I went to a strangers house last night ...

[blinkofaneye90]

It was a friend of a friend type of thing who was hosting a beauty event. OMG her house was amazing. Probably valued around £2m, it was immaculate. Enough space to have not any clutter, a walk in shoes & coats cupboard, minimalistic, absolutely everything matching, all decor finished to a high spec. It was like a magazine show home. We have a fairly decent modern house, new kitchen installed last year, but it made me want to come home and rip out my new kitchen and everything else in my house and start again. Whereas I cant do that, I have cleared the very little clutter we had hanging around and this weekend will be doing a huge clean just to make everything smell/look/feel fresh. Will treat myself to some flowers too. The owner of the house was also immaculate. Slim, lovely manicured nails, softly spoken. I looked at myself - a little overweight, wearing a bobbled top with leggings and a tatty old pair of trainers (which I wouldn't usually ever wear, I put the wrong pair on by mistake).

I want to bin off work today and crack on with the house. And then go and buy myself the same lovely smelling Neom diffuser this house had, but it's £45 and I cannot ever justify that cost for a diffuser.

Comparison is the thief of joy

Exactly this

Don't attempt to try to emulate her house as you won't be able to and it will just frustrate you even more in the long run. My house is a mess, junk and OH's stuff on every surface, it drives me crazy. But ultimately I love him and for me its worth the stress. Hoping he gets tidy one day. lol

And certainly don't pay that much for a diffuser, by a nice throw and a couple of cushions from some cheap outlet instead.

Jealousy only hurts you.

ps, not quite sure how you put the wrong trainers on by mistake ?

Don't compare yourself to her but if her home inspires you to make a few changes you've been meaning to do, then no harm in that.

You are your own fabulous person and remember, you probably didn't worry about yourself or your home before you went to this house.

Well their house sounds lovely! And I'm sure yours with your new kitchen is also lovely. No point trying to model your house on a 2m one unless you're similar value!

Just think of how many people probably think the same about your house - I bet people think it's beautiful and love what you've done with it.

The fact she was hosting friends of friends (strangers) to her house for an event would have suggested massive declutter or everything hidden in a locked room!

Agree comparison is the thief of joy.

It really wouldn’t suggest that.

You sound much more fun than she does. I love a woman in a bobbled top and leggings. People who have houses where everything matches are suspicious! Where are the books? The torn out recipes and the stuff?!

I’m disappointed — I thought the title indicated a very different type of post, more like ‘I went to a stranger’s house last night… NAKED UNDER MY TRENCHCOAT’ or ‘… AND REARRANGED ALL THEIR PICTURES BEFORE EXITING THROUGH THE WINDOW’.

Minimalism and Nemo diffusers aren’t really cutting it.

I think it’s quite healthy to occasionally get a little kick up the arse to make you look at your own house/job/appearance/life in general/whatever with fresh eyes.

As long as you’re realistic about what you can achieve yourself and you also recognise that something you’ve got is someone else’s dream.

I’ll await the sneery comments about how dull her life must be, etc.

What your house looks like and whether it is tidy is not what is important in life, OP! If you think it is, then the others posting here are right, comparison is the thief of joy.

Damn it. Now you're going to spend the weekend cleaning rather than enjoying life.

Have a bit of a whip round with a cloth, push the vacuum round and open a window. Then get on with your own life in your lovely home.

I agree, I was expecting a sex party.

I feel similar when I go to visit a friends house that is a different league to normal reality. I live in a 4 bed detached & I come home & mine feels like toy town 😆

It does take time/money & staff to get the house & themselves looking like that though. An expensive diffuser isn’t going to be transformative unfortunately.

It’s all relative though, am sure many people would be envious of your circumstances.

I have the neom diffuser - not worth it! I mean it's lovely but I've found loads of others that last longer and are cheaper.
Carpet powders from etsy that smell delightful and last ages and don't cost much at all.
Also, stop comparing, you'll never be happy if you try to keep up.

I’m picturing Amanda from Motherland as your host!

Last year I picked ds up from his friend's.. Invited in for a coffee... Wow. Dining room had a 3 piece suite in it!!
Was amazing. Drove home feeling deflated and a failure... I work a mw job and rent our home.... Trying to open our fragile lock front door I could hear the clicking of feet on the floorboards..
Greeted by 16 paws more than made up for not having a bright pink sofa in my dining room!!

I love your very true and honest account even down to what you were wearing !

Never anything wrong with learning and getting ideas from other people.

Enjoy your cleaning and freshening up your, I am sure, lovely house!

Easily done

I've gone to work in odd shoes before

When I was a young woman I was bemoaning to a friend how I hated my scruffy old flat and wished I could live in a lovely house. She said to me, "You know, your place would be a palace to some people." I'll never forget that.

I'm really glad I'm now too old to bother being envious of what others have. Your home sounds lovely OP, try to just enjoy it

I do recognise that many people would be envious of my house. I often get nice comments about my house. I have a lovely house. But yes @herecomesthesun24 if did make my house feel like toy town LOL. It was just amazing to see this show-type house. I also recognised that the lovely house only had 1 family photo (that I could see, I didn't get to nose around the whole house). There was nothing personalised about the house and no lived-in effect.

What it did make me realise was all the little jobs that STILL need doing in our house. We can't afford to get them done this year. I need a handyman and painter/decorator to come in for 2 weeks and do all the finishing bits. Maybe next year that will happen !

OP I've lived in my present house for 20 years and it's still a work in progress!

I have a friend who lives in a house like that. No clutter anywhere, always lovely smelling and shiny. The sort of house that is 'visitor ready' at all times. Now that I have got to know her very well, I know that she has huge cupboards full of disordered 'stuff' and a couple of spare rooms that people don't usually see that are full of things that would have to be in view in a smaller house. So in my friend's case, it's not that she's particularly more organised than the rest of us- she just has space to hide her clutter more easily.

This