To think most houses aren't 'visitor ready'?

[Pandrawerschangedmylife]

Got friends coming to stay this weekend. MIL just phoned to speak to DH, I explained he'd taken the kids out so that I can get the house sorted (change bedding, put the hoover round, clean the bathroom etc...) She sounded very surprised and made a comment along the lines of the house being pretty untidy if I need a few hours to clean it, as she just cleans hers as she goes (of course she does, there's only two of them living in the house!)

AIBU to think that most houses aren't tidy enough for overnight guests? There always seems to be things to sort and put away. Or am I actually living in squalor without knowing it?

Mine is like yours then farty. A home. The bogs and kitchen are spotless. Bathrooms clean. Floors mopped or hoovered weekly. No build up of dirty pots or too much clutter. Dusting and paintwork done every three weeks on a floor by floor Rota. Windows every six.

If visitors want more they Don't have to come. My mother is show home standard. Tough! MIL is a bit of a dirty cah so has to buck up a bit here.

Pre kids my house was always visitor ready.

Two kids later, I feel I’d need a week to get my house up to scratch. And we have a cleaner

Depends what you mean by visitor ready. I don't care if my visitors see dirty dishes in the sink or a bit of dust on the floor. I'd give the toilet a quick wipe and the temporary bed would be set up at night anyway. Depends how fussy you/your visitors are - I do make more of an effort for friends who I know are very clan and tidy themselves.

My house is almost always pretty tidy and drop in visitor ready. However staying over guests take some work. Recently I had guests coming and felt the house was very visitor ready. Some spidey sense said, “check the sitting room,”

Which was lucky since I found a large dog poo in the middle of the rug. He never, ever does this....

We need at least a week, ideally a month if we've visitors coming.

I want to visit the people. So many say they are not ready for visitors, it’s common. If they don’t like some untidiness, don’t visit

Oh God mine is most often than not ready for visitors. Toys all over the floor and a constantly moulting dog leaving tufts of fur all over the carpet. So I definitely need time to get the place sorted.

this is me before visitors

That Foil Arms thing is brilliant

Yes indeed! My mum is Scottish (and so am I) but other than that the resemblance is quite spooky!

I’m obsessive about cleaning and love a tidy house so yes mine is always visitor ready. Even with a toddler in tow. Even though I admit it’s probably a sign of a wasted life.

This ^^ We keep our home ‘show home’ not for visitors but for us. It makes me feel calm and relaxed knowing where everything is and helps me manage having 3 kids and working so much easier. We don’t find it hard as DH and I are both the same and ‘do it as we go’ and it’s second nature to us. I just wouldn’t enjoy my home any other way and would feel stressed by the dirt and mess.

That's what I mean but not a show home. By my parent's standards it is not 'visitor ready

But you must understand logically your parents standards are extreme ?

My house is visitor ready because it’s clean and tidy. The beds are made up, it doesn’t need hoovering and it’s not dusty. It’s not cluttered, the bathrooms and loos are clean, as are the windows. Dirty dishes are in the dishwasher not cluttering up the kitchen. However yes there may be coffee cups on the coffee table, some paper work out, tv remotes lying round. That doesn’t stop it being visitor ready...

You are not alone I like a lot of notice! I do feel so much better once it's hoovered but with working full time the weekends are usually chore catch up time :)

Our house is usually not far from ready, maybe an hour tops to have the whole house perfect.
We have lots of spare time though.

Ours varies from guest ready to f*cking hideous.

Even ready I’d still want to hoover, bleach & sheet clean tho

That youtube link is so me!! I have 4 kids so no my house is not visitor ready and the times it is no one calls then the kids mess it all up again! Its clean and I tidy at the end of each night but its like a hurricane whipped through again the next day, sometimes I just give up life is short!

I was tidying the house one day and DS, 4yo at the time, asked what visitor was coming.

Although I thought my house was visitor ready I just found a cat turd under the bath. Ancient cats have no manners at all.

Remind me again why what's good enough for you and your family isn't good enough for a visitor?

Be like the poshos. Never apologise, never explain!

4 person household inc a primary age kid and a toddler. The house is always visitor ready. If there are visitors and they’re ready to come over then they do.

I’m also confused as to why you need hours to clean your house ready for people to come over? It really isn’t hard to keep a house clean and tidy unless you have some sort of disability or illness OP.

I nearly started a thread like this the other day when Dd1 (5) described our house as "like if you left all the windows open and there was a volcano right outside"... Although my title was going to be more like AIBU to hire a skip and sod the lot of them

Mine isn't. If I'm expecting visitors I ideally need a few hours to sort the place out. Even then I only tidy the bits they'll see- upstairs is a nightmare but as we have a downstairs toilet there's no need for anyone to go up there!

exalted, I'd say that the permanent residents of a home don't mind a few bits and bobs over the place, indeed it's how most busy households will be. eg my sofa has a half duvet and blanket on at the moment. My kids like them there. But if someone was visiting, I'd fold these things up and put them neatly in the corner. That sort of thing.

I kind of always assumed all my friends were generally tidy and easy going, I am now wondering which ones go into frantic clean before we turn up for a weekend... Don't get me wrong, I am flattered if anyone makes a special effort, but it's embarrassing and a bit of a waste of time isn't it?

I think I'm pretty easy going but we're not generally very tidy here so I would clean up before you came so you would feel more comfortable. I don't think that's embarrassing. I think it's polite.

Remind me again why what's good enough for you and your family isn't good enough for a visitor?

Because my family don't give two shits if there are dirty dishes piled in the sink, but some visitors might.