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Post by cindyupnorth on May 31, 2015 17:15:47 GMT
heck no! In fact mine is a disaster right now. I have had 2 dd's move home from college in the last 3 wks, and then we went on vaca for a wk. yea, it's pretty bad. Normally its not either. It's just not something I worry about. I read this one blog where the blogger brags about how company clean her house is. She also doesn't work, and has 3 teens that help. I think it's sort of sad for those kids. They have to live these perfect lives. can you imagine how they will feel when they fail to live up to her Co clean rules when they get older?
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Post by Lindarina on May 31, 2015 17:34:09 GMT
It usually is. I can have a surprise visit most days without feeling mortified. BUT! I have lowered my level of what I consider company ready. I'm naturally a tidy person, so it will never be very cluttered and I like to keep the kitchen and bathroom clean. But I can go a week without vacuming and still consider my house company ready. I don't dust every day, I don't wash my windows every week, pillows will be out of place, some of the kids stuff will lay around. If someone wrinkles their nose at that when they visit that's their problem
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Country Ham
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,314
Jun 25, 2014 19:32:08 GMT
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Post by Country Ham on May 31, 2015 17:53:57 GMT
Depends on what you mean by company ready. I am not embarrassed or uncomfortable to have anyone come in 99% of the time. We keep it picked up after we are done with whatever we are doing. Now if you mean by company ready that you can eat off the floors and take pictures for Home and Gardens on the drop of a hat, then no.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Oct 7, 2024 5:15:26 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2015 17:56:03 GMT
Generally yes, because I have worked hard to give all our stuff a home and that's how I like to live. Clean and neat. I am not comfortable in a cluttered stuff everywhere environment.
The kid toys are in the living room where they get used by the kids but when the kids are done, they know to put them in the toy basket. This way toys are convenient but not left out in the floor.
Also, if you stop in unannounced, I do not makes excuses or feel guilty or embarrassed if you see that we are in the midst of a project or baking or whatever. It's no secret--we live in our house.
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Post by cyndijane on May 31, 2015 17:57:58 GMT
Company ready? No. Family ready? Yes.
Family ready meaning people who love and accept me enough to know my life is over-full right now, and love us in our lived-in mess. Most of the time we can sit down without removing piles of clean laundry from the couch, and eat at the table without having to remove mail and projects the kids are working on.
I don't confine my kids' toys to their room for play, so if they're awake- there will be toys in my living room. Sometimes, if you're lucky, you can catch an elaborate battle sequence being played out as our Transformers go head to head with each other, or perhaps an epic Hot Wheel race- but you'll probably need your imagination to catch all the action!
Friends can drop by and I'm not going to apologize for where I am right now, and I'm certainly not going to lie that some days are crazier than others. And they know that I'm not judging their mess when I stop by their house on the rare occasion I'm in their neighborhood.
I freely extend and receive grace in my relationships. So... if you stop by unannounced and you're horrified, consider yourself company.
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irener
Junior Member
Posts: 66
Mar 4, 2015 0:45:43 GMT
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Post by irener on May 31, 2015 18:02:18 GMT
I used to stress myself (and my family) when i had to have the house clean. Then life happened with a divorce. Now i love my lived-in apartment! I get home late from work so i usually have time for dinner, homework help, softball and getting ready for the next day. Housework usually waits for the weekends!
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Post by scrapmaven on May 31, 2015 18:06:41 GMT
NO! In my very weak defense, we had a mini flood last spring that took out 4 rooms worth of flooring along w/other damage. W/the other stuff going on this year we're still working on getting everything back together. We did use that time to do some remodeling, so there is some good out of the bad. At this point we've confined the clutter to one room and we're whittling down the clutter one bucket full o' junk at a time.
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akathy
What's For Dinner?
Still peaing from Podunk!
Posts: 4,546
Location: North Dakota
Jun 25, 2014 22:56:55 GMT
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Post by akathy on May 31, 2015 18:06:46 GMT
Mine always is. It's the way I like to live. I am a neat freak ETA: I live alone so it's very easy to keep mine "company ready".
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SabrinaP
Pearl Clutcher
Busy Teacher Pea
Posts: 4,408
Location: Dallas Texas
Jun 26, 2014 12:16:22 GMT
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Post by SabrinaP on May 31, 2015 18:07:55 GMT
Not at all! I wish it were, but I'm a lazy cleaner and have 2 crazy boys!
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Post by bc2ca on May 31, 2015 19:01:30 GMT
When I hear someone say "company ready" I think of how we keep the house looking when it is for sale. The last time we sold a house DH said he didn't know why we couldn't keep the house looking like this all the time and I laughed and laughed and then laughed some more. He has never met an open space he doesn't cover in paper, books, coins, keys, electronic devices, blue prints, specs, etc.
I do keep the clutter down and have worked to keep the public rooms clean and neat and taught my kids that, but I'm sitting in our family room with blankets and pillows tossed on the couch, four laundry baskets of clean & folded clothes waiting to be taken to bedrooms and dogs toys scattered on the floor. I know a friend in dropping by in a few minutes and she will see it all. If we were having friends over for dinner the laundry would be removed, blankets folded and dog toys put in their basket. Going from a little messy to company ready wouldn't take more than 15-20 minutes, but it wouldn't be antiseptic, white glove clean.
I'm always a little stunned when I see TV shows like Love It or List It with clothes and stuff piled high everywhere and over everything and assume those scenes are staged for dramatic contrast to the reveal at the end.
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Post by bearmom on May 31, 2015 19:23:17 GMT
I have a lab and it is spring, enough said.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Oct 7, 2024 5:15:26 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2015 19:26:41 GMT
My house is acceptable but rarely company ready. My kitchen may not always be spotless thanks to not enough cupboards and counter space. The animals shed and I may have not swept yet that day. My sewing table is in the living room and is the first thing you see when you step in my house. That is rarely clean as I'm always working on something. I always have a knitting project or two laying around. But you can walk into my house without gagging or stepping on something. The trash is not overflowing. The floors are clean despite some animal hair that haven't gotten swept up that day. Depending on when you come over, the dishes are done or at least stacked up, ready to be washed. The bathroom is wiped down daily. It will always pass an inspection by CPS. If we're expecting company, the dishes are done, the floor is swept, the couch is vacuumed, and my crafting stuff is put away. I had a friend who used threats of calling cps if she didn't think your house was clean enough. She ended with very very friends who would invite her over.
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Post by MichyM on May 31, 2015 19:38:59 GMT
I am pretty meticulous and even I can't imagine living a life where my house is company ready ALL THE TIME. I live alone, so my place is picked up, but if I'm in the middle of a project, or have had an especially busy few days then no, it's not really company ready. But...oh well. I figure others have seen worse! The bane of my existence is cat hair. I have two indoor only cats (have a third floor condo)...so there is no where for all their fur to go but on the floor ;( and yes, I do brush them regularly!
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Post by betsy on May 31, 2015 19:57:49 GMT
We had "surpr" dinner guests yesterday. I found out at 3:30 that they'd be here at 6:30. I had enough time to clean everything I intended to, switch laundry, shower (id been weeding outside when I found out they'd be coming) and make a pesto pasta dish before they got here. We grilled, and DH took care of the shopping. So it took about two hours to get company ready. Not bad, considering I have two small kids and work fulltime.
I'd say my house is usually ok if people are just dropping in, but if we're expecting company, I need a couple hours to get it all truly presentable.
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Post by anxiousmom on May 31, 2015 20:06:45 GMT
I had a friend who used threats of calling cps if she didn't think your house was clean enough. She ended with very very friends who would invite her over. Way back in the early days of my divorce, my ex used to do the same thing. He was (is) one of those people who a single piece of paper on a counter top made someone the equivalent to a person on an episode of Hoarders and would constantly berate me for not being clean enough. No one, and I mean no one could live up to his expectations of what he thought clean should be. Unfortunately-that is the standard that I still have in my psyche for what is considered 'company ready.'
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Post by myshelly on May 31, 2015 20:20:21 GMT
Yes.
I have lots of friends who live within a block or two and they drop by frequently. We have company almost daily.
I just don't feel like it's that hard to keep my house looking the way I want it to look. There's a place for everything and everything goes in its place. You use it and then put it back in its place.
We have kids, so there are toys out in the playroom sometimes. But our kids are very neat and I don't have trouble getting them to pick up after themselves.
There's just not really a reason that our house ever gets messy. It's not really something I have to stress about, it's simply our way of life.
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purplebee
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,792
Jun 27, 2014 20:37:34 GMT
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Post by purplebee on May 31, 2015 20:26:52 GMT
Hahahaha! Nope, not a chance...but it is picked up, and dishes are usually done. Dusted and vacuumed? Occasionally but not every other day. I wish I could be a bit OCD about housework, but there are just too many other things to occupy my time. Off to find the reading thread!
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Post by mom23sweetpeas on May 31, 2015 20:37:44 GMT
No , no, no! It is hardly company ready! We both work have three kids that are encouraged to clean after themselves but don't always and look after an aging parent. we are very rarely company ready
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wasil
Full Member
Posts: 354
Location: Iowa
Aug 3, 2014 12:59:34 GMT
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Post by wasil on May 31, 2015 20:44:34 GMT
That depends on who is "company".
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Post by PEArfect on May 31, 2015 21:01:11 GMT
I would say no, but my guests would probably say yes. I always get comments about how clean and organized my house is. I still have areas that need to be organized, so it's a work in progress. In my opinion the more organized your house is, the more time you can spend doing other things. Instead of say wasting time looking for something for several minutes or even hours. A place for everything, and everything in its place. I don't understand the mentality that if your house is clean then you have no life. If my house was messy and unorganized (bordering a Hoarders episode) it would stress me out and depress me. I spend maybe 3 hours a week deep cleaning my house. The rest of the time it's just cleaning up after ourselves and putting things back where they belong when we're done using them.
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Post by 950nancy on May 31, 2015 21:10:18 GMT
My house is almost always picked up and looks tidy (top two levels are), but we have two dogs and two kids and it certainly isn't always clean. That is my compromise. It has to look clean, but I can go for a long time without cleaning certain rooms. My husband vacuums, grocery shops, cleans the bathrooms, mops the floors, and does the yard work, so all of those things done by another person in the house really make it much easier to keep up with the rest of the stuff.
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finaledition
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,896
Jun 26, 2014 0:30:34 GMT
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Post by finaledition on May 31, 2015 21:13:49 GMT
My house is clean most of the time, but I feel like my number chore is picking up. So given 5 minutes notice I could throw all the stuff that is left out into a closet and most people would be impressed. Does my home look like it's ready for an open house? No, not that perfect, but I don't think company would feel comfortable in a home in that condition.
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Post by originalvanillabean on May 31, 2015 21:14:28 GMT
For the most part yes. Although lately.....with all the rain and two dogs...not as nice as I would like it. We don't have any rain scheduled for the next 7 days (woo-hoo!) so I am looking forward to getting back to normal.
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*Sara*
Shy Member
Posts: 10
Jun 25, 2014 23:01:51 GMT
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Post by *Sara* on May 31, 2015 21:18:37 GMT
No, but then again, that's not a life goal for DH or me.
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Post by sues on May 31, 2015 21:18:53 GMT
Threads like this baffle me... and make me a little sad. Who ever defined company-ready to be "perfect?" If you truly believe that company-ready means antiseptically clean and not one single item out of place, then I can't imagine you ever let anyone into your house. I clean my house. I tidy up. I try to stay on top of most household chores. But short of a concerted effort for a big-deal event, it's rarely ever perfect. But we have people over anyway. We love to have friends for dinner. Neighbors stop by. Family comes over. If there's a pile of mail out because I've been handling correspondance and paying bills, it's okay. If I just pulled clothes out of the dryer to fold and you stop by, it's okay. If my son's Lego project is half-built on the coffee table, it's okay. And if I go to your house and it looks like that, it's okay, too. Maybe we need to re-define our idea of company-ready. It could be a lot less stressful that way. Dear God- thank you. I haven't read the whole thread (just the first page) and it had me thinking 'Company ready does not necessarily = perfection." I mean- if I'm having a big party and I have a bunch of time to prepare, yes- I strive to attend to every last detail. But regular 'come on over' or drop in visits- yes. My house is usually good; not to be confused with perfect. I don't think having a house in good order/not wanting to be embarrassed by the state of things = 'cleaning for other people'. I like my house to be reasonably orderly. I like my car to be reasonably orderly. It's a source of stress/uneasiness if it's not. I don't strive for perfection. I can almost always vacuum/mop/dust somewhere. I often have laundry folded on the DR table, waiting to be distributed. But I do not have piles of crap all over. Things are mostly where they belong. Like someone on page 1 said- I like to pick up a little before I go to bed. It seems like I never leave a room without grabbing something that needs to be put back somewhere else. It helps keep mayhem at bay. BUT- I will also tell you that I can start a weekend with everything in its place, dusted, vacuumed and swept- and the simple addition of my family after school/work tends to make common rooms look like a bomb went off. It drives me crazy. I only judge myself on the state of my house though. I don't judge other people on the state of theirs. In fact, I consider it a compliment if someone lets me come over when the house isn't all put together. It means they trust me not to judge them about it. That said- I know someone who lives in a constant state of chaos at home. When she was due to host our monthly Bunco game, she had to take two days off work to get it reasonably clean. Even so, in the end she had her kids (not little kids) stashing big piles of stuff in laundry baskets that got stacked in their bedrooms with the doors closed until Bunco was over. She was dreading going through it to put it all away, and said ' It will all be back to shit before the weekend is up, anyway'. That made me wonder how she stands it... the constant state of chaos. She said she hated it and always had plans to change- she just never actually did it. I don't judge her for it- I just don't get it.
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Post by peasful1 on May 31, 2015 21:54:49 GMT
Most of the time. Especially every other Tuesday after the cleaning lady comes.
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Post by kelbel827 on May 31, 2015 21:56:27 GMT
Hell no. Anyone who knows me doesn't care either.
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tincin
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,378
Jul 25, 2014 4:55:32 GMT
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Post by tincin on May 31, 2015 21:58:00 GMT
You're so funny. Not even, although most days it is tidy enough I wouldn't be embarrassed, there are days I wouldn't let you past my front door.
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Post by airforcemomof1 on May 31, 2015 22:15:26 GMT
Most of the time but not if they could see my closets! I live alone so it's not too hard to keep it clean.
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Post by gar on May 31, 2015 22:28:49 GMT
Are we talking superficially tidy or deep cleaned? It's tidy on the whole but looking a little deeper, do I scrub the skirting boards/wash the kitchen cabinet doors/clean the windows often enough for some? No.
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