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

[Lilpickle08]

We haven't bought anything new since the kids have been born (6 years) although we are in dire need of new things, we don't really see the point until they are a little older!

We have a brown leather sofa which we have been looking to replace - have been eyeing up some lovely comfy fabric sofas of late, but then thinking well really, what's the point? So we are back to thinking about a new sofa, but it'll probably be leather (and wipe clean!) again!

Everything looks grubby in the house, despite redecorating a couple of years ago. All the walls have grubby prints on them, cupboards are scratched and/or adorned with stickers, and the lounge is overrun with toys despite the kids having the loft to play in!

We have basically realised the house is not going to be 'our own' for a few more years at least. Still at least it looks 'lived in'...!

[ElsieMumofOne]

Since having a child, and since he has began walking exploring being meddlesome etc...I've realised the wonder of storage. I love storage bags, storage cubes, under bed boxes. We have so many clothes in those space saver bags.
Nothing is bought without wondering what high place it can go into. Do we really need it anyway? How much cleaning will it need?
Also, nothing that can stain or get watermarked and nothing that can't be improved with a few stickers is worth putting in the home anyway.

[leanneth]

It is now perfectly normal to have toys/a cup of juice/ random objects on the floor in every room/hallway/stairway!

[ViviDeBeauvoir]

With DD I didn't have to childproof anything as she listened to me when I told her not to touch things. I also had time to clean.
When DS1 came along I had to rewrite my parenting manual and childproof EVERYTHING! This is the child whose nursery had to change their child proof locks as he worked them all out
Time to clean became limited so all those different wipes were handy (one pack in each room) and carpet cleaner became a household staple after never needing it before.
Now DS2 is here and enjoys eating bits of fluff off the floor I am more on top of the cleaning than ever! (Despite having less time) bye bye carpet cleaning sprays - hello actual carpet cleaning machine. Bye bye old vacuum cleaner - hello life changing henry Hoover (DS1 (2) has vacuumed the lounge EVERY day since I got him )
Instead of a shelf of cleaning products, I now have a cupboard. A whole cupboard.

[mummy81]

Having two under three my previously spotless walls are covered in various foodstuffs and my living room is full of toys will a little more dust then used to be present.

[StaceyStar]

With two girls I have tried to keep it clean but tidy is another matter. I use to have a flat with a few but stylish things, now my house is busting of clutter, I find socks down the side of my sofa, random shoes in the hallway and coats on the bainasteirs. I have completely given up asking my teenager to tidy her room and just hope it doesn't cause any Heath problems!!!
And I've no idea why I choose cream sofas!!!

[Mamafratelli]

My house used to be quite minimalist. Now it is full of toys, teddies, school books, dirty handprints and a trail of crumbs that Hansel would be proud of. Saying that it is also full of much more fun and laughter and feels much more like home.

[MoiraScarff]

My little boy is only 6 months so not moving around yet, but he has started eating solid food - we have permanently installed a giant wipe-clean tablecloth on the floor under the dining table and immediate surrounds to catch the worst. I clean it after every meal so it's not too revolting! Other than that the house is generally less clean than it used to be pre-kids I'm afraid - no time for clean bathrooms these days - I'm hoping for a bathroom fairy for Xmas!

[eag1710]

Our young son broke a marble coffee table (bought pre-kids) and it was beyond repair. Solution? Replace it with two sturdy but inexpensive wooden kids' tables from Ikea - they were on a twofer sale.

We let him help put them together and even sign his name on the bottom of them! Now no worries about damage and they can be moved easily to serve as a kids' crafts table or an adult side table - however they are needed.

[TJ1952]

I was always telling my children to make their own children - my grandchildren - clean up their own mess and to stop doing it for them. However how things have changed...........I have custody of two of my grandsons aged 7 and 12 and my home has changed considerably since becoming their guardians. I have given up my own bedroom and sleep in the box room so that the boys have more room for their 'stuff'....I tidy up around them, whilst their feet are up watching tv.......I used to have such a nice tidy home and now its like a hurricane has blown through the place..........there never used to be finger prints on my paintwork, or bits or wallpaper torn off the bedroom walls and my bathroom floor was NEVER wet with little boys pee. I used to be able to sit down in the evenings in peace and quiet to watch my soaps and occasionally I used to have a life and go out and play bingo with my friends.....but for all that mess, and for all that noise....I wouldn't swap my life for millions and I don't think I will ever let the boys leave home cos I love them to the moon and back.

[celestialbows]

Oh gosh, some very strange things have happened, I have become much more tidy but the cleanliness is less apparent...
I have to have everything organised and in it's own space to help the day run smoothly but I don't have the time, Energy or physical strength to keep the same cleaning standards. Under the fridge and behind the sofa are mysteries to me now. I have disabilities which have degenerated following pregnancies and I can't move furniture and it's not Dh's priority!
The other big change is the toys in the lounge! I never dreamed I'd have so many toys in the lounge but it's so much easier than having to Carry toys around the house. The same with nappies and wipes.
Toilet training seats in the loo, locks on the kitchen cupboards and no longer leaving razors on the side of the bath.

[MammyI]

We have quite literally changed our home and replaced our small semi for a bigger version. We just found as the children grew, the toys and the equipment increased, and inevitably the space needed with a growing family was greater. It took a while but we've got used to the fact that our possessions are getting gradually destroyed... stains on carpets, spills on sofas, fingerprints on walls (Cif, by the way, is great for getting rid of these!!). We have definitely put off replacing items, and in the new house, the 70s patterned carpet in the play room will probably be there for some time as it is just fantastic for hiding stains!! But of course, with all that said, I would never change it and think there is nothing better than a "lived-in" house, it gives it "character" (at least that's what I'm calling it!).

[poorbutrich]

Since we've had a son, everything is further from the floor than it used to be. It doesn't seem to stop him putting his sticky hands on everything and our books, cups and other objects all seem to have a mysterious banana stain on them (even when he's not been eating bananas). As an avid newspaper reader, I tend to find that if I leave the room for a moment, the newspaper is crumpled and in thousands of pieces on the floor.

[llewejk]

Stairgates. Perspex to cover the tv unit to stop little hands on the dvd player etc. These are our two big changes to the home.

We have banned shoes in the house so at least we don't have to constantly hoover.

More washing has to be done, but I have always ironed the bare minimum.

We now understand the lounge will always be covered in toys and the tv fingerprints :-)

[Uzma01]

We moved some breakable objects out of the way, rearranged the living room furniture countless times for our two children.

In terms of cleaning - I did let things slide for a long time, opting to play with the kids than spend time always cleaning or tidying up. I bought an ottoman - to hide some toys & an extra seating area. Plus I get the kids to help tidy things away - training them up early!

Nowadays it's mainly the kitchen & living room that have regular cleans with the other rooms the once weekly treatment. Clothes get folded up and put away, the ones that need ironing get piled up until I see the pile getting too big or the kids are running out of clean clothes!

[Cathiee97]

Well, a lot of things have changed in our house.
There are now covers on the sofa to protect it from juice stains and all of the breakables have been moved to top shelves. We have had to get rid of the coffee table in fear of the baby banging his head and now have to hold drinks or put them in the kitchen . The whole living room has been shuffled round to fit the baby's toys in and i've had to buy a steam mop to be able to clean the floor properly but still be able to let the baby go back on it straight away.

[CheeseStrawWars]

Blue-tac all over the walls to display kids' art, lots more investment in storage boxes of one sort or another, and a continuing battle against the forces of chaos... I tend to get properly on top of things every six months or so, and in between is just a slippery slide into clutter and mess. Once upon a time, I could clean pretty much the whole house in a couple of hours; now it takes me that long to do one room!

[treaclesoda]

Its the stuff. There's just so much stuff. Stuff everywhere. And its all got sticky fingerprints on it!

[Wibblytummy]

Have had to take a deep breath and get used to a disorderly house. As long as I know its clean underneath then I can cope better with the clutter and chaos! Also the dresser once used for displaying pretty things is now the toy quarantine!

[attachmentmummy]

We veer between utter chaos and clutter-free organisation - daily, if not hourly! We have invested in lots of 'storage solutions' for all the toys, clothes, nappies etc etc, and in theory have clearly defined living and play spaces.

Then the children get up and start the day-long process of getting things out, ostensibly to play with but more often than not just to deposit all over the floor, the sofa, the tables, everywhere!

In theory, we ALL tidy up as we go, but that doesn't always work out as well as it might, so by the end of the day it looks like a bomb has hit. But ultimately, at the end of the day, we're all happy and I care more about them having fun than having a tidy house!

[Spottybra]

Have just sat down for 5 mins and seen this after moving our huge corner settee and cleaning underneath it.

I have picked up Lego, dice, connect 4 discs, fairies, cars, pencils and a trump cushion as well as cleaning up biscuits, crumbs, crisps, cornflakes and other things that I'm not even sure what it once might have been. I do this once a month.

Changing the beds used to be a Friday night job. Quick and easy. Now my two dc like to be rolled over laying on the bottom sheet as I pull it off so it takes ages and has been moved to a Saturday morning.

Instead of the nice expensive floor in the bathroom we have cheap Lino until ds aims properly and dd is toilet trained.

My lovely slate tiles have been broken too many times in the kitchen, and its now a hard oak floor. As is the hallway because no matter how many times the carpet was cleaned it still smelt of dog.

I used to have a million cleaning products for different jobs. Now I only have an antibacterial spray, a window spray, a limescale remover and bleach. They also have moved from under the sink to a top cupboard the dc cannot reach.

Two of the bedrooms had lovely cream carpets when we moved in. Now they are covered in rugs. The one in ds's room because of stains, one in our room because workmen trashed it.

There may be a layer of dust on windowsills, it gets done when it gets done. Maybe once a week.

No matter how many times I clean the tv, it is still covered in little finger marks and handprints.

Ds's newly painted walls are covered in stickers and writing.he is 4. I should be happy he wants to practice writing. His room. Everytime I clean the walls the colour gets duller. Never again will I let him choose matt orange walls. It's a permanent sunset.

Dd will scribble on any wall given half a chance. She is 2. Even though she knows its wrong.

On the plus side, they love baking so friends always know there is cake here!

Yes to wearing slippers too, otherwise it hurts when you step a toy.

[SaltySeaBird]

We have a lot of brightly coloured plastic tat that we never had before! Our nice décor is now complimented by primary colours and mess spilling out everywhere.

We have a lot more cleaning products under the sink and spend a lot more time wiping up trails from sticky fingers and mopping the floor so actually the house is cleaner. Just more cluttered! We do try to contain it all in a big toy chest but it is a never ending battle.

[DragonPaws]

Handprints on the wall up the stairs. Carpet cleaner always available for spillages. Bits of playdoh stuck to the carpet and glitter all over the house. Random pieces of jigsaw being hoovered up. Our cat is twice the size due to hovering up discarded bits of food.

When we changed our sofa a few years ago we got leather so it would be easier to keep clean. Also a new rule just for children - shoes off when come in house. Dining room has changed from a dining room to a play room/ toy storage area with a table and chairs squashed in the corner.

[choccyp1g]

Before DS it LOOKED nice, but was quite dirty and dusty on top of cupboards etc.
Nowadays it is cluttered with STUFF, but much cleaner overall.

[ReluctantBeing]

We put away all precious things, like my crystals. They have only recently emerged from the loft, and ds is seven!