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Original poster

To wish my house was permanently guest ready?

186 replies

apples83 · 29/02/2020 16:38

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).

OP posts:
memberofseven · 29/02/2020 19:37

I've got 4 children 11 and under. I can keep the house really tidy but they have other ideas. The washing literally takes over my life. The only way is to get rid of all clutter and really limit personal possessions. Then on top everything needs a home. You need more storage than you use so that nothing is crammed in. My house can be immaculate one minute and like a squat the same evening.

Little and often is the way. But you need rid of the clutter first.

WalkingDeadTrainee · 29/02/2020 20:03

My house is always guest ready.
Firstly, they won't go upstairs so, that's that.
Secondly. If my friends, who are usually the guests, have an issue with house being not perfect they can fuck off back to their equally not perfect housesGrin
As long as people don't feel scared to use your bathroom and wipe their feet on a way out, it's all ok. Bit of dust on a shelf is fine. Mark there and there is fine.

I started enjoying guests so much more since I run out of fucks.

Quicknamechange2020 · 29/02/2020 20:06

@Aquamarine1029 why can’t I be you? Sad

Every night before making dinner we have to was LAST NIGHTS dirty dishes and there’s always about two loads of washing sitting on the floor in front of the washing machine. I hate it!!!

notquiteruralbliss · 29/02/2020 20:07

The only people who would get invited into my home are those who wouldn’t give a rats arse how tidy ( or otherwise) it was.

adaline · 29/02/2020 20:10

that is absolutely fine - no-one is criticising that, but it is 'different from', 'not superior to' folk who like to have things to hand

It has been criticised on this thread though.

People who like to have clean surfaces have been told they live in a "fake Instagram world" or that they don't "have a life".

I never claimed it to be superior.

Aquamarine1029 · 29/02/2020 20:20

@Quicknamechange2020

You definitely don't have to be me, but I will say your quality of life will improve if you can get a handle on cleaning your kitchen. You need to make it a priority, but having said that, it truly doesn't take much effort. It only requires consistency. Dishes get dirty, wash them or put them in the dishwasher right away. The rule in my house is that dirty dishes are never left in the sink. It only takes a minute to quickly wash them! As I said before, waking up to a gross kitchen is a terrible way to begin your day. With a few changes you can absolutely set a new pattern.

Quicknamechange2020 · 29/02/2020 20:25

You’re so so so right! I could wake up in the best mood ever, walk downstairs and there’s last nights curry waiting for me ... mood down 100 levels Sad

Same with the bedroom - I’m so much calmer when I’m not tripping over things.

adaline · 29/02/2020 20:29

The only people who would get invited into my home are those who wouldn’t give a rats arse how tidy ( or otherwise) it was.

I don't tidy my house for guests.

I keep it tidy for myself as I'm the one who lives here! I don't really give a rats arse what my guests think of my house - they don't have to come here if they don't like it.

formerbabe · 29/02/2020 20:34

It really depends on the guest.

My house was a tip the other day and my lovely easy going mum friend came over and I know she doesn't judge or give a shit.

I have another friend who is child free and lives in a show home that looks like it came out of an interiors mag. She considers a coffee cup left on the side or a single toy on the living room floor to be absolute filth. Seriously. She came round when I had a newborn and couldn't get over the fact that my toddlers plastic sippy cup was in my kitchen cupboard with the clear door so everyone could see it.

I don't invite her round. She's judgy in an especially unpleasant way.

BeroccaFiend · 29/02/2020 20:55

If life is too short to stuff a mushroom, it is definitely too short to bustle about having a ‘guest-ready’ house.

And in the nicest possible way, if your state of mind really plummets when there are dishes in the sink, I’d be concentrating on sorting out my MH, not on housework. And thinking very hard about whether male dominated forums regularly have men posters chiming in with tips as to how they achieve a permanently guest-ready house, and if not, why not?

adaline · 29/02/2020 21:19

And in the nicest possible way, if your state of mind really plummets when there are dishes in the sink, I’d be concentrating on sorting out my MH, not on housework. And thinking very hard about whether male dominated forums regularly have men posters chiming in with tips as to how they achieve a permanently guest-ready house, and if not, why not

I don't focus on having a guest-ready house at all. My house is tidy for me, not for anyone else. I'm the one who has to live in it, and I don't want to live in a mess. I don't think it has anything to do with gender, either. There are plenty of men who like a tidy home - my FIL is one of them!

Having a tidy home MASSIVELY improves my mental health. I love getting up in the morning and having a clean and tidy home. That's not for everyone, though, and that's fine too. I don't keep my home tidy for anyone except me.

woodhill · 29/02/2020 22:25

I can cope much better if my house is tidy and everything is put away

Tumbleweed101 · 01/03/2020 07:55

I’m too busy to have my house guest ready all the time but it depends on the guests as to how much of a panic I get in - and how tidy their houses are too. If someone who has an immaculate home is visiting I panic far more about how bad mine is lol.

dudsville · 01/03/2020 08:16

My home isn't immaculate but it's tidy and clean. We don't have children so it's easy to maintain. The main thing is to regularly do the weekly clean and then tidy up after yourselves daily so that surfaces aren't permanent dumping grounds. My dh has a tendency to be messy, so he had an office where he can be as messy as he likes. If his stuff isn't in their then it's likely to be tidied.

CarolineBingley · 01/03/2020 08:50

We have a cleaner which is a HUGE help, however, I hate going downstairs in the morning to an untidy house so my rule is that before we go up to bed dh and I tidy up, dettol all the kitchen surfaces, clear and clean the dining table, sweep the floor and load the dishwasher. Probably takes an hour on Saturday and Sunday nights when the whole family have been around all day but maybe just 20 minutes during the week. I try and make the kids tidy the rooms up for 10 minutes before bed else dd’s room is a disaster (heading nicely for her teens Hmm). I was so untidy until my mid 20s that my old uni housemates still talk about how messy i was, 25 years later.Blush

Sickofrain · 01/03/2020 16:02

We are always guest ready and it's really no effort now.

We did a massive declutter, using Marie Kondo techniques and so have way, way less stuff and everything has a home. That makes it easy to keep things put away (& the kids can help too).

Annasgirl · 01/03/2020 16:09

Oh I'm with you there OP. I am very very tidy and could live with a totally minimalist home and I declutter regularly -BUT I live with a hoarder. DH buys stuff all the time. We are having guest for 3 weeks arriving on Wednesday and I have spent 3 weeks redoing the house for them - painting upstairs rooms. I got the downstairs repainted before Christmas. I decluttered all but the shed and the conservatory where DH stores his bikes and other stuff - it is still a tip. He has done nothing to help. Feel like getting a skip now and throwing everything in there including the expensive bikes, into it.

Oh, but the house will look fab by Wednesday morning even if I have to spend the next 36 hours non stop. (DH has been away all weekend and all last weekend and he works all week long hours so is never here).

And then it will all start up again - this happens every year in my house, DH spends the winter accumulating clutter, I deep clean and the house is great for the Spring and Summer.

Oh and you need to have a family who will help you, it is impossible to work and have a family and manage the clutter of 5 people. Unless you have nothing else in your life but housekeeping.

Bringringbring12 · 01/03/2020 16:19

* We are always guest ready and it's really no effort now.*

I disagree. It does take effort. I don’t mind the effort involved as the benefit of living in my lovely clean organised and tidy home is worth it. But it does take effort and no escaping from that fact. It’s putting laundry away immediately, keeping on top of the children and their rooms, giving the kitchen a good clean down following dinner so sparkling when you walk on in the morning.
Effort. Not much when clean and tidy to start with but still effort

Bringringbring12 · 01/03/2020 16:21

@Annasgirl you need your own thread in relationships about your “d”h!

Annasgirl · 01/03/2020 18:08

@Bringringbring12 yes! To be fair - he knows he is so messy. He tries to contain it to the shed but it always seeps into the house. And he would have cleared it up but was away with work and kids events for the past three weekends. We have also had the weather from hell, as in the UK, so he usually keeps on top of the garden, but that is also looking like a windswept corner of hell these last few weeks due to all the storms.

Monkeynuts18 · 01/03/2020 18:48

No. It really upsets me actually, but my house is constantly a pit. I’m ashamed to admit this, but I’m on mat leave AND have a cleaner once a week! I’m very envious of people with presentable homes.

My baby isn’t a great napper so I don’t have much time during the day for housework. We also have a Labrador, which doesn’t help. But the biggest problem is my husband. He’s impossibly messy. You can spend hours cleaning the kitchen - he’ll cook one meal and it’ll be a bomb site again. He never puts things away, closes cupboard doors, wipes his feet or takes off his shoes, throws anything away or does anything without being asked. It’s utterly draining.

BackforGood · 01/03/2020 18:53

Oh, but the house will look fab by Wednesday morning even if I have to spend the next 36 hours non stop.

See I don't understand that way of thinking at all.
I don't have people coming to stay that often, but when they do, I expect to enjoy it. Not spend days working in order to put on some sort of show. Yes, if they are staying over, I will usually need to tidy the spare room, as it is where I work and becomes a bit of a dumping ground. Then afterwards I'd need to change the bed. However, if 36 hours of work were needed to prepare for them coming, then they wouldn't be invited. Where is the pleasure in that ? Confused

BackforGood · 01/03/2020 18:54

Oh, and I would HATE to think I'd put a friend of mine to that much work in order for me to stay.

Darbs76 · 01/03/2020 18:54

Having lived in a few houses I’ve discovered the solution - enough space to put things away! Since I’ve moved into a bigger house it’s much easier to keep the place visitor ready as if everywhere has a home when you’re doing the weekly clean you’re not spending 90% of the time tidying things away. So now my Monday clean I can just start dusting,
Hoovering straight away as I don’t need fo tidy things away. I also ensure I do the minimum after work daily which is taking any clothes off the clothes airer, wash on (most days but not all), dishwasher on and emptied, worktops wiped over. So for the first time ever if someone calls round it’s its ok

adaline · 01/03/2020 19:04

I disagree. It does take effort. I don’t mind the effort involved as the benefit of living in my lovely clean organised and tidy home is worth it. But it does take effort and no escaping from that fact.

It depends what you mean by effort, though.

For me, spending thirty odd minutes a day doing housework isn't much effort - it's just normal life. Washing up after yourself, putting laundry on, running the hoover round - it's normal to me and not something I find tiring or stressful.