Why Does my House Never Seem Clean?!

sparrow13

sparrow13

Cathlete
We are not sloppy people. We clean once a week (mostly.) There's just us and the cats inside. Yet it seems like the floors and rugs and counters are always in need of attention!

I don't want to live in a museum but it would be nice if things stayed clean for more than 1/2 a minute!!

Anyone have the same issue??
 
Yes, I just am no good at housework. My house isn't disgusting or anything but it seems like the kitchen is in constant need of upkeep. I've tried reading various books on how to improve my housekeeping skills but have pretty much resigned myself to living in a less than perfect home. What's really annoying is that most of my friends are totally anal about their houses. I only have one friend that is like me. She had a sock hanging from one of her ceiling fans for months! She's the only person I feel comfortable inviting over no matter what state my house is in.
 
I sure do. The day after the place is scrubbed top to bottom the house is a mess. It's always well organized, but it never seems 100% clean. I blame the dogs. :p

I don't know how people w/children do it. I really don't.
 
Absolutely! Cleaning puts me in such a bad mood because everything looks amazing...until one of the boys get home....or the girls take a shower and leave 999 hairs all over.....or the dog comes in with muddy paws....or cats bring in a bird......usually happens within 30 seconds of finishing!
Although, watch an episode of HOW CLEAN IS YOUR HOUSE or CLEAN HOUSE....you will feel much better about yourself!!!! ;)
Becky
 
Watch that show on A&E about people who hoard. Your house will then seem immaculate (although watching the show may induce an anxiety attack).
 
Beavs said:
Watch that show on A&E about people who hoard. Your house will then seem immaculate (although watching the show may induce an anxiety attack).
Click to expand...

ITA! That show made my skin crawl!! :eek::eek:

I consider myself a diligent, if not anal, house cleaner. However, since moving to an older house on (it's 200' from the shore) a lake, I can't get that "my house is so clean it sparkles" feeling. In addition to blaming the woodsy environment -aka cobwebs, and the old carpeting, I blame the dog and the very cute but very fuzzy cat. :confused::eek:
 
Beavs said:
Watch that show on A&E about people who hoard. Your house will then seem immaculate (although watching the show may induce an anxiety attack).
Click to expand...

ITA!

My house is not tidy, but I can't blame the cats (for most of it).

But as Joan Rivers says: what's the use in cleaning, when you have to do it all again in 6 months? :p
 
I'm right there with ya! We're pretty laid back, but I do like things clean and organized. My DH, although a sweetheart, came from THE most UNORGANIZED family I have personally ever met. Unorganized = messy and harder to clean. Add to that my 2 little boys, and it's pretty much a losing battle.

dani
 
My house is the same. We (meaning husband and son, I hide) clean the house once a week on Sat. I hate to clean, prob bc my mom was so nitpicky about it - but that's a whole 'nother topic. I work every other Sat so can avoid it then, and on the Sats I am home I do the laundry (thats helpful) and then workout.

But, anyhoo, back to the topic. Its clean, then the dog drags his toys back out, the cat lays back on the couch, the dog chases the cat and scatters thru the newspaper section that I just sat down after reading. The mail comes in and gets left on the table by the door. Someone gets out a book an leaves it around. I fix something in the kitchen. And then it looks like we haven't cleaned in a week. Such is life.

Although a clean, orderly house is mentally peaceful, it doesn't seem lived in. I don't think I could live in the pages of Better Homes and Gardens.

Don't think of it as messy, think of it as lived in;)

Nan
 
Lately my house is a filthy stinking pig sty and I just don't even care about it :eek:. I tend to relax about housework during the summer months because the heat and humidity tends to make me grumpy. :p
 
My house seems to be perpetually cluttered. I finally get all the stacks of mail off the dining room table, and they're back again. :mad: I crave a minimalist, zen space, but I simply will not be able to achieve it on my own. I need to hire some expert to help me achieve the look I want, where all the "stuff" is hidden behind clean lines and serene white surfaces.

I paid all this money for this nice apartment, and I enjoyed it for about a year, but now it makes me miserable. I just want to move to a hotel. :confused:
 
My house (with two kids, a dog, and another kid coming) is hopeless lately. My husband is always complaining about the clutter and doesn't understand that my piles of stuff serve a purpose (if I put them away I'd never remember to finish things). On the other hand, I'm more obsessed with having clean bathrooms and wiping down the kitchen countertops. It's like he's neat and I'm clean.

But like Michele, I give myself more of a pass with everything in the blistering hot weather, esp. since we don't have central air in our ancient house.
 
My house is comfortable. It is far from being immaculately clean but it is clean enough that I'm not embarrassed when someone comes over. I keep it clean for the most part, but with two large boisterous dogs that shed and a 10 year old child, I need to have lower cleanliness standards LOL.
 
We are in the process of trying to sell our house and it has been an uphill battle to keep it neat from day 1. I am very neat and clean and my husband is clean but can tolerate clutter. We lived in almost perfect harmony. Then we had kids. I tried to keep it neat (it is always clean, always has been, hopefully always will be) but after a few months realized that wasn't going to happen. To keep it clean I do little things each day. I can clean the bathroom in record time and have it sparkle. My problem with us trying to sell the house is that when I straighten a room the kids have to stay out of it and that is hard for a 1 and 2 year old. Just before we leave for a showing my DH puts them in the car and drives around the block so I can put the finishing touches on, like remove the fence around the TV and do a once over of the place. I still have to sweep the kitchen at least 5 times a day but now I have to make sure I don't ever miss a thing. When we get home I swear it is messy in under an hour. As much as I would love a Better Homes and Garden house I know it will never happen. I can sympathize with everyone out there.
 
Not a domestic diva at all. Always a constant mess. Plus I have 2 children. Much rather take a nap, read, workout and be on Forums than to do housework. I would like to clean and keep cluttered free for at least one day. But that doesn't happen.
 
I am sooo glad I'm not the only one who has a total aversion to housework! :eek: The only time I REALLY clean is if I have company coming (mainly from out of town). Even so, my house still doesn't look or seem clean. I think with my house the reason is two-fold. One, it's very small and we have a lot of stuff, so it's cluttered no matter what! Two, it's about 100 years old! So, I can't imagine being able to make it clean no matter what!

I'm one of those people who just can't bring herself to spend her whole weekend or even half a day cleaning when I only get two days off and all I want to do is play! :p:p

So, my house is a mess all the time! It is what it is and I just can't help it! I do make sure my bathrooms and kitchen stay relatively clean though, just in case!
 
I am such a proscatiner when it comes to cleaning and I do not have enough space so it is always cluttered and once one batch is gone another appears.

Jenn
 
FINALLY! A group of like-minded women who will admit that they do not like to do housework! I HATE doing housework! Thank heavens DH does his share. Between the two of us we keep it respectably clean, and sometimes we even manage to make it tidy. But honestly, there's so many more things I'd like to accomplish in a day than polishing the silverware and lining up the placemats. For years I've felt guilty about how low Domestic Goddessing is on my priority list. But here, I'm among friends!! BTW, none of the women I know who have spotless, perfect homes can last through a Cathe workout, do a single straight legged push up, or wear a tank top with confidence. So, I win :D.

Sandra
 
I wrote down the main chores I need to do to keep my house looking decent (clean the bathroom, vacuum 2x/week, clean the kitchen floor, etc) and divvied them up so I only do 2, maybe 3 chores a day tops. Because even though I'm unemployed right now, I don't want to spend hours cleaning my house when I could be doing other things. So I spend less time cleaning more often and it works out well, particularly when I was working full time.

I don't like cleaning but I don't like living in clutter or filth as it stresses me out, so cleaning wins out.
 
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