Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

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

121 replies

ThatFraggle · 10/06/2023 21:09

If so, how do you do it?

OP posts:
BriarHare · 11/06/2023 10:21

I’d hope not as show homes are invariably very naff.

The main downstairs rooms in our house are very tidy. I can’t stand clutter and we have nothing on our kitchen worktops, so it’s easy to keep clean and tidy.

Amicompletelyinsane · 11/06/2023 10:24

Mine looks like a show home a bomb exploded in 🤣

PuttingDownRoots · 11/06/2023 10:25

Well this morning I allowed my children to give DH a confetti bomb. My house is now covered in confetti. I predict I'll find bits for weeks.

It was fun. It was worth it.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 11/06/2023 10:29

Definitely not. And besides being messy and dirty in parts we also can’t get anyone to come and fix our roof so there is some damp and water damage to the utility room wall too.

during proper lockdown in Jan 2021 I was allowed to leave work early as soon as the kids (vulnerable and key workers only) had gone at 3pm (secondary school). I am support staff so no prep during the evening. So I was home by 3.30, did an hour or hour and a half of cleaning every single day and had finished by 5pm and yes, my house was immaculate. I loved it.

Now, I’m in work 8.20 till nearly 5.30 every day work frantically all day to keep up and don’t get a chance for breaks, get home knackered at 5.45 and literally collapse on the couch to recover for an hour with a cuppa (sometimes falling asleep). Then up again to sort tea or do food shopping and anything else I need to do (emails or phone calls etc) and if I have any energy left after that I MAY do a tiny bit of housework like some laundry. I have no time or energy to do anything more so leave it till the weekend. I feel no guilt about this but don’t like the house being like this.

DH got a promotion since COVID and is always working. Our work life balance is frankly shit. House and garden always a tip and disorganised and grubby.

I would love to go back to the days of finishing at 3pm. Or even a half day on a Friday to run round so that everything was done so we could just relax at the weekend without feeling guilty.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 11/06/2023 10:30

I do it as I go, wipe the table when I clear it, food the washing as I take it off the line or out of the drier, stack the dishwasher after ever meal and wipe down the kitchen. When I leave a room I take cups with me . House is always tidy ,never bothered about someone calling by unexpectedly and that way I never have to spend hours cleaning in one go which I'd fine boring and overwhelming.

Sothisisitthen · 11/06/2023 10:31

Not show home but generally clean and tidy. We have lots of storage and I’m a ruthless declutterer. It’s much easier when you have somewhere to put it all! As far as Lego goes, as long as it’s on the massive Lego board DH made that takes up 2/3 of the rumpus room then I ignore it. If it starts to scatter it gets cleaned up.

MagicBullet · 11/06/2023 10:36

No it’s not a show home and I would NOT want it that way.

It’s tidy enough for me to be comfortable if someone is dropping by unexpectedly. That’s enough for me.

Hbh17 · 11/06/2023 10:40

I would hope not, because show homes are horrible! Sterile, bland, no character, no warmth, no life. Incredibly off-putting places.

orangeflags · 11/06/2023 10:47

Mine is. Now the kids have left home and the dog has died

Theskipisfull · 11/06/2023 10:49

Hbh17 · 11/06/2023 10:40

I would hope not, because show homes are horrible! Sterile, bland, no character, no warmth, no life. Incredibly off-putting places.

Agree, nothing worse than a sterile, pristine house

frozendaisy · 11/06/2023 10:54

PuttingDownRoots · 11/06/2023 10:25

Well this morning I allowed my children to give DH a confetti bomb. My house is now covered in confetti. I predict I'll find bits for weeks.

It was fun. It was worth it.

We are still hoovering up stray Christmas tree pine needles and it was on a laminated floor this year!

sevenbyseven · 11/06/2023 10:57

My house is a mess. I'm busy, lazy and disorganised.

My friend's house is pristine. She's also busy (works more hours than me, single mum) but she's very organised and disciplined. It's just second nature to her to keep her house like that. I'd love my house to be like that.

Seriously79 · 11/06/2023 10:59

Nope. We live in a family home, it's chaotic, messy and quite often dirty.

Kids coming and going, washing piles up, cats wondering around.

It will be tidy when they have moved out.

AConstantGreyInTheClouds · 11/06/2023 11:00

Older kids and a cleaner 3 times a week works for us.

When the kids were younger, no chance!

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 11/06/2023 11:04

frozendaisy · 11/06/2023 10:54

We are still hoovering up stray Christmas tree pine needles and it was on a laminated floor this year!

Our family record for findin pine needles is July. That was carpet, though.

And no, it isn't a show home, thank goodness. It's the home I love and enjoy coming back to every day regardless of the state.

MinnieEgg · 11/06/2023 11:05

My friend has a painter scheduled in for two days a month. Sometimes he will do a room, other times touching up.

Wimpeyspread · 11/06/2023 11:09

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

LunaTheCat · 11/06/2023 11:11

MrsElsa · 10/06/2023 21:41

Yes, mine looks like the show Hoarders.

MrsElsa I so love your honesty!

EmpressSoleil · 11/06/2023 11:17

My house is clean and tidy but I have a lot of collections on display, which show homes do not. So that's never a standard I would reach, nor am I aiming to.

I don't have lots of visitors and I'm not an influencer who would be posting photos of my place. So it doesn't matter anyway! I like it and thats all that matters.

diekatze · 11/06/2023 11:20

I try to keep the downstairs presentable. Even if it was all perfect I don't think my decor (shabby chic if that's still a term) would qualify for ´show home' standard.

frozendaisy · 11/06/2023 11:22

Since social media has made everything some made up competition including the inside of your fridge, it seems that more people judge the visual.

The obsession with house prices makes more people only think of a house as their investment not a home.

People are messy. They shed skin. But they also laugh and cuddle you.

Me and H on a semi regular basis confirm to each other that we are still on the same page that show home isn't what we are after. We got a new armchair recently deliberately not matching so not to go down the coordinated cushion route.

The world is burning because of over consumption and cleaning poisons down the drains.

So yes I do think that show homes, overly cleaned houses are desirable by people who just won't ever get our home/house philosophy if you like. Doesn't mean they aren't lovely people but fundamentally probably have different priorities than we do. And I say we, our house is "agreed" by both me, H and the kids. It isn't "oh leave the interior design to the woman it keeps her happy". It has to be all of us happy. With compromise if need be. It took us 8 years to decide on a "shade of white" paint.

Bathroom clean to use is one thing.

Show home? That's something else.

tootiredtobother · 11/06/2023 11:24

only when I have an estate agent coming round to give a valuation - which is Tuesday, must get on.....

usernother · 11/06/2023 11:28

MinnieEgg · 11/06/2023 11:05

My friend has a painter scheduled in for two days a month. Sometimes he will do a room, other times touching up.

How often does he do a whole room? Does she live in a mansion?

Gettingbysomehow · 11/06/2023 11:32

No it isn't. I hate show homes. I want people who come to my home to be comfortable and not worry about spilling things or putting creases in the cushions. I have books everywhere, cosy blankets, candles, furry throws and pets. I dont live in an impersonal hotel.⁹

KnackeredSheep · 11/06/2023 11:33

Why do these threads always descend into nasty jibes towards organised people?

My house is probably the cleanest of all my friends and family, but I never spend more than 30 minutes a day (Mon - Fri only) on actual cleaning. I just have a routine that gets everything, even all the deep cleaning, done in that 30 minutes. Everything has a place and I tidy as I go.

I like to think we are the very opposite of being dull. We have teens and a spaniel so there are lots of comings and goings. Our house is always open to visitors. Teens tend to gravitate to our house, especially before and after parties so I often have lots of teenage boys sleeping in the front room and a flurry of parents in and out dropping off or picking up. I’ve never noticed anyone looking awkward because the house is tidy, quite the opposite. People curl up on sofas, help themselves to drinks etc.

Our house is very much happy and lived in, but always clean and organised.