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Original poster

Do you like to have an immaculate house?

81 replies

Poodlelove · 06/10/2025 15:29

Since our children have left home , I have been clearing and sorting things so if anything happens to us, then the house is not the terrible mess / cluttered that my parents and other family has left for us to deal with.
We have emptied our loft and garage .
I feel that I am getting a little obsessed and wanting to clear more things in the house.
I just feel more relaxed if I leave for work and the house is tidy , husband thinks it's a bit over the top.
Does anyone else put their house ' to bed ' at night ?

OP posts:
FeliciaFancybottom · 06/10/2025 15:59

I love waking up to a clean and tidy house, it means I can have my first cup of tea and read my book in mental peace. Mess and clutter aren't good for me; they make my brain itchy.

Octavia64 · 06/10/2025 16:08

I’d like to but I don’t.

childofthe607080s · 06/10/2025 16:11

There is being tidy - preparing for death at your age sounds like you are not really coping

LibertyLily · 06/10/2025 16:51

Tidy, ideally, yes (I'm a bit OCD, so like to have things in their place), but as we're perpetually in a state of renovating that rarely happens.

For example, our previous house took almost six years to fully renovate which involved reconfiguring the entire layout, then we put it up for sale and have now started again. So, we had just a few months of living with a completely finished house before it was back to a fresh building site. With all the ripping out/wall removal and the dust that creates, immaculate isn't possible right now!

In addition, we're both maximalists/collectors so do seem to amass - curated - clutter. So, whilst I'd love immaculate, it probably wouldn't ever be most people's immaculate 😆

However, when we downsized from a much larger house, we did take the opportunity to go through the very many boxes of attic stuff as I knew we had too many mementoes, including photos etc from my parents' house. This has all been streamlined, with what remains sorted/labelled for ease of going through in the future.

InSpainTheRain · 06/10/2025 17:07

Yes, I like my house to be immaculate, I dont mind if it gets dirty/untidy as i like the cleaning! Most of the time its pristine though as there is usually only DH and me here now. I also tidy up if needed before I go to bed as I like the feeling in the morning when having my coffee.

BeaTwix · 06/10/2025 20:08

Having cleared several houses your kids will appreciate what you are doing.

I actually think there is nothing wrong with it. My parents had a big clear out at a similar time point - they gave us all back all the clutter (school notes/ ballet school trophies etc) we had kindly left behind us when we moved out.

When we had to clear the house it was much easier than doing my grandparents which still had all my Dad's university lecture notes in the loft! Whereas my parents basically had some empty boxes, suitcases and the Christmas decorations in it.

Wexone · 06/10/2025 20:24

I do agree decluttering does help. After living in a few rented houses the past couple of years we are now in our own I have cleared a good bit out stuff that was in storage that I didn't miss big furniture that doesn't suit our house aswell as a huge clothing clearout. my parents have downsized thankfully still live in a clutterd house all be it smaller now so hopefully won't be so bad to do once the inevitable happens. mother in law different story refuses to downsize house is full of stuff. every corner is heaving and even worse her daughter brings her to every auction in the country so she continually buys more stuff. she has a total of 12 chairs in the living room.plus a 3 seater sofa and she lives on her own. my husband has siad once time comes he will be leaving it to the rest of them as he has tried to curb it but doesn't work
I can't rest in my own house unless it's clean and tidy

ThreePears · 06/10/2025 20:25

@Poodlelove I think what you're doing is called Swedish Death Cleaning.

Hurumphh · 06/10/2025 20:26

I love my house to be immaculate but never achieve it as have a 12yr old hurricane following me 🙄One of the things I’ll console myself with during the empty nest phase is things in the house staying still!

CuckooPond · 06/10/2025 20:29

I agree with @childofthe607080s — this doesn’t sound healthy to me. It sounds way beyond ‘tidy’. I think people who suffer from OCD are using the excuse of ‘Swedish death cleaning’ to obsessively purge their houses.

TheChosenTwo · 06/10/2025 20:31

I hate any kind of clutter, even if it’s behind a closed cupboard door. That’s not to say none exists in my house but I do regularly go through and sort stuff and get rid of anything that is surplus.
I don’t like mess but again it does exist here from time to time. Dc don’t keep their bedrooms tidy but it’s there space and I don’t get involved, they know they have to tidy it sufficiently before the cleaner comes every week.
I feel more relaxed in a clean and tidy house and I like knowing that if I dropped down dead tomorrow no one would be unearthing piles of crap from the back of cupboards or the depths of the loft while grieving.

DiscoNights · 06/10/2025 20:34

I love to be really immaculate, but I never achieve it.

I did do a massive declutter (and a series of smaller ones) some years ago though. It was enormously therapeutic, and I am still feeling the benefits of it.

declutteringmymind · 06/10/2025 20:38

Not immaculate but I feel that (see my longstanding username) an untidy house is an untidy mind. I’m slowly declutterring over years and my god it’s liberating. I am so much calmer and know where most things are.

I’ve still a long way to go but I’m feeling so many benefits already.

LaraS2511 · 06/10/2025 20:39

My house is organised, tidy & clean however I think the most important thing is to have your finances & will etc in a place that is both easy to find & organised with details of finances, bank accounts, passwords etc. My parents died when I was in my 20’s 3 months apart, I can not tell you the stress it caused going through various box files trying to make sense of their finances, what they had, savings, mortgage etc. I found it incredibly stressful & it massively impacted on my physical & mental health for a good couple of years, I still have a box file I haven’t looked through properly 15 yrs on………

ApricotCheesecake · 06/10/2025 20:44

I'm not a very tidy person and it doesn't bother me if things are a bit messy.

I'm not a hoarder though, I'm good at de-cluttering / taking things to the charity shop and the loft and garage don't need clearing out.

MamOfTwo · 06/10/2025 20:48

ThreePears · 06/10/2025 20:25

@Poodlelove I think what you're doing is called Swedish Death Cleaning.

I was just going to say this! I think it is a good idea but hard to do.

Original poster
Poodlelove · 06/10/2025 21:00

ThreePears · 06/10/2025 20:25

@Poodlelove I think what you're doing is called Swedish Death Cleaning.

Yes I have read the book 😁

OP posts:
Summerlovin24 · 06/10/2025 21:30

I have hobbies instead. I'm tidyish but would rather be out having fun rather than decluttering. Bores me senseless on a weekend when I can do my hobbies and have night time fun

FoxRedPuppy · 06/10/2025 21:33

My teenagers are being knobheads at the moment so I might buy more stuff for my loft just to punish them! 😂

But yes I’d like one, but in reality life is busy and chaotic so I make do.

FoxRedPuppy · 06/10/2025 21:33

Summerlovin24 · 06/10/2025 21:30

I have hobbies instead. I'm tidyish but would rather be out having fun rather than decluttering. Bores me senseless on a weekend when I can do my hobbies and have night time fun

Yeah not sure I’ll be on my death bed wishing I’d spent more time cleaning!

Pallisers · 06/10/2025 21:49

Even when I had three small children and worked full time I was like this.

I like to go to bed with the dishwasher on, the bags ready for the morning and lined up, the breakfast stuff ready to go and everything pretty clean and tidy. When they were small I would have one big wicker basket for toys and one for books and would throw everything in before I went to bed - or have them do it.

I don't have a minimalist house but I do have a place for everything. My sister is the same. My mother was the opposite - I suspect my kids will be like her in reaction :)

During lockdown I went through every single piece of paper in the house, catalogued it, threw stuff out and I now have a filing system for all our paperwork. I did the same with keepsakes for the kids etc - everyone has a large clear box. I think cleaning out the fridge is as good as going to confession :)

Dh would be even more draconian if I let him.

But I have a very large basement where I can chuck crap. That helps a lot.

Mischance · 06/10/2025 21:54

No - I like to have a home.

whattheysay · 06/10/2025 21:59

My house is pretty declutterred, I have what I want to keep and need. I’m a lot more organised like that than tidy, my house will be a mess but the cupboards are quite organised
I’m not so bothered about mess we have to live in the house and I have other things to do with my time than tidy up even to sit and read a book is important to me.

Kimbap · 06/10/2025 22:08

I love it when my house is really tidy. I find it relaxing and homely. It’s funny that some posters only think that homes can be homely if they are not really tidy. I have a few hobbies so I have more ‘stuff’ than I’d like. I also do most of my own DIY and gardening so that’s more stuff.

Skyflyinghigh · 06/10/2025 22:17

yes me. I fight a slightly losing battle as DH is a bit messy and doesn’t “see” mess and dirt. He’s away with work this week and the house is immaculate and I love it