What gets you in the mood.......

[Alice]

I don't think anybody likes it, BUT, I can't stand a mess.
When I had a cleaner I knew what I expected her to do and the time she should do it in.
Now I just set myself the same targets.
It's amazing what you can do in half an hour a day if you just get on with it - or in a 2 hour blitz.
I get everything ready for the job in hand, put the music of the day on, and say GO !
Abracadabra - everything's shining bright. Then I can relax without the thought of mess nagging at me. Maybe I'm sad, but it's the only way for me - and the music's good.

[JanieB]

Absolutely nothing. I might have a mighty turnout when the house gets to a level below my (very low) standards of cleanliness.

At the moment the house needs a mighty turnout .

[lynda66]

i can't stand mess either, so i just walk round with my eyes shut ...... wish i didn't get so many bruises falling over stuff though ..... anyway i have an excuse, my hoover belt broke and errrrr the polish ran out and errrrr the cat ate all the cleaning cloths, and errrr my sister got all my cleaning genes.

actually i did think about it the other day, when sons g/f said, if you ask the telly people, you can get kim and aggie to come round, i said it's not that bad, she said yes it is ...... whoopssss.

I can definitely say the kitchen is much better now i can hide my unwashed dishes in the dish washer

[Alice]

I'll go with you on the dishwasher bit Lynda. Nothing like it for keeping the kitchen tidy - and the dishes sparkling.

[bubblewrap]

what's housework??

Ditto!!!!!

[Dipzy]

It doesn't matter if I spend all weekend cleaning or a quick hours blitz it still looks the same. Like a tornado came through, thanks kids, oh and OH. Drives me mad but I hate a messy house.

[jackie j]

I cant stand housework I would rather be out in the garden or these days at my lottie.
If its raining thats when I do most of the housework ,with a summer like we have had it should sparkle but it doesnt, I need to start decorating but OH isnt in the mood and he tends to go off cycling at the weekends. I dont invite people in then I dont have to do it. Oh well there's always tomorrow, cos today I am going to plant my onion sets.

[SlugLobber]

in Lainey lou's words "lazyitis"!!!

I do beieve Lainey Lou had Lazyitits. Might be age that had something to do with it, hur hur hur!

I did some housework on Sunday. It near killed me. I hoover once every two weeks, but in over a year living here, I haven't cleaned the outside of the windows ONCE. I did think it looked a bit dull on Sunday, so I think I might have to do something. Do you think the hosepipe on the windows would work?!?!?

[Winged one]

I have started to make inroads into the worst of the clutter and mess - by taking one small job and tackling that after work while the toddler eats or plays for 15 minutes. So in 15 minutes, I can clear out 1 drawer of my dresser, or sort through the pile of papers on the worktop, or hoover the sitting room and hall. If the toddler is being quiet, or even better wants to help, I might even get 2 little jobs done.

And I am also trying to make sure that we pick up and put things in their right place a bit more. So if I am going upstairs, I'll bring up any cardigans or stray clothes from the chairs in the dining room (where they land when we arrive home), or bring down the load of laundry rather than having empty hands (even if it's not going to get washed until the following day - just getting it downstairs and into the machine is one less trip I'll have to make).

But if the kitchen is generally clean (worksurfaces and cooker in particular), dishes washed (yay for the dishwasher), bathroom kept reasonably clean and we have clean clothes, then I don't tend to worry overly about the rest of the house. We'll find what we need and in the meantime, get on with life!!

[janeyo]

I quite like cleaning and housework. Just wish I had more time to do it!

Must be weird!

janeyo

don't do ironing though, hate it with a passion, you just get it looking all nice then within 5 mins it's all wrinkly, grrrrrr

[lynda66]

Do you think the hosepipe on the windows would work?!?!?

i got a window scraper, like the window cleaner uses, spray the windows, then scrape the water off, do it twice, gleaming windows, and you also get a clean windowsill and path too

[SlugLobber]

Jane, if you abandon ironing completely, you will overcome this problem. Trust me. I'm a scientist.

[Nicos]

Guilt gets me in the mood

A list and a target time of an hour...and work through the list, in any order , multitasking until the hour is up.
If I'm feeling good about my achievements, then I'll continue until I've had enough!
Nipping onto the Vine as I work helps too!

I've also 'trained' my OH to phone when he's about 10mins from home- and then I run around, flapping and tidying and cooking
...just in time to put on lippy,pearls,best frock and pin up my hair ( as IF...)

[kirsty b]

I look at my home and imagine what my MIL would say!! Don't get me wrong, I do love her, but she is much better at cleaning than me.

My one rule is that I cannot stand for my living room to be trashed. The kitchen always looks like a bombsite as thats where we all enter/exit the house and where most clutter gravitates to.
Weirdly, I like ironing and I'll never be without a dishwasher

[HayleyB]

I actually cleaned yesterday, including washing all the downstairs floors and I finished the ironing, and went around later picking up more dog hair....... Absolutely knackered me