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MNHQ

NOW CLOSED: Tell us who's the messiest in your house (honest, now!) £100 IKEA vouchers up for grabs!

449 replies

HelenMumsnet · 01/04/2011 17:10

Hello. We been asked by IKEA to find out who you reckon is the messiest person in your house.

Do you agree with comedian Tiffany Stevenson, who says, in the new IKEA ad, that "the only thing a man will ever clear out is his internet history"?

Or do you wince with Blush recognition at Paul Pirie's umbraged-male retort: "Shoes, shoes, shoes! What are you, a centipede?"

Please post on this thread to tell us who's the 'floordrobe'-owner in your house - the more scruffy, cluttery, bomb-gone-off detail, the better! Everyone who does will be in with a chance to win £100 in IKEA vouchers.

Oh, and IKEA is running a Facebook poll, too, if you fancy casting your vote.

Thanks - and good luck! MNHQ

OP posts:
mattytun1514 · 02/04/2011 14:22

My husband, definitely. He doesn't notice the mess he creates at all, which is a skill I really wish I possessed!

He will go up the stairs three at a time to avoid standing on the things waiting to be taken up (surely it's more effort to step over it like that than to pick it up confused).

He tucks his used tissues down the side of the settee to save standing up and putting them in the bin.

Dirty socks are removed and left on the floor, without fail. He manages to get other laundry in the basket though..

Funkyferret · 02/04/2011 14:27

My OH, most definitely. Everything is just left where it was last used but I'd rather he didn't tidy up because his idea of tidying involves ramming every stray object, whatever it may be, into whatever space is available which results in utter chaos and makes it impossible to find anything!

mandyr · 02/04/2011 14:35

Definitely my two-year old son. I'll be clearing up one room, while he's pulling apart another. The tidying-up never stops while he's awake.

crapbarry · 02/04/2011 14:36

me, for sure. DS is only 18 months, so will grow out of his insistence that all possessions belong at the bottom of the stairs. DH doesn't tidy much, but doesn't make much mess to start with. I leave a trail of destruction everywhere I go.

I do tend to blame it on lack of storage space, but TBH I think I'd just expand my mess to fit the space available.

My office at work is a disaster area, but I did find a biscuit under my keyboard the other day, which was a bonus, so it's not that bad being messy. My colleagues may beg to differ though.

breatheslowly · 02/04/2011 14:38

It must be me - I leave chaos in my wake.

Washo · 02/04/2011 15:19

All of the males in my house!! That leaves me and the cat to clear up. Charges and laptop wires hanging from every plug, cups, glasses, sweet wrappers and odd socks left in the wierdest of places. Sunday's are the worst - clumps of mud everywhere after footie, muddy kits abandoned inside out on the bathroom floor. Oh I need a glass of wine - help!!!!

DebiTheScot · 02/04/2011 15:30

Me probably but don't tell dh. He's not much better though. My almost 5 yr old is a hoarder but he does seem to be a tidy hoarder.
I also leave a trail of destruction throughout the kitchen when I cook and line to leave stuff in random places.
At the moment my shampoo, goggles etc from my swimming bag are taking up most of the worktop space in the kitchen coz I needed the bag they were in earlier.

CheeryCherry · 02/04/2011 16:12

My DH, its me who is slightly obsessive about tidying up/clearing clutter/binning things - most mail doesnt even get opened, just put straight into recycling baskets. We have set drawers for pens/felt penspencils/stationary, have baskets for hats/scarves/gloves, its all got to be ordered! Blush My Dh however, chucks his clothes on the floor, towels dropped, shopping bags all over, tools and DIY oddments all over, he does not see any problem with it all....so I spend a lot of my leisure time wandering around and tidying up....Sad I know!!!

grumpypants · 02/04/2011 16:18

absolutely dh who leaves a trail for us to find him - laptop, unopened post, jacket, shoes, leading to...daddy! Or ds (8) who enjoys collecting stones, huge cardboard creations, 'nature' things, and paper. Or, thinking about it, ds (5) whose cuddly toys must each be visible to the human eye and not suffcating in a box under the bed, poor things, let them sleep on my bed mummy. Or possibly ds(3) whose fascination with loo roll leads to water logged experiments and sinks full of soapy water and small (very clean) toys. Don't know how dd and I squeeze in the house each day!

josie301 · 02/04/2011 16:48

definitely dh in our house - I come home from work and the breakfast dishes are still sitting, despite him going to work 2 hours later than me!

NotShortImFunSized · 02/04/2011 17:00

Most definitely the kids! I have 5 from 9yrs to 16 months. I am constantly running around like a mad woman trying to keep the place from resembling a war zone but I always seem to be 10 steps behind!

Now if it were just between me and dp, well that's a whole other story Grin

I am forever being moaned at. If I am trying to find something to wear I take everything out of my wardrobe, scatter liberally over the bed and spend the next hour half an hour trying on various things, by this point I am almost always running late so of course I don't have time to put any of it away. I then forget about it until bedtime by which point I'm shattered and it ends up being scooped onto the floor. and left there for days

Don't even get me started on the various places I leave my shoes Grin

Same with everything else I touch too. I seem to be fine tidying up other peoples mess but when the mess is mine I just don't seem to get time!

going · 02/04/2011 17:09

My husband is the tidiest, the rest of us - me and three kids - are really messy!

castleton · 02/04/2011 18:06

I'm afraid to say it's me

Shitemum · 02/04/2011 18:12

I am the messiest because I'm the one that deals with everyone else's shit papers, books, toys, random objects etc. and it's just too much for one person. Also because I am so creative and full of ideas!

northernmonkey · 02/04/2011 18:20

It has to be me Blush
The dc's are very messy but i just struggle to find motivation to tidy up myself so its hardly suprising they're messy!!
I do try and when they're not here i do keep things nice and tidy.
Will probably be better when they move out :)

QueenandKingMum · 02/04/2011 18:20

I am the messiest, by far in my house. Papers, things in the to do pile, dishes that I've put off.. I'm a nightmare. Kids are a close second!

RottenRow · 02/04/2011 19:03

I'm a bugger for hoarding stuff so we have boxes and bags strewn about that I plan to use/put away one day. I do usually get around to it eventually. DP drives me mad with his half jobbery though. If he cooks the kitchen is littered with empty packets. Washing goes next to the bed, next to the laundry basket, next to the washing machine, everywhere but in the basket.

Elle8 · 02/04/2011 19:03

MY HUSBAND... He's sitting next to me at the moment, although he's on the phone. I hope he glances over and reads this...

Although he thinks I have OCD about cleanliness and OCD about his messiness.

BiscuitsandBaileys · 02/04/2011 19:15

It has to be dd2 7yo, in our house.
She is old enough to know better, but still leaves a trail of mess wherever she goes.
When she goes to bed at night dh looks around the room and points at books/toys/hairslides and says dd was here, and there and there..........

ln1981 · 02/04/2011 19:17

Definately dp! yet its him who complains when the house is a tip-eh, your mess pal!!

He is one of those dads who loves to spend inp time in the kitchen cooking and baking with the dc's, however he has the following rules
-every pan, pot, plate, tray, utensil etc in the house must be used for even the simplest recipe
-when washing up, anything really messy (usually pots) must be left on the cooker with no water to soak them
-little puddles of water must be left all over the worktops when washing dishes
-and the tea towel must be wringing wet.

He also has a pile of clothes beside the bed-i have no idea what in the pile is clean or dirty so every couple of weeks i dump it all in the washing basket, to be moaned at because there was a pair of jeans he wanted! Hmm am i supposed to be a mind reader now!?

There is probably other things he does, but i fear that if i start listing them i may combust, i can feel steam coming from my ears just thinking about them!!

feedthegoat · 02/04/2011 19:25

Ds definately. Coat and shoes are dropped wherever he happens to be and toys scattered everywhere.

But between me and dh, it would be me. I have a reasonable tolerance for untidiness and he often caves and cleans up before I do!

Fenouille · 02/04/2011 19:29

It's me, and I'm desperately hoping that DS takes after DH :)

It's not dirty mess, but piles (and piles) of paper, nagazines, books and 'stuff'.

FreudianSlippery · 02/04/2011 19:35

Hmm not too sure, we are all pretty messy Blush

Dh is better at getting it tidy again though. I'll just get overwhelmed wondering where to start whereas he'll just say "right, I'm going to sort out the kitchen" or whatever.

DD's room is a tip but she's only 3 so I think that's more our fault really. We just have Too Much Stuff.

I guess overall it'd be me Blush

calaminecovered · 02/04/2011 20:21

Me!

suzikettles · 02/04/2011 20:38

I am very, very, very messy. Ds is 4 and therefore generates mess effortlessly.

However, dh knocks us into a cocked hat. He loves to cook which is great, but leaves every surface covered in onion skins and an orange oil slick - even if he hasn't been cooking with onions, tomatoes or oil.

He used to read the newspaper in the bath (I eventually banned it) and would get grimy, newsprinty handprints all over the tiles, the bath, the sink, the loo, the tiles...and then leave soggy sheets of newspaper all over the floor. Now he just leave the traditional towel. And a book or two. And a can of coke. And an empty crisp packet.

God I love him, but I did feel that I was the only mother of a toddler who was more concerned with wiping up her husbands sticky finger prints off the furniture.

Poor cat. She's the only tidy one in this place.