To wan ttk know how clean and tidy your home is, and do you believe your home is a reflection of your mind ?

[Lardlizard]

Mind tends to be very clean and tidy downstairs
So always guest ready
ESp with a five min warning

The upstairs can have pies of washing etc that are clean and dry n waiting to go away
So the upstairs tends to be less tidy but people other than us don’t go up there

But when it’s tidy upstairs I feel my head is more in order

Mine is never tidy as my daughter doesn't give me time to tidy up or if I do tidy she just messes it up again. I try and keep the bathroom clean as it is pretty basic hygiene but other than that I just let it wash over me.

As for my mind I'm a deep thinker and quite creative and laid back, not sure if the state of the house reflects this or not! My sister in law is a bit of a control freak and her house is always spotless 😁

It is for me tidy house tidy mind etc.
I know it sounds simple but you just have to tidy up as you go. Don’t make a mess in the first place.
I live alone so it’s easy for me I know but you need a routine and stick to it. That’s old fashioned as well I know.

I’m the same as you. Downstairs generally tidy, guest ready. Upstairs is another story... The DC’s bedrooms in particular .

Mine is always guest ready downstairs & upstairs could be with a 5 min warning.
I like my home to be clean & tidy and I feel stressed when it isn’t so I definitely believe cluttered house = cluttered mind. It does for me anyway.

I don’t think a reflection of one’s mind is quite right. I think people have different personal markers for what makes them feel like they are on top of things. When my friend has piles of ironing to do it is for her a reflection that things are getting on top of her. I don’t iron so it doesn’t apply, but I feel on top of things if I have a meal plan and have for example prepared tonight’s meal the evening before so it’s in the fridge ready to go. Other people would find that nuts.
Downstairs is tidy at the end of the day, as is our bedroom and my son’s bedroom. The spare room is where all the stuff to be sorted goes, and some stuff only gets sorted just before we have guests. I think that is a reflection of my and my husband's busy-ness and tiredness rather than our minds

“you need a routine and stick to it. That’s old fashioned as well I know.”

Eh? How is that old fashioned?

I'm clean and tidy, DH and our 3 kids are not, to put things mildly, so
the house is a lunatic mix of order and tip, depending on who is in and how much I walk behind everyone picking things up. As for my mind, it almost approaches sanity when all kids and dh are out and I've hoovered and tidied up!

Generally always tidy and clean. Mess really, really stresses me out.

What does “tidy mind” mean to people?

I thought it was old fashioned. Happy to be corrected.

My head is definitely in a better place when my house is tidy. Clutter and mess brings me down.
Having said this I am not obsessed with keeping things tidy and especially after the weekend a big clean up is needed!
Everything has to be clean though I could not live in a dirty house.

I don’t know, I see the organised mum method and all sorts of other routines people follow or develop for themselves so it seems pretty “on trend” to me!

Mine is messy and disorganised. It's My mind is also messy and disorganised 🤣
I'd love to live in a house where guests could come at 5 mins notice without the frantic tidying but I genuinely don't know how to do that.

Oh maybe your right I’m more trendy than I thought😀.
We were taught how to do it at school can you believe.

It's usually messy (except every other Wednesday when the cleaner comes).

It's always guest ready though..... cats, dogs, mess, books, projects etc can be moved in a jiffy.

Creative types so are happier surrounded by the evidence

I have a job where I have to be very organised and make sure other are.I like my house very tidy but very much a surface tidy person. My cupboards etc are a bit of mess. Not sure because I am a fulltime working mom and once i done the basics ie. cleaning kitchen, bathroom, vaccy, washing, shopping on a Saturday I am too tired for big jobs.

House and mind are a mess.

It's guest ready, if they don't mind the odd pile of stuff waiting to find a home.

It's not remotely a reflection on the state of my mind though, but a reflection on how busy we are that week and the fact that I am heavily pregnant...

Depends on your standard of cleanliness I guess. If it's my pil coming over the downstairs can be ready within 10 mins as I just need to put toys away and hover. If guests are coming that rarely come over I would want the whole house to be cleaned so would need longer. In general I dust twice a week, clean the toilets every day and hoover 5x a week. I like order and structure so for me clutter is annoying. My dh is the opposite so I try to find a balance. Our house is always clean but not always tidy.

I think cars (If you have one) are a more accurate reflection. Mine is clean and tidy now but it's new so there's time yet...

But a friend of mine had an immaculate house and office and she was also immaculately turned out. Always. Her car was like a skip and I knew her head was a complete mess.

My house downstairs is ‘lived in’, but with half an hour could look ok. My kids bedrooms go from being tidy to mess in about two days, mostly just clothes chucked everywhere. Bathrooms thoroughly cleaned every week.
The real embarrassment in my house is my own room. Bed linen clean and not many clothes but my desk is here and the paperwork is overflowing. There’s a box of kids old artwork that I intend to get framed, piles of old magazines, half filled rubbish bag from last attempt at a tidy up... I’d die inside if anyone saw it.

@StCharlotte - my sister has a very untidy house but her car is immaculate.

Currently our house is a bit of a state. There is stuff everywhere. In the wrong room.

I’m trying to bring stuff upstairs/downstairs with every trip I make. But it is like fighting a loosing battle at present.

I’m all for tidy house tidy mind. As if dh. But he doesn’t seem to see the clutter. So it falls to me to put things away.

There’s been a basket of his clean laundry on the floor in front of his set of drawers in our room now for almost 2 weeks. Despite him having last week off to “sort the house and sort through and put away his clothes”

He did put some stuff up in the loft. Which I’ve had to make him get down again. Moses basket and stand baby car seat etc as am 38 weeks pregnant and am now on maternity leave.....

very clean and tidy. I cannot sleep when it is messy. Not sure of this is healthy but that is the way it is. I have DC, one with complex SN. I work (I am never at home when the DC are in school), no family or support network. DD1 has ASD and severe learning difficulties and it is all bloody hard but I keep on top of things by not letting things get out of hand. Once you have a routine and stick to it, it's not that hard to keep it going and to keep the home in order.

I don't have OCD but I have some tendencies when it come to oder and tidiness and things have be be a very certain way otherwise I get really stressed. Not sure how healthy this is but at least the house is always in clean and tidy

Mine is directly tied to the state of my mental health. If I'm having a particularly depressive or anxious period then my room is an utter tip. But communal areas of the house I tidy up after myself.

I also have OCD (diagnosed and being treated, not just saying it), but it's more checking things are locked and the house won't burn down and having to reread things many times over. Occasionally I wish I had the compulsion to clean and tidy instead!