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

[Teaandsleep]

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 🤣

Being judgemental about books is a bit daft these days.

Mine are mainly on my Kindle now I've decluttered and sent most of the classics from an (old) English Lit degree to charity shops.

The few I have kept are on an upstairs shelf and I don't care what casual visitors think.

I judge people with no books.

Why?

Anyhow looking through the for sale pictures, the house seems cold, no personality. Furniture etc is still there and it's not staged, but the house just without any character or love.

Most estate agents will clear everything away for pictures. Most homes look cold with no personality because that’s what you’re told to do.

No cake forks.

Dh and I read hundreds of books a year. On our Kobo's.

Skirting board

99% of homes have skirting boards. It’s a standard detail. Why would you judge anyone who has them?

Why would you judge someone for not having books? I don’t get it!! Maybe the books are out of sight so the house doesn’t look like a library.....

We have books, lots. None are ‘on show’. That’s just messy

I love books. I always feel happy when I'm in a house with plenty of books. If I didn't see any I'd probably think they were in bedrooms perhaps.
Dirty skirting boards and bathrooms. Out of date food, dirty underwear and clothes dumped on the kitchen floor between the fridge full of out of date food and the filthy cooker (I'm looking at you absent father of dc). Lots of cleaning products on displays for both surfaces and bodies yet the house is filthy and the person unwashed with greasy hair. Do you really need 20 bottles of shower gel and shampoo when you rarely use it? Empty loo roll tubes all over the place. Manky toothbrushes with bits of food stuck in them 🤮

Loads of hair in people's hairbrushes when I visit the bathroom.

The acrid/dank smell of pets, especially dogs. Pet hair everywhere.

Astroturf.

A bazillion cushions on the bed.

Grey everything. Bad wallpaper.

TVs that and are perpetually on, whether people are watching them or not.

Naff lettering like 'soak' above the bath. 'Love, laugh, life' and other trite sentiments.

Disorganised bookshelves.

I used to be judgmental about people's CD collections, but even mine are in the loft now.

No books is a real MN thing. How do you know what books people have? I don't keep mine on display for everyone to see

Books, or more accurately, the lack of them.

Cat litter trays?
Where is the cat meant to go?

In next door's garden

@thefirstmrsrochester

Also houses with no books.

I have a severe dust allergy. I had to give away all my books as they were too difficult to keep the dust off. I have a very large Kindle library though. Don’t judge a book by its cover! (ho ho)

Skid marks in the toilet bowl.
Toys dominating the living room.

I do judge on the no books thing even though I know there may be thousands on kindle etc. I just don’t feel as comfortable without physical books around (as my house will attest!) I like nosing at what’s on the shelves and seeing if we have shared reading tastes. And no this isn’t a snobbish thing as I don’t read anything ‘improving’ - friends have commented that my books are all absolute cr*p (think lilac covers and chick lit!) and that I should be embarrassed!

I tend to reverse judge the books situation, how often do you reread fiction? So why have it on display? So visitors think you're well read? I have hundreds in the loft and have given hundreds to charity but nowadays read on my kindle, the only physical books I have are those I might regularly use eg recipe books, photography, yoga or art books. I'd be more likely to judge those who want to show off their collection of fiction

I think that as well Careunits, I mean who reads a fiction book more than once unless it’s a really core favourite? The only books you should need to keep to read again and again are recipe books, factual references books & travel guides etc.

I live in a messy and sometimes not so clean house. Lot of caring commitments, big house and garden, and work, and tidying/ cleaning has slipped down my priorities.

I judge over powering air freshener smell, and clearly no thought of green/ eco issues. Eg lots of disposable single use stuff around, lots of plastic bottles and liquid soap, lack of recycling, eating lots of meat. Would never preach but I do judge.

I used to go to great pains to do things in a ‘classy’ way, trying to prove myself to MN types and my posh friends I guess. But now I couldn’t give a shiny shit, I find homes with personal ‘naff’ touches so much friendlier and more interesting than ‘tasteful’ insipid spaces.

There’s lots of stuff I do / don’t like, but in terms of judging, other than books, it’s things like those awful ‘live live laugh’ signs (indicate someone is dead inside), twee ornaments (ditto), glass animals (flipping scary), soft toys that do not belong to a young child and that are covering every surface (psychopathic), and that boring bland grey decor (I think of this as the ‘Mrs Hinch’ effect when done by people without her eye). I mean, I don’t care for that decor anyway, but at least she does it well! So much of what people judge is either based on hygiene (fair), taste (personal), or, let’s face it, snobbery (ie certain things, like a massive TV, are essentially seen as ‘common’).

@Cheekypeach

I think that as well Careunits, I mean who reads a fiction book more than once unless it’s a really core favourite? The only books you should need to keep to read again and again are recipe books, factual references books & travel guides etc.

See I do reread fiction a lot. They are old favourites and reassuring in the way of a hot drink or cozy blanket. They are my equivalent for my brain I guess?

A lot of my recipe books are in a cabinet at the end of the kitchen. It bugs me. It spoils the look of the cabinet.

I keep trying to think of a way to hide them. I don’t get why people would judge on not seeing books, I would do the opposite if anything 😂

@pastaparadise

I live in a messy and sometimes not so clean house. Lot of caring commitments, big house and garden, and work, and tidying/ cleaning has slipped down my priorities.

I judge over powering air freshener smell, and clearly no thought of green/ eco issues. Eg lots of disposable single use stuff around, lots of plastic bottles and liquid soap, lack of recycling, eating lots of meat. Would never preach but I do judge.

Ooh good points - same here!

@TwoCoffeesPlease an ex friend of mine has all of these things in her house, I wasn't going to comment as i felt a bit mean. Also the chip pan always out and uses jelly belly air fresheners all over the house, I couldn't bare the spray, it made me cough so much. It isn't filthy, just cluttered. She also has a bit of an obsession with a particular Disney film and has cups, plates, cushions, blankets, bags with this character on.

For people saying no books, what if your books are stored in a place where you wouldn't see them? Our books are kept in Dh office upstairs which you would have no reason to go in there for 🤪