So do you have a streamlined, tidy house or a rather more, erm, 'arty' one?

[NationalFlight]

Following a thread last week where some people commented on my house...

I've been noticing more and more particularly on ebay pictures people have, that everyone's house seems to be like this:

Laminate floor

Leather square shaped (or clean fabric)sofas

Minimal clutter or toys

Neutral colours

Now this looks incredibly tidy and easy to keep clean, so why can't I do it?? Mine is - well some of it's on my profile. 9oh and it's not usually that tidy) I can't avoid bright colours, I just can't, and I think I might go completely mad if I tried to do the above laminate thing.

I'm just not built that way.

Please can people sign in here if they too live in an 'mm, interesting' house according to their friends. It would make me feel less alone

NationalFlight - I am glad you liked the orange chairs. We actually have cream chairs with that table right now but have always liked those orange chairs. Indeed so much so that me and DW went out and ordered the orange ones this afternoon! Your comment spurred us on.

You see - you do like minimalism really!

I agree with you on our bedroom. DW really likes it but I always say it looks too 'batchelor shag pad'. It needs softening with colour.

Good luck on the design makeover. .

swanriver - a very fair comment. The only upside I can think of is our DSs will be very domesticated young men.

My house is a work in progress but I am a stickler for order and storage.Lots of people in and out but I clear up as soon as people go.Ds bedroom is a tip but the rest of the house is quite clear.

Yup, we have a chaotic bohemian home too...
BUT we are selling our flat (3 beds, Stoke Newington, anyone..?) and so have majorly decluttered. Everything goes away for viewings, and tbh I like it .

Might even try and keep the new house a bit tidier.

Have always liked the William Morris? quote about only having practical and beautiful things in your home

Evenbetadad, my folks had those sofas, I remember them as lovely and cosy as a kid but I do have vivid memories of us all having to pull my mum up out of the sofa - so maybe only great whilst young? I do like those orange chairs tho.

NationalFlight, as I said earlier I would encourage you to escape the modern tyranny of minimalism, but if you are hiding from people who call at the door, maybe it is time for a bit of a spring clean? Although not a fan of the minimalist look - too sterile for me, I don't like clutter and CRAP everywhere. So maybe a bit of a chuck out is in order?

I think abetadads stuff looks great! Although i like it i am not sure i am brave enough or could live with it!
What about if you like a mixture of minimalism and boho??? Thats kind of me! Somedays i want the neutrals and i have a leather sofa and i want all the clutter gone.....Then the next day i am wanting vivid colour splashes and quirky cushions...i just get in a mess and everything looks weird!!

my house is on my profile, its streamlined with a bit of clutter lol

A friend described my house as "A typical eccentric English house". Oh dear. That means abandoned knitting, half finished painting, horse rugs waiting to be mended, saddles, cats, kids and books in no particular order then I think. I would love my house to look like something out of country living magazine, but I am too busy looking after two horses and running after DS, plus working ;)

I invited a neighbour in for a drink....

"Oh wow!" He said looking round our living-room - I didn't know you two are artists.

(errr no - just messy and eclectic in a bad way )

mine is something in between, because I love both looks and can't decide/change my mind like the wind...

so I have the 'clutter' (i prefer to think of it as a life history of things I like ) but I concentrate it all in one area - like those ikea rooms where all the books and nick-nacks are collected into one big bookcase and the rest of the room is quite tidy.

Then I try to keep the rest of the place fairly clutter free (note the word try)

DH has a habit of leaving things out because we might need them next week/month/year... so it is a constant battle to not have clutter. But it is my mission for this summer to throw out/store away everything we don't use regularly.

I do think less clutter = easier to keep clean, so I prefer that, especially in bathrooms, etc. But you need a few soft furnishings/personal bits and bobs to make a house a home and I don't like the idea of pretending my DD doesn't exist as soon as she goes to bed, so we have the odd teddy dotted around and I while I do put all the toys away at night, I don't worry too much about iggle piggle sitting on top of the toy chest for the evening if he won't fit in

Man, you breed cute kids, Sparkly. The 'big grin' photo made me laugh out loud.

That pic make a lot of people laugh

EvenBetaDad - I see you have linked to my Ligne Roset bed! It is very nice, but when my toddler tosses the giant cushions aside and insists on banging his head on the headboard, I wish for a simple velour thing.

I also love minimalism, but have not opted for further Ligne Roset. I have mainly B&B Italia, Minotti and a few others.

It is extremely difficult maintaining the house with a toddler. He has his own playroom downstairs, so I don't need to tidy away toys, but changes to the layout of our rooms have been necessary. I have had to remove all the art glass and low tables. All the small pools of lighting via Foscarini table lamps are gone (we had a breakage and quickly learnt). The ambience is rather different now, and not for the better. But, it is only temporary.

I love white walls, I find it very relaxing but again not really toddler friendly. The stone floors and all the floor to ceiling glass are further potential hazards to running and tripping. When you have an open plan layout, lots of hard glossy materials and a toddler, just to be safe is a challenge.

We spend most of the day in the garden.

I love those ligne roset modular sofas.

arabicabean - interesting you came up with the 'own play room' solution just as we did.

Their play room is kitted out with nice furniture (as is their bedroom) but nothing we will be annoyed about having an accidental scratch or a sticky chocolate hand on.

In the end it is not fair on children to constrain their play just because the parent decides to buy an expensive sofa.

Our rooms are out of bounds tough unless they sit on bean bags, do not eat anything, have no toys and sit still in front of TV and they know it is a treat to be respected.

We also do go in their room to play with them and spend a lot of time in the garden as you do.

Our house is definately on the 'arty' side. We make, paint and decorate lots of stuff, so there is always bits of half painted chair, table or picture lying around. I like that our dd's love making and drawing, and have their own toddler height gallery of pictures and puppets and stuff they have made which they stick to the wall (well dd1 does this, dd2 just tries to draw on the walls!)

The house isn't ours, and is very old with a lot of bad renovation done to it (eg the horrendous 1970's gas fire, called 'The Emporer' by dh because it is so above itself with its big fancy gold decoration and fake plastic wood surround), it is very annoying, because it would be great to do up. Everything is white, because we have so many pictures up, and most of our furniture is 'ebay-eclectic-chic'!

We have a flat at the moment so it's pretty cluttered and untidy. There are some pictures on our right move ad but the flat was super tidy that day as the photographer was coming round. I do tend towards the more quirky individual look (not sure that shows in those pictures). I've always preferred period properties to new ones as I like character. I was brought up in a 400 year old house with beams and funny low windows all over the place so the square rooms and laminate look aren't for me.

We're just about to move in to a Victorian house and it's really nice with lovely fireplaces and wooden floors downstairs. I will most definitely not be painting it all white and laying laminate. I know all that is simple and easy to maintain but I prefer more colour in my life. I don't understand people who live in colourless houses. Friends of ours have a house which is totally cream, carpets, walls, curtains, soft furnishings. Not one jot of colour. That just depresses me.

Headfairy WOW at your balcony!

Abetadad, this statement is something I find really difficult to get my head round:

'Our rooms are out of bounds tough unless they sit on bean bags, do not eat anything, have no toys and sit still in front of TV and they know it is a treat to be respected.'

I just can't imagine living like that. It seems an impossible concept! Do you think your children mind?

What I mean is, no offence, but it doesn't sound like a 'treat' to me!

Mine is somewhere between the two. The walls and flooring are plain and neutral, and the furniture very simple.

That way, I think you can get away with a lot more clutter before the place starts looking like a tip.

I've never really understood colourful/patterned wallpaper. I don't want to sit and admire a wall do I?! I'd much prefer neutral walls and then appreciate the objects in the room instead iyswim.

NationalFlight - no offence taken.

It is funny but our DSs (age 9 and 6) like having their own room and we respect their space. They sometimes ask us to leave so they can play boisterously and they sometimes ask us to come in and sit with them to watch TV - which is treat for us.

We do the same with them in our space.

I know it sounds very odd - but it works.

We also play and eat together a lot outside and go out a lot together as well. They also like to go out without us to their holiday clubs with their mates. They do not like Mum & Dad hanging about all the time.

Fair enough!

Sounds like strong boundaries are in place, at least, which is good...maybe it is something I should think about.

Thanks national... I'm quite looking forward to having a garden though, nothing like having the feel of grass between your toes, plus watering the roof garden is a bugger. No tap out there so I'm carrying buckets of water up there. It takes about half an hour.