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?

Tatler magazine. (Actually very funny and well written). I make sure it's on top of my Love it! And Take a Break.

at rearranging playmobil figures.

Having been trying to think of something as it sounds like the sort of thing I would do. The best I can come up with is having visitors usually prompts me to do stuff which have been meaning to get around to - usually putting a picture up on the wall or something.

So many Hyacinth Buckets on here :) I don't have visitors, really, much less unexpected. We have flowers and fruit generally. I'd get the downstairs tidy if I knew we had visitors.

I am however lusting after a complete tea service for Christmas

Get yourself down to your local charity shop - they always have loads of lovely vintage tea sets. Much prettier than modern ones.

I don't get out anything special for visitors. We have Waitrose own brand hand wash (ginger and clementine) which smells every bit as good as the most expensive brands. I make sure the towels are clean and that's about it...

I'm also guilty of getting the Molton brown out and returning it to the cupboard to be replaced by sainsburys cheapie own brand when they've left!

I do notice these touches in other people's houses though so I think they might notice in mine. I was at a lady's house yesterday admittedly a lovely expensive big house which I could only dream of but she had an expensive candle burning in the hall which smelt divine and was the first thing I noticed.. Off to tk maxx to get a cheapie version today!

Yes, there's a long tradition of having pineapples for show. Around Georgian times they were often carved on your stone gate posts so people knew what to expect as they turned their carriages into your drive!

You could get a pair like that Wiggles?

Nothing. Guests are lucky if the house isnt in total chaos.

Frika
I have a Christmas Set.
Good towels, lovely soap.
Ha ha. About the pineapple. We just have pineapple as I love them. Do you give it to them to take home? Since you don't like them.

I've been guilty of stunt pineapples. And a stunt pannetone which I bought because the fancy box matched our curtains.

DH does naice muzak. He plays 20s German jazz subtly in the background. Which makes a change from Springsteen banging out the tunes at full volume

We don't do anything - is that weird?! Would make sure they had clean sheets and towels, and that there weren't pants on the bathroom floor though. We always have fresh flowers and naice candles, so I suppose I do do that, but they are there all the time anyway.

I clean the house properly when visitors are coming, that is the luxury!

Not the point on the thread, but if you don't use liquid soap (especially not antibacterial) then you don't need to moisturise your hands. That stuff it awful. If I use it in the winter my hands crack and peel like a snake shedding it's skin. Horrible stuff.

In my house it's generally been DH who starts digging out the special stuff for visitors! I never bother with a tea pot, he always will! We have a tea pot, milk jug and sugar bowl set he loves getting out and dusting off, despite the fact that the tea pot dribbles and the milk jug is too small. The sugar bowl is good though, it has a matching lid and one of those bendy spoons.
We also have a lazy susan that I'd never bother with, but he always wants out even if it's totally impractical.
I just tend to do things like make sure the washing is put away and really go to town with the food!

I remember going to a Mums house that I'd met on maternity leave and lost touch with, then our kids met at primary school.
She really went out of her way to have the best things on show for a BBQ.
Organic Ketchup
Butchers bought sausages
We could also see the box for the weber BBQ and it was shinier than a shiny unused shiny thing
Anything 'nice' was out....except it all had the labels on still or wrapping so it was clear it had never ever been used before and it didn't detract from the dog poo in the kitchen, or the washing piled high on the dining table, although she took her time to fold it and read the labels out. I can no longer hear the brand Ellie without her 'saying' it in my head. Ellaaaaay.

For me the best thing about going to anyones house and what i try to repeat is wine in the fridge and fresh towels on their bed to use. People have been known to pop round for a cuppa and bring milk, so im clearly lacking the essentials!

If I have guests I pick the pants up off the bathroom floor

I have had a lovely hand soap "apothecary 87" or something. Was given to me by a client. It was deliciously lemony. And the bottle was wonderful.

I kept the bottle and just refil with any old hand wash.

We don't really do hot drinks so we have stunt coffee. Guests have been drinking the same small posh jar of coffee for years now. I just chuck it when it hits or surpasses by several months the best before.

Stunt pineapple is ace! You even get stately homes where on the arch over the driveway there are stone carved pineapples to prove to visitors that the owner is considerably richer than yow.
I don't do much, except make the hallway tidy. We have a big hallway, so if it's neat and sparkling with fresh flowers and a naice candle burning people might think the rest of the tip is like that.

Cwtch - that's so posh!

I put out nice towels and buy a more expensive wine !

I'd tell the dcs to turn the tv off.

No one in our house drinks tea or coffee so I doubt most people think we're good hosts anyway.

I have a 'fake' washing up area with things that are never to be used but are just there to make me look organised/clean if a guest should take it upon themselves to put their mug by the sink before they leave -

It's a white tray, with a bottle of sensitive washing up liquid (so it's clear and not glaring yellow or green), plus a lovely plump, clean sponge and a wooden washing up brush.

Under the sink is a pot with a manky brush, a bright green stick with a sponge on and yellow washing up liquid. I once saw DP reach for the stand-in sponge to clean a dirty baking dish. I yelped 'noooooo! That's just for show!' And he just looked at me like this for about 30 seconds.

I'm ridiculous.

Oh, I also have clear, unmarked bottles for the shampoo and conditioner, and fill it with Aldi shampoo

I love the fake washing up area. There's something so satisfying about a clean washing up area isn't there. It just proves how clean you are.

Soggy I know. I like looking at it. What's worse is DP rang me once from the supermarket to ask if we needed anything, and I had him in the sponge aisle describing every sponge for about 20 minutes until I decided which one he should get. When he got home, I placed it in the fake washing up area and gave a happy sigh. Then told him never to use it. How he hasn't LTB I'll never know.

My friend got a pineapple for her 5th birthday, a treat in 90s Poland!

I like tablecloths, hardly anyone my age I know has them (am under 30)