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Housekeeping

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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:
ShadowsInTheDarkness · 15/02/2022 06:39

I find the pet smells one amusing and worrying - what exactly are you supposed to do if you happen to have dogs and cats? Evict them for a week before visitors? I can't use artificial air fresheners and the like due to asthma. The dogs will smell like dogs, not overly smelly dogs but they are dogs so will smell like dogs. Not a lot I can do about that tbh! I much prefer dog people for this reason, they come round and probably also smell of dog and don't quietly judge and whinge about the fact that the animals dare to smell like animals 😅

Classicblunder · 15/02/2022 06:57

I don't judge people who don't have books out downstairs but I do like how it looks, it's cosy and I like seeing what people read. I reread fiction a lot and have trimmed my book collection to things that I will reread. It makes me (probably irrationally) sad that some people think it looks untidy.

The thing I judge slightly is when all of the kids toys are kept upstairs in their rooms and there is no trace of the kids in the living room. I feel like our kids live here too, it's fine for them to have things downstairs.

burnthur5t · 15/02/2022 06:58

Cleanliness

pictish · 15/02/2022 07:15

Too much grey. No imagination.
Show home cleanliness and neatness. Dull person.

MintyFreshBreath · 15/02/2022 07:16

I judge people with feature walls and with ‘inspirational quotes’ 🤮 🤮 ‘Live laugh love’ etc.

TheFuckingDogs · 15/02/2022 07:16

Impossibly clean houses with no personality/stuff and no trace of children if there is some.

I’m sure I’m being judged right back for the dog smell and cats on surfaces

Jane2658 · 15/02/2022 07:17

I love books but I don't hoard them. I tend to buy them from a charity shop then give them back after reading. Or have my kindle. To be honest, the houses that come to mind that have loads of books on the shelves usually smell musty and the books are dusty as there is no way they are getting them all down every month to wipe them down.

Snoken · 15/02/2022 07:18

I have a friend who lives in a tiny apartment and smokes under the kitchen extractor fan. She obviously can't smell it but I can and I guess I judge her for it. Especially since she is also keeping animals in there, and I feel mainly sorry for them who has to live like that.

Classicblunder · 15/02/2022 07:18

@Jane2658

I love books but I don't hoard them. I tend to buy them from a charity shop then give them back after reading. Or have my kindle. To be honest, the houses that come to mind that have loads of books on the shelves usually smell musty and the books are dusty as there is no way they are getting them all down every month to wipe them down.
Haha, no, I definitely don't wipe my books down every month!
Ragwort · 15/02/2022 07:20

Classic I tend to judge the other way round Grin ... there is obviously a happy middle ground but I used to visit someone's house where you could barely sit down as their living room was so full of toys and general plastic tat ... it's as if the most important person in the house was their DD and her ridiculous over the top collection of toys Grin. It was a large house with plenty of space to store the toys elsewhere.

Jane2658 · 15/02/2022 07:20

I agree with the dog smell comments though and I have a dog myself. It is an endless battle to keep the house hair free. I have a sofa I can wash the cushions of but he likes to jump in water on walks so it is hard work keeping the house doggy smell free.
Housework must be a breeze if you don't have pets (and children!).

catfunk · 15/02/2022 07:20

Some houses I walk into and they are a bit stuffy and stinky, like they never open the windows or change the bedding. I find it really noticeable.

TheGreatATuin · 15/02/2022 07:21

I don't judge. People's homes are what suits them. I keep mine how I like. They can keep theirs.
I do judge people who judge other people's homes, and frankly if I knew anyone was judgy like that, I'd not invite them round. Life's too short to spend on people who turn up their noses.

mugoftea456 · 15/02/2022 07:23

Dog hair/slobber and the smell of dogs when you walk in.

I am actually a dog lover

linerforlife · 15/02/2022 07:23

I only really judge dirty toilets and homes that smell.

Classicblunder · 15/02/2022 07:23

@Ragwort

Classic I tend to judge the other way round Grin ... there is obviously a happy middle ground but I used to visit someone's house where you could barely sit down as their living room was so full of toys and general plastic tat ... it's as if the most important person in the house was their DD and her ridiculous over the top collection of toys Grin. It was a large house with plenty of space to store the toys elsewhere.
What we aim for is a middle ground - e.g. we have floor to ceiling bookcases, on top we have adult board games, books, other things and at child height we have the kids games, puzzles and toys.

I like the living space to look like we all live here

ComtesseDeSpair · 15/02/2022 07:24

No grapefruit spoons.

But what is the actual judgement you reach? I don't like grapefruit, I don’t think I’ve ever bought a grapefruit, and I definitely haven’t ever served grapefruit to a guest. I can’t work out what precise negative opinion anyone might hold based on those facts.

pictish · 15/02/2022 07:25

@Snoken

I have a friend who lives in a tiny apartment and smokes under the kitchen extractor fan. She obviously can't smell it but I can and I guess I judge her for it. Especially since she is also keeping animals in there, and I feel mainly sorry for them who has to live like that.
I’m sure the animals don’t mind her smoking under the extractor fan. Grin
chaosrabbitland · 15/02/2022 07:27

i would judge if the house was really filthy , clutter doesnt bother me and oddly magonlia walls everywhere set me off a bit , i once visited someones home i worked with years ago and it was just a sea of magnolia everywhere , apparantly she liked it , i just thought how boring and lacking in imagination she was to want to wake up to magnolia walls in the whole house every day

HaveringWavering · 15/02/2022 07:28

@ComtesseDeSpair

No grapefruit spoons.

But what is the actual judgement you reach? I don't like grapefruit, I don’t think I’ve ever bought a grapefruit, and I definitely haven’t ever served grapefruit to a guest. I can’t work out what precise negative opinion anyone might hold based on those facts.

It was obviously a joke!
ComtesseDeSpair · 15/02/2022 07:29

There’s no “obvious” when it comes to MNers and their judgements.

MintyFreshBreath · 15/02/2022 07:30

We once went to a house to pick up a bed that had been advertised on Gumtree. The smell was indescribably bad. It was just thick in the air and smelt like something had died in there. I swear the family must have gone nose blind to it as they seemed totally oblivious to it. Strangely enough, we made our excuses about the bed being ‘too big’ and left sharpish whilst breathing through our noses the whole time. The house was absolutely filthy too, covered in cat hair and god knows what. I’d have been ashamed to give something away from that house.

sunshineforest · 15/02/2022 07:34

@SnipSnipMrBurgess

A house with no books is so pretentious honestly I always hate when people say that.

You don't know where people keep their books, all mine are on my kindle including my library books due to my physical disabilities.

Its just pretentious notions. "Oh I don't care for material things, just books and art and conversations ".

Knobs.

Ha ha totally agree - I was waiting for books to come up and bingo, there they were
Fairislefandango · 15/02/2022 07:35

Judging people for having no books is just silly. Not having actual physical books doesn't mean they don't read! We don't ever buy books any more, because we use Kindles. I'm 50, but if Kindles had existed from the time when we first started buying books, we wouldn't have any books. And we read a lot!

pictish · 15/02/2022 07:36

I have no bookcases (omg) - our house is tiny and awkward so we haven’t the space for them. I don’t keep books beyond reference, coffee table and firm favourites. They all get shipped out to friends/recycling/charity shop.

I think loads of books take up loads of room. They look nice all lined up and make you seem dead well-rounded and all that…but given most of them will never get a second reading, they just eat up space and gather dust.