (kitchen, beds made, laundry load washed and away, bags emptied) and I do a bigger clean on the weekend (dust, mop, bathrooms etc).

It is a much easier and calmer life when everyone knows where their sports shorts/swimming goggles/dance leotard whatever is.

[PJRules]

@MrsElsa

Yes, mine looks like the show Hoarders.

😂😂 😂

[ASGIRC]

Kinda.
Currently it is less tidy than Id like, as I had a big lunch party last weekend, and have been working since, so the dirty tablecloth is still on the dining table, and I have 2 drinking glasses on the coffee table, but otherwise, it is pretty tidy and looks clean!
I didnt makemy bed today, so thats a bit less show-homey than id like as well LOL

[PJRules]

Got a fair few friends who appear to live in show homes. None work full time but I'm sure it's possible if its what you want to spend your time doing.

The key seems to be getting rid of stuff. I got rid of a load of stuff, but didn't make a dent. I'm working on it.

[StillDre]

It does once a week. Then it goes downhill over the next few days.
By the end of the week it's a museum.

[HarrietJet]

It is a much easier and calmer life when everyone knows where their sports shorts/swimming goggles/dance leotard whatever is
Why would not living in a home that looks like it was purchased straight from the Next catalogue mean you lived in total chaos??

[Mummyoflittledragon]

We don’t live like this. But yes, it can be made to look like a show house. In this pic, anything not wanted out is put in a cupboard somewhere. We have oodles of storage.

[Timeforthenextholiday]

Since the lockdowns, we have worked our way around our whole house getting rid of everything we no longer need or want. It is so much better for us and has made such a difference.

We had a play room filled with every toy for our children, and most things were never played with, so we sorted through everything together with the children and anything the children wanted to keep was moved into their bedrooms. The rest were either got rid of if broken or donated. We redecorated, bought new furniture and changed the room into a home office/ home classroom. Only items for that room is put in there.

Every room had the same treatment. Everything sorted through, things got rid of, room redecorated, new furniture bought specifically for that room instead of the mixture of furniture we had in previous homes.

All drawers and units have set items in them for example in the lounge, one cupboard on the TV stand has everything related to the games console and nothing else is put in there. It's the only place in the whole house they are kept. Everything has its place. No more hunting around trying to find things.

It's made a huge difference. We all know where things are. Everything looks immaculate because when we leave a room to go out somewhere or to go to bed, we tidy things away and straighten up furnishings. It's become something now we just do without thinking. Having less things in our home is so much better for us. Chores don't take long now. It's done as it's needed. Kitchen surfaces are wiped after each use, washing up done straight after meals, oven cleaned after use. We can chill out more now and relax. There are less arguments about tidying up or not being able to find something. We have more time now for quality family time and if ever we get unexpected guests, it's fine. It's always tidy and guest ready.

[DazeOff]

Mine used to then a had a man move in and we had kids. I morn what I used to have.

[LunaNorth]

@MrsElsa

Yes, mine looks like the show Hoarders.

😂😂😂

[MsAdoraBelleDearheartVonLipwig]

Fuck no. We’re all messy untidy twats in this house and I’m too busy and have better things to do to care too much. There’s the occasional cobweb, dust here and there, clutter in most rooms and don’t get me start on the bastarding dog hair. Love him really.

We had some friends come to stay at half term. We’d been a bit busy and hadn’t really done much in the way of housework. We had a horrible day of frantically cleaning and tidying before they came. Nothing motivates you like someone else seeing your shit tip!

Looks lovely now but probably won’t last.

[frozendaisy]

I can't do it, I've tried
I can clean and tidy for hours and it looks no different, one room perhaps small improvement.

I've been decluttering for months.

It's boring.
Or I don't have that particular gene.
Or I do and it's still boring.

And it doesn't make any difference.

[Begonne]

My sil’s does.
She works very long hours, doesn’t cook and has a cleaner come Mon/Wed/Fri. Her dc have moved out, but even when they were small they made minimal mess and were taught to tidy up,

She’s also got a really precise and clear thinking style. Everything has a place, based on how it’s used/how often. Her attic is organised alphabetically.

At work her desk is clear, her email inbox is like a to do list because she deletes everything as she goes. She is so decisive and never dithers or wonders if she might need something in some imaginary future scenario.

I have adhd and there’s chaos inside my head and everywhere I go. If I need to organise a space she’s a fantastic person to consult because she can cut through all the ifs and buts and her solutions are really sensible. I wouldn’t let her near my bookshelves though.

She tips over into something like ocd when she’s stressed, so there’s a downside sometimes. And her house is beautiful and tasteful but not very relaxing,

But if I could bottle her essence and take a small dose now and then I absolutely would.

[YukoandHiro]

I listened to that spinning plates podcast the other day and Jules Oliver was on there (Jamie Oliver's wife) talking about how she can't anything else til the house is spotless and sorts every room each morning before doing anything else.

Honestly it made me exhausted just to listen to it and I also thought she came across as really tedious company!

In short: I have no idea how anyone does it, but they're probably not my people tbh

[Tessisme]

MIL's house is like a show home. Not my taste, but everything immaculate and matching and plumped and preened. It was miserable for DP and his siblings growing up. She went through a phase of having crockery and candles and interestingly shaped napkins all set out permanently on the dining table. Nobody was allowed to use them. She finally gave up because everyone complained about having to move the entire bloody contents of the table elsewhere every time they wanted to eat their Weetabix.