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How clean is your house really? Do you hide things in the closet when visitors come, or do you just tidy up a bit before they arrive? Are you happy with this aspect of your life in general?”

Asked by mamajama on 24th June 2008 | 24 replies

24 replies so far...

We clean out house and have it looking nice, but within 24 hours it is always messy again. It is a constant battle for us and it can be very frustrating. I like to come home to a clean home but I don't usually like being the one to do the cleaning.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Daphney's Mom on 9th August 2010
I totally hide clutter and I'm running out of places to hide it!

I wish I was better at this part of my life, but when I look at what areas would suffer if I became that neat and was picking up all of the time, I am happy with who I am.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by RC on 17th July 2008
My house is pretty much always dirty. Sometimes I get really depressed about it and wish I'd do more, but I find that I just run out of time at the end of the day. As long as the kids are cleans and have clean clothes and dishes, that's good enough for me. Does anyone use a cleaning service?

Flag as inappropriate Posted by bdeaux on 17th July 2008
Since I have met flylady.net I can pick-up my house in less then 3 hours and be ready for company.
My kids will ask my on days I do deep cleaning who is coming over and since I have met flylady I can say that we are doing it for me:)

Flag as inappropriate Posted by sew4heaven on 17th July 2008
Since I have met flylady.net I can pick-up my house in less then 3 hours and be ready for company.
My kids will ask my on days I do deep cleaning who is coming over and since I have met flylady I can say that we are doing it for me:)

Flag as inappropriate Posted by sew4heaven on 17th July 2008
My house is constantly cluttered despite efforts to dispose of excess. Now that I am out of work I am very aware of the fact that there are many items that do not have a "home" and that is the problem.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Zicci on 11th July 2008
The public spaces in my house are clean because I am a minimalist. I don't need or want a lot of stuff. The kids rooms do have a lot of stuff in them, but it's all organized so it is uncluttered. I used to clean my house everyday (vacuum, mop, dust) but it made me crazy. Now, I have a much more manageable cleaning routine but I often think about getting a housekeeper because I would like the house to be cleaner.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by lawschoolmom on 11th July 2008
I can live in a lot of dirt . . .seriously my house is clean but lacks in the tidy which is total opposite to "who I am" - I love to organize, but I know have to do it when I am alone and that is pretty myuch NEVER. My son saves EVERYTHING even the wrappers toys come in and my husband is not much better - evvery time he goes to the store he buys at least 10 matchbox cars - just because. I am planning to do a closet remake in my sons; room and possibly our room to get things in order but we''' see if that helps

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Pammy on 8th July 2008
I have a magnet that says, "This house is clean enough to be healthy, and dirty enough to be happy." And that pretty much summarizes it for me. I like a clean house but I don't obsess about it. My kids know the rules and they've learned to clean up after themselves. We tidy up a little more when we're expecting company, but the house is already presentable to start with. We have a formal living room and a guest bathroom and those I keep company-worthy all the time. The rest of the house is clean but lived-in and I'm happy with it although one can always do better. If there are rooms I would never want guests to see it would be my teen-agers' bedrooms. But that's another story :-) Anyway, I read a sign once in someone else's home that said, "BORING WOMEN HAVE IMMACULATE HOMES." In that case I'm certainly not boring!

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Maria Victoria on 6th July 2008
Honestly - Clean from the outside, and a disorganized disaster in most of the "hidden spaces". I have a wonderful cleaning helper, Maria - who get's all of the credit for how clean my house is. I just don't like organizing things, so I do the best I can, and spend more time of the day doing the things I enjoy & the kids & hubby enjoy. My mother spent WAY too much time cleaning, instead of time with us - it is a tradition in our family that I don't want to repeat. Therefore, I justify what I pay my cleaning helper, with what I make as a Work At Home Mom.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by JodiA on 6th July 2008
I have a house cleaner who comes every two weeks. When I am on vacation, I tidy up the house by organizing it. Organization is KEY. I bought a book on it and followed it closely. I redid the living room, the toy room, the kitchen cabinets and I have minimum stuff in my bedroom, during this time I threw away lots of stuff. So to keep my house the way I want it I make sure everything has it's place and this way my husband knows what the room should look like and I don't have to explain where things go. I also get my son in the habit of cleaning with us. He has loves brooms, vacuums, and spray bottles so it helps. But I definitely wouldn't give up my cleaner. I would like to have her do more in depth cleaning but for now she does what I can't do.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Stel on 3rd July 2008
My house is cluttered and messy. We're just that kind of family. It's not dirty just messy. I do try to clean up when people are coming over officially but if you know us, you have to accept the cluttered kitchen table and books strewn about the house. The kids are encourared to play around the house, so everywhere is a play zone. I find my son's army men strategically placed around the house for any upcoming battle and my daughters art stuff is usually around the kitchen table as well.
With two dogs it's easy to accumulate the floating hairballs but that gets cleaned up routinely. It's who we are.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Catootes on 2nd July 2008