Is your home visitor-ready?

ohwhynot · August 2010

If people dropped by your home right now, would you be embarassed to let them in? Or if your home pretty much visitor-ready all the time?

One of my sister's home is, frankly, a disaster. All the time. Her kids could never feel comfortable having friends over when they were growing up and it was really disgusting to spend any time in there. It wasn't just messy, it was dirty. Another sister's home is always a showplace - it doesn't even look like anyone lives there.
Mine is comfortably in the middle, I think - it's always clean but sometimes a bit cluttered with shoes, toys, an open magazine or two. The beds are always made but the kids' rooms have toys on the floor. That's about as bad as it gets. It's clean, but slightly messy sometimes.

How about y'all?

Nebb · August 2010

Nope, but we never get visitors. There is usually dog hair needing to be swept/vaccuumed up that I dont care too much about and random clutter. I leave clothes and cups everywhere, its a bad habit of mine.

Anysunrise · August 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_home-visitor-ready?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:17Discussion:35b3ff06-77bd-4923-b145-3478222614fcPost:67316455-20fc-435b-8af4-069c31c1c52c">Re: Is your home visitor-ready?</a>:
[QUOTE]Nope, but we never get visitors. There is usually dog hair needing to be swept/vaccuumed up that I dont care too much about and random clutter. <strong>I leave clothes and cups everywhere, its a bad habit of mine.
</strong>Posted by Nebb[/QUOTE]

Likewise.

COkristi · August 2010

Ours is pretty clean most of the time because Scott is anal about having everything picked up. It's always pretty clutter free, but not top notch "clean" as far as the floors being mopped and bathrooms in guest shape.

JenGin74 · August 2010

I always try to keep the house in order becasue Tim and I are both pretty obsessive about not having clutter everywhere.

The only problem I usually have, especially during the warmer months, is the dog hair. I have to vacuum at least three times per week to keep on top of it.

Nebb · August 2010

Im a big believer in piles, I pile things. Books, bills ontop of books, movies holding down the bills, covered in a sweatshirt. I declutter at the end of the week and always say I will keep it that way and it never sticks.

laurenclaire1386 · August 2010

FI is kind of freaky about stuff being clean, and I'm not. He's relaxed a little on the everything must be clean at all times thing, and I've gotten better about not being such a slob. So I'd say we're comfortably in the middle. Nothing ever gets so bad that I'd be embarrassed to have people over. Our bedroom, however, usually has clothes EVERYWHERE. But guests generally aren't checking out our bedroom.

MISSCOURTNEY20 · August 2010

I would let them in but they could not go into the basement. The boys slept down there last night so it smells like puppies...lol!

MarriedInAFever · August 2010

Depends on the visitor I think!

goheels05 · August 2010

The earlier in the week, the better. I clean house on Saturday or Sunday. By Friday, it's a disaster and I hate it when people drop by unexpectedly (I'm looking at you, ILs).

ohwhynot · August 2010

I tend to pile, too, but the reality of living 4 people in a very small house has kind of cured me of this. When I had a big house, it was easy to pile stuff on one table, say, because there was somewhere else to eat or do homework. Now, the only table is the one we need for meals.

I do have a couple of catch-all baskets in the foyer and the living room and on the kitchen counter that just get stuffed with junk and random toys, etc. I figure as long as it's in some kind of container, that's okay.

[Deleted User] · August 2010

It depends on who is visiting and how clean they expect a home to be. Ours is mostly cluttered rather than dirty. At most, the floors need to be swept and the litter box cleaned. We never use the guest room so it's always clean, and our bedroom is usually clean since we're only in there to sleep.

I try to keep up on the cat hair and dishes. But we rarely have guests so usually I have a warning and can clean before they get there. If someone came over right now, I wouldn't be embarrassed.

MISSCOURTNEY20 · August 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_home-visitor-ready?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:17Discussion:35b3ff06-77bd-4923-b145-3478222614fcPost:c2803e7c-5ad0-48b3-8835-7706e22dac79">Re: Is your home visitor-ready?</a>:
[QUOTE]I tend to pile, too, but the reality of living 4 people in a very small house has kind of cured me of this. When I had a big house, it was easy to pile stuff on one table, say, because there was somewhere else to eat or do homework. Now, the only table is the one we need for meals. I do have a couple of catch-all baskets in the foyer and the living room and on the kitchen counter that just get stuffed with junk and random toys, etc. I figure as long as it's in some kind of container, that's okay.
Posted by ohwhynot[/QUOTE]

I have piles and baskets and I still think I have "stuff with no home" all over the place. Gotta work on this I guess.

[Deleted User] · August 2010

I'm in the middle with you, OWN. We clean the house of clutter a couple times a week and it's never really dirty. I also try to straighten up before I go to bed at night and before I leave for work in the morning. I hate waking up to / coming home to a dirty house.

My sister's house was like your sister's house. It was the kind of place that would make you feel icky to be inside of. Her house was relatively clutter free, but it was just very dirty. Everything was covered in dust and dog hair.

She would straighten up, but never really clean. I can handle clutter, but if your bathroom and / or kitchen is gross, it will haunt me. Since she had her baby, she's gotten a housekeeper to clean once a week and it's made a world of difference.

BecW2be · August 2010

Right now it's always ready for visitors, being for sale and all. But even at normal times it's clean enough for close friends and family, and about 20 minutes from being clean enough for more formal visitors. I have a compulsion to keep things in their places, and even when I lie around and do nothing all day, I have to get up and clean the clutter from the day before I can go to bed. The worst is my laundry. It's in the kitchen, and I'll sometimes have dry loads in a basket in the floor that need to be folded, so I'll stuff them in the dryer really quickly if people visit.

Jelenny · August 2010

nope...

i currently have 5 dogs so while the upstairs is clean this morning they decided to destuff a dog bed...do you know how much fuzz are in those and how fast is spreads??

aside from a sea of dog toys it's not too bad...

anna.oskar · August 2010

I would be terribly embarrassed if someone just dropped in on us. Thankfully, I think we have finally trained everyone to call ahead. As long as we get a 10-15 minute warning, I can straighten up, dust-bust any cat hair, make sure dishes are in the dishwasher and get drinks and snacks out on the table.

kd.joseph · August 2010

Well we dont have visitors often if we do (like this weekend) they are from OOT so I have advanced warning. And I usually do a "deep clean", a few weeks before so then I can just keep up on it through the week.

But our house generally doesnt get that dirty. My DH is a clutterbug, but I just keep thowing his crap in his office. Then I make him clean it.

I actually started a little organization in his office after he cleaned,and it has helped him maintain the clutter.

Blueyed228 · August 2010

I think our house is visitor ready but FI has a serious problem with cleaning. He expects the house to be spotless at all times. Its the cause of many fights. I work 6 days a week. If he wants the floors to shine he can golf 3 days a week instead of 4 and do it himself.

missy68 · August 2010

This is classified information. If I tell you, then I'd have to kill you.

ohwhynot · August 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_home-visitor-ready?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:17Discussion:35b3ff06-77bd-4923-b145-3478222614fcPost:df585fec-80fb-455b-9e92-e300351665cc">Re: Is your home visitor-ready?</a>:
[QUOTE]I think our house is visitor ready but FI has a serious problem with cleaning. He expects the house to be spotless at all times. Its the cause of many fights. I work 6 days a week. If he wants the floors to shine he can golf 3 days a week instead of 4 and do it himself.
Posted by Blueyed228[/QUOTE]

I think that's where a housecleaner comes in. You can handle the day-to-day clutter but if you have even a little more $$ than time & energy, getting someone to do the floors, dusting, and vacuuming every other week may save you a LOT of arguing and resentment on both sides.

SarahPLiz · August 2010

Please call before you come over so I can sweep and do the dishes. No one sees our bedroom because we have a guest bath. One of the things I love about living in such a small place is that there is less to clean, and your guests really have no where to roam.

stephl3055 · August 2010

It kind of depends on who is coming over. If it's someone that has never seen the house (we've had it 10 months), then it is usually not visitor-ready for a random visit. I would have to clean our bedroom and bathroom up and just de-clutter in general.

But if someone drops by that has seen the house before, I just tidy up the main areas where they will be most of the time and close the door to our room.

JessAndTrav · August 2010

I feel like my house is a disaster, but truthfully, it's not something I couldn't straighten up in about 15-30 minutes.

It's nothing I'd be embarassed by.

missy68 · August 2010

Let me add to my answer that my loving husband does the laundry. It makes it upstairs. Period.

He wears shorts and a tee shirt or jeans and a tee shirt to work, because he puts on a uniform there. He doesn't care if they're wrinkled.

He was a 42 year old bachelor when I married him, Lord love him.

pooh8402 · August 2010

yes. my H is OCD about the house being tidy. it is always visitor-ready. when I was living on my own though, hell no. I'm not a natural housekeeper.

katiewhompus · August 2010

In general yes it is. Not perfect but with clean floors, dusted, clean bathrooms, etc.
Right now it's a disaster zone though, so no one is gaining entry until it's cleaned up a bit. We're rearranging stuff so there's a giant pile of books in the middle of one living room, picture frames spread on the couch in the other living room and painting supplies on the dining room table.

I was really bad until I started reading FlyLady and going by her house cleaning program. I also was reading a good book about "clutter" and how behind clutter is often a lot of emotional stressors, and once you realize the stressors it's easier to let clutter go. That helped a lot as well.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown · August 2010

Mine's kind of like yours. Like, if I have an hour notice, I can throw the shoes in the closet, clean off my desk and the dining room table, and clean the litter boxes if it's the day they need to be cleaned anyway. Things are usually fairly "clean" just not always picked up. I make sure I at least pick up everything on the weekends if not a few nights a week.

My mom is a huge neat freak. Like, super anal and judgemental. If something looks "homey" it means "dishevelled" in her mind. So my "clean" is her "messy." Which is fine with me. Without her as a mother I probably would have turned into a slob.

jasmineh7777 · August 2010

We just recently stopped kenneling the dogs during the day. Now, if we don't want it potentially eaten, it is put away. The cat has also taken to dive-bombing the coffee tables, and laughing as things go flying. So, my house is clutter free at the moment.

If someone is going to stop by, I try to dust and vacuum asap. We have to every few days anyway, but the amount of shedding in the summer is insane.

kpwedkk · August 2010

We just had visitors "drop" in on us and lived in our home for 2 weeks!!!! I'm neat, my DH is not, but just closing the doors of his messy abode helped, and made him feel embarrased a little!

The floors are always so tidy, and at least now in the two extra bedrooms, we do have beds

And, for the spare bathrooms, I have new shampoo / conditioner / body wash under the cabinet, so at least that's new to the visitors...

katiewhompus · August 2010

I'm glad someone else uses the phrase "clutterbug". That's how Scott describes me. It's gotten a lot better now that we're in a house instead of a 1 bedroom apartment though.

Is your home visitor-ready?

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