Or is it impossible to have a perfect house

[Senoritaono]

I have a pretty small house and one DC. Everything except the kitchen is in nice enough condition I think, although we haven't changed the decor since we moved in. Seeing everyone's homes on video calls has made me feel like everyone has a beautiful home and mine feels quite shabby by comparison! Do people just show off the best bit of their homes with a lovely bookshelf behind them or are other people doing constant maintenance and decorating to keep everything perfect all the time? My kitchen is old and really needs replaced and the cheap linoleum floor that the last owner put in is a mess! Always planned to replace it but DD came along and there was never time to make big plans. The garden needs work - mainly just concrete and want to put some grass down for DD to play on. Bathroom needs painted since a new shower was put in last year and some ceiling paint flaked off when some tiles were removed to let the plumber get access. Are your homes always immaculate? How do you keep on top of it all? Not sure how we will be able to get a anyone in to do anything while Covid is around either!

[Rosebel]

Our house is rented and it's in a horrible condition but the landlord (MIL) won't let us do anything. Needs rewiring, replumbing, ceiling is falling down in the hall, kitchen is tiny and needs replacing.
Thankfully we're moving out in August, was meant to be May but for obvious reasons was put on hold.
The house we're moving too is lovely and landlord has offered to decorate every 3 years. I can't wait.

[Zenithbear]

Immaculate isn't important. To me what's important is having things that you love in your home, decoration to your taste, lots of storage for all the necessary crap, being ruthless with clutter and a decent degree of cleanliness.

[flirtygirl]

"Only dull people have immaculate homes"

Is bullshit. It's a defensive crap non statement.

It's about priorities. Some people care and some don't. Most except the absolute poorest can improve their home. A tin of paint does not cost much. You have to know where to buy it from.

Lots of decor, furniture etc can be found very cheaply, even diy materials.

But it is about priorities. People who say it stayed like that for 5 years or 8 years show that it was not high up their to do list.

It is possible that in 5 or 8 years, you never had 2 or 5 or 10 hours to do anything to your home, but I doubt it. Also decluttering and tidying up are free. Most places look better just by doing that.

Children and pets are an excuse, if you care you work with what you have, including working around your household members. If you don't care then you don't bother.

[Ireolu]

We bought a house that had not been decorated since the 70s last November. The kitchen and bathroom had been done in the last 15-20years though. We kept that as is (couldn't afford to change anyways) everything else got done quick in 4 weeks by recommended team of builders in time for us to move out of our rental.

In the next week we to have the drive and garden done. Not looking forward to the noise/dust or expense

We are generally tidy. But not extreme.

[Stripeytopgirl]

It comes down to many things. Money, mainly. We’re always doing something but then we have to save up for the next thing & the next thing - it’s an on going project.

& it really depends how important it is to you, I get genuine joy from pottering around the house making things look nice. Some of my friends just find it a chore so don’t bother as much.

But YANBU, I genuinely think maintaining a property & making it all PERFECT takes a lifetime.

Unless you have buckets of money to throw at it all at once! (The dreammmm)

[NotMeNoNo]

The thing is, a nice home can be tidy and decorated and pleasant to liv

[Bluntness100]

Some people care and some don't

Most do care, even if they are living in a home they feel is untidy/shabby etc. That’s the reason there is bitchy comments against those who are able to maintain their homes.

Very few people look at their run down or messy home and feel some form of pleasure. Very few look at peeling paint or ancient Lino and think “I’m such an interesting person”. Genuinely they feel dismay or a desire to blank it from their minds, because focusing on it, causes a feeling of dismay.

[areyoubeingserviced]

Well, I must be extremely dull. I like to have a clean home.
I look after my home because living in a shabby home would have an adverse effect on my mental state.

[billy1966]

We have a really lovely home and a lovely garden.
But having a nice home to enjoy is important to us.
My home is my sanctuary.

Storage really helps in a home.
Not holding on to stuff you no longer use nor need really helps too.

Doing small jobs that need doing helps.
Maintenance of a home and garden to keep them looking well takes time and effort.

A freshly painted house that is tidy and clean is a very good start to having a nice home.

Not permitting children to make a complete mess all over a house also helps.

My children have been taught to keep their rooms tidy.
To tidy up after themselves.
To leave the bathrooms is a decent condition after they use them, same with the kitchen and living areas.
Do the like this. No.
But I have insisted that they learn to tidy up after themselves.

This makes a huge difference in a house of 6.
It means we live in a nice, organised, tidy house.
We all play a part in that.