To wonder how on earth people's houses are so pristine

[Cluelessat33]

So I'm a single Mum, two dogs, two cats, a 5 year old. After looking at my hallways today, which looked like it had never been hoovered, despite me hoovering it last night (and every night before). I cannot comprehend how peoples houses are so pristine. I mean honestly. I feel like I'm constantly washing up, clearing away, tidying away, hoovering, wiping, tidying. And the house still feels like a pit.

And then I stray by mistake across these Instagram video of people 'styling' their bookcase, or who have the time for a porch Halloween display and I wonder if I'm just sloppy and lazy. I take pride in my home looking tidy... it just never feels like it does. I hate unexpected visitors who need to use the loo, just in case the 5 year old has left a friendly floater in the loo since I last checked it.

Am I unreasonable for wonder where the heck these people find the time and energy. Am I a bit of a scummy mummy!?

If you rehome the child and the animals, you'd definitely have a pristine home. 😂

I have OCD and no kids 😋

disagree on the new builds being easier to keep clean. I went from an old house to this one (10 years old) and found the older one easier to keep materially clean. New build houses just don't seem to be designed for family life. Walk straight off the road. No storage area, no utility area, straight in off the garden into the living room. I had no choice when I bought it, otherwise I'd not have considered it. Its certainly not designed for kids with muddy boots and dogs.

That's a budget issue rather than house age issue, the new build you describe isn't anything like ours (we have a utility, porch area, patio doors off both the kitchen and living etc) I found older houses much harder to keep clean by comparison when we lived in them. I suspect the dogs are the biggest issue.

Mine is, because I have no young kids or pets who shed hair. I have a 15 year old and a hamster. Sometimes the 15 year old's room is messy and the hamster's cage starts to whiff when it needs a clean but overall my place is very clean and tidy.

YABU to think you’re scumming.

Those people you see on instagram have cleaners or no ‘proper’ (instagram is not a proper job for the majority of society) job that requires them to actually work.

You’re a mum who’s doing her best :)

I feel exactly the same - no matter how hard I try the house always feels messy. I think the problem is definitely clutter. I’ve started watching cleaning inspo tik toks to try and spur me on 😂 the common thing is their houses are pretty minimal.
I’m so close to ordering a skip and binning absolutely everything.

Honestly, don’t worry too much about it. Most people’s homes are a bit frayed around the edges if they are living a busy ‘real’ life.

We have loads of help (housekeeper 3 days). Our house is pretty tidy, reasonably clean but it still gets grubby. And no housekeeper is going to rectify the background smell of country Labrador or teenager. Or indeed get on top of the hair and dropped towels .

It’s life, it’s fine.

Animals, children, carpets.

Half my house is pristine: the rooms with no stuff, basically: my office, my bedroom, the bathroom, the sitting room (blessed to have a separate playroom). Completely clutter-free so no piles of stuff to move around and cleaning is easy; stripped wood floors seem to suck the dirt fine the gaps Vs high-maintenance carpet.

The hallway is a catastrophe of school bags, PE kits, wet weather coats, cold weather coats, medium weather jackets, so many bloody shoes 😭😭😭 The playroom and children’s bedrooms are where pristine goes to die, absolute pits. The kitchen was designed by a pure maniac with a yen for chaos; I’ve decluttered but there’s just no storage space so I’m always shifting piles about. DP is also in charge of laundry and appears incapable of putting the stuff away so just heaps it 🤬

The things that make a difference in the pristine rooms really are ruthless decluttering, wood floors, robot hoover, and cleaner once a week. Until the DC get a bit bigger though I’ve accepted there will always be a level of Sylvanian families climbing the stairs, loo roll crafts under the dining table, tiny Playmobil fuckers everywhere.

@Cluelessat33 you do know on most of the insta homes, they've moved all the shite out of shot. It's a show home in front of the camera, but if you could see to the left, there's a mountain of crap as big as you. Some influencers will show this from time to time, and laugh about what they show Vs the reality.

And yes, it's the animals.

As others have said, you have 4 animals in your home, it's never going to be pristine.

Even if they're not shedding everywhere, animals just create mess and smells by existing! People with pristine homes generally don't have animals.

2 dogs and 2 cats.

Hardly a surprise that your home is not pristine.

Nobody’s home is pristine 100% of the time. Mine is reasonably clean and tidy and friends and guests do comment on it. Mainly, it’s routines and systems and sticking to that. I enjoy order and the feeling of a clean environment but not everyone does. Each to their own. Also like others who have commented, I’ve chosen to never have animals in the house.

I clean my house extra when I know people are coming round. I imagine others do too so it doesn’t give off a realistic idea of what actual life is like.

I had similar issues when I had kids living at home OP. But things improved as they gradually flew the nest. Then one day you will suddenly find your house is considerably tidier.

I don't have pets and only own items that fit in my house. Since everything has a place it's quick to tidy and once it's tidy it's easy to clean.

My husband's nieces once came to stay during the school holidays. They had spent the previous week with another very houseproud aunt. One of them remarked that she like staying with us because our house wasn't an uncomfortable show home like Auntie X's, it's kind of lived in. I think that's what you call a back-hand compliment.......

I live alone with two dogs I’m not a fanatical cleaner by any stretch of the imagination but if you took the dogs out of my life my house would probably look pristine and lovely. Not only do they shed like nothing on this earth they are constantly muddy and wet. Also if I didn’t have dogs I would have more time to style things. But for me it’s a no brainier walking the dogs enhances my quality of life styling bookcases doesn’t 🤣

You would say mine is pristine but I don't have pets or children so I don't have much stuff and the only mess made is from me.

I only vacuum one a week, midweek I just need a dusting mop. Takes 2hours to clean my 2 bed house including bathroom properly because I don't have lots of stuff. My house isn't boring it just has what it needs and still looks warm and cosy. Also anything I take out goes back in its place straight after being used. That's why mine house always looks 'show room' ready as people would call it. However, that is how I like it so its just a habit.

Oh and Im not constantly styling my bookshelf, I've done it once and that's it. Its been 3yrs since I last did it and now I am considering making a few tweaks more so because you just feel like a few changes freshens it up again.

We have 2 cats and a dog. My house is always clean. This is because:

1. I work very few hours (5h per week)
2. I have a robot vacuum and run it twice a day.
3. I vacuum the couch several times a day and quickly clean living room/ other areas too while im at it (not thoroughly, but the fur flying around.
4. I always tidy everything away immediately.
5. Kids must tidy their stuff away right after use. Now they are old enough to keep their stuff in their bedrooms, so thats less of an issue.
6. No pets allowed in the kids bedrooms and doors must always stay closed.
7. I wipe down all surfaces at least 1x per day, because the cats go everywhere.

Its not hard to keep a tidy/clean house, bit its definitely time consuming.

Yeah I find that odd too. I have a nearly three year old and his toys are all contained in an ottoman in the living room. He's not restricted in terms of what he plays with during the day (we have a beige carpet and he's still allowed to play with crayons and PlayDo for example) and once he's gone to bed we tidy his toys away and voila instant relaxing adult space.

It helps having no kids or pets. And keeping stuff to a minimum.

We only clean at the weekend and do a brief tidy of the kitchen and living room once the toddler has gone to bed. Plenty of time for walks and books etc 🤷🏻‍♀️

They have more storage and fewer belongings.
We're an outdoorsy family so have about 5 coats each and several pairs of trainers. There's simply no where to put them except by the front door as they need to be aired and dried. It does my head in but it is what it is.

I have 6 kids (although only four at home) and two dogs. My house is clean and tidy. I have loads and loads of storage and do the floors everyday sometimes twice. It's bloody hard work!

I don't have too many things so it doesn't take long to clean and I don't clean everyday either, no need to when I don't actually make much mess so I have plenty of time for reading books, going to the gym, speaking with friends.

Even if I did dust everyday it would take less than 30 mins to go round and dust every surface I have in my entire house, because my surfaces aren't cluttered with stuff so its a quick wipe.