Tell Cif how has your home changed since having children? £250 voucher prize draw NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

Cif have asked to find out if Mumsnetters have changed their homes since having children.

Here's what Cif have to say, "We all know that children see the home as a playground, and playgrounds get dirty. But we also understand how difficult it can be to clean up after your child, so we want to help make that process as easy as possible."

So, have you changed your home since having children? Have you rearranged it to keep more valuable breakables out of reach? Have you rearranged your living spaces to make room for their toys? Or perhaps you have you stopped buying more expensive furniture in fear of your child spilling their drink on it? Maybe it has been a more gradual and unintentional change?

Whatever it is, we would love to hear about how your home has changed since having children.

Everyone who adds their thoughts to this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win a £250 Love2Shop voucher.

Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

More storage solutions so we can hide away things we don't want small hands to get hold of.

The various games consoles and movie players are now shut in a cabinet with a child lock on, to prevent them having anything 'posted' into them. We also have a nice big box where, of an evening, we can throw all the toys so that the lounge is vaguely returned to an adult space!

ive learnt that there is a difference between dirty and untidy, before kids things were clean organised and very tidy, after kids its clean somewwhat organised and often untidy! I have spent so much of my life chasing the dream that i can keep on top of everything, but with a busy life and teens and a grandson, ive decided that its ok to have a lived in home. My house is still clean, but sometimes its a bit cluttered and untidy, i have my bedroom which is my personal space and its very tidy but i can retreat there and enjoy that, my grandson is two so anything of any value is up higher than it used to be!, trying to have a house like something on the tv is a pipe dream, id rather have smiles and a bit of a mess

My house is much cleaner and tidier (excluding toys on floor). However most things are high up and staircases are a must, as are closed doors. I'm nowhere near as lazy as I used to be in regards to housework!

My home has changed a lot. It was never pristine but now it's dire!

We have extra coat racks so our hall is a jacket alley. There are pen and crayon marks on every surface. The toys are supposed to be contained in big baskets but they inevitably spill out into the rooms.

There's just as much dog hair but now it's mixed in with paint and yogurt.

Our house is now a messy, relaxed home full of brightly coloured toys, paintings and models. I love it!

I've totally childproofed since ds1 was about 6 months, we just don't have breakable stuff down low - it's not worth it with 3 active boys aged 5 and under. I'm thinking eventually when the youngest gets to about 6, we can start putting that stuff back!

The other main change is that we do have a whole room dedicated as a playroom, if we had no kids Im not sure what we would have used that as - office or something, but its the reason we bought this house so they could have space to play. our garden is also made very child friendly it has loads of play equipment all over it.

All breakables have been put away. Or broken!

Which is no bad thing, as we generally have so much more stuff. We replaced a wooden garage with a brick and block one so that we'd have somewhere to put some of that stuff.

I clean and tidy every morning but still always have mess. Having 4 dds 5 and under is not easy when it comes to mess and cleanliness. The dining room is taken up with dd3 stuff, the livingroom has all dd4 baby stuff. Dd1 & 2 are meant to keep all toys in their room but always end up everywhere else.
We removed all breakables when dd1 started rolling around and have never taken it all out. We also got rid of the coffee table as dds kept hurting themselves on it.our house has more toys than furniture.
Also would defo say a leather sofa is vital with kids

It is much cleaner! Since becoming a parent I have learned to stay on top of the housework; when it was just me, there was always time to do it, so it never got done. Now my time is limited, Friday mornings see me blitz the house-bathroom, kitchen, floors.
Other than that, my main struggle is against tiny plastic toys that get stuck in the vacuum cleaner. Tupperware boxes that can contain these seem to breed, but never seem to have lids!
There are books all over the floor in the living room, and a basket of laundry perpetually waiting to be ironed/folded and put away.
Shoes come off in my house, so that minimizes muddy footprints, although there is always the "oh I forgot my book bag!" moment, when ds goes rushing back up the stairs, leaving a trail of (I hope) mud.
I seem to clean the toilet daily, and have those flushable bleach wipes by the loo..Why can't boys aim??

I now have wall and furniture art to rival Banksy. I cannot see my fridge for crappy novelty magnets and pictures, invites and school letters. I have a lot of plastic plates and bowls and no china. I have learned not to examine the carpet too closely or mind the mystery marks on the wall. I like to fortune tell using the toothpaste stains in the sink. I live in a home. And it certainly looks lived in!

I didn't have my own home before having children, so I can't really compare.... However having children has taught me to run a home, whereas previously I worked full time and was out a lot, so didn't really need to run a home, It was just somewhere to crash really.

Actually, having children has made my home tidier and cleaner!

My flat was a pigsty pre-DC, I never ever cleaned, I'd throw the dishes away rather than wash up. Really. I was that bad.

Now, though it is certainly 'lived in' - its clean. I make sure the floor is hoovered, the washing up is done, all that.

Expensive furniture has never featured here, so can't answer that one. I do have a very very nice rug, a pure wool stripy one from Ikea that was originally very expensive by my standards but I got for a tenner off the car booty which the DC are programmed to stop at the edge of when wearing shoes Somehow, its managed 3 years with no major stains despite being in the living room!

I always liked to clean the whole house top to bottom on the same day, just got stuck in and got it done but since having children I never ever get enough time to do it so I have to do it piecemeal and so I never get the whole house gleaming at the same time. I really miss that, and I've found it hard to adjust to having tidy bits but not everywhere iykwim. I've also had to rethink my beautifully put together home, cream sofas and luxury fabrics look amazing but if they can't be wiped or put in the washing machine - forget it. The biggest change though is the sheer amount of washing/ironing that has to be done these little people sure create a lot of laundry.

Mess and dirt! I used to be house proud but I can never keep on top of the tidying and cleaning. More stuff and people undoing my efforts means things are way more untidy that I would like. I have storage and clear out toys etc so I do try and not let it get crazy.

My sitting room now resembles a primary school classroom, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

My word things have changed since the boys have arrived. I was never a 'Mrs Bouquet' but house was clean and tidy probably due to the fact my husband has OCD. But my life has certainly changed. Just the little things like:

• Checking the toilet seat for boy wee before I sit down for a wee.
• Trying not to swear when someone cuts me up in the car. Amazing how quickly another word will slip out
• How much sleep I don't have now and lie ins on the weekend
• Being careful when walking down stairs as Lego and toy cars are always hazardous
• doing a 9-5 job then coming home to homework. Really who uses algebra in their daily jobs .... erm not me. Percentages yes Algebra no. This is just for starters.

Parenthood means a lot more sweeping and a lot more mopping (LO adores licking the floors and rolling around in a general sweeping manner)

It doesn't help that I possess an uncanny inability to multi-task. The house is full of heaving laundry, constantly used bibs and unwashed dishes.

Locks on cupboards and in drawers, guards on the coffee table and a lot of panic attacks as I have a climber. Silence means Havoc

oh and lest i forget... Motherhood is the dragon revealer!!!

I could go on and on but I just remembered something's on the stove

Our biggest problem since bringing our son home has been to keep the cats off of his things. A kids playgym, changing mat, bouncy chair, moses basket, etc is a nice comfy bed for a cat. Its a constant battle to keep everything clean and fur free!

accept mess!!no matter what you do or what you tell yourself youlll do there will be a moment of anger after youve done a really great tidy.again.and again you come back two minutes later and its a mess again.its then you have to count to ten and realise these are kids this is what they do.and its there personalitys all over my house.
get a chest for toys.
when picking furniture colour neverr again go for something that marks or stains easily.
keeping certian foods out of reach.
buying dishes with the knowledge they might get dropped.
grouped piles of stuff
keeping important files out theway

When we had dd1 our house remained pretty similar apart from a baby gym, bouncer and basket of toys in the lounge. Her room also stayed neat and tidy, toys in baskets on shelves etc. She napped and slept well so I had plenty of time to whizz round our little house.

Then when dd2 was born we moved to a much bigger house, then extended it. We now have a playroom full of their stuff and we seem to have expanded exploded into our home.

Unless we are very disciplined and keep on top of the tidying up and cleaning up it becomes a real mess.

I sometimes regret moving and miss my easy to clean house. But this one is more of a family home!

I have stopped buying as nice things, I was going to buy a fairly expensive rug then I saw a friend's child potty training and went to Ikea instead.

I'm also less motivated to tidy since it seems to undo itself instantly

piles and piles of laundry
marks on surfaces I wouldn't expect to have marks o n them
daily (if not more) thorough cleaning of the bathroom (2 boys!!!!)

Lego cars in the shower. Moshi Monsters everywhere. Unmade bed from my teenager - but I wouldn't have it any other way (Perhaps I would like the bed made though).

It is unrecognisable! Really... We had a two bedroom cottage then had two children, boy and girl so needed an extra bedroom. We couldn't really afford to move so extended instead. Every room in the house was affected. We moved the kitchen into the extension, moved the bathroom upstairs, opened two doorways to new extension, put in a new heating system and new doors and windows. We even put in a new staircase, nothing is in the same place as it it used to be! The back garden has also been completely transformed.

We are finally nearly finished apart from some repainting. So the kids were the least of the problem when it came to mess in the house. They are teens now and the house is cleaner than its ever been but I so wish we were starting from where we are now, having a baby in the house now would be so much easier.