Do you do the entire house? I find it easier to just focus on public areas.

Yes I do! Just me .... :)

I just LOVE to polish it all up 'till it glows -- add special touches and let the magic happen! :)

And YES -- sometimes I just blow the dust off the tables and pour the tea! :) LOL! :)

BOTH approaches to cleaning do work for me .... at different times and for various reasons .....

Natal, I will be having houseguests so it will be more than that. I guess I should get started- but complaining about it on GW seemed like it would be more fun!

When we built our house in 2000 for several years we had to give house tours and the stress of getting everything clean was enormous.
Now, since everyone has seen everything a few times, I don't worry about private areas.

This is an intersting issue to me as I never "close" doors and have areas off limits. If someone wanders into an area that is less than perfect, I don't care anymore.
But in my sil's house, in 16 years, I have never seen their master bedroom which I find a little strange. It's slightly off the kitchen. She closes the door - not because there's anything weird in there (pretty sure!) but simply to not clean/decorate it most likely.
Me, I'm, "come see my new bedspread!".

Teacats, I love your attitude! Much better than mine!

I don't think it needs to be clean-er for other people, but I do like everything to be presented in it's most positive light. But, really, I am that way anyway, every day, indoors and out! If someone is coming over, I don't need to re-invent the wheel, since I try to keep things as nice as possible for DH and I. I'm home full-time, so that's my job!

For women who work outside the home, keeping a house and yard cared for, organized, and clean, laundry done, bills paid, groceries bought, meals cooked, etc., creates a least a second job! I don't know how many women manage it all, even when the holidays aren't looming. I tip my hat to them!

Yes. I will clean to exhaustion, then realize too late that I am less than spic & span: didn't get the hair cut, stains on clothes, etc.

We've had guests recently, and I did a massive purge and some light redecoration beforehand. Our interior is showing the aftermath of raising three sons & having their entourage over on weekends for many years. We don't really have furnishings anymore, it's more like debris! :)

teacats, blowing the dust off then serving tea -- LOL!

I invite people over in order to motivate myself to really clean house!

Ah terri, you've revealed our family's cleaning secret : )

I've come a long way over the years. This time of year - I do a big cleaning - before the holidays. It's just something I want to do, I like everything all spiffied up before the holiday decorations. Since I'm hosting Thanksgiving, that works out well too. I don't do it all at once. I tackle specifc chores in the weeks before. Today I'm cleaning bathrooms and bedrooms - which is a weekly thing anyway. Well, I only clean our bedroom weekly - rooms that are not used by us frequently stay clean longer LOL. Tomorrow I'll probably be finishing up great room/dining room and kitchen which just need dusting and floors done. The table linens are ready. I've made cornbread this morning for the dressing and Wednesday I will do most of my cooking.

I will have one room closed - which is not the norm for us - but we have been working on our office/den and the room is torn apart. Literally.

Our house is not huge and it's just the two of us, so it's fairly easy to keep things clean around here. Don't wear yourself out. Do the necessary things and then sit back and enjoy the time with family and friends.

tina

tina, you're so efficient and organized!

When my kids were younger and we still had carpets in the house, if I was vacuuming they would ask me who were we having over for dinner.

Now that we have reno'd the house and deliberately made it easier to keep clean (no more carpets, all undermount sinks, all taps are just one spout, purged all the junk cluttering the place up, etc) I no longer have to take a toothbrush to the house or spend an entire morning dusting and I actually clean it more often.

No, I don't fuss with cleaning. I choose to believe that my guests are happy to see me and enjoy the food & other company so that they don't notice any less than sparkling areas. If my standards aren't high enough for them then they can decline future invites. So far, that hasn't happened so I guess it's all good.

Since it's just 2 of us without pets, I keep the house in reasonable good shape all the time, with the assistance of a cleaning lady every other week. As luck would have it, she's scheduled for Wednesday so the house will look the best it ever gets.

My SIL says she likes to entertain but she doesn't create a relaxing atmosphere. She must wash & put away every single dish & utensil immediately following the meal. Between getting it ready and the instant clean up, there is hardly any time to visit with her. She even vacuums the DR rug once we all adjourn to the LR after dinner. That can't wait until we go home? Then she is surprised that we get our coats and leave.

At my house, in her effort to be helpful, she cleared the table of the creamer & sugar bowl before people finished their coffee. And the real kicker was she said was helping because she was bored. Oh my, how nice. Sorry your family isn't more entertaining.

Oh Nancy - not really! LOL

To be honest, I am pretty organized - it's just me. It also makes a difference that we don't have children. I feel much the same way as Stinky and try to keep things in good order at all times. Friends and family are in and out. Plus, I like a clean house! But, I also have a bit of hhireno's mindset - if my house is not clean enough, then stay home! LOL!!! My MIL is obsessed with her house and yard being perfect. I won't lie and say it doesnt' stress me a bit. But, it's our home, if it's not up to her standards, she doesn't have to visit.

"For women who work outside the home, keeping a house and yard cared for, organized, and clean, laundry done, bills paid, groceries bought, meals cooked, etc., creates a least a second job! I don't know how many women manage it all, even when the holidays aren't looming. I tip my hat to them!" I do work - thankfully not 5 days a week though. I also help my dad and my grandmother. My secret - MY HUSBAND. He's always helped me. It's a team effort. Things wouldn't run so well if he didn't help.

tina

PS Nancy - you haven't seen the office/den!! Remember - that door will be closed LOL.

hhireno, I have a SIL a bit like that. She finds cleaning & organizing relaxing, so I think the stress of entertaining makes her urge for order & efficiency kick into high gear. She does have a beautiful CLEAN home though!

When I do have a big gathering, I do the deep cleaning a week in advance since it's just dh and myself. I use a swiffer wand duster and vacuum the night before, and the morning I use a dry mop on the wood floor to pick up the latest dust.

I remember wating until the day before to do the cleaning because I was afraid things would get dirty. Boy, was I wrong.

Saying that, I'm glad the TG hosting has been passed to the DIL. :)

Oakley you mentioned that on another thread how you were glad you no longer hosted. It is some work, but I love hosting our families and have them all here around us. Especially as our families are getting smaller :-(

Maybe you could help your DIL out - I'm sure she has her hands full with work and 2 small children. Hats off to her!!

Tina, you do sound very organized, and even though you work "just" part-time, you're still juggling a lot!

Hhireno, you sound like my mom when I was growing up! She'd say, "People are not coming to see my house, they are coming to see me!"

Brings to mind the time when a prominent person in Bethlehem's historic area hosted a Christmas party that I attended several years ago. Her gorgeous old house looked very nice. It was certainly reasonably clean, but it didn't frankly, have that super shiny, someone-spent-days-cleaning sort of feel.

So what! The atmosphere was cozy, welcoming and fun. The food was marvelous, and our hostess was gracious and wonderful as she always was. At the end of the day, a good time had been had by all, and several years later, I still have warm memories of the occasion.

Let's say the house had been lots cleaner than it was. Would that have added more specialness to the event? I don't think so.

Remember that, Nance!

I've been known to invite people over to inspire cleaning but it's also because I don't want to waste a clean house on just us!

Yes! I'm a bit of a clean freak so the house is almost always clean anyway. Before people come, I will make sure furniture is dusted and floors vacuumed in public areas and all bathrooms cleaned. For Thanksgiving when there are probably going to be people staying over, all the bedrooms also need to be clean and clean sheets on the beds in the guest rooms.

On Thanksgiving, I do clean up all the dinner dishes before dessert. People need a bit of a break anyway after the many appetizers and large dinner. Everyone helps -- I load the dishwasher and wash all the pots/pans/platters (though I've started using throw away pans for cooking all the sides. Makes it so much easier). Others put all the left overs in containers and in the fridge. Then dessert. Then people leave. Then I clean up all the dessert dishes and put away the desserts (and there are a lot of them! Usually bake 9-10 different things). Then we move all the tables and chairs back where they go and I vacuum the entire downstairs, and mop all the floors. It's exhausting and I go to bed very late, but I need to come down to a clean house on Friday morning so I can enjoy my relaxing do nothing but eat left overs day. As much as I enjoy Thursday, I think I enjoy Friday even more!

Still cleaning. Cleaning now. Wish gardenweb had podcasts. Cleaning.

Nope just the basics. I keep up with things daily, and by keeping the house organized, it is an easy clean before we have guests.

I will do the bathrooms on Wednesday nite, and make sure all of the furniture and DR chairs are vacuumed and pet hair free. Set up the table and buffet to a point. Vacuum & dust all downstairs rooms, and wipe up the kitchen and hallway/pantry area floors before our guests arrive on Thursday.

However, I am still working on the laundry that was generated by DD's surprise visit this past weekend.

With it being just the two of us, the house stays pretty clean. I don't close off any rooms when we have guests. It is family and close friends, so if something happens to appear not so perfect, oh well. As long as the bathrooms and kitchen are really clean, and no visible pet hair on the furniture or floors, I'm good.

The big clean will come Thursday nite after everyone leaves, and Friday morning before I do my tree.

My cleaning lady usually decides to put a little more effort before Thanksgiving, which I greatly appreciate.

I just make sure that the cat didn't leave a dead bird at the front door, dog hair is off the furniture, table is oiled, chairs dusted and double check to make sure there are no cobwebs in the chandelier.

kellyeng, it is kind of embarrassing when everyone is seated around the table, and you look up and see cobwebs in the dining room chandelier, and hope no one else notices!

Kelly (dead bird) and Kiki (pod cast) - you are cracking me up!

Glad you chimed in Work - I was feeling a bit odd man out re the organization. It really does help!

tina

Nope. My house stays relatively clean and tidy except for the office. I just close that door. If someone peeks in, fine with me. I've never said I was perfect and the messy office will underline that fact. I do move my pile of current reading material to a storage tub in the garage, but more to free up the counter space than because I don't want the pile to be seen.

If I didn't have cat/dog hairs, I wouldn't have to clean to the degree that I do. It's an easy problem solver, but I can't imagine my life w/o the (((little buggers)))! ;o)

I always mop the floor after people leave and not before.

My house is usually in pretty good order but if people are coming over I'll make a point to be sure everything is in it's proper place. You know, no mail stack still sitting on the hutch, etc. When it's just us I try not to let myself get too carried away with everything being "perfect" all the time.

My biggest fight is cat hair. The cats have claimed the chair in the LR and no matter how much I sweep and lint roll, there always seems to be at least a little hair somewhere on it. One time during a gathering DH's Grandfather got up from the chair and there was a kitty fuzz wad right on his rump! Awesome. They've never said anything rude but I know they're not believers of animals in the house.
I love my cats and will always have animals but I sometimes dream of what it would be like to live all the time in a hair free home! :)

I'm exhausted cleaning, the house is behind on so much. This is not my norm and will not happen again. The windows are not going to happen...ugh, and weather is going to be beautiful looking through them.

I need to get back to my daily once every week. Loved cleaning to see so many dear to my heart items which are sometimes forgotten.

Not getting behind on cleaning is the best option. Then it is only floors and dusting.

My DH has always thought I was nuts for going nuts before having guests, now I can just show him this thread and he'll see, I'm not out of the norm!!!

Add me to the list! Although, this year, I'm being not quite so uptight about it as last year.

DH helps some, he decluttered his computer area yesterday and did a big yard spruce up over the weekend, but I feel like I've been cleaning and prepping for weeks.

Next year I'm sending the table linens out to be pressed. I don't know why I never think of this until I'm in the middle of ironing my 3rd or 4th banquet-sized tablecloth. It's not difficult or tiring, but takes me hours to get the linens all done, and it feels like such a waste of time!

Shee, we have multiple cats, so I feel your pain. I washed one of the slipcovers a week or two ago, and see that's it's covered in hair again, so it's going in the wash today. My own daily tolerance for stray fur is much higher than it is for guests.

every time!!! i wish i was one of those people who kept their house clean and uncluttered all the time!!! would make entertaining alot less stressful!!

I only make sure the bathrooms are clean before having guests anytime. If the wood floor needs vacuumed, I do that. Since I have someone clean the house (every two weeks) it doesn't get too bad. Kids running in and out, the floor gets dirty pretty quick! I ALWAYS clean the bathrooms AFTER people leave too, the germaphobe I am!

I used to wash the tablecloths after Thanksgiving and then iron the next year before using. No more! Now I send them to the cleaners. So so so much easier. They come back clean AND pressed and on hangers. I hang in the extra closet in the foyer and they are good to go next year.

I do still wash the napkins, but that's not so bad.

olliesom - woman after my own heart! I clean the bathrooms before and after our guests too.

Yes -- I do admit freely that I make darn sure that the bathrooms are clean and tidy ... along with leaving an extra roll of toilet tissue in sight and a pretty room spray .... (ahem ....LOL!) ... as well as checking that the liquid soap container is full and ready ....

:)

I had grand plans to dig deep into cleaning...and then got the worst attack of vertigo I've had yet. This (*#^ vertigo started a couple of years ago. Every 6 months or so I get the wobblies and boy does it knock me out.

So, instead of cleaning madly I've been taking it easy. Which is not such a bad thing, except that tomorrow I *must* get going on at least getting the house into decent viewable shape for guests. Forget the details, I still haven't cleaned bathrooms or even the back patio.

Oy.

Ann

Speaking of cleaning bathrooms, I had a pretty room spray .... (ahem ....LOL!) in the powder room. I suspect it is the cause of the shiny spots all over the painted part of the wall. I can't wipe them off and if I rub hard enough all I get is paint smudges on my cloth. I never had the spots before leaving that spray in there. Does anyone else have this problem? Do you think a primer will cover them so they don't show up again when I repaint? Right now the paint is a very dark green but that shouldn't matter. Maybe I'll have to go to a polka dot theme to work with them instead of against them. Any suggestions?

Hhireno, you might try mixing some white vinegar and warm water in a spray bottle. Spritz the solution on the stains and wipe quickly. The other thing that's good on soiled walls is a pre-treat spray like Spray N'Wash. Again, spray and wipe quickly to avoid streaks.

Good luck! Failing cleaning it off, yes, I think priming and painting will definitely solve the problem.

For those with cat~~don't ya just have to laugh when your guest(s) get up to leave and their backside is completely covered in cat fur? I usually end up giving them a 'roll down'. LOL

My mom relates a story about one of the other mom's on the block (who just happened to be one of the nicest people I've ever known), laughing when my mom told her she had to get going on cleaning the house because she was having a party. This mom said, " Honey, you clean up after the party, not before."

Unfortunately, I'm a knock myself out cleaning type. And we don't have a guest bath on the main floor, so I also (feel I) have to clean the bedrooms up stairs.

OH, Patty, you just described my worst nightmare! I live in fear of that very scenario. People often don't realize how much hair cats leave behind. It's nearly impossible to keep all furniture fur free. I try, but I really can't do it. The stairwell is a real fur trap. I clean the stairs daily, but I could stand to do so thrice daily! It's incredible.

I am a crazy cleaner. I have a powder room downstairs that is not very private, so I offer guests the upstairs full bath as well. That means everything must be clean, up and down. I end up tossing a lot of stuff in my bedroom walk-in closet. That's one spot no one needs to see.

My son and his GF are coming to visit in December. This is the first time I am meeting her. I am practically redecorating!!

Dog hair story -- one time my friend drove us to an orchestra concert in the city. She had two black labs. We were all covered with black hair by the time we arrived. It was awful!

One good thing about being in a book club is that we meet at my house a few times during the year and that makes me give the downstairs an extra good cleaning.

Ah yes -- the ever-present and lurking cat hair problem! :)

I can clean very throughly -- and by the time that I open the door for guests -- there are cat hair "tumbleweeds" rolling down the hall (I think that the cats hide them until just the right moment and then release them to create evil stares from me ..... LOL!)

Yes -- I have "rolled down" (LOL!) a guest or two for cat hair leftovers -- but most guests here already have a few of their own! :)