Is your home always 'guest ready'?

[Bigbonesmeatandgravy]

If someone drops by unexpectedly would you be happy to let them in or would you feel embarrassed about the state of it? My house is always a bit of a mess and I feel conscious of unexpected visitors more often not. Things like the bin needs emptying, crumbs on the floor, dishwasher needs loading, clothes strewn around randomly. I feel like I spend half my life tidying so it's not laziness, it just gets messy again straight away. I also have one spare room that is a dumping ground and such a mess at all times that I would be mortified if anyone entered it.I have 2 kids under 4 so that's my excuse! YABU My house is always visitor ready YANBU My house is rarely visitor readyAnd if your house is a bit of a mess, do you care what people think?

@Nannewnannew I too have a homely house. It feels like a bit of a back handed compliment when people say it, but I'm sure it's meant well. We always welcome guests as long as they're comfortable with the odd dust bunny and messy surroundings.

I only clean once a week, so it’s not always 5 star hotel clean, but it’s always tidy. The only room that isn’t is DDs which is like a bombsite, but she wouldn’t care if visitors saw that or not, so yes!

Hell no.

Expecting guests means, tidying like mad beforehand. We have extremely busy weeks with lots of extra curricular clubs and both Dh and I work. We can't afford a cleaner so do it ourselves. The house is a bit of a mess but it can be all spick and span with some combined effort in less than 2 hours. We have hardly any clutter, wooden floors and lots of storage to tuck things away and out of sight. I love a clean and tidy home though and ours scrubs up nicely.

No it isn't guest ready. But fortunately I'm at work full time during the week and the kids tornado around at the weekend so I don't get many unexpected guests.

All my friends live far enough away that they would want to confirm I’m in before arriving. I live in an area of London that doesn’t have any “attractions” that someone would just be in the area to drop in. My house could be visitor ready in about half an hour, which is fine.

Although I did get a “surprise” visit once from a relative from the other end of the country. The house was a tip, I wasn’t feeling well so was in my PJ’s grotty and unshowered. I couldn’t even express any disappointment as they’d done it to be a nice surprise, and I was happy to see them. But oh how I wished they had let me know! They said they didn’t care but then when we spoke on the phone a couple of weeks later and I said I was cleaning they laughed and said “why? Are you expecting someone?” So clearly they thought I live like that all the time. People can say they don’t judge but they do.

I too have a “homely” home if you mean that my children and I LOVE our home, feel wonderfully comfortable and happy here AND guests enjoy staying here and visiting

but it absolutely doesn’t have any dust balls and I’m like the military in terms of keeping on top of housework and no clutter at all.

being very clean and tired does not mean your home can’t be “homely”

Yes because I wouldn't care what it looks like.

Mine is rarely visitor ready. With teen DDs keeping it clean and tidy is a full time job. I realised my house is cleanest and tidiest just as I walk out the door to go on holiday. I can’t bear the thought of coming home to a tip so I always make a real effort to make it look nice before I leave … usually mopping the floor as a I walk out. It’s always lovely to arrive home again after a trip, and it takes ten minutes to trash again 😐

Depends what day you arrive...😅

No it's really, really not. Not dirty but untidy, and this is why I will not be happy for anyone to just "drop by". Give me at least one hour notice

I dream of maintaining a guest-ready house at all times. Sadly, my quest continues. I do know of someone who removes the crumpled duvet and pillows from their bed every morning, stuffs them in a cupboard, and places a brand new (uncrumpled) duvet with matching pillow cases on the bed just in case anyone happens to see into their bedroom. Yes, it looks show-home.

My house probably is, in that it is usually clean ( or fairly) and everywhere except the DH study is tidy.

i on the other hand am not always guest ready. I like some warning before people turn up, and have been known to lie on the floor behind the sofa when the bell rang so I could pretend to be out.

Biggest lie ever written! 🤣 Peak MN

@Lonelygal22 Are you bored and on the wind up?! “Outsiders?!” This is not healthy AT ALL.

Sadly I think she probably lives up to her name

and is “lonely”

When my kids were growing up, not only was my house not guest ready, but there were days I wouldn't have let my own mum in the door.

This year though, I moved, upsized my house and downsized my possessions. My house is not only always guest ready, but my husband and I take great pleasure in "resetting" a room after it has been used.

Having been a complete slattern for the last 50 years I now am positively anal about cleaning and tidying and I love it.

It's a joy now. We spend a few minutes clearing up after ourselves and its always lovely. Also having less junk is an absolute game changer.

We weren't lazy before, we were just too busy, and too cluttered.

I love it now and I have open invites with all my friends to visit all the time.

No, and we don’t care it a visitor finds it a bit messy, they’re welcome not to come if our home doesn’t meet their standards.

Nope very rarely. I think that’s why my in laws don’t particularly like me lol… but I work full time and we homeschool

My house is rarely spotlessly clean and I've been known to make up excuses when neighbours are on the doorstep rather than inviting them in for coffee..."Oh sorry the baby's about to go down for a nap". When we have family coming to stay DH and I spend a couple of hours blitzing the place.

My house is reasonable and clean where it matters, ie kitchen and bathroom but it's a different matter concerning the rooms where I wouldn't expect visitors to go such as the bedroom and the spare room which is a bit of a tip. I think that's fairly average.

How do you work full time and home school??

Sorry that was for @Booklover3

We have a spare room. It is not 'guest ready' but if a visitor needed a bed for the night they would be accomodated at short notice, but I would lay fresh bedding and a towel out and often expect them to make the bed up.

I try to NOT apologise for the state of the house or room. It seems grovellingly pathetic and we are not a hotel or B&B.

Having 5 boys and two pets and the husband, the short answer is no. There is copious amounts of washing, and then laziness with chores.

Never visitor ready, no excuse. We don't really get unexpected guests though, they always let us know and we have a tidy up. Life's too short, LOL.