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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

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Original poster

How do people manage to have such tidy, beautiful houses?

82 replies

carrotsandcelery · 26/05/2012 18:56

I have being doing flylady (ish) for well over a year now.

I have developed some basic routines for the morning etc so I get through the basic jobs required to run the household. eg the dishes and laundry are under control, the bathrooms are hygienic etc. Despite this the house never looks lovely really.

For short spells I can maintain the house such that I am not totally mortified if someone comes by unexpectedly. I can't keep it going indefinitely though.

Am I just a lazy mare? Is there a secret trick? Does a nice home require constant motion, or constant nagging, or throwing out everything I own?

Where am I going wrong?

OP posts:

SkinnyVanillaLatte · 28/05/2012 21:46

Ditto Vicar.

I thought a smalller place would mean less to clean. In fact,as it turns out,it simply means more concentration of dirt.

There is almost as much mud on my hall floor as in the garden tonight.....

Pishspice · 28/05/2012 21:55

Gah, I hate that , " Good mums have sticky faces " shit, I really do. Have a clean and tidy house, have a minging and messy house, I don't care but cut the good mum shit!

Gymbob · 28/05/2012 22:18

DH says I'm a CAD (Compulsive Activity Disorder), and whilst I agree up to a point, I would argue the fact that it's a disorder. I like to be busy. I'm not obsessed, but if a job needs doing, then get it done. Sheer laziness means that people sit around instead of getting up and doing something. The saying 'If you want something doing, ask a busy person' is so true. I know which busy friends I can rely on and which slovenly and untidy ones I can't.

Of course, it has everything to do with being brought up in a shit tip. My mother still lives in one now, I don't go round there, I might catch something.

Magneto · 29/05/2012 07:39

Exhausted people have messy homes is my personal motto. I would love nothing more than to have a nice clean and tidy house but this will never happen because our house is too small, we have too much stuff and we work too much to have time to clean. If I can cook dinner, unload and reload the dishwasher and keep on top of the washing then i am doing well. On my days off I manage to Hoover downstairs. I gave up ironing years ago.

Plus, I'd rather go out and do something with ds on my days off instead of stay at home and clean while ds follows me and empties every bin I fill on the way round.

I made a list of jobs for my imaginary cleaner to do last night, I also have an imaginary gardener.

My imaginary house is pristine

valiumredhead · 29/05/2012 12:27

The secret is to de clutter - everything is much easier if you are not try to keep loads of stuff that you don't actually need.

When you are clutter free, keeping tidy is easy imo.

GrendelsMum · 29/05/2012 13:25

I think that being tidy is actually the same core skill as being punctual. I have a colleague who is always punctual, but dreadfully messy. I'm the other way round. When she goes to the station, she allows 10 mins to walk there, 10 mins in case of long queues for tickets, and 5 minutes to go to the furthest platform. When I go to the station, I allow 10 mins to walk there, 1 min for ticket buying and 1 minute to get to the closest platform. Guess who misses the train?

But I always allow 10 mins at breakfast to tidy the kitchen, 10 mins before I leave the house for work to tidy, 10 mins at the end of the working day to tidy and file away my desk, etc...

It's just about recognising how long things really take and building in the time to do that.

DollyDebs · 29/05/2012 17:44

Hello!
Tell me about it. I run a small cleaning company and I still can't decide whether I should have a cleaner myself, or keep my hand in with the cleaning as I should really be a cleaning 'expert' but it generally ends up with me doing neither :(

wordfactory · 29/05/2012 18:26

I think people with uber clean and tidy homes do far more chores than they realise.
They often say, it takes no time at all once the house in good order...that is simply not true.
They simply don't relaise they are doing it because it is a habit IMVHO.

My housekeeper is currently away and I am astonished by how much time it takes up and how much there is to do.

valiumredhead · 29/05/2012 18:42

I agree in some part to it being habit - you have to do a bit every day or it piles up and gets out of hand.

wordfactory · 29/05/2012 18:50

It is all hugely time consuming!
Washing, ironing, putting clothes away, food shopping, cooking, clearing up, changing beds, sweeping the floors...no matter how organised one is, these things take up time!

And if one uses the time for these things, then it can't be spent on other things. Which is fine, we all make our choices and priorities.

colditz · 29/05/2012 18:52

Because all they do is clean and tidy, and I have better things to do with my time.

formerdiva · 29/05/2012 19:09

wordfactory - do you really have a housekeeper? Tell more!

My house is almost visitor ready. I have a rule that I keep everything tidied away other than the children's things (too much hard work to keep tidying up after them, and I don't mind seeing a house scattered with toys and dressing up clothes. And if a visitor minds, well they're visiting the wrong house )

wordfactory · 29/05/2012 19:14

former

It sounds grander than it is. What I have is a lovely lovely woman who works for me 20ish hours a week, doing domestic chores.

DH works very long hours and is often away so he has no capacity to help. When he is here he, naturally, wishes to focus on the family. I too work (albeit from home). So we outsource a large proportion of the chores.

She is currently away visiting family in New Zealand and boy do we miss her!!! Keeping a home running smoothly is very time consuming.

FIFIBEBE · 29/05/2012 19:15

The people I know with really tidy homes are constantly maintaining their homes as well as spending huge amounts of time clearing and cleaning. Their houses always are freshly painted and just look so fresh.

monkeymoma · 29/05/2012 19:18

I found out some things about a very tidy house I know which make me very very happy:

there is an en suite, which mings like my family bathroom does , their main bathroom that guests see isn't used by the family!
their massive shed is floor to celing packed, like you cannot get in the door and they have no idea what is in there.

House looks beautiful and always sparkley, but I like them more now that I know they are secretly as minging as the rest of us

I like to think that ALL perfect sparkly houses have massive atics and sheds and secret bathrooms that ming

SkinnyVanillaLatte · 29/05/2012 19:19

This whole visitor ready stuff makes me smile!

It's like keeping a guest bedroom.

Can't we all just live and love and play in our own gaffs without feeling the need to be able to present ourselves to others??

formerdiva · 29/05/2012 21:08

wordfactory - that's fabulous! Why wouldn't you want to free up as much time as possible to spend on the things that count.

Does she cook as well?

Original poster

carrotsandcelery · 29/05/2012 21:21

Skinny I feel the same a lot of the time. I just want to be and relax and enjoy myself in my house, rather than it feeling like a work prison that I can't escape.

OP posts:

valiumredhead · 29/05/2012 21:22

I am never fussed about what visitors think of my house, I keep tidy for me, tidy house tidy mind and all that.

Original poster

carrotsandcelery · 29/05/2012 21:26

That is where my theory comes unstuck. I find it hard to relax when there are jobs to be done all around me.

OP posts:

valiumredhead · 29/05/2012 21:27

I figure if someone calls they are coming to see me and therefore a friend and they know me or if it's someone I don't know then I don;t give a flying fig what they think

letseatgrandma · 29/05/2012 21:43

Does a nice home require constant motion

Yes ;)

surroundedbyblondes · 29/05/2012 21:56

I like it when it's tidy and I find it theraputic to put things away at the end of the day! We live in a bungalow, so putting things away is quick and easy. Plus we are lucky that we have a playroom for the DDs and they gave their own bathroom, so some parts of the house have kiddy-clutter without feeling like it's taking over everything.

Housemum · 29/05/2012 22:30

I think eBay and Antiques Roadshow should be banned!!! I have things that I keep, "it might be worth something". No, it just as much might not be and is just more bloody stuff.

DD2 is terrible, hates to get rid of anything and really does remember everything. She is still hunting for a dolly car seat that I know full well was got rid of by me last year...

ibuyjaffacakesnow · 30/05/2012 01:08

That show, homes under the hammer doesn't help. Houses done up but nothing in them. And those ones where they do over a house, take two lorryloads of furniture and other stuff away, and then the after pictures show a bedroom shelf with a few teddies on, and a candle/vase on the coffee table in the living room. Where's all the stuff gone? Do they bring it back after filming and there's nowhere to put it.?

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