to hate truely clean tidy houses!

[lisad123isgoingcrazy]

My "friend" teased me today about my house always being cluttered I have 2 young children and a dog and my house is neither dirty or untidy, just lived it!
I have toys, paperwork and books around the house.

Her house is always spotless and everything has its place.

Drives me mad

Dont worry. It happens lots.

YABU.

I adore clean and tidy houses.

I would love if mine was.

It always looks like we've just been robbed.

NotAnotherBrick you just cant be serious?

Barbie, I think she might have been joking!

I have to agree that only allowing dh in certain rooms would be a good idea lol! Although I think I would allow him in the kitchen and ban myself from it.

Of course I was joking! I was actually, I'm afraid, horrified at the idea of telling some members of the household that there are some rooms they are not allowed into.

Mine and my DH's space for ourselves is our bedroom. Children are welcome in there whenever they want to be in there - it's the only room, though, to keep it peaceful, where there is the rule that nothing can be taken in or out of it by anyone except me and DH. The girls have similar rules for their own rooms. But no banning goes on - that's just so unfair IMO.

I ADORE tidy clean homes, and am insanely jealous of them.

My house is not clean and tidy. I blame most of this on DH (more messy than anyone I have EVER met) and his large and messy hobbies, and the fact that our house (IMO) is too small (small 3 bed semi for 4 of us).

However, when I REALLY think about it, I am also a big part of the problem. I (like DH) am a hoarder, I don't love cleaning and do the minimum - despite the fact that I always seem to be tidying something! However, I also think having an old, crumbly house doesn't help. I'm sure its easier to clean a brand new Barrett home!

My parents house is very clean, even though they never seem to do much cleaning. That's because they are doing little things constantly. So after a bath, they clean the bathroom, and immediately after cooking (before eating!) they wipe the hob etc.

there are degrees of cleanliness and tidiness
from things being reasonably easy to find and a reasonably clean carpet, basin, bath
to
the frankly psychotic gleaming surfaces not a toy in sight
the former I aspire to sometimes, the latter I am scared of

Clean and tidy would be nice but I couldn't cope with it being like that all the time.
I could NOT live with a tidy freak, who had to have the place looking like a showhome the entire time (have two friends like that, argh!)

I do like a place to look lived in, and as though there is some kind of character to it - sterile and flawless doesn't appeal to me in any way.

i think it is all relative. i cleaned up yesterday and now it is a bit messy again. It is ongoing. sometimes i get annoyed but most of the time i think it is not too bad. there are pockets of clutter i.e. computer, hall table.

winter is more difficult as there are more coats and more washing to do. also have a live in guineau who adds to problem. he is put out once the weather improves. My son cleaned him out today and left a mess.

LeQueen - "When DD1 was born we lived in a tiny, 2-bed house. If anything I felt I had to keep that even tidier than when we then moved to a 4-bed barn conversion."

We did the same. The two bed house we lived in ten years ago just had to be tidy. It would have driven us mad otherwise.

See I find it easier to be tidy now have room to put thongs away 5 people in. A 2 bed 4 being dc meant we was tripping over things no matter how ruthless I was

Now we have wardrobe each and draws means things can get put away mind di have the glory hole where all sorts things get stashed

i keep mine spotlessly clean and tidy despite having two DC under 5, its hard but worth it. people that live in untidy shitholes are just lazy IMO. fair enough it doesn't have to be a showhome but reasonably clean and uncluttered isnt hard surely?

oh and i always make DS tidy his toys away at the end of the day and tidy his room. same goes for when we have other children here at the house, i think its good to instil a sense of, if i make a mess i tidy it. and kids aren't allowed in my bedroom. ever! and not in the bathroom unless they need the loo or obvs for baths etc.

The children are allowed absolutely everywhere but they are not allowed to do what the hell they please absolutely everywhere. No toys/pens/food in the sitting room - so that there is always somewhere comfortable and tidy to sit down.

I am über-minimalist as a mother-interior decorator, having spent many years living in a boudoir beforehand. But I can feel my inner-boudoir creeping up on me again as the years pass and the children create less havoc...

My house is a shit hole and I don't even have DCs!

I would LOVE a tidy house but I have no idea - none! - about how to do this! Hats off to all of you who manage it with DCs.

In my defense, we do work stupid and conflicting hours, so when we have time off we sort of pretend we are going to have a big tidy/declutter...and then just go on holiday

I am always frantically tidying on a Fri morning at 6am because we are having people round after work/to stay the weekend/whatever. Manage to pull it off, usually...

Nobody has died yet (but it is entirely possible that they have been stuffed in that cupboard with all the rest of our crap memories)

I don't trust people with immaculate houses.

But, I used to have an immaculate house (we had it up for sale, and a cleaner) and I never considered it immaculate myself.

It's done me good reading this thread as my house is truly messy. I would like it to be tidier but it all seems so much effort.

It's been good to read the posts from people with tidy houses who say they don't mind about other people's.

Especially "ChippinIn" who said as long as she can sit down and someone puts the kettle on it's all good !
Thanks, you made me feel better !

my home was driving me batty today as it was so untidy 20 minutes with everyone hellping quite lovely again and my temper restored. I love clean and tidy and don`t mind homes which are not as long as they have a certain something about them which i like

How does the not letting children into certain rooms work? If kids are not allowed in your bedroom is it just that they are not allowed to play there, or that they are just not allowed under any circumstances? Seems odd to me.

I don't really like having the kids toys in our bedroom, and I would prefer they didn't play in the dining room if possible, but would discourage it rather than make it law IYSWIM!

No toys or playing in bedrooms. They may go to get clothes. No entry to other rooms other than kitchen, play room or work room.

Our DSs have a lot of toys, computers, pool table, table tennis table and a big garden to play in.

They honestly have no need to go elsehwere in the house and they never complain.

I'm a recovering slattern, and I can say with certainty that there is NOTHING good about being truly dirty and disorganised (not that i ever thought there was, nor is it news to anyone on this thread). DH is extremely tidy but is Quentin Crisp when it comes to actual cleaning as opposed to tidying. Systems have been the key, and a 'nudge' approach so that it's easier to do housework than not to. You wouldn't think we were very far along this road if you came to visit but, honestly, you should have seen it 3 years ago.

On the other hand, the thought of banning ds from a room in our house just makes me laugh, quite apart from the fact that we only really have 4 rooms including the bathroom.