fifty shades of dust and clutter

I hate clutter but in our house not having it somewhere is a tall order indeed. H and I have arrived at an unspoken compromise.....he messes and hoards to his hearts content in his own 'spaces', namely his workshop, his own desk and the garage. Shared spaces remain reasonably tidy since we have both agreed to keep them that way (my effort equaling roughly 70% vs H's 30%).

Having said that, he loves to cook and so do I. Our kitchen is where the battle lines are often drawn and where a lot of the bickering happens over who 'hid' the mixing paddles or who elected to play with the new food processor by making yet another batch of (unneeded) breadcrumbs. The last of the good bread having been obliterated, there's none to be had for breakfast.

I also think it's reasonable to be able to find things when they are put where they belong in the first place, but that's a much longer story.

Yes I think there is a happy medium.

I'd also love to have a clean, neat and tidy house but I never seem to achieve it - or not for long. Trouble is, my house is just that little bit too small and I've a lot of 'stuff' like books, records, etc but these things are what make a house a home. don't you think? If people refused to visit that's when you're really in trouble.
A house that is too neat and tidy is a bit sterile with no personality. in my experience.

I like a clean and tidy house but since DH has retired his tendency to ocd has developed - a day to clean a room starting at ceilings to moving furniture and skirting boards. I’ve not cleaned loo or bathroom in 2 years as HIS job !! At least twice a week tiles/ceiling etc. I know I shouldn’t moan but actually quite like cleaning and ironing, which is something else he’s taken to doing 15mins to do a shirt. He’s always been good at cooking so really I’m redundant ? Think it stems from his mum being ill from him being 14 and he helped out.

I like a tidy, clutter free house and most of the time it is, as we are only two here.My Husband is not tidy he doesnt seem to think when he leaves things in the kitchen which he could easily throw away, he has one room which is his office, and its like a junk room, it is situated right opposite where guests sit when we have company, we have a bungalow so space is limited, but I always feel ashamed whn people sit and cannot avoid looing at the mess, I hope it doeasnt reflect on me, the fact HIS room is a mess, why cant men be tidy, maybe because they have slaves to do it for them!

Aaah, the joys of living alone. I'm pretty tidy and love coming home to a neat home just how I left it. Its just a small one bed flat so I have to get rid of any clutter as soon as it acumualtes. Luckily there are 8 charity shops within easy
reach!

I am convinced my DH flings toast crumbs around the kitchen in gay abandon. He is quite clean in other areas and about his person but just doesn't seem to see toast or breadcrumbs. Shouldn't moan really, he does the hoovering and heavy duty stuff like drains!

We always have at least one person lodging with us, a lot of people who come to stay for short visits, people who simply drop in and others who come to the house for meetings (often held over lunch). My son and toddler grandson also come to stay for a weekend about twice a month and my other son and his wife bring their new baby over quite frequently. So I keep on top of the general cleaning, de-clutter about once a week (usually in a hurry and often by dumping said clutter into my bedroom to be sorted at a later date) and accept that in a house as well used as mine it won't always be pristine, but it is child-friendly and welcoming.

I occasionally come out in a cold sweat at the thought of being suddenly taken ill and people having to enter my bedroom at times like now when it looks like a jumble sale is about to take place.

Oh dear, I just cast my eye around my little sitting room. Bearing in mind I cleared up about all the Christmas stuff 3 days ago, hoovered and got it looking quite pristine (for me). Now it is not.

There are a heap of cards scattered on the floor, from 2 days ago. I may keep some and make gift tags, and dispose of the rest. There are several clothes bags waiting to be returned to the shop. Some bits of a basket on the carpet, that the cat has been attacking. Some paper work to be filed away.

It takes no time at all to build up lots of clutter and mess again. I know the answer is to have a 15 minute daily blast at clearing up. I may get Alexa to time me, and meanwhile play me some energetic "clearing up" music.

I'm with you Trisher! Petunia, you definitely made me laugh with the toilet tale. My Dust Rats always remind me of tumbleweed as I open the front door and they take a journey down the hall. I always imagine the neighbours hearing me vacuuming must think 'ah, she must be expecting visitors'.

Yes must agree whenever everywhere is spick and span don't see a soul! I had a cousin whose house was like a show house. His wife, didn't bake, sew ect so nothing to make a mess. I remember his inviting us to visit with some friends from Germany. We had a pleasant evening but when we got back home , our German friends, said 'you know your cousin he has a beautiful house but he does not have a home!' As Golden Girl says friends say I've come to see you not the house! Can't win can we?

I too like my house to be clean and tidy but over the last few years have started to do jobs around the house when they look like they need doing. I hated being on a treadmill of doing the same job on the same day every week. O.K sometimes things look a bit grubby but never unhygienic . I can relax when the GC are here but always tidy their stuff up at the end of the day.
Just bought a new vacuum after 32years. Have to fight DH to have a go!?

I get told the ‘place is full of clutter’ and, although I don’t need to live in a place in a magazine I do like it to be tidy. There is a surface in the kitchen that has been covered in
DH ‘stuff’for over a year!!! I am told he’s ‘getting round to it’ - we all need a roundtuit!

I love my house when I’ve just cleaned & tidied but it doesn’t stay like that for long,my husband is really quite tidy but we have 4 children & 8 grandchildren,I would much rather have my family around than a spotless house.I can remember when I was young hoovering & cleaning everyday but there is more to life than cleaning.....as my grandmother use to say ‘it will all be here when we are dead & gone’.Our house is always clean but it’s our family home & I would never want to change that.

justagirl - bye then. Don't let the door hit your butt on the way out.

(Were we all supposed to be devastated by that post?? Whooooshed right over my head, if it was!)

Some people had no lives and have lots of time to clean. Or no jobs! Life is messy! These posts are ridiculous. House shaming lol. I’m done with this site. Too much finger complaining. Must be lonely in your perfect worlds!

We have managed to minimize clutter, thanks to my not too bad allergy to house dust and a fortnightly collection of paper, plastic, bottles, jam jars, tins etc. by the municipal re-cycling plant.

And after years of not being tidy, we got into the habit of putting things away when we had finished using them while sailing, and have stuck to it, now we are back ashore.

But we are not fanatically tidy, the house does look lived in.

I thought like you Trisher - it was going to be about the different layers of dust and hence their different shades of grey. Yuk you're all saying. Don't you find that when you've just tidied up cause someone might call round - they don't, but when you haven't bothered for a while - they do. Oh why is dust a must - just don't bust anything moving it, cause as soon as you're not looking it'll land again.

I know someone who wants their homes to look like an illustration out of magazine. Always complains that there is too much clutter and stuff about. He comes to us and comments on how homely it is and how relaxed he feels in our place

Hi
Anyone heard of Marie Kondo. She I the latest guru of tidiness. Her programs are on Netflix

I also love a tidy, clean home - but how I would love a houseful of people to make it a proper home, instead of me just looking at it.

I love it to be tidy BUT I have been trying to declutter and find homes for things and the place has been in a state of turmoil now for years it seems, I get one room done and then in order to do another, the first one then gets full of more stuff that needs a home! Problem is I need help to do all this and when it only comes once a week it's a long process! decided to change my very small bedroom into a craft room with all my bits in as well as my clothes, so that I don't need to go upstairs, so have bought another bigger wardrobe - that is out in the garden as hoipefully someone else will be purchasing the other today (how we are going to get it out?? lol) I will sell the bed once I can reach it! Also spotted an wonderful cupboard yesterday which will swallow said craft stuff, and that is coming today too, so that will end up in the garden under the pergola too for the time being - argggggh!

Baggs my approach too!
DH thinks he is tidier than me but he just likes things out of sight! If I am going to make an effort to tidy I will do it properly..it does not happen that often!

oh petunia - "The house is miraculously like this for about one hour per week". After reading your first paragraph, I literally burst out laughing when I read this.

I would love my home to be as you describe in the first paragraph. Alas, I don't think I've ever achieved it even for the hour that you do.

However, as we are now in empty nest zone, and I only have the least manageable child left at home (the husband), I am hopeful of making small progress.

I would love the house to be immaculate just for me. I think I've earned it over the last 33 years. But I'm not particularly optimistic of achieving it.

A house becomes a home when it has that “lived in” look - or that’s what I keep telling myself!!