What naice things do you make sure are visible to visitors

[Wiggles84]

Most of the time I have detol hand soap in my bathrooms but if I know someone is visiting my home I get out the posh L'Occitane matching soap and moisturiser stuff I recieved for Christmas a few years back. Surely people notice it's always the same amount of fullness each time they visit? Plus who has enough time to moisturise their hands every time they wash them with a toddler in the house. Jesus if Im more than 15 seconds having a wee he'll be banging the door down wanting to come in or he will have jammed quavers in the xbox. There's no time for the luxury of hand moistorusing. Plus it's a bugger keeping a grip on his squirmy hands St the best of times let alone adding lubrication into the mix.

When my guests leave, back it goes under the sink so as not to waste it.

I also like the fruit bowl to be bursting with beautiful fruit. We always have bananas and satsumas but for some reason a pineapple just makes my mundane life feel that little bit more exotic. "Ooh look at wiggles84 she must peel her pineapple fresh each morning for her delightful childs breakfast". No a quick bit of toast and a banana and we're off to start our days. No one's got time for that surely?

None of us even like pineapple

I know, I know I shouldn't care what people think but what little things do you project to the world so as to not to appear the frazzled dog tired slutten you are?

Well Elastic, obviously we all do!

Op your thread had me giggling and now I shall be trying to spot this in froends houses i visit as i never realise 'guest upgrades' were a thing!

As long as my house is clean and tiidy apart from the playroom all stays the same here although I have been know to throw things into a cupboard and tidy them away after guests leave

For those that have 'edible' pineapples for earing v 'stunt pineapples' i agree with Quencher. If you dont already own one you need one of these in your life......

www.lakeland.co.uk/15871/Pineapple-Slicer-and-Wedger?gclid=CKvHwMjQys8CFQSK2wodr5EHzg&src=gadsa&ef_id=V-iYxAAAABO8ndCl:20161008065708:s

I just realise I stage leftover fruit for the kids. On a little poncy mini cake/cupcake stand leftover from a birthday celebration. Cafeterie in background for scale. Instagramed the hell out of it just for this thread

Abyss you've reminded me that a lot of my 'staging' is for Instagram pictures too. I put a video up the other day of the cat and a mouse, and DP came home and said 'how long did you spend tidying the logs in the background for this one?'

I do have too much time on my hands. I quit my job so I would have the time to fanny about with this shit. I love it

Here is my staged cook book, i usually cook from memory so it is totally not needed but I think it makes it look like im trying something new and exciting for my company!

I'm totally doing a guest basket with new towels and the wifi code. That's bloody genius.

Been reading this thread to DMum who's being very sniffy about it all. Won't be getting the guest basket out for her!

Oh I love that it's a handwritten cookbook as well!

How about the staging of an 'intelligent' house? Involves Radio 4 in the background, 2nd hand vintage penguin paperbacks left open on the arms of chairs as if someone has just put them down, some very complicated music left open on the piano and some niche journals left beside the downstairs loo. This house can't be too tidy, but must be staged to look a bit eccentically messy - lots of piles of paper overflowing everywhere.

You see I think people stage their house to get all sorts of looks. Not just the 'new show home' thing with fruit in bowls and lovely tidy, modern washing up areas. I've known pretty tidy people who will get out their ancient quality stuff which looks very old, but like it cost a lot a long time ago and want the holes and dog hairs on it on display too. For some people the shiny new stuff is put away, because they think that is perhaps a bit tacky.

Loving the thread and laughing out loud at a lot of the things people do.

Going to have less time next week as I have to buy lemons, a cake stand, a book holder, and write a recipe book oh and method ain't cutting it now Harvey nicks here I come....

Thanks Gin my mum gave me it when I left for uni years ago, its almost full now so I have had to get inventive with some lift the flap style recipies!

Bog standard lidl hand wash in our bathroom's,shaws towels or ones acquired from nice hotels😋but there's a guest basket in the bedroom full if toothpaste shower stuff toothbrushes girl products just incase they've forgot. And the beer & wine chiller is always topped up.

Chocolate yes, agreed. I leave the ancient Gun Dog Training book lying around to make it look like GinDog is super well trained and look, aren't I good reading an old book rather than googling training methods. Likewise I have sewing magazines lying around from the 1960s too. Utterly ridiculous!

Chocolate - anyone needing help to stage an 'intelligent' house can borrow DH for a bit. He goes nowhere without leaving a trail of LSE approved publishing and random bits of paper.

The seventies funk might have to be switched for your complicated sheet music mind you

My mum has stunt artichokes! But they're ceramic, so never go off!!

Flicking through my fb I realised I also stage my children, you would think they are perfectly dressed, well behaved human beings always out and about we have dd 18m in a white dress on a picnic blanket, a smily 3yr old at the natral history museum, ds 10 in imaculate uniform off to scout camp!
Not a tantrum, chocolate bribe or snot bubble in sight

I need some stunt artichokes in my life!!

Never mind the stunt artichokes, I want Gowgirl's stunt kids!

Have to confess to having a stunt pineapple in the fruit bowl but that's because Ocado only ever seem to deliver the horribly unripe green ones, so it's sitting next to the bananas until it ripens sufficiently to not provoke a cat's bum face when you eat it.

Sorry, some bizarre smilies somehow ended up in last post!

Love love love this thread!

I admit last week, I made some additions to the bathroom, along with matching towels in the colour scheme purely as decoration.

First night ds2 has a shower and uses my new black one to stand on as he gets out of the shower.

He really could not understand my angst at this was only a 'staged' towel........ Now they are all being used and I have to go and buy more!

I have an ego-shelf in our hall, on which I have artfully lined up all my set texts from university...but here's the clincher...I have only used the ones with white, cream, beige covers to tone with my neutrally decorated hall...

The set texts with blue, grey, black covers are artfully lined up on a shelf in the guest bedroom (which is decorated in pale grey/white).

Shoot me now...

I'm torn between loving this thread and being at the idea of the inferiority complexes all this beautiful fakery probably causes in guests. Which in turn makes them go and do the same fakery and inflict it on others!

eolian ultimately my plan for world domination will result in every woman owning a bundle of stunt towels and having a piece of embroidery work casually draped over the arm of a chair

Mwahahahahahahahaha...[strokes cat]

MaQueen you are my hero

Delurking to say how much I'm loving this thread.

Cyberfairy's stunt accordian is an outright winner for me.

I'm guilty of always having to have things naice and staged for visitors, whip out the Molton Brown handwash and shower gel, and won't let DH use the bathroom or downstairs loo once they've been cleaned, or sit untidily on the settee. I do the overflowing interesting fruitbowl thing too. I have the method cleaners out and the cheapie stuff in cupboards. Hadn't thought of decanting stuff into posh bottles nor staging a washing-up area, but will add those to the list.

I vet the stuff on the bookshelves - the bonkbusters and vampire/fantasy/crime rubbish books we actually read are upstairs in the spare bedroom/office/crudhole, and on the living room shelves I have photography books ( although 10 years on I still use my camera on manual), gardening books (though my postage stamp garden suffers from my absence of green fingers) and big dictionaries to make us look intelligent .
I used to keep my grandma's 1949 singer sewing machine in the corner, to add an air of fake retro to my fake crafty-ness. I rarely got it out as I loathe sewing, so it's now in the loft. Might have to dig it out again as I embrace all these inspired staging tips. Keep them coming.