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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask for another annoying things about other peoples homes thread?

834 replies

balihai550 · 04/12/2020 19:32

This one two years ago made my christmas... can we have another? 🎄 🙏

OP posts:
ChonkyLamp · 05/12/2020 13:05

Some friends of ours have always kept a cold house... we've known them for years and they've had severalvdifferent houses in that time. All really, really cold. They must just keep the thermostat really low.

They are amazing hosts in every other way - ecxellent company, clean house, beautifully decorated, piles of delicious food and drink. But they are just hardy as fuck and go wild camping, fell running etc. I think they find any temperature above 1 degree C luxuriously comfortable.

We used to get dressed up to go to their house as if we were going on an Arctic expedition. Extra vests, double jumpers, giant blanket-style wraps.

Recently we went there ad they had put the heating on a bit... turns out their kids' friends had been universally complaining that the house was too cold when they came over for playdates. God bless the honesty of children.

It was still fucking freezing though

sunglassesonthetable · 05/12/2020 13:09

Everyone's house is for themselves. And they can do what they want. Or can afford.

But if I have guests overI ALWAYS give them fresh bedding and their own towel if they stay over.

I always offer drinks, food whatever. And then offer again. I don't keep the telly on whilst people are there. And I have all the bins and loo roll.

It's hard to tell if my house is too hot or cold for other people. It's bound to be too hot for my mum as her place is freezing tbh.

BUT after this thread I am definitely getting a lock on the bathroom door, some new pillows and hand towels by the sink.

sunglassesonthetable · 05/12/2020 13:13

We used to go to friends who took hours to cook beautiful meals whilst you watched and chatted. Lovely. But no good if you were hungry as it was meal time. we just got used to eating toast before going to see them.

carlaCox · 05/12/2020 13:26

I'm amazed how many people don't have locks on bathroom doors! I can understand if you've had a traumatic locked in experience though.

At my partner's house they have one big bathroom that everyone uses. The shower doesn't have a curtain or a door, it's one of those ones with just a pane of glass on the side. And it's facing the bathroom door. So when you're in the shower you are butt naked, fanny out facing the door. Every time we stay there I am in and out of that shower in about 3 minutes of pure adrenalin. God the anxiety!

Bluntness100 · 05/12/2020 13:31

@LobsterRavioli

When no one puts a light on and sit in dimly lit rooms like we're on the bloody Crown!
Actually I’ve a friend who does this, they literally sit in the dark watching rhe tv, sometimes I’ve been staying for a few days and I switch the side lights on as it gets to dusk. and she will come into the living room snd say why are the lights on snd switch them off, so we sit in the pitch dark with the tv on. You can’t even see each other. Which I find difficult, particularly if you’re socialising.

Recently they were at our house when we were out, they let themselves in and I’d left the little lights etc on so the living room was warm and cosy for them, when I came home they had switched them off and were sitting in the pitch black watching the telly. I had to switch them on again as I couldn’t see their faces

The other thing I find difficult is when there is no plug socket near a mirror. It makes drying your hair very difficult. I have another friend that when I stay I need to dry my hair in the hall way.

Here I have spare hair dryers in the rooms and mirrors next to plug points so you can dry your hair easily.

Justmuddlingalong · 05/12/2020 13:44

Houses that have stinky, very hairy dogs. Especially when the owner knows your coming and hoovers especially. The house then reeks not only of smelly dogs but also has that stench of warm dog hair filled vacuum cleaner. It's hard to smile and say how nice it is to see someone when you're trying not to boak.

DahliaMacNamara · 05/12/2020 13:51

Houses where they take absolutely forever to prepare quite straightforward food, eg ready-made soup, then faff around getting bowls ridiculously hot so that it's impossible to eat for a good thirty minutes after it's in front of you.
It's possible I have a particular household in mind here.

WellTidy · 05/12/2020 13:57

Bathroom locks - Ds2 has ASD and learning difficulties. He is also very mischievous. I can’t take the risk of him locking himself in the bathroom and thinking it hilarious to flood the entire house before I realised and still not open the bathroom door so that I can get in.

comingintomyown · 05/12/2020 14:03

Twice had trapped DC from broken bathroom door lock so got rid of them never been an issue

Lyricallie · 05/12/2020 14:04

My mum's house has a blind that lets in loads of light in the spare room. It's always boiling and her towels are tiny (I told her this year I'm bringing my own).

In law's: clutter everywhere my eyes feel like they're always looking at something every wall and surface just has so much stuff on it.

Dogs on couches when there's nowhere for humans to sit, and everytime I get an awkward "ha that's the dog's seat" joke. Also not as clean as my mum's house (or mine when I know I'll have visitors). However I think my mum's is maybe unnaturally clean.

MrsSchadenfreude · 05/12/2020 14:13

My mother gives us tiny “guest towels” which are useful for drying your face and not much else. She also doesn’t like guests having a shower or bath and makes a huge fuss about drying the bath when they have finished. Not cleaning it, just drying it. And if you wash your hands you are supposed to dry the wash basin as well.

GoldilocksAndTheThreePears · 05/12/2020 14:14

I was a nanny for years, live in and out, and babysat for many many families so I feel like I've seen all the things listed here! So many houses don't have bathroom bins, this is my workplace! If it was an office or other workplace it'd be terrible not to have a bin, but houses it's ok. I got used to always having spare nappy bags in a waterproof pouch in my bag, wrap up sanitary items and take.

My biggest peeve was living in and the bathroom had a shower head but no hook for it on the wall. Three houses I've worked in had this, you wouldn't think so but apparently common! So you had to hold the shower head over your head, and either lay it on the floor and hope it didn't turn over or spray everywhere while freezing to death trying to shampoo and wash, grab it with soapy hands and try to rinse one handed. Just an utter pain. One of these had no shower curtain too so you'd spray the whole room.

Carpets in loos and also really noisy fans coming on when you turn the light on, horrendous when staying somewhere and either waking everyone up or peeing with the door open to see. My current flat has this, I hear the fan going on in the flat downstairs at night so I know they hear mine.

Boiling water taps! Great idea, very expensive, very spluttery and feels like a danger to run boiling water.

I'll admit I must be an annoying host, I rarely drink hot drinks or use milk for anything so never think to offer teas or coffees, or have any milk to add. I had someone in ages ago to sort the washer and he asked for a cuppa and all I could offer was liquorice tea or a sachet of hot chocolate.

I also find it really hard in a house where the tv in on all the time, I don't know how people can have it on in the background and not just constantly watch. I find myself asking people to repeat something as my concentration is split. My downstairs neighbour has tv on all the time, all day all night, I hear it all day in the living room and all night in my room. It drives me mad and I'm a flat away!

DuzzyFuck · 05/12/2020 14:16

My parents house still has the exact same decor as the day they moved in 20 years ago, aside from from the bathroom which they had totally redone last year. It's not terrible, luckily the previous owners had good taste, but I find it bizarre that they've never bothered to change a single thing. Also their sofa is a 30 year old hand-me-down and completely knackered (one end is right through to the springs) and they seem hell bent on keeping it until it actually falls apart or decays into dust. God knows why they can't just go to DFS and get a new one; they can well afford to.

Otherwise dirty/smelly houses freak me out. Mine isn't exactly sparkling at all times but a guest would need to look closely, all the obvious regularly used bits are kept clean.

Oh and all bathrooms should have a bin and a lock by law.

farawayplanet · 05/12/2020 14:20

No hand towel available or kitchen roll even. What do they do with wet hands?

Untrained · 05/12/2020 14:26

@Scarby9

I bought a bin for my bathroom for the first time after reading this thread last year. 🤗 We never had one growing up and it never occurred to me people might want one.

Anyway, I finally provided one, and a month later lockdown happened and no-one else has been in my house since! The bin waits (dusty but) pristine, waiting for a vaccine which could herald its first visitor...

Yes a bathroom bin is now on my shopping list because of this thread! I’ve narrowly avoided a major faux pas there, thanks MN. I’ll be primed and ready now for any future house guests although if they find my house too warm it’s tough shit, I feel the cold something chronic...
TommyShelby · 05/12/2020 14:27

The one I can’t stand is rubbish showers with no pressure that don’t heat up properly. If I have to run around in the shower to try and get vaguely damp, I’m not happy!

Too soft mattresses also ruin my back but I accept that’s more down to personal preference!

FizzyPink · 05/12/2020 14:29

Agree with the rubbish shower! Especially if you’ve decided to wash your hair and realise too late when you’ve already got it wet!

ifIwerenotanandroid · 05/12/2020 14:39

@MynahBird

Those of you with bathroom bins: do you then have to sift through everything to separate the recycling from the rubbish? That sounds more grim that not having a bin in the first place.
I have a (working, lined Grin) pedal bin for rubbish & a chrome basket for recyc. And a glass bowl on the sink worktop for little bits of cotton wool, etc, which gets emptied into the pedal bin when it's full.

I need this arrangement because I use eyedrops every couple of hours & need to fling the capsules somewhere.

Sadly I haven't replicated this in the cloakroom, but at least that has a clean towel, liquid soap & a mirror in the right place. It used to have a lot of gardening books in there too, but I tidied up.

wizzywig · 05/12/2020 14:41

Next catalogue houses where everything is grey velvet, diamante. And saggy sofas

ifIwerenotanandroid · 05/12/2020 14:42

@MrsSchadenfreude

My mother gives us tiny “guest towels” which are useful for drying your face and not much else. She also doesn’t like guests having a shower or bath and makes a huge fuss about drying the bath when they have finished. Not cleaning it, just drying it. And if you wash your hands you are supposed to dry the wash basin as well.
What do you dry it with?

And what does she think will happen if it's not dried?

Tootsey11 · 05/12/2020 14:44

As a cleaner in other people's houses I could write a book on this subject.

No toilet roll.
Nothing to dry your hands.
Bloody dogs that won't leave you alone, even when owner calls them or shouts.
Crap and clutter on every surface.
Poo stains on the toilet seat.
Too hot houses.
Dirty over flowing bins.
Houses were the children are allowed to draw over everything.

thetaleunfolds · 05/12/2020 14:45

My mum has those sensor-activated air fresheners at face height and they drive me mad. Every time I walk to the cloak room or kitchen SPRAY right in the face

SimpleLife003 · 05/12/2020 14:46

People that leave tea bags on the side! Or pile them up on a plate, why?!

ifIwerenotanandroid · 05/12/2020 14:50

@SimpleLife003

People that leave tea bags on the side! Or pile them up on a plate, why?!
Because the bin's at the other end of the kitchen.
SimpleLife003 · 05/12/2020 14:55

@ifIwerenotanandroid I mean is anyone’s kitchen THAT big that they can’t walk to the bin? 😂 my bin is the opposite side of the kitchen, but it’s near the door so I just chuck them in as I’m going past!

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