To wish my house was permanently guest ready?

[apples83]

DH and I have some friends coming over for drinks tonight. As ever in this situation, I’m frantically cleaning the house to try and get it looking half presentable for when they arrive (DH did upstairs and the front room earlier and has now gone to visit his mum). Cue mad dusting, vacuuming, mopping and a big tidying away session. I’m now slumped on the sofa shattered and am only halfway through!

Every time this happens I vow that I won’t be in this situation ever again and that if someone is coming round, my house will be such that I simply need to tidy away a few bits and bobs give the kitchen surfaces a cursory wipe. As it is I have to give up half of my weekend doing some sort of deep clean like a crazy woman.

Does anyone have a guest ready house at all times and if so, how do you do it? (Cleaner not an option here as budget doesn’t allow sadly).

Team TOMM!! www.theorganisedmum.blog/

I can keep a basic level of cleanliness and tidiness but you can't keep an immaculate house if you have children unless you sacrifice everything else at the alter of housework.

I had a baby and went onto maternity leave might be a bit of a commitment just for a tidy home though. Plus as they get older I think the mess comes back again in the form of toys .

Honestly though - your house sounds how our house used to be. Now I'm on maternity leave I have a lot more free time to keep the house nice. I can't imagine what it's going to look like once I'm back at work because then we'll both be full time and have the little one to look after.

The point I'm getting at is that I don't think most people have the time or inclination to keep a show home unless they have crazy amounts of free time. I'm pretty sure 99% of people do what you do every time guests come round but none of us talk about it .

In terms of advice though. I'd just say do little and often. Plan to leave all the rooms in the house tidy at the end of each day. But then do the big cleaning jobs (bathrooms, floors, dusting etc) once a week at the weekend. That's hopefully the routine we'll be following once I'm back at work.

Everything just seems to gather dust, marks and mess really quickly. It’s a full time job just trying to keep on top of it IMO!

My house is always guest ready and I can't say enough how beneficial it is for your mental wellbeing. Waking up and coming home to a clean and tidy home is a game changer, imo, and it's really not difficult to achieve. Purging your home of useless clutter and tat is the first step, and the next is to be religious about tidying up by the end of every day and throughout the day. It only takes a few minutes to put things away, and a mess only happens when you allow these little things to build up.

I think the only people who have houses that are permanently perfect are people who spend their whole day doing housework most of which doesn't need doing and I would hope that people visit to see you not judge how clean and tidy your house is my friends take pot luck depending on day of the week wether my house is tidy or immaculate as I do the majority of my housework one day a week

@Aquamarine1029 I can imagine - my head always feels so much clearer and calmer when I have a tidy home. What’s your cleaning routine like?

@Curiosity101 I’m impressed that you’ve managed to keep your house guest ready with a newborn baby in tow!

@apples83 Thanks, but don't be. Like I said, once he gets older I'm guessing that our house wont be quite so tidy . Especially once I'm back at work. We're just going to do little and often and hope for the best.

I don't really have a set routine, I just do what needs to be done along the way. We do a quick wipe of the bathrooms every day, run the robot vac everyday, always put away what we take out, etc. Without fail, however, the kitchen is completely clean after dinner. My husband and I work together and it's done easily within 15 minutes. Waking up to a messy, dirty kitchen is horrible and not ever going to happen. It ruins the start of your whole day, imo. Of course my house has a bit of dust here and there, but unless you clean maniacally, there's no avoiding that. A bit of dust does not a dirty home make!

Some people will find it very easy as they are naturally tidy and put things away. Ditto some with children also.

Others will never find it easy. One of my friend had 6 kids, 4 still at home and her home has always look like a bomb has hit it. My other friends had seven kids including a new born and her home is clean and tidy as she is naturally tidy and has trained her kids to do so, especially in communal areas.

Either way, less clutter and easy to clean floors like wood or lvt is a start.

My house is reasonable but it's hard having adult ds home who doesn't pull his weight. There is clutter everywhere.

Kitchen and lounge always tidy and keep bathrooms clean.

You need to keep on top of it and do a bit each day to be visitor ready.

I'm no Mrs Hinch, nor do I have any desire to be but if someone walked in now I wouldn't mind. They would see toys on the floor (in use by DS), one empty coffee cup out, a beaker of juice, some clean washing on the radiators and a washing basket on the kitchen top.

• I vacuumed downstairs this morning and will very quickly whiz it round the kitchen after tea.
• I'll also wipe down the tops and the hob and sink when I plate up.

-My dishwasher is emptied every morning so all the cooking stuff will go right in there and i'll switch it on before I go to bed. -Toys will all be put away before tea, and I always put toys away before we go out anywhere too. -I'll spray mop the kitchen and playroom after DS has gone to bed. -He had a bath this afternoon after getting muddy in the garden so I sprayed it after that and will have a quick wipe round the bathroom while DS is cleaning his teeth.

It doesn't feel like much but just keeps things in check.

I am told my house is always guest ready, although I can always see things that need doing.

Agree getting rid of clutter and stuff you don’t need really helps when we moved house we had a massive clear out.
Get good storage, ikea cubes have saved my sanity, toys get chucked into them each night which helps me claims back the adult space.

When you leave a room take something with you and put it where it should be.

But as much as it’s a cliche, I don’t notice if my friends houses are guest ready or not. It’s only in my house I see the mess.

As @Aquamarine says it doesn’t take long to put things away and tidy as you go. For instance, dishes to in the dishwasher here as soon as they’re used, before we had a dishwasher we washed up after every meal. Once the washing was done and dried it was put away, it doesn’t take long. The kitchen counters are washed down after meals and the bathrooms get a quick whizz over after showers or baths. Skirtings are done every couple of days as we have dogs and the mess is wiped away as it’s made. Once you’re in a routine it’s easy to stick to.

Taking an extra a few minutes before you head out or leave a room to pick a few things up really is a game changer.
Giving the sink and loo a clean while kids are getting ready for bed helps, and putting washing away religiously as well.
My husband is very, untidy and my children are as well.
They do have jobs to do but tidying up after themselves is a full time nagging job.

my house is always guest ready, i find it easy and work full time and have 2 kids and 2 dogs.

here are my tips:

robot hoover, great for dog hair - we put it on daily

clean as you go on all things, toys in bedrooms, the kids are older so play more doing things rather than with things

washing basket in every bedroom

kids clean their own room

dp does as much cleaning as me, we detail clean once a week (takes an hour)

washing up / washing clothes etc equally shared by dp and i

no shoes on house, everything has a place and is put there

simple rules but really easy to maintain

also ha e a charity bag constantly on the go so you don't accumulate crap

Yes - but I’m also very minimalist which helps to keep clutter down, and I tidy as I go so never end up frantically doing everything before guests arrive. I wasn’t always like this, I had to discipline myself and my habits so that as soon as a guest leaves I strip sheets and wash and as soon as they’re dry I put them back on the guest bed. I really had to curb my tendency towards procrastination and stop letting things build up out of laziness.

Everyone has different standards that will inform how regularly they deep clean. For me personally a deep clean would involve washing doors / windows / skirting boards / clearing out cupboards / polishing mirrors and there is no way I have time to do all of that every week and I wouldn’t do it for guests either

I am very envious of those whose homes are always presentable. I love nothing more than a tidy, clean home. Unfortunately I have two disabled kids and health issues myself so its impossible to keep on top it all the time. Trying to declutter at the moment to make it easier.

If your house was permanently guest ready, you'd spend all your spare time cleaning and tidying. Is that how you want your life to be like?

If your house was permanently guest ready, you'd spend all your spare time cleaning and tidying. Is that how you want your life to be like?

That’s not true. You can pick things up and put them away in a few seconds. Personally my life isn’t like as you’ve described and I’m sure more than a few other people will agree with me.

I keep my house clean enough to be guest ready but not quite tidy enough. I think I'd need about twenty mins warning to get the downstairs fully guest ready and another ten mins for upstairs. This is the happy medium for me!

Mine is always in pretty good shape, 2 DC and both DH and I work from home but don't really have time for cleaning during the day. Routine is to make beds, put things away, wipe over taps/toilets in bathrooms and leave kitchen completely clean after breakfast. Same routine after dinner/before bed - everything goes back in its place and gets wiped down. Everything has a place and goes back in its place daily. So it's presentable.... As for actual deep cleaning though and getting under furniture, I probably do a couple of hours every Sat morning and then bigger cleans yearly. Summer is good for cleaning curtains, bedding, soft toys etc. and giving each room a deep clean before putting it all back.

So it's not always perfectly clean and sparkly but definitely presentable and, more importantly, not chaotic to live in. I don't think my mental health could stand it so that keeps me motivated to stay on top of it.

To be fair, I think it depends on your house (size and lay-out) and what storage you’ve got. I struggle with my kitchen, for example, but that’s because it’s a weird shape and doesn’t have many cupboards.

So, some houses are easier than others to keep tidy IMO.

I did find it useful to identify one or two hotspots in my house that attract clutter and I always try to clear them every day or two before they build up. I also keep the kitchen and bathroom clean. Then if guests are coming, I check the bedrooms and do a massive lounge blitz, knowing the rest is relatively ok (lounge because that’s where the toys gather).