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 🤣

@ShadowsInTheDarkness - most people with dogs I know who want to keep house clean and not overly doggy do so. It requires things like cleaning floors and soft furnishings regularly, and airing the house several times per day

Only really dirty homes. I find myself wondering about neighbours that NEVER open windows, even in spring and summer. I have a strange preoccupation with it.

@dalmatianmad

I'm sure no one would come along and judge you whilst your having work done.

I take people as I find them, some people live in beautiful clean homes (I really enjoy cleaning) and some are happy living in untidy dirty houses. But I would judge someone who let their cat on the kitchen work surfaces, that's just grim.

It’s not possible to stop cats getting on surfaces- they jump!

@pictish - I find houses with no books really weird- like there’s something missing.

@Cheekypeach it’s an interior design thing - people actually order the books by the yard - there is no selection of the actual book, however, there is selection of type of binding and or colours - Tbh I don’t know if the are read or not but I’m assuming it’s very unlikely.

Lack of ability to park of their own fucking drive/not drive over my lawn.
Plastic grass.
Sticky laminate flooring.
Dirty kitchen.
Plug-in Air freshener.

hello NDN. 🤬

People order books for the look? Ha ha that’s funny. I keep my books, I get attached to them after I’ve read them but I do pass some on to friends and charity shops when I can’t fit more on. I do hoover the tops though when I’m cleaning. .

I have books lying around here and there…small towers. Most of our keepers are stashed in a low set of shelves lining our attic bedroom.
There are no reams of novels on display though.
How will visitors know how clever we are?

I don't like dirt, but unless it's a health hazard I wouldn't judge it, and I expect dust and mess when there's building work going on.

I knew a couple once who moved house and prioritised getting themselves a new bed and carpet while their child slept on a mattress on the bare floorboards. Child seemed happy but I did judge that.

Paving over lawns for car parking. I get it in busy cities but in suburbia? I’d miss grass and greenery, natural drainage and who wants to have car right up to your window?

We're mid-renovation so our place is a midden but I'm suspicious of houses that don't have books. Strong, cheap air fresheners (although I do have a Neom diffuser in the downstairs loo) also make me sneeze and my eyes run.

Other than that, I don't tend to judge other people's houses as long as there's a warm welcome and the kettle's on.

This thread has reinforced my need to sort out my messy house. I judge myself on my own house far more than I judge the houses of others (except you absent father of dc, you are truly minging). I'm not naturally tidy but find mess stressful so it's a constant battle. There's so much I can tolerate and then I need to have a BIG TIDY.

I judge toilet roll if it's poor quality. Although some toilets can't cope with thick quilted stuff so I try not to judge too much but my uni friend said you could always tell the tone of a place by the toilet paper.

I would rather not have the books, ours are mostly DH's, he has loads, a few first editions, some are very old and smell a bit how old books smell, its similar to one of those book fairs, they are kept upstairs in the library (box room) with our DVDs and his many maps and don't get that dusty as we don't really use the room much.

I tend to use a Kindle, he doesn't. He has told me if he dies not to skip them as some are worth quite a bit but that is obviously only if someone else wants them😀

I also don’t understand the no books thing, ours are in a cupboard, and we use kindles, how would you know if someone had no books? They don’t need to be displayed?

@TeaAndBiscuitsAndWine

Oh I do, Kanaloa, I do, but sometimes their bookshelves reveal the guilty secrets they don’t admit to, like those cheesy historical bodice rippers! Found some on a friend’s shelf once after her teenager had put them on the wrong bookcase (they were apparently normally hidden upstairs) and she was so embarrassed as she WAS a bit of a public book snob! I had to promise not tell anyone 😂 I have no shame though

There’s a very funny novel by E. F. (Mapp and Lucia) on this theme - a ghastly, snobbish woman who’s secretly addicted to lurid bodice-rippers, which turn out to be written by a new and mousy, very nondescript female neighbour who she judges to be ‘common’, and who writes under a flamboyant male nom-de-plume. Ghastly woman is ‘in love with’ her mental image of the author., Called Secret Lives - it’s on my Kindle. Set well pre WW2, so a period piece now.

We have masses of books on shelves as well. TBH I’d judge anyone who thinks shelves of books are ‘messy’.
Some of our shelves are double-stacked.😂

E.F. Benson!

Top heavy mugs that are wider at the rim than the bottom. Horrible to drink from, far too easy to unbalance and makes your coffee go cold. This is a person with no discernible taste or care for the finer things in life. Judged.

My house is cluttered but not dirty. Would judge if there was dirt particularly in children's room. I wouldn’t say anything though unless I was asleep my opinion.

@DomPom47

My house is cluttered but not dirty. Would judge if there was dirt particularly in children's room. I wouldn’t say anything though unless I was asleep my opinion.

Asked my opinion

I don’t really judge but I don’t like the smell of indoor cats/litter trays/cat pee, same with dogs (although I have had dogs).

@Benjispruce5

Only really dirty homes. I find myself wondering about neighbours that NEVER open windows, even in spring and summer. I have a strange preoccupation with it.

Yes, that is strange. Do you monitor their houses 24/7?

@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.

I agree about books... ridiculous in an age of digital books (and small modern houses) to judge someone as a non reader on the basis they don't keep a load of books on display!

@Benjispruce5 Big in Germany! I remember reading that there's usually a clause in people's rental agreements that requires them to open their windows twice a day.

I live in a cold damp bit of the UK, but I do try to force myself to open the windows every so often even when it's cold. I also have a dehumidifier. But I never notice what the neighbours do!

I don’t judge peoples houses. I love my friends for who they are, not their decor. And if I go to a strangers house I don’t know them or what’s going on in their lives so would have no right to judge.

None of you pretentious wankers would ever be invited to my house though. We also don’t own any books. And have vertical blinds. There’s also a cat litter tray. I could go on really.