Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Is your home like a show home? If so, where is all your stuff?

137 replies

WorkerBee123 · 23/09/2025 18:55

So I would say I’m pretty tidy-I like it when there are no dishes on the side and the laundry is done, for example. But I live in a decent sized Victorian house with loads of books, plants and art etc (don’t mean to sound wanky). Recently went to someone’s house which was of the ‘executive home’ style-huge and virtually empty except for huge gorgeous sofas, massive island and a giant plant. I loved it! The bedroom was equipped with brand new empty drawers and bedside tables. My spare room is lovely, but there’s a full linen cupboard, drawers full of my stuff and camping gear under the bed. Even their garden was open and clear. Loved it-not my style but loved. Than I recently saw an ig post where the poster said she liked her house to look like no one lives there and that’s pretty much exactly the vibe this one had. Like I said, no judgement. I loved it. Could never achieve it in a million years. If you do, particularly if you live in an old house, how do you do it??

OP posts:
TinyTempest · 24/09/2025 14:21

Makingpeace · 24/09/2025 12:31

I have these but still there is tut everywhere.

Where do you put your bills and post, things to action? Charging cables? Etc etc.

Charging cables in the cupboards.

Hardly any bills/things to action involve paper anymore but if they do, they go in the drawer and then disposed of as soon as they’re sorted.

scandinavianyellow · 24/09/2025 15:26

I would love a clear kitchen but I can’t be arsed

notedbiscuits · 24/09/2025 15:34

Due to my various medical conditions and on the books for various hospital appointments I have a folder for each dept.

henlake7 · 24/09/2025 15:37

Mine is fairly neat and tidy as I prefer not to have tons of knick knacks everywhere.
It really helps that I have 2 bedrooms I dont use though!😁
One is a combination dressing room/gym/library, the other smallest room I would describe as a big cupboard really! Stores all my bulk buy household items/dry foods for the month on large shelves. Also has my cleaning paraphernalia plus a couple of big clothes airers and dehumidifer for laundry.
I do also go through cupboards/drawers fairly often though to chuck out any useless tat.

TattooStan · 24/09/2025 15:46

To support other posters suggestions of how to reduce clutter, I was really brutal in thinking about how we ACTUALLY live, and getting rid of anything which doesn't reflect our reality.

I never bake, and will NEVER be having friends and family round for afternoon tea. So our tea pot, cake stands, cake tins etc could go.

I will NEVER be buying and poaching an entire salmon in a fish kettle! So that could go.

And so on and so on.

Advocodo · 24/09/2025 16:01

i adore books and love browsing other people’s bookshelves. A house without books isn’t a home!

notedbiscuits · 24/09/2025 16:06

Advocodo · 24/09/2025 16:01

i adore books and love browsing other people’s bookshelves. A house without books isn’t a home!

I always look at random Rightmove listings for things like bookcases, arts n crafts and music instruments.

WaryHiker · 24/09/2025 16:25

LavenderBlue19 · 24/09/2025 12:13

What I find tricky about 'storage' is that I would never use anything if I put it away. If I put a new shampoo in the cupboard I will forget I own it. So I have maybe three shampoos and two conditioners, plus a hair mask, out in the bathroom, because if they're not visible I will forget I need them before I get in the shower, won't want to get out to get them, and will end up washing my hair in my kid's bubble bath.

The same applies to make up. And clothes in drawers. And shoes. I need things visible!

I'm exactly the same! The Clutterbug system saved my sanity. You and I are butterflies and need to store stuff accordingly. Definitely worth looking up that system and taking the free online test.

MaturingCheeseball · 24/09/2025 16:30

I was running the school library and I was helping a class choose books. One girl said that No, she didn’t want a book because her mum said they were messy and not to take them out of her bag. !!

AndrinaAdamosballetshoes · 24/09/2025 16:31

I think my house warm and inviting, it’s not minimalist at all but you won’t find piles of shoes and coats in the hallway, laundry on the radiators, post cluttering up surfaces etc. everything has a place in my house, it makes for a calm home environment.

TattooStan · 24/09/2025 16:35

notedbiscuits · 24/09/2025 16:06

I always look at random Rightmove listings for things like bookcases, arts n crafts and music instruments.

We have a lot of books, all contained in the bookcase in my office. I've not read one of them, as I struggle through about 1 book a year.

DH on the other hand is a prolific reader and now exclusively reads on his Kindle.

So the presence of books doesn't mean what it used to.

DaisyChain505 · 24/09/2025 16:39

I’ve been told I have a “show home”

I don’t keep crap that I don’t use.

I tidy as I go.

everything has a place and if it doesn’t have a place I get rid of it.

WorkerBee123 · 24/09/2025 16:56

MNJury · 24/09/2025 07:46

I would love to strike a happy medium with this and am fascinated how people achieve a clutter-free existence. My house is tidy, mostly, but an empty show home it is not. I am assuming that the majority who manage it do not have young children at least?

Kids stuff - puzzles/games/Lego. Treasured artwork bought home from school - yes it will end up in the recycling, but not immediately. Desks. Oh, kids desks... Primary or teenage, they are stuffed with stationary/paper/half done projects, have notice boards with magnets/pictures/photos/certificates etc. Yes you can try to keep them tidy and contain this stuff to their bedrooms but that is a big job in itself...

And then there is the rest of the house. All the things you store - decorating gear/craft supplies+sewing machine/off season clothes and shoes/music books/tools/baking stuff that doesn't fit in the main kitchen cupboards/seasonal decorations/a few boxes of childhood treasures, and so it goes on - they all take up space in the cupboards loft and garage.

Books. Ok, we have a lot of books. Some on display and some stored for different points in the children's lives. We don't have to do that, but it feels so huge to just chuck out boxes of favourites, many passed from grandparents or nice gifted hardbacks or favourite series. We do pass many on as we go, standard paperbacks are often in and out.

I really am not a buyer, but still we accumulate "stuff". Do people really not have this?! I wish I had less, but it's hard to know what to get rid of.

This is exactly us. Children are adults but one still at home and one with a jam packed room that is definitely cluttered. But I try to ignore that aspect as it isn’t mine.

OP posts:
WhenIAmKing · 24/09/2025 16:58

We have an odd layout in the back garden - it’s L shaped and you can’t really see part of it from the house. So we put a massive shed there with big metal shelves and lots of plastic boxes labelled with their contents.

House is very minimalist, because anything we’re not using at the moment/don’t need instant access to is in the shed, we swap things around as needed.

BlueandPinkSwan · 24/09/2025 17:01

I really want to declutter, most surfaces have stuff on them that we've collected over the years. I'm wanting to do a Swedish death clean but really don't know where to start!🙄😁

WorkerBee123 · 24/09/2025 17:04

CloudBuster66 · 24/09/2025 10:51

Your house sounds lovely and homely. Why would you prefer it to look sterile and soulless?

I wouldn’t I’m just fascinated about how to achieve something that in my case I don’t see as being possible!

OP posts:
MarxistMags · 24/09/2025 17:06

Where DO people put their stuff ?
I really want to know. Cupboards and drawers overflowing.....

SonK · 24/09/2025 17:07

I have a very minimalist house - I don't like clutter and I have a two year old and one year old so it helps having less stuff to tidy away and clean.

I have an open space kitchen, dining and living space. All we have here is a TV, sofa, and dining seat. I only have a toaster and kettle on my kitchen counter as everything else is in its place inside the cupboard.

We also have three bedrooms and both my babies have their own room so this helps keep the house tidy as all their toys are stored in a toy chest / unit.

Edit: we all borrow lots of books at the library and donate toys often to charities

Enigma54 · 24/09/2025 17:08

MaturingCheeseball · 24/09/2025 16:30

I was running the school library and I was helping a class choose books. One girl said that No, she didn’t want a book because her mum said they were messy and not to take them out of her bag. !!

That’s quite sad actually ☹️

FickleOcelot · 24/09/2025 17:09

Having a Danish husband and having visited a lot of Danish houses, the secret is their houses are twice as big as ours, so they have stuff but still look spacious!

Plastictreees · 24/09/2025 17:15

MarxistMags · 24/09/2025 17:06

Where DO people put their stuff ?
I really want to know. Cupboards and drawers overflowing.....

Attic and garage, we’ve also got a couple of really big inbuilt cupboards. We’ve also got fitted wardrobes, the equivalent of 4 double wardrobes, which is a godsend!

MNJury · 24/09/2025 17:26

@FickleOcelot I'm also familiar with Scandinavian homes and I think you are on to something. A large trunk/sideboard/unit tucked away which either wouldn't fit or be dominant in an average UK room here, a sprawling basement there....

MissyPants · 24/09/2025 17:31

I think it's depressing, it looks nice but in reality, why?
I went to someone's house and I couldn't believe how show home it was. He even had plastic sheeting down permanently on the carpets so as to not ruin the carpets.
It becomes obsessive and feels cold to me. Daily reality isn't Instagram.

CheltenhamLady · 24/09/2025 17:38

We have a clean and and tidy house as I live by the maxim, use and then put it away. My mother used to say if you won't move a little, you won't move a lot!

We have a place for everything and it goes back there after use. I have a big, modern kitchen and we have nothing out on the work surfaces, not even a kettle as we have a quooker!! I just have a large vase of flowers on the island.

We have a large garage which is shelved and all items are in see through plastic boxes, and we have ottoman beds for storage in all rooms. My wardrobe is arranged to be colour coordinated and I keep tops in one, coats in another etc, etc.

I just hate clutter and untidiness.It makes life so much simpler if you can grab and go.

The only room with clutter is DH's study, but I just shut the door on that!!

MNJury · 24/09/2025 17:40

WorkerBee123 · 24/09/2025 16:56

This is exactly us. Children are adults but one still at home and one with a jam packed room that is definitely cluttered. But I try to ignore that aspect as it isn’t mine.

I'm glad we're not alone!
I remember when my parents had me collect the last "stuff" from my old room. I joked they would enjoy the echo every time they walked into my previously stuffed room. And they did, for a while... But now they have spread their own stuff out and we all wonder how they ever fit us children into the house! I hope you manage to enjoy and maintain the echo one day 😄

Swipe left for the next trending thread