Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Mumsnet classics

Relive the funniest, most unforgettable threads. For a daily dose of Mumsnet’s best bits, sign up for Mumsnet's daily newsletter.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

What naice things do you make sure are visible to visitors

467 replies

Wiggles84 · 06/10/2016 02:51

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 Shock

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?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
29
ClarkL · 10/10/2016 13:07

I agree with the element of having a beautiful home for yourself. Staging to me is about faking it till you make it, I always want fresh flowers, plenty of milk and a fresh smell. (I have 5 cats, this will never happen)
My sister in law has a beautiful house, I was convinced it was staged for guests but over the years have turned up unexpectedly and the house is 99% always pristine, the 1% was when I arrived and she was mopping the floor. I'd like a house where we have guests and I don't need to spend the weekend before scrubbing and tidying to get it ready. Although I have spent the morning tidying and cleaning and just have the mopping to go...I havent entered the bedrooms. I dare not!
Also I love the smell of method wood polish, the sweet almond is lush

Gowgirl · 10/10/2016 13:15

I treated myself to the 3 4 2 in Waitrose, almond polish, euclyptus bathroom cleaner and clemantine kitchen cleaner for 6quid, so about the same as flash!

LastBusHome · 10/10/2016 13:28

I really want to contribute to this awesome thread but feel I should just master basic cleaning before stretching to stunt pineapples and Jo Malone candles Confused .

TheColonelAdoresPuffins · 10/10/2016 13:37

The Method almond floor polish smells lovely when it mixes with the smell of the wood.

GinAndOnIt · 10/10/2016 13:45

I use the lavender Method cleaner and it is so lovely. I am lavender mad though. I didn't know about the wood floor cleaner - it is on my list!

IKnowIKNOW · 10/10/2016 14:20

Amazing thread.

I have slight Monica Geller tendencies anyway so our house is always pretty 'visitor ready'.

I've RTWT thinking that I don't really do anything special for guests apart from maybe light my nice smelling posh candles (which I light in the evenings anyway, for myself, because I'm worth it!) but I just went for a wee and realised that I do in fact keep some stunt Aesop body products on the bathroom shelf because I love the packaging so much.

myfriendnigel · 10/10/2016 14:59

I'm renowned for always having a (stunt but no one knows it) pineapple. So much so that someone bought me this for my last birthday Grin.
But I still also have a real one in the fruit bowl.

What naice things do you make sure are visible to visitors
Natsku · 10/10/2016 15:04

Got the plumber coming tomorrow, need to make my kitchen look much nicer than it is. No stunt pineapple but I did buy a mango and some big red apples (DD will eat them though). Did briefly consider staging a washing up area but seeing as I'm washing up in bowls because can't use the bloody sink (hence the plumber) there's not too much point trying to fancy that up.

Gowgirl · 10/10/2016 15:15

I love your box Nigel!!!!!

Gowgirl · 10/10/2016 15:16

Last bus clean ceiling to floor in 20 minute bursts, and buy lovely smelling cleaners it makes it more satisfyingmust go buy floor cleanerGrin

Natsku · 10/10/2016 16:08

Just been cleaning the kitchen and OH did the lounge and playroom/reading room and I've arranged the fruit bowl (looks a bit naff though, needs a stunt pineapple for sure), reckon my house is visitor ready now - just need to find some visitors!

GourdExpert · 10/10/2016 16:13

Namechanged in case someone recognised the photo.

Gowgirl, a cake stand is your best friend. My "cake" stand is a £4 white candle from tk maxx and a white plate on top - white tack holds them together and when I don't need the stand, I can take them apart. Saves storage space as I find cake stands so ackward to store.

Right....

1/Collect some lovely autumn leaves.
2/Buy glycerin in boots and Google how to preserve leaves. Takes about 3-4 days.
3/ while leaves are still sticky, borrow your kids' glitter. Gold and purple work best. Sprinkle liberally
4/ you might need some sort of a "sealant". You could get an expensive acrylic one from hobby craft or just buy super strong aerosol hairspray. It stops the leaves from being sticky snf glitter falling off but the leaves don't go brittle.

5/ arrange a bed of preserved glitter leaves on your plate/cake stand

6/ arrange your gourds on top.

If you have any oak trees about, stick a small branch with the leaves in glycerin too, then stick the preserved oak branch in between them

Here's a photo of a black Christmas wreath that I temporarily turned a Halloween wreath with the kids. The leaves were attached to the wreath with some floral wire.

What naice things do you make sure are visible to visitors
LilQueenie · 10/10/2016 16:33

I don't care but when it was the annoying HV from hell I would light a yankee candle, quickly clean something for the clean smell and have a load of DD's toys out. You know the best ones and educational ones. To be honest a yankee candle is as good as it gets with me. Just don't look in the cupboard where there is a bin bag full of crap I didn't have time to tidy away properly!

MrsHathaway · 10/10/2016 17:06

Polish just inside the front door. Guests get a waft of clean as they arrive and their brain is tricked into thinking the whole house is clean.

We sort of have a show front room - no toys live in it and the DC mainly only use it for screens so it's very quickly tidied. Turn on a lamp and it's suddenly a very grownup room. Friends with children love it probably helps that there's always Prosecco and home made cake.

myfriendnigel · 10/10/2016 19:00

Gowgirl....it's a long time since someone said that to me Grin
I believe it came from cox and cox or somewhere like that...

I'm so doing that thing with the leaves...

MaQueen · 10/10/2016 19:07

Oooh I love Cox & Cox for prettily pointless stuff. Pedlars do some bonkers, but gorgeous, stuff too.

myfriendnigel · 10/10/2016 19:31

It might have been pedlars actually. When I had money I used to chuck it away on all sorts of pointless rubbish. It's the only thing I miss about xh Smile at least I've still got my copper pineapple and quite a few strings of overpriced fairylights, vases and one of those fancy racks for hanging wellies on Smile

MaQueen · 10/10/2016 19:38

I luff a bit o' Pedlars frippery. I might, just might have once bought a bunch of gently rusting olde keys from there to hang (whimsically) by our back door...

Gowgirl · 10/10/2016 20:50

Just browsing cox and cox online not intending to shop at all and, 35quid for a cardboard aeroplaneI literally have no words! (and i will generally buy any old crap)

GinAndOnIt · 10/10/2016 21:00

Pedlars, you say?

I've just looked at their Vintage section....

MaQueen · 10/10/2016 21:08

I give you Bailey's Home & Garden...once you've shopped there, there's no going back...

APlaceOnTheCouch · 10/10/2016 21:08

I went on to Cox and Cox, saw one of those ladder storage racks and thought ha! they won't lure me in with tat like that.. . then I saw the metal trunks and now I am in love.

MaQueen · 10/10/2016 21:18

It's like the Hotel California...you can check out, but never leave...

DonkeyHotay · 10/10/2016 21:30

I love nigel s box too. Off to look for trunks, wooden boxes and wine crates.

Gowgirl · 10/10/2016 21:48

I have a steamer trunk I've been meaning to makeover forever.....its full of shitetoys and shoved in ds2 room.....however I'm crap at crafty stuff!