I am far from a neat freak.  I do what is necessary, but I have clutter that I need to go through and get rid of.  I would love a spotless house, but I hate housework.

My mom was clean, but my dad is messy.  Me and one sister are clean, but two sisters are messy.  I tend to put everything away as soon as I'm done with it.  I don't even think about it.  Of course my house gets cluttered sometimes - it's only natural.  But I am pretty good about cleaning up as I go.  I have one sister though, that just boggles my mind.  I am over at her house a lot, and sometimes I will go pick her kids up for various things while she is at work.  You can always tell where she has been because there is a trail.  She will leave her make up all over the bathroom, her hair dryer on the floor, her clothes everywhere.  I don't even know if she has a hamper.  It just kills me.  I can't fathom leaving a mess like that or coming home to it at night.  To me, it makes so much more sense to put things away as you get them out.  Like, if you put something away right when you're done with it, then you're done.  You don't have to do things twice.  Why make things more difficult for yourself than they need to be?   


We might be related.  :-[

We might be related.  :-[


;D  You can have her! 

So, all those of you that love to clean, or love a tidy house, were you born that way do you think?  Did you live in a tidy house and think that's the way things should be or is it a reaction against your childhood home?


I hate housework, mainly because I'm never conviced I'm doing things right - using the correct method/products.  I wish I had taken more notice of what my mum was doing or offered to do stuff for her.  When I got married I realised I'd never cleaned a bathroom before  :-[

I'm also essentially a lazy person and just put stuff down anywhere when I've finished using it - a habit everyone in this house has.  That means the house quickly gets overrun with paperwork, toys and clothing not where they should be.

Don't think I was born that way, but my mom kept a clean house, so I imagine I picked it up from her.

You sound exactly like me. Unfortunately, I got my cleaning habits (or lack of) from my mother. I remember growing up, never really seeing her clean-it was always us kids who did the cleaning. The thing is, my sisters houses are so neat and clean & mine is very messy. It has that "lived in" look to it. But at least I am NOT like this:


http://uglyhousephotos.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/090125kp.jpg


or this:

http://persistentillusion.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/clutter-flickr-flickr-rickr.jpg


Yeah, there is clutter but you can maneuver from one room to another. We don't have sh!t piled high were you can barely walk. But I really do need to get off my ass and declutter the place.  :-[



Cat



That kitchen is NASTY, but that second pic is almost what my bedroom looks like.  Boxes piled everywhere, even on my bed, to the point where I sleep on my couch.  I've been meaning to clean it, but I've been seriously forgetting for the last 5 years ;D

So, all those of you that love to clean, or love a tidy house, were you born that way do you think?  Did you live in a tidy house and think that's the way things should be or is it a reaction against your childhood home?




I know that part of the reason I am the way I am is because when I was young, like 8 and 9 years old, I became a latchkey kid-I could walk home from school, get in with a key, and my Mom trusted me to clean the kitchen, living room, do the dishes and vacuum before she got home at 5pm.  That way she could just cook dinner.  She would be tired from work, and a long commute, so if I didn't do it, it didn't get done.  Plus I got the best allowance of all my friends since I did it, so "cha-ching"!  ;) (Mind you, this was YEARS ago-in the late 70's, so my parents didn't abandon me, that's just the way it was done where we lived. :) )

That kitchen is NASTY, but that second pic is almost what my bedroom looks like.  Boxes piled everywhere, even on my bed, to the point where I sleep on my couch.  I've been meaning to clean it, but I've been seriously forgetting for the last 5 years ;D



Yeah, that first one was a bit over the top. Unfortunately, I knew someone who's house was close to that.  8-P  There was always a smell of garbage in the kitchen (not to mention the roaches). To this day, when I smell over-ripe bananas it just takes me right back to that house. The house was falling down around them and it was packed with so much sh!t you wouldn't believe. I was staying there for a short period of time when I was a teen and I was so disgusted with the kitchen floor that I got on my hands & knees and scrubbed it.  8-P 8-P  I'm sure in it's heyday the house probably had a lot of character because it was a Victorian townhouse. Unfortunately, it was in the heart of the slums in Poughkeepsie, NY. I guess they finally decided to tear down all those old houses and these people had to move out. I heard about when they finally hauled out the house-they got a BIG dumpter. After 30 years & 11 people living in it, you can imagine.  :o :o :o  I'm glad I didn't have to do it.



Cat



Cat

I'm not quite like Danny Tanner or anything lol, but yeah I like to keep things fairly clean. I go crazy if my stuff is in disarray for too long - it's easy to get lazy with little things in incriments (i.e. if you come in after a long day and just throw some papers on a table) but over time I break down and just throw out stuff I don't want, and organize the rest.

Ironically my stuff is very organized, but it's still hard to keep it uncluttered, just because I have quite a bit.

So, all those of you that love to clean, or love a tidy house, were you born that way do you think?  Did you live in a tidy house and think that's the way things should be or is it a reaction against your childhood home?


Clean freaks are crazy people who are trying to compensate the clutter in their own lives.


I just made that up but sounds right,doesn't it?  :D

^Dr Phil would say something like that.;D

I try to keep my home neat and clean as much as possible. I'll admit I do have some clutter, but it does get straightened up.

To me, it makes so much more sense to put things away as you get them out.  Like, if you put something away right when you're done with it, then you're done.  You don't have to do things twice.  Why make things more difficult for yourself than they need to be?   


That is how I feel.  I clean up after myself as I go.  It makes more sense.  Nothing will pile up and you can actually find things when you need them.  My daughter is finally catching on. Finally.  She still needs motivation though. 

I am not a neat freak but I do not like clutter and disorder.  I can not relax if the place isn't straightened out.I don't have a cleaning schedule but I do clean up something everyday.  I do have to sweep the floor everyday since I have birds and a dog I have to pick up after.  I vacuum a couple times a week and clean the bathroom when needed. 

My mom was clean, but my dad is messy.  Me and one sister are clean, but two sisters are messy.  I tend to put everything away as soon as I'm done with it.  I don't even think about it.  Of course my house gets cluttered sometimes - it's only natural.  But I am pretty good about cleaning up as I go.  I have one sister though, that just boggles my mind.  I am over at her house a lot, and sometimes I will go pick her kids up for various things while she is at work.  You can always tell where she has been because there is a trail.  She will leave her make up all over the bathroom, her hair dryer on the floor, her clothes everywhere.  I don't even know if she has a hamper.  It just kills me.  I can't fathom leaving a mess like that or coming home to it at night.  To me, it makes so much more sense to put things away as you get them out.  Like, if you put something away right when you're done with it, then you're done.  You don't have to do things twice.  Why make things more difficult for yourself than they need to be?   
oh dear I hope I didn't drive you too mad in the hotel room, you managed to resist clearing up my piles of stuff anyway!  :-[  ;D


I always maintain I was back of the queue when they handed out the cleaning gene in my family. My brother is a total Mr Mop, always tidying and cleaning and so is my sister, I'm more relaxed about it. My Mum is very houseproud but I remember she had this habit of moving everything around as well. I lost count of the number of times you'd come home from school and the kitchen cupboards were all changed over so you couldn't find a cup without openning them all ! My sister does that as well, strange pair.
I am a hoarder but my Dad is too so I must get it from him! 

Actually Himself has been a good influence on me because he is very untidy and keeps everything and it drives me mad so I am a lot more ruthless now......not that you could tell when you see all the stuff in our house!  ;D

What's this thing "cleaning" you speak of...?

Let's put it this way: I'm not a clean freak. I don't have a cleaning schedule - I just do what's necessary when necessary (usually Saturdays every once in a while). Exceptions are laundry (at least three to four times a week) and ironing (I'm a shirt-and-tie man, so I do this about once a week).
In my defence: I live alone, so I'm the only one who gets annoyed by the amount of dust covering the book shelves. ;) And yes: it does annoy me at times.

I live in a rather small apartment, so I am trying to keep it free from clutter. I make sure you can always sit on my sofas and there's plenty of room on the coffee table.



That was cute, Henk!

Want to come over and do my ironing?  I don't have to worry about dress shirts and ties, so I take my work clothes out of the laundry damp and hang them in the closet in the living room (it's bigger than the one in my bedroom, which is full) to dry on hangers.  I do laundry 1-2 times a week depending on if I need a particular pair of pants or whatever later in the week or if I know I'm going to be gone.

I'm like you in a lot of respects.  I don't have a set schedule (mostly because my testing duties have increased by double and tend to interfere with any Saturday plans I might have) for cleaning, but try not to let things go too long.  For instance, I might clean my bathroom on a Tuesday one week but a Friday the next.  Like you, I live alone so it doesn't get bad very quickly.  Sometimes I have gone closer to 2 weeks, especially if I haven't been hom e much.  My bathroom is about the size of a walk-in closet so it doesn't take long to clean, I just don't like doing it.  I try to dust and vacuum every week, but again, due to scheduling, the day it gets done varies.

If I know I'm going over to visit my parents for a weekend, then I will do the cleaning and laundry before I go so I don't have to deal with it when I get back (because it is usually a day of cleaning their house, so the last thing I want to do when returning is clean my own).

My bedroom isn't TOO bad, but it isn't great either.  I have a stack of puzzle books on the desk (neatly stacked) and my dresser is pretty clear, but I do have an area of the floor behind the door where I have stacks of papers and folders with stuff I need easy access to...Micah's financial aid documents, tax stuff, etc.  Now that I've paid my taxes I can put it in a folder and file it away, but will keep the Financial Aid folder where it is because then I always know where it is when I need it and don't have to go to the storage unit to get it.  I've been slowly de-cluttering my apt for a while.  I think I'm making progress, but it seems too early to tell.  My project this summer is to go through my storage unit and get rid of stuff in there.  My goal is to get rid of enough that the remaining boxes/cartons will fit neatly in my living room closet (I can close the closet doors)--but that means there can't be very many of them left.  ::)

I am far from a neat freak.  I do what is necessary, but I have clutter that I need to go through and get rid of.  I would love a spotless house, but I hate housework.


To iron wrinkled shirts gets me out of my wits.
Sometimes I make a crease where it don't need.

Yeah, that first one was a bit over the top. Unfortunately, I knew someone who's house was close to that.  8-P  There was always a smell of garbage in the kitchen (not to mention the roaches). To this day, when I smell over-ripe bananas it just takes me right back to that house. The house was falling down around them and it was packed with so much sh!t you wouldn't believe. I was staying there for a short period of time when I was a teen and I was so disgusted with the kitchen floor that I got on my hands & knees and scrubbed it.  8-P 8-P  I'm sure in it's heyday the house probably had a lot of character because it was a Victorian townhouse. Unfortunately, it was in the heart of the slums in Poughkeepsie, NY. I guess they finally decided to tear down all those old houses and these people had to move out. I heard about when they finally hauled out the house-they got a BIG dumpter. After 30 years & 11 people living in it, you can imagine.  :o :o :o  I'm glad I didn't have to do it.



Cat


This story reminds me of my sister, her husband and their three kids...

Like I said: I'm not a clean/neat freak, but you can't even sit on a chair there without having to rearrange the living room. Well, "living room" - that would imply there's some kind of room, right?  ;D  It really boggles my mind how anyone can live in those circumstances. There's stacks and piles of clutter everywhere! You can hardly open the front door...


Did I mention they also have three cats?

and ironing (I'm a shirt-and-tie man, so I do this about once a week).


Well Henk, I guess I could take from you some lessons of driving the iron along my wrinkled trousers  ;)

I didn't find out why the iron sometimes glues and sometimes not ::)

I am VERY messy.  :-[  Yes, I am Oscar Madison to Carlos' Felix Unger. But, I am not disgusting. I can handle trash (which is about everywhere-well, not really trash just clutter) but I HATE garbage. That is actually Carlos' job-to take out the garbage which he doesn't do as often as I would like him to. I feel like I can't complain about it because I have my clutter EVERYWHERE!!! The vacuuming is done every 2 weeks or so as well as the bathroom being cleaned, kitchen floor mopped, & stove scrubbed.


My jobs:
-Dishes
-Laundry
-Catboxes  8-P


Carlos' jobs:
-Cooking
-Garbage
-Lawn/Shovel snow.

Everything else:

Confession time. I pay someone. 




Cat


That is exactly what goes on at my house!  Only difference is my husband does his own laundry.  If I have to clean a room from top to bottom it turns into a redecorating project that can last for weeks and then the room is updise down for weeks, unless I don't run out of time and that sometimes happens.  I respect and admire really organised people and strive everyday to be more like them.

That was cute, Henk!

Want to come over and do my ironing? 


Can I join the "Henk's ironing-line" ?  ::)

That is exactly what goes on at my house!  Only difference is my husband does his own laundry.  If I have to clean a room from top to bottom it turns into a redecorating project that can last for weeks and then the room is updise down for weeks, unless I don't run out of time and that sometimes happens.  I respect and admire really organised people and strive everyday to be more like them.


For pure self preservation, I have only a tiny garbage in the house that has to be emptied into the bigger one outside every day.  And we have dogs so it is covered and hidden in a cupboard.

I recently bought an I-robot Roomba vacuum, you know the kind that goes around on it's own and vacuums, anyway, my fantasy was that there would never be dog hair balls anywhere because I would run it while I wasn't home.  It has no suction.  So I am taking it back and I bought a Dyson Animal.  I should mention that my housekeeper broke her ankle just before Christmas and things got pretty bad.  Pretty bad.

Can I join the "Henk's ironing-line" ?  ::)


I never said anything about me liking ironing. :P

I recently bought an I-robot Roomba vacuum, you know the kind that goes around on it's own and vacuums, anyway, my fantasy was that there would never be dog hair balls anywhere because I would run it while I wasn't home.  It has no suction.  So I am taking it back and I bought a Dyson Animal.  I should mention that my housekeeper broke her ankle just before Christmas and things got pretty bad.  Pretty bad.



You need to look for another housekeeper. I am one cleaning person #4. The first one a friend recommended her to us. She did ok in terms of cleaning but I didn't like her as a person. The second I LOVED but she had to quit for health reasons (which she never did specify to us). The 3rd was a company which there were 2 teams. One team I liked as people but they didn't clean very well, and the other team...well they didn't clean very well & I didn't care too much for them as people. And they broke our vacuum and never told us-this was right after we got it fixed. They used our cleaning materials-which they would go through paper towels like crazy. They didn't have to pay for them so why should they care? We had enough of them. Then we have our cleaning person now. She is GREAT. Not only does she clean, she also takes care of the cats when we go out of town. She also painted our kitchen last year when we were on vacation. Hopefully, next month she is going to paint our dinning room. Of course that is incentive for me to declutter it.  :D ;D ;D ;D



I never said anything about me liking ironing. :P



What is this ironing you keep talking about?  :D ;D ;D ;D




Cat

You need to look for another housekeeper. I am one cleaning person #4. The first one a friend recommended her to us. She did ok in terms of cleaning but I didn't like her as a person. The second I LOVED but she had to quit for health reasons (which she never did specify to us). The 3rd was a company which there were 2 teams. One team I liked as people but they didn't clean very well, and the other team...well they didn't clean very well & I didn't care too much for them as people. And they broke our vacuum and never told us-this was right after we got it fixed. They used our cleaning materials-which they would go through paper towels like crazy. They didn't have to pay for them so why should they care? We had enough of them. Then we have our cleaning person now. She is GREAT. Not only does she clean, she also takes care of the cats when we go out of town. She also painted our kitchen last year when we were on vacation. Hopefully, next month she is going to paint our dinning room. Of course that is incentive for me to declutter it.  :D ;D ;D ;D


Cat


Painting!  Sweet!  I've gone through several myself, it seems they all have something they don't do as well as I like, the one I have now that broke her ankle has been the best so far by far.  Hence my decision to wit until she gets back up and running.  She uses all her own products and equipment, and is lighteneing fast, I pay by the hour so that is important.  I also have the dogs to consider, i have a good friend and neighbour who tells me how long my dogs are outside while the Cleaner is at the house and in the past it has been too long.  Jeffrey barks, LuLu freezes.  A good housekeeper is a gem to be sure.

Painting!  Sweet!  I've gone through several myself, it seems they all have something they don't do as well as I like, the one I have now that broke her ankle has been the best so far by far.  Hence my decision to wit until she gets back up and running.  She uses all her own products and equipment, and is lighteneing fast, I pay by the hour so that is important.  I also have the dogs to consider, i have a good friend and neighbour who tells me how long my dogs are outside while the Cleaner is at the house and in the past it has been too long.  Jeffrey barks, LuLu freezes.  A good housekeeper is a gem to be sure.



How long will she be out of commission? Maybe you can use one for just a short period of time until the one you like is back of her feet-literally.




Cat

How long will she be out of commission? Maybe you can use one for just a short period of time until the one you like is back of her feet-literally.




Cat


Tried that, no one wnated to do it on a temp basis with the dogs and everything.  I live in a small town so resources aren't the greatest....