to think that saying "my house is messy but clean" is a big fat lie?

[SwordViolin]

People say this all the time, my house is a mess but it's always clean but how? If your house is a mess then who knows what filth lurks under piles of papers or clothes or boxes. Anytime I've ever been in a messy house it has always been pretty dusty and unclean. Times when my house has been messy its much harder to actually clean, I need to tidy everything up and organise the space to get ot properly clean.

I mean it's fine if your house is messy and not cleaned because that's life we all have different tolerances of mess and dirt, we all have different circumstances but why say "my house is messy but clean" when it is so obviously not true?

My home can be spotless in the morning and my kids can trash it within hours - it’s not any dirtier, it’s just messy as in things are not in their place.
think of most homes on Xmas eve - looking pristine and spotless ready for guests. By the next evening knee deep in gift wrap and chocolate wrappers - it’s not dirty but it is messy.
so, YABU.

I spend my midweek day off gutting the house from top to bottom I then get an hour to myself in a clean and tidy home before I go get my kids from nursery. Within an hour it's like a tornado has torn through the house...so yes my house is clean but a shit tip when the kids are awake 😆🙈

Depends on your definition of messy I think. I am a messy person e.g. a pile of clean washing might sit awaiting folding until I get a chance whenever that may be and our coffee table is full of our daughters barbie accessories, but the worktops are clean, floors hoovered, kitchen and bathrooms clean, house is dusted etc. One person might say my house is a tip whereas someone else might say it's just a bit untidy. I've worked with people who hoard and have high volumes of clutter accumulated over many years who describe themselves as messy but clean and I agree they cannot say their house is clean as they can't access anything to clean it! All about perception I think.

For crying out loud, nobody’s talking about one temporary ‘mess’ of toys strewn across the floor that takes 2 minutes to throw back into the toy bins. With the hoovering done before the toys are there and after the toys are put away.

Op is talking about long standing clutter and piles and a bunch of messes everywhere but supposedly the house is ‘clean’. No, it’s not. I know that because I have had clutter piles before 😅 it’s dirty under there. When the Barbies are strewn for two hours on a freshly vacced floor then tidied away, and there’s no other messes or piles, that’s not really the mess Op is referring to. Good grief, the hundreds of posts saying the same exact thing “well my house is messy but clean. Kitchen and bathrooms are gleaming and spotless as are the bedrooms, living area, garage, and stoop. I just hovered in the lounge for the third time today and then it was a disaster 5 min later with toys on the floor for 30 minutes after which I hoovered again. So mind your own business Op, MESSY BUT CLEAN.” 🙄

Makes perfect sense to me...life's too short!!

Surely 'messy' is subjective? What one person might call a little untidy and disordered another might think is an absolute pigsty?! There are those that can't bear a single thing out of place or a couple of crumbs on the floor, I'm NOT one of them!! I knew someone who would go around visitors feet with a hand held hoover while they were eating, wouldn't open the French Doors on a hot sunny day incase any dirt got walked onto the carpet and the sofa's were covered in see through plastic!! Our house is always untidy with clothes waiting to be put away, books, sun cream, laptop/iPad, letters and school stuff to read and other general bits and pieces on the table, shoes not always where they should be etc etc and we don't hoover/dust every day because frankly, life's too short...On the other hand, there are always clean towels/tea towels, beds are changed regularly, sinks, toilets, showers and worktops are spotless as is the cooker!! it's common sense really so yes, 'clean and messy' is an actual thing as far as I'm concerned!!

What does it matter?
You don't have to live in someone else's house/mess, so why are you really that bothered?
It's actually no-one else's business how tidy/messy/clean/dirty someone else's home is, and yes, my house is a mess, but also no-one else's business!

I try and stay on top of organizing and keeping it tidy. I think my house is clean. Clean'ish certainly, but there might be dust I have missed or that just appeared when I wasn't looking 😜 I think there's a difference between a bit of dust and really dirty. The first is.....well a bit of dust. The second is foodstains and -drips, fly infested leftovers on the counter, dirty toilets, unwashed towels etc.

My house can definitely be messy but clean. I've just cleaned all my kitchen and living area, dusted, mop floors etc but now dh has started making a bbq lunch so there's stuff on the sides, kids have got the Lego out and I've just sorted all the laundry into piles on the Landing that will all get washed today. To me, that's clean but messy.

YABU. But why does it matter to you? So long as it's not your house, what's the problem?

We have a cleaner, so it really is clean but then my husband and I can mess it up in a few hours. Hence messy but clean

My house is utter chaos ATM. We just bought a property that has been empty for about 30 years. No heating, no insulation, all single glazed. Everything needs doing. We are also living in it as a family of four. You would walk and in and think wtf!
But I make sure it is clean and livable in all the important areas.
I think the original post is really judgemental and everyone has their own way of living.

Exactly this xx

This post reeks of condescension and judgement. Its not a good look OP. Many comments have explained to you how a house can both be messy but clean, especially right after a deep clean when the kids pull out their toys... but you still persist "i don't mean like that... the dust... underneath things..." it sounds like you may have ocd. Stay home if you're going to be this judgemental about other people's homes and dust ffs. Yeah they may have dust or some mess hiding out of site but why are you looking for it? Its not going to kill you and you don't live there

its all about different peoples idea of what 'messy' is. Messy to me was when i had cleaned and hoovered but my son emptied his toys all over the floor so yes i would say messy but clean. i keep on top of day to day tidying/cleaning daily but at the weekend do all the horrible jobs like skirting boards etc and making it more 'show homey'.....well for about 2 hours until the son, the OH and dog get home.

They say that housework never killed anyone but I'm not taking any chances.

Are you living in my home 😆?!

My house is always clean in that floors are swept several times a day (3 young kids and a dog mean it needs it!) and washed. Worktops clean. I run a damp microfibre cloth over my windowsills etc as we live in a very dusty street but I can clear the floor, wash it and then the kids have toys and cushions and whatever else all over the place again. Bathrooms are also clean, but in the morning they look like chaos as we've all been in like whirlwinds getting ready. I know plenty hoarders but never heard any of them describe their house as 'messy but clean'. I'm thinking perhaps it's your judgement of their mess that's making you think it's worse than it actually is and they might well be a bit messy but they clean...

I say my house is messy but clean because that is the truth. My house is very small so it doesn’t take much for it to seem messy. A few cushions out of place and it looks like a tip.

Just cleaned my house then decided to start on the airing cupboard now have towels, duvets bedding everywhere so its clean but a mess while I have my lunch. Normally its the kids when they get home from school that mess it up !