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?

I do a deep clean of the house on a sunday morning for 3 hours so its lovely for the week. Daily I tick things over for 1 hour of my day. Its guest ready a lot of the time. Some days it gets a cats lick, its hard to keep it perfect all the time, with five people and 2 dogs. I do my best, I wouldnt be embarrassed if some one come by unexpectedly

Train your kids from the beginning is my biggest tip. I see so many people saying ‘oh of course my house is a disaster zone, I have kids!’ But my kids from very young knew they had to put a set/toy away before getting anything else out. There was never a point where it was acceptable for toys to be strewn all across the floor. There’s no need for it and in my opinion (noticed it working in childcare too) it actually lowers the quality of play because they don’t have space to play properly in a jumble of messy toys.

Also make sure you have a partner not a ‘helper.’ I have friends who are with men who genuinely think it’s helping out if they wipe up the worktops. In my house we’re all a family and we all need and want a tidy house, so we all share responsibility for it.

And the lady thing that people always hate hearing - there’s no shortcut. If you want a clean house, you need to clean up. You can’t have every minute free plus a constantly clean and tidy home. I accept that some small part of my day will always be spent keeping on top of household jobs. But for me losing a small part of the day every day is preferable to how some people let the house get messy then spend a whole weekend day sorting and cleaning.

Always clean, especially the kitchen and bathroom, but there's always toys around and daily clutter. I tidy everything away at bedtime.

We don't do guest ready. If someone rocks up unexpectedly wanting hospitality and then starts commenting on the state of the place, they will immediately find themselves on the doorstep with an invitation never to come back.

Visitors can come in whenever they like but will be asked to leave if they are fussing over crumbs and other signs of life. It's a long way from a mess but there's always a job that could be done.

Yes, I'm a very 'surface ' person , so might have a bit of a grubby oven or drawers full of crap -but on the surface it all looks very good.

Which goes to show that it's a matter of one's definition of 'guest ready', so many are saying their house is g r but then go on to include some caveats. Is mine g r? Yes, although there is a coffee cup on a side table, Sunday's papers half read on a sofa, crosswords being done and a table covered by papers relating to GCSE marking, the loo's clean as grandson hasn't been round, the kitchen table is visible. If people want to 'drop in' they'll be sent away at the monent, marking deadlines, but usually it's a case of take me as you find me.

My door is always open to anyone at anytime, tea and food is always in cupboard if hungry or thirsty and if needed a sofa and blanket is there, however I have serious health issues which means anything more than washing up done and front room hoovered is beyond me.

I normally have a couple of visitor a day and weekends can be hectic, No one has said anything about the mess only commented on how relaxed they feel at mine.

My home is usually a bit messy, I honestly don't worry about this and would not be embarrassed if a guest dropped over unexpectedly. Life is too short to keep the house perfect!

My place is clean but it's lived in, surfaces are usually more cluttered than I like, few toys about, laundry hanging up but no one comes to our house so it's fine

Nope ! I do try though. I’m constantly tidying and I can never catch up . My downstairs is usually decent with the exception of our front entrance which I swear is always scattered mess. My kitchen and bathrooms are almost always clean with the exception of toys. Don’t look in my utility room or bedrooms though 🫣

Ive had unexpected visitors before and been mortified but I’ve been complimented on my house so I wonder if it isn’t as bad as I think .

Not if the guest is my mother, no

Hmmm, just looking around, lounge fine, kitchen fine, bathroom would need a wipe round. Plus the kitchen is tidy but the bins need done and the cat feeding area needs a clean too.

God no. But we don't get too many unexpected visitors.

I did get caught out quite badly once just after one of the lockdowns and my friend called round when the house was a total tip. Embarrassing at the time, but quickly forgotten.

Hallway and entrance is always tidy and nice, with fresh flowers (takes little effort to keep it that way, it's just a hallway. We also have a downstairs sitting room always visitor ready on account of the fact we hardly use it as it's cold (coldest room in the house) and dark during the day.

I don't care about kitchen and other rooms looking 'lived in' there no dirt of piles of festering washing or pots around, so.

oh yes, its always ready to welcome visitors but I have learnt to be a 'take us as you find us' kind of person. I don't clean for company.

Much better now we have a cleaner though

Agree

To be blunt, my house is a shit tip and I'd be embarrassed to let anyone in. I'm trying to declutter as I don't want to live like this. Once I have less stuff I hope to have other kids round for play dates. I feel very guilty that I'm not on top of things.

I don’t think it’s that difficult , washing gets put away as soon as it’s done , we don’t have clutter , my kids were trained from the start that if you use it you put it back where it came from . Each day I then do a room , it takes about 20 minutes - dust , change a bed , vacuum so that’s 3 days per week ( 3 bedrooms in use ) . Run the hoover round downstairs everyday and do the bathrooms each day so that about another 30 minutes . My husband does all the deep cleaning like windows / lights /fans . I reckon I do less than 5 hours actual cleaning per week . It also helps to have a cordless vacuum on each floor .

In the sense that I would happily let them in and say excuse the mess. It's not a shithole, but it's not a show home either, if you come unannounced expect a bit of mess. I have a 2 year old and a small house with little storage.

We have a bad habit of letting clean washing and post / shopping pile up but then have a cleaner who comes weekly which is a good ass kicker to get it all put away the day before she comes so she can actually clean..

So basically if you come the couple of days after the cleaner comes - yes
The day before the cleaner - tidy but probably not the cleanest
The days in between - probably not 🤷🏼‍♀️

My house is always a mess. I don't care what people think and I've stopped apologising because it's just me and it's the way I am.

I have a party twice a year and it's the only time I really tidy up and clean.

True 🤣

Same with mine.

My place is usually cluttered and untidy as I work a lot of hours at home and would rather work than do housework . But I don't care and don't give a shit what anyone else thinks, my house, my life. I don't judge others and don't expect them to judge me.

A lot of people with perfect show homes have cleaners but won't admit it. I am working on it though, we tidy away something every single day and I am clearing out the wardrobes and drawers by selling stuff on vinted.