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Original poster

Be honest! What things do you judge in other people’s houses?

623 replies

Teaandsleep · 14/02/2022 21:07

Just a fun post.

Recently doing a huge renovation in our own home and am absolutely mortified at the dust everywhere, I keep having visions of visitors coming to the door and seeing all the dust everywhere, it is thick!

I also currently have a spatula sticking out my down pipe drain as we have just unblocked it and it’s to catch any old leaves/moss until it’s replaced 🤣

OP posts:
Gardeningcreature · 15/02/2022 18:57

Hell there are some dirty folks around.

myusernamewastakenbyme · 15/02/2022 19:05

Grey crushed velvet sofas...grey carpets/rugs...silver effect glittery b&m type ornaments..mirrors etc.
Framed inspirational quotes and lots of silly hanging hearts everywhere.
Basically Mrs Hinch style homes.

TakeSomeMoreTea · 15/02/2022 19:06

Houses can be the opposite of cluttered though. Too minimalist and it doesn't feel homely.

Iwannabewherethepeopleare · 15/02/2022 20:02

@Headabovetheparakeet sorry, you’ve missed opportunities to show how clever you are Sad

Headabovetheparakeet · 15/02/2022 20:27

@Iwannabewherethepeopleare

I think you may have missed the point!

tigerpants800 · 15/02/2022 20:28

The book thing on here is interesting.
I also feel more relaxed in a booky house. In my own home, the shelves hold novels I've enjoyed and new books that excite me.
When I can't see books in other's homes- it's just a bit dull. My mind craves stories.
Perhaps an eclectic art or photo display would do the same?
Blank rooms are fine but they are not interesting. I like to feel inspired by a space.

And plants. People without the tranquility of plants in their homes worry me.

Mayhemmumma · 15/02/2022 20:34

I go to different homes for my job, it's really interesting.
I have to judge on a safety/hygiene perspective for work but otherwise personally I don't like not taking shoes off in house, poo stained loos, dirty hand towels or no soap, really grotty floors, nappies wrapped up on sofa/floor.

SockFluffInTheBath · 15/02/2022 20:35

Dirt. Not fresh paw prints on the floor and a bit if dust but proper unhygienic dirt.

Maireas · 15/02/2022 20:36

Houses that smell of dogs.

bluebird3 · 15/02/2022 20:50

Dirty bathroom
Letting pets lick the dirty dishes

Chestofdraws · 15/02/2022 22:27

@tigerpants800

The book thing on here is interesting. I also feel more relaxed in a booky house. In my own home, the shelves hold novels I've enjoyed and new books that excite me. When I can't see books in other's homes- it's just a bit dull. My mind craves stories. Perhaps an eclectic art or photo display would do the same? Blank rooms are fine but they are not interesting. I like to feel inspired by a space.

And plants. People without the tranquility of plants in their homes worry me.

Even when you’re paying a friend a visit? You need to be inspired by their home and crave stories when there? Confused
TakeSomeMoreTea · 15/02/2022 22:30

Even when you’re paying a friend a visit? You need to be inspired by their home and crave stories when there? confused

I did laugh at this.

pictish · 15/02/2022 23:15

I did too. The line about craving stories is golden. Grin

TeaAndBiscuitsAndWine · 16/02/2022 01:48

Ooh, I need to read that, @GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER! Bookshelves are supposed to be double stacked aren’t they? That’s why they are generally exactly 2 paperbacks sized in terms of depth!

TeaAndBiscuitsAndWine · 16/02/2022 02:14

I would say that my house is cluttered (hoarder + offspring + tiny house) and disorganised (not helped by the above or my ADHD), but generally clean. Clean enough anyway - by which I mean no one will catch anything! I strongly suspect it would be judged harshly by many on MN, but there is always somewhere to sit (just may need to move a pile of books or a cat first), and cushions and blankets and snuggly things.
In terms of bad smells, that’s unbearable. I clean the cat litter every day and use scented candles but do worry that it smells and I just have gone nose blind. Having said that, the bedroom of a teenage boy can smell FAR worse - not helped by them leaving blooming plates of half eaten and now rotting food under their bed 🤮 And the small can permeate the whole house!

Iwannabewherethepeopleare · 16/02/2022 02:20

@Headabovetheparakeet no, I was just being a sarcy cow Grin to others who assume you can’t read if you don’t have books everywhere.

Kanaloa · 16/02/2022 04:42

@tigerpants800

The book thing on here is interesting. I also feel more relaxed in a booky house. In my own home, the shelves hold novels I've enjoyed and new books that excite me. When I can't see books in other's homes- it's just a bit dull. My mind craves stories. Perhaps an eclectic art or photo display would do the same? Blank rooms are fine but they are not interesting. I like to feel inspired by a space.

And plants. People without the tranquility of plants in their homes worry me.

You get worried that people don’t have a plant on the table? Actually worried?

And you ‘crave stories’ so badly that somehow you need random books (which presumably you’re not actually reading in someone else’s home and therefore you aren’t getting the story) to not find a home ‘dull.’

My mind just craves stories you know. I need to be able to see the outside covers of books to feel inspired.

Sooo pretentious.

Kanaloa · 16/02/2022 04:45

It’s just so Donna Tartt.

I drifted into Amy’s house for the coffee morning and glanced around the space, feeling immediately inspired as her shelves of novels which I instantly recognised from across the room satisfied my constant craving for stories. Even the spine of the closest Jodi Picoult left me awash in intellectual inspiration. Unfortunately the walls were magnolia and there was no classical art in the downstairs toilet so I wouldn’t be coming back.

pictish · 16/02/2022 07:36

Loooooollll

C8H10N4O2 · 16/02/2022 08:18

@Puffalicious

C8H1 The smugness was in the choice of vernacular to talk about watching a TV together, and the assertion that her DC only read in their rooms.

Neither of those quotes show me to be smug. Sarcastic, yes, dismissive yes, having an opinion different from the PP, yes, but not smug.

Ah yes, one of those irregular verbs

I am witty and sarcastic
You are smug and rude
They are thick

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 16/02/2022 08:31

[quote Benjispruce5]@HarlanPepper lol not quite. I had a next door neighbour whose windows remained shut through several heatwaves, day and night. DH said she must have air con. I’m a window opener, even in winter so I’m obviously the strange one.[/quote]
Same here. I don’t ‘monitor’ them, but you can’t help noticing when it’s stinking hot for days on end.

We used to stay with friends who never opened any windows - they were all actually locked, including the kitchen window. I had to ask the first time, for a key to open our bedroom window.

The house was also terribly cluttered and dusty and I often wondered whether those two accounted for the pair of them constantly getting colds.
Both factors were down to the demands/habits (‘security’ and a decided hoarding tendency) of the one who’s since died - the survivor’s new home is entirely different.

SummerBluez · 16/02/2022 10:20

"My mind craves stories"

Do people genuinely pop in to visit a friend for a catch up and spend the whole time reading a book from their friends shelf?!

How rude 😂

Headabovetheparakeet · 16/02/2022 10:32

@Iwannabewherethepeopleare

Ah, ok, sorry!

DrSbaitso · 16/02/2022 10:39

My mind and body crave all sorts of things but I can keep them in check while I'm popping round someone's house for tea. Mostly.

Headabovetheparakeet · 16/02/2022 10:43

In my own home, the shelves hold novels I've enjoyed and new books that excite me.

Novels? How awfully common.