How neat/messy is your house usually?

[brigmaman]

I was just reading a thread on another board that got me thinking. My house is not unclean, but it is a mess usually. I had a handle on things before Cadie was born and now I've lost it.
By a mess I mean, clean laundry in laundry baskets, dining room table has magazines/papers strewn on it, desk is a mess, toys all over, etc. I also have organization projects (i.e. Cadie's closet/seasonal clothes) that have been started and are not getting anywhere.
I feel like I need a whole day just to organize and neaten. I've thought about getting a cleaning person every once in a while just so I'd have the pressure to have things straightened, but I can't justify it financially right now. Unless I didn't tell dh. }(

[toomanystrollers]

Your house sounds like mine :)

I have a pile that remains about 8" high on my counter. And there's always a pile of laundry somewhere. And add in several labrador hair tumbleweeds blowing by!

Doesn't bother me :)

[elliput]

Sounds like my house also. I haven't had much time to spend on projects since going back to work after maternity leave. Spending quality time with DD is more important.

[amp]

Well, my house used to be not terribly clean, but rarely messy, unless someone was coming to visit. Now it's messy and unclean a lot of the time. But by that I mean, I don't dust very often at all. I vacuum about half as often as I should. I clean toilets maybe once a week, sometimes longer (yes I admit it). But if something gets gross, I clean it. I can't stand grossness. But I just can't keep up with it all. I try to keep counters wiped, dishes done (dishwasher, so filling and emptying), laundry done, toys picked up a couple times per day, papers filed, etc. It's the best I can do. Sometimes I wish I had a toilet or vacuum fairy who would come do those things, but alas, I'm her.

[mudder17]

Oooh! Sounds just like mine, except I only have one toddler! It doesn't usually bother DH and me, except last night, when I had a hormonal upset and couldn't find the things I needed to make my breakfast, it drove me nuts! But my sister is visiting on Wed., so DH and I are going to spend tomorrow cleaning. :) That's the best way to neaten my house, actually--invite guests over.


Eileen

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif for Leah

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif , 16 months & counting


http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/t/catcatcvi20040222_4_Kaya+is.png

[dr mom]

At this point, if we're having company, the easiest thing to do is just toss a sheet over the clutter and pretend it's a beanbag chair. ;)

I tend to have little piles through the house - a pile of bills and receipts on my desk, a pile of magazines on the dining table, piles of clothes on the sofa waiting to be folded and put away. Fortunately, it is exceedingly unlikely that Better Homes and Gardens is going to drop by for a photo shoot, so I mostly ignore the clutter unless we're having company, and then I clean like a madwoman. Uh, but mostly I just put all the piles in my bedroom and close the door, LOL! Does that count?

[lisaE]

You have just described our house exactly. DH has taken DS out for the morning, and I really want to straighten the house, but what am I in here doing instead? ;)

[hez]

Depends on the room... My living room (front room) is usually neat. My dining room is usually neat, as is the guest bathroom and guest bedroom.

Everywhere else? Hit or miss. Depends on how crazy our week is. We have a cleaning person every other Thursday, and it is a fabulous trick to force us to get things straight (she can't dust if there's 6 feet of crap on top of the shelves). I find myself using our study as a catchall, and not having her clean that room. As a result, DH and I are reorganizing everything, starting with the study this weekend (which stinks-- it's BEAUTIFUL outside!!!).

We justified the cleaning person with the improvement in our marriage-- we no longer fight about feeling like we have to spend every Saturday cleaning. It does require that you make choices in finances, though, you're right!

[kath68]

I am sitting at the dining room table right now looking at stacks (note the plural) literally a foot high of everything from DS's stuff for day care, a box of baby proofing supplies (not yet installed, obviously), bills, groceries.

Look to my right: Living room with toys all over the floor.

Look down: doggie fur tumbleweeds

Look ahead (past the doggies): kitchen counters with groceries not put away (but a dishwasher that has been run but not unloaded).

If I were to peek into the bedrooms, there would be stacks of laundry to cope with.

The only room reasonably clean (except for the books thown around) is DS's.

I have a house cleaner due on Tuesday -- I will tidy before she gets here!

Actually, the point of this 3-day weekend was to get a grasp of things around here. But the 6 foot weeds outside are first priority. My very nice neighbors have put their house up for sale, and you can see my back yard from their second story. Not very nice of us to have their buyers see our back yard the way it is....

[kath68]

"We justified the cleaning person with the improvement in our marriage-- we no longer fight about feeling like we have to spend every Saturday cleaning."

LOL We joke that the housecleaner is cheaper than couples therapy!

[NancyJ_redo]

A big mess. Always. We try to clean it up, but even when we do manage to make some progress it doesn't stay clean for more than about 4 hours. Then it's back to mess-dom for many days.

[papal]

Leela's toys everywhere. I now only tidy up after she sleeps. Other stuff is pretty much under control.. i try not to let papers pile up.. that drives me batty.

[ellies mom]

Actually, since I found flylady, my house is neater than it was before DD. Oh, sure her toys are scattered across the living room, but they get scooped up a couple of times a day. It definately isn't perfect. My office/DD's playroom is a wreak and so is our bathroom but I'm pretty happy with the rest of the house.

Trust me I'm no neat freak, I only vacuum and mop once a week, but hey it is definately an improvement over the old days.

[bunnisa]

2nd nod to Flylady. She really helped me get down a system. I'm easily distracted when I'm cleaning, i.e. I'll start on a countertop and 5 minutes later I'm sorting through a drawer but the counter still hasn't been wiped down. I was getting everything clean but it was just taking too long.

Flylady has made a huge improvement in a short time. I don't do everything, but I find that the babysteps really do help. Getting the house ready for guests is much simpler now.


Bethany
mom to one and one on the way!
http://lilypie.com/days/060226/0/8/1/-6/.png

[Globetrotter]

Take this from a former slob (who still has some slobby areas, like our study and garage - UGH)..

A month ago, I started making the beds as soon as I wake up, as well as straightening our bedrooms. It takes less than five minutes, but it really makes a huge difference in the way I start my day! Seriously. It used to be that I would never want anyone to see the upstairs without prior notice, but that's under control, other than the clothes sorting project in the guest room.

I find it's easier to do a little bit every day and have a place for everything, and I do mean everything. I'm still not there, yet, but it's my goal. Then I will spend less time searching for my stuff!

The kitchen gets cleaned daily, and I tend to vacuum the main areas fairly often. Otherwise, I pick up stuff when I see it. The playroom gets cleaned by the kids, mainly, with my help. They are five and two and have been trained to organize, like Mama LOL

I had my wake up call when some friends came over to see our house (they were considering the house next door, which was for sale) and it was a DUMP. How embarrassing. We also remodeled last year, so I have some incentive to keep it looking nice.

I'm talking about picking up and organizing. The actual cleaning doesn't happen too often, unfortunately, since we quit using a housecleaner. DH said he wants us to do it, so I told him go ahead! I'm going to work on him to agree to rehire someone.

Kris

[jk3]

During the week, my house is neat and fairly organized with the exception of my dinig table which is a clutter magnet. Over the weekend, my house is a mess. I blame it on my DH and the fact that we tend to be super busy over the weekend. I am not a neat freak but I've gotten much better. My downstairs is usually clean while the upstairs is a crapshoot.

Jenn
DS 6/3/03

http://lilypie.com/baby2/030603/2/5/1/-5/.png

[squimp]

LOL - I've been trying to convince my DH that hiring someone to work on the yard would be good couples therapy for us!

[nov02mom]

I'm with you! We're clean, but cluttered! Jacob's toys are overtaking, and by the time I get the basic housework done- who wants to spend another few hours putting things up?

[sarahsthreads]

Um, well, is it bad that when people come over I pretend we only have a one bedroom house (Carrie's)?

I keep the "public" areas of the house clean-ish, although there's always dog fur on the floor - even 5 minutes after I vacuum! - and DH has a real issue with not putting things away in the kitchen so the counters and table are *always* messy - even 5 minutes after I clean them! But generally, if a friend dropped by I'd let them in, and if they made any sort of comment about the streaky windows or dusty shelves I'd just silently hand them the cleaning supplies. ;)

If anyone walked into my bathroom, on the other hand, I think I'd die of embarrassment.

Sarah :)
(...who should be cleaning frantically for the invasion of the in-laws tomorrow, but obviously isn't...)

[Sarah1]

Our house is a lot messier on the weekends, too! I credit that to DH :). Over all we're just a lot lazier on the weekends and I'm not as efficient or interested in cleaning. I really do treat the weekdays as my "workweek" so I kind of let things go on the weekends.

During the week, things are pretty neat. I have a few drawers I stuff all my junk/clutter into so nothing's out on a counter. Like Rashmi said, that drives me batty.

We also have a maid every other week. That is a huge lifesaver for me--I don't ever clean the bathrooms.

[Lovingliv]

The dishwasher is clean, not unloaded. There are piles of dirty dishes and pans waiting to be put in. The counters have crumbs everywhere. There are bags and bags of baby gifts waiting to be put away. Thank-you notes half written out on the table. Bathroom has YES...undies on the floor. Baskets of clean yet not folded clothes as far as the eye can see. But my bed is beckoning,,,,until...yep. my nine week old just puked all over my pillow. :)

I just said to my husband the other day "Gee honey, our house used to be so clean you could eat off the floors." He said "It still is" pointing to a piece of popcorn under the counters. LOL.

I have given up and thrown in the "dirty towel". I'll clean when she goes to college.

[jec2]

Try not to worry too much about it. If it gets too bad and somebody shows up at the door for a visit, simply say, "We don't have any enemies. Who on earth would do this to us?!" ;) lol!

[american_mama]

Hmm, my house is messy and unclean. I think unclean stuff is pretty gross, but about the only thing I sometimes can keep up with is the kitchen, and that's not really keeping up as much as it is pushing back most day against the constant tide. It's like water erosion; the kitchen will always win in the long run.

Unclean bathrooms used to bother me and still should, but my standards have slipped due to time pressure, laziness, and I guess psychological factors. In the last 5 years, I've moved 5 times, including some temporary moves, which has made getting things organized and feeling vested in a place harder and harder. When the boxes linger and the junk starts to grow rooted in a spot, it starts to seem like all that stuff belongs right there where I dropped it when I moved in (literally). I moved to one place when I was 7 months pregnant and it literally took until DD's 1st birthday for me to get the house unpacked and together.

I think it will be very hard for me to retrain myself and my DH, who has true slob tendencies in the first place. It is just lately dawning on me that my oldest is 3, no longer a helpless baby, and she needs to be taught how to do some cleaning up after herself. We are moving again in August, but this time to a permanent house, our first home purchase, and I hope that we can improve our ways there.

[Marisa6826]

Depends upon whether or not I'm expecting company. :P

Really.

If it's a regular day, there's stuff all over the counters, toys (both kid and dog) sprinkled on both floors of the house, TV blankets and throw pillows strewn around the den, dirty sippies and bottles in sink...you get the idea.

If we have somebody coming over - we have a serious session of what I like to call "Hide the ####". Stuff gets thrown into shopping bags and hidden in several different locations. Of course, I never get around to taking the stuff back OUT of the shopping bags - so that's kind of a vicious cycle around here. I must admit that I do pick most toys, blankets, etc. up before going to bed and the sink is usually emptied. It seems to slip a little more on the weekends when we just don't seem to find the time or inclination.

I remember once upon a time when I wouldn't even CONSIDER leaving the house without making the bed. HAH! Now, I'm happy just to straighten the duvet and fold it back.

We do have a cleaning lady come every two weeks to do major stuff - bathrooms, wood floors, etc. I'm not in love with her, but it sure beats me having to do it. ;)

-m


BTW, you can ask Jamie what my house is like. She was here a week ago :)

[Marisa6826]

I USED to make the bed every morning, but since I now take a nap when the girls do, I figure, what's the use.

I will straighten the duvet and pillows - just not do the whole shabang with the sham pillows. etc/

-m

[Marisa6826]

Where you going Girlie?

BTW, we've been in the house for a year and a half now and we still have TONS of boxes that are unpacked - including 82 of them in the basement full of books.

-m

[JElaineB]

Big, huge mess. We keep up with the dishes and laundry but that is about it. There are usually toys everywhere in the living room as well as stacks of magazines & catalogs, books and papers all over the dining room (because I use that as my "office" for when I am working on prepping classes I'm teaching), mail all over the kitchen counters, suitcases and piles of clothes in my bedroom and lots of general crap strewn about the spare bedroom. The only rooms that are relatively neat are DS's room and the bathroom, but that doesn't get cleaned nearly often enough. Ugh, I just want to get a big dumpster and throw it all away. It would be easier than trying to go through it all. But I did get rid of three boxes of old clothes out of my closet last week, so I am trying (I just need to take them to Goodwill, the boxes are sitting in the hallway!)

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02

[brigmaman]

I'm glad I asked everyone, actually. I may have asked before. Sometimes I just need a bit of reassurance about the chaos. ;)
I love the "Hide the ####" game. For big event we have an all-out "hide the ####" olympics.
I'm trying to let dh know that this is the way it is. He is a pretty neat (read: anal) guy and has a hard time with the mess.

[Marisa6826]

As cute as he is, it's a good thing he's not married to me. I'm sure he would think so too after I got done with him. ;P :P

Does he really give you a hard time Trish?

Looks like I'll have to have a sitdown next time I'm in EH to set him straight for ya :P

-m

[hez]

I haven't tried that argument yet-- may be a good one ;)

[hez]

> "Hide the ####"

Cracks me up :) DH says I'm a "tucker" when company comes. I tuck things into all kinds of fun places. "Honey, where's the phone bill?" "I don't know, I tucked it in a drawer somewhere."

I'm not that bad (bills almost always go to their proper place to be paid) but we've occasionally found some odd stuff in our junk drawer(s)!

[brigmaman]

He doesn't really give me a hard time. It's just one of those stressors that he can't let go of. I on the other hand can let it go until it absolutely has to get done. :P
And I hope you do let us know when you'll be around!

[kensjen]

We just had a serious game of hide the ####. Saturday an uncle we never see came by and at 10 that morning the house was A MESS! By 2, it looked marvelous, unless you opened a closet door or the door to the basement. It is going to take me awhile to unhide everything!

Seriously, my house was the worst it has ever been, it was even bugging me. But I have been so so sick, I just couldn't deal with it. DH has been a bit stressed about it, he is much more of a neat freak than I am. I feel bad, and I hope it gets better. I don't mind a bit of a mess, but not too bad, YK? Especially with a toddler running around getting into everything everywhere.

Now I have about 11 days to clean out the guest room, my mom is coming to visit and right now, the door can barely be opened. Yikes! Wish me luck!

It is so nice to hear of other messy houses! Really!!

[brigmaman]

Jen, are you having bad ms? I haven't heard much...

[muskiesusan]

My house is usually neat, but I will admit it's not very clean. My mom hated cleaning and never did it, so I really have no clue what I am doing half the time. Sometimes I read the cleaning posts here and feel like an idiot. I think I need to hire someone to teach me what to do!

I hate clutter, so it usually doesn't even become a problem. It is harder, now with two to keep the toys in check, but I pick up every night to appease myself. Oh, and I just avoid DH's office since it is a mess!


Susan
Mom to Nick 10/01
& Alex 04/04

[tigalig]

I'm a neat freak so you won't want to hear all of my habits, places to keep things, etc. My biggest suggestion is to get a timer and set it for 15 minutes, twice a day, and pick up whatever is bothering you. Find it a new home, put it away wherever it belongs, etc., and when the timer rings, stop and keep doing whatever else you were doing. This is not all day long, just 15 minutes, twice a day; you'll be amazed what day after day of this habit will do around your house.

[brigmaman]

Lol, I was wondering when someone neat would chime in! I just realized that we don't have places for a lot of things in my house. We don't have dressers and I think it's beginning to be a problem. We keep everything in our closets. It's getting trickier to do that now that we have lots of baby stuff to store. ;)

[deborah_r]

Trish,

My DH isn't too concerned about the mess, until he takes the time to clean a room, like the kitchen, and then he thinks it should stay clean for days from his one cleaning! "Hey, I cleaned this room this morning. What happened?" Um, well, honey, we do still have to cook in here, even though you did *all* that cleaning!

[jd11365]

Marisa's house was very neat if you ask me. :)

My house on the other hand...
The third bedroom (aka Room Of Doom) is closed off to the general public. It is the "catch all room" and has crap everywhere. The rest of the house gets the "flight of the bumblebee" when someone is coming over. Otherwise, I just hope and pray they don't. ;) It's fine really, I just like things much neater when people are over. Unfortunately I'm a scatterer. I have a trail of crap everywhere I go...and so does Kayla.

[brigmaman]

Lol...I'm going to play the flight for inspiration next time I play "hide the %*^*!"

[barbarhow]

My house is usually clean but not neat. I can't stand dirty/yuckiness. hat being said it has all fallen to bits since Anna's arrival. My one sticking point is the kitchen. It is always spotless before I go to bed. Now the family room......that's another story.
Barbara-mom to Jack 3/27/03, a Red Sox fan
and Anna 5/12/05, my little Yankee fan!

[saschalicks]

Thank you so much for not making me feel like the messsiest mommy in the land. My house has a dining room table with boxes, mail, bibs and whatever else I couldn't find a place for. A kitchen counter with more "rubble". LR floor is TRU in an apartment. Our bedroom has clothes everywhere. DS's room is the only place I keep mostly neat. I'm not alone, I'm not alone, I'm not alone.

I should add we have a cleaning lady every other week to do the things I would never get to like cleaning the bathroom, floors, stove and dusting. Without that I cringe at what we'd look like.

I used to be the most organized person in the world. I hate even to think of all of the straightening I MUST do this week since returning from vacation. Let's not even talk about all of the unpacking that needs to be done...

[Mikesa3]

So glad to know I'm not the only one who does the Hide the #### in a shopping bag trick.LOL I have several around the house including the basement.I dreamed that when we finally bought a home we'd be organized but it never happened.That was 5 years and two kids ago. Neither my dh,kids or me have a neat/organized bone in our bodies.Plus I'm a packrat :-(
Nancy-Mom to 6 great kids

[Lovingliv]

I would love to hear any other tips you have....the timer idea is excellent,,,,and I am going to start tomorrow! Thank-you!