The whole house for people who are staying overnight. Mostly just the downstairs otherwise, but I do make sure the upstairs is presentable. All bedrooms are upstairs

cooper8828, did we work together? LOL! I clean prior to traveling, too. I can just visualize the police coming to the house to investigate thinking, "Geez, she was a slob!" I also don't want to come home to a mess.

Our house is quite tidy to begin with, but I do make sure every room is extra clean before there are guests.

The whole house.

And I clean before going away as well. Mainly because I don't want to come home to a dirty house!

I have 700 sf and clean the whole thing.

Like everyone else, a small house that i clean completely

;)

I pretty well keep my small house clean, but will kinda pick stuff up and put away. I clean the whole house after company. ;)

Moni

If you watch Dateline you see a lot of messy houses that they go in after a crime. At night I always straighten up the house before bed. I tease my husband saying maybe Dateline will show up. As for your question, I usually have a pretty clean house but would run the sweeper and clean bathrooms if expecting company.

It depends on how long it's been since the last time I cleaned and whether or not the guests have been to my house before. New visitors typically want a tour of the place so I like it all to be presentable. If it's not been long, then I will do a refresh on the public spaces. But if it's been awhile, then I use company as an excuse/incentive to clean the whole place. The lower level is cleaned infrequently as it's used infrequently and the guest room isn't cleaned until I know the guests are coming and then the whole room gets a thorough job.

It's also seasonal...in spring when the maples are blooming, it's a constant dusting to get rid of the yellow pollen, and in the winter we use the woodstove a lot which means more frequent cleaning.

Yes the whole thing.

Main rooms and hallway bathroom. I don't even use most rooms now, except my bedroom, the kitchen and my bathroom. I hate to see what my living room looks like with the dust because I don't go in there it gets dusted very infrequently. I do have company coming for Christmas, my daughter invited a friend for dinner. My son is also coming home for about five days, so will be cleaning this weekend since I have it off. I have to sweep frequently because of all the dog hair that accumulates but don't deep clean like I used to when I was younger. I really need to clean the walls. Haven't done that in a while.

The whole house; and yes, my family thinks its crazy. But did we ever come home to week old garbage? No :) The sad thing for me, is that no matter how much I think I have cleaned, guests seem to find something. Like the time they rearranged my furniture for a game--moved the sofa, and yes, I HAD NOT VACUUMED UNDER THE SOFA for a couple weeks (young kids then, so crumbs, toys, etc) I was mortified. Sigh.

I have cleaning help and the entire house gets cleaned every other week. I’m having her tomorrow but having her come back again next week as my son is coming for Christmas and I do have dogs - always hair and still leaves a as well. My house is always picked up - can’t abide an untidy house.

I do not clean the whole house, and I try to keep it clean enough for our own purposes that that should be sufficient for guests. My guests don't care, and I spend most of the time with my guests in the back yard, as that is the best area for entertaining. I do try to keep that area clean for guests, and that is where I concentrate my efforts. Our back yard is fully lit, and it is a better (and larger) entertaining space that anything inside my house. You can even see our TV from the back yard, if that is what you really want to do. Today it is was 77° in the afternoon, and it was 55° this morning for a low, but most of the time it is a comfortable temperature outdoors here.

I'm the same as Anglo. But when I didn't have my cleaners, I always felt I wanted the whole house cleaned.

If company comes on their off week, I do a quick go through.

I clean the whole house, but like chocolatesnap, it never fails, someone always seems to find something I missed. Oh, and I clean before we go anywhere too, mostly because I like to come home to a clean house too.

"I used to have a coworker who cleaned her whole house anytime she was going out on the road, even for a day trip. She said if she died in a car wreck, she didn't want anyone to think she was a slob! :) "

I can remember something my sister read to me quite a few years ago. From what she was reading I do not know (magazine or newspaper article, etc.). But, essentially it was about a woman who returned home after being out shopping, only to find that there were several police cars in front of her house and a policeman was stopping folks from going near the house. The woman explained to the officer that it was her house, and he cautioned her before entering, saying something to the effect that whomever had broken in had completely trashed the place. The woman braced herself for what she'd see, but when she walked in she thought to herself, "Gee, it looks exactly as it did when I left this morning!"

"It's kind of along the lines of not wearing dirty undies in case one gets in an accident."

When I was in high school in southern California (I graduated in 1967), Wink Martindale had the morning radio show on KFWB, which my sister and I would listen to while we were getting ready for school. One day Wink said several times during his show, "remember, kids, it's ratty underwear day." We had no idea what he meant. Finally, he explained that when the weather was really awful, you should wear your rattiest underwear so you'd be extra careful to not get into an accident because you wouldn't want folks to see your ratty underwear. He'd repeat the "ratty underwear day" phrase every time it would rain. That has always stuck with me.

I would surface clean the whole house and deep clean the bathrooms and kitchen. My house stays relatively clean and tidy, but there are areas like my desk that get pretty untidy and dusting is always needed in every room because the windows stay open year-round.

With only 2900 sq ft all on one level, we keep our house 'clean enough' day to day. If I were having a party these days, I'd hire help to polish it up another notch. In my younger years I'd do that myself.

My Dutch-American friend says a home should not be larger/grander than its occupants can clean personally. The reasoning is as much a mater of propriety as frugality -- and probably has some origins in the struggle for land against the sea.

I always said, the only way to get my house clean was to invite my mother over. :)

We rarely entertain, but when we did I would clean the downstairs and make sure the hall bath upstairs was good. Bedroom doors were closed.

We used to have a big party at the holidays. One year early on, we had been in that last minute crush of getting the food ready, showering, etc. Our bedroom was a tornado of cast-off clothing, wet towels, etc. I strictly told my DH, NOBODY goes upstairs. So of course during the middle of the party, I see him coming down the stairs with one of his coworkers. I hissed "what are you doing?????" and he shrugged "well, she wanted to see the place." I was mortified.

the whole house minus the kids rooms, they have to do that.

i keep up with the big stuff, so mostly its a go-over.

i always clean whole house before going away.. i want to come home to clean house and i tell the kids, " i want the house exactly the way i left it :)"

they are all in their 20's.....

When we were little, we had a neighbourhood family who had the nicest mom ever - just an all round lovely person. When my mom would be stressing about cleaning up the house for a party, this neighbour always joked, "you don't clean up before the party, you clean up after it!". Her housekeeping wasn't perfect, but she did throw the best parties.

I've always cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms, and the areas where people will sit and congregate. I keep people out of the upstairs bedrooms simply by closing the doors. If they only knew, that's where i have my laundry and gifts and "clutter" s'tashed!

It used to be my incentive to get the whole house cleaned and I entertained a lot. Now, I entertain more than most my friends, but not so much and just clean the downstairs. I use to clean the whole house when going away. Not so much in case I died, but because it was nice to come home to a sparkling house and felt I had another weeks vacation after I got home. Now, I just tidy up before going away...we don't go away that often anymore, either. I have a friend that says you only have to clean the rooms people will be in alone. :-))))

Yes, almost what you would call a spring cleaning. That is why I want a heads up notice if people come to my house. I will hire two or three ladies who will help me get it in tip top shape. I clean walls, ceilings, carpet etc. I will make sure our gardens are good and lawn is in tip top shape. When we were first married my husband ask me if I wanted the whole "damn" house painted inside and out. LOL. But his mother and dad were coming from out of state and I wanted to give a first good impression! I am not as bad as I use to be though.

I recall being told as a young girl that a lady never left her house with the bed not made. It stayed with me and I never have. But I wondered why? So as not to offend burglars?

For non family, or not really close friends, the entire main floor will be 'company ready' as well as the upstairs hallway and upstairs bathroom, which will have the door left open. That's in case the main floor powder room is occupied. But the bedroom doors upstairs will all be closed, unless the guests are staying overnight. It just gives me less rooms to prettify when expecting company. For close family and close friends, the house is tidy, but not spotless, because I'm more relaxed, lol!

I clean public areas and guest room and guest bathrooms. The upstairs is mainly the kid's domain. It may or may not be clean. I put nude Renoir paintings in my bedroom. I find that tends to keep people out. Lol!

We tend to keep the whole house clean and presentable all the time with the daily living areas more 'lived in' than the spare bedrooms (3) and baths (2). All I really have to do when company is coming is put fresh sheets on the beds, towels in the bathrooms, and flowers in the vases.

I do a brief sweeping, dusting, wipe down of surfaces every week or so then close the door to keep the cat out. (The doors are all opened when guests are expected.) It takes about fifteen to thirty minutes a week per room. I'd rather do that than have to break a sweat when company is coming.

We also spend more time on the outdoor areas prior to a gathering.

I'm in a condo so it's pretty small...I don't have company over often and if it is it's family. I had company or family over for dessert one evening and had everything picked up nice and neat. I was rather proud of myself. After they left I went into the bathroom and the mirror was a mess...I had wiped it real quick with a towel but meant to go back and never did. It was all smudgy and gross!!

I think about that too. If something happened to me, I should tell DD to pick up before they let anyone in the house. LOL

It is sanitary but not necessarily all picked up after. I am still moving in. I don't have the other dressers here yet, nor all the bookshelves. Sorry, Charlie, but yes, the public areas are fine but there are still (sanitary) piles of things in the back rooms that need to be housed as soon as I can. If it bothers you... not my problem.

The WHOLE house?

Probably need a WHOLE month!

o j

The front entrance and the upstairs. Downstairs is the recroom, DH's office and laundry room and they do not get cleaned.We live upstairs and it all gets cleaned.

Just like Cooper said, clean the whole house. Oh and wear clean underwear in case of that accident.

I used to clean until everything was picture perfect. Then one day my DH said that I was so stressed about the impression we’d make that entertaining just wasn’t fun for him. That hurt but I could see he was right.

After that, I changed the way the house was cleaned routinely by keeping it presentable all the time and that’s really made a big difference. It’s just the two of us, we pick up after ourselves anyways and he helps me with the extra cleaning, so it’s not hard. The basement is a whole ‘nother story. Even though they always say it’s not as bad as I think it is, I cringe when anyone has to go down there, service people included.

When my kids were young and life was really hectic house cleaning usually took a back seat to other things and I only did a really good cleaning when we were having friends over which in those days was actually quite frequent. But, I knew the kids had picked up on my rather erratic house cleaning when I was vacuuming the living room one day and they wanted to know who was coming over.

I clean the whole house because I don't want to track any dust into the cleaned areas and dust allergies are so common. Years ago I learned that 30 minutes of cleaning a day will keep the house fairly clean.

I laugh about the clean underwear, I spent a lot of time in the ER back when I worked in hospitals and no one cared about the condition of the patients underwear. If the wreck is bad enough to go to an ER the underwear will be covered in blood (or other things) so who could tell what the original condition was...

I do clean as much as I can which will be the whole house - and it seems that is when I tend to notice that I've not wiped down a door frame recently, or see little splatters on upper cabinets that I may have missed in my weekly wipedown. But, my house is small and I do keep up with the dusting and vacuuming. Not the basement, that place is a disaster zone (but slowly becoming less so as I sort through my parents' remaining belongings and let go of some of my own.)

Always want to have the house clean and tidy, dishes washed and put away, laundry done, before I go away on a trip - both "just in case" and even more because it is relaxing to return to a clean, neat house.

I put on clean underwear just in case even knowing what can happen during an accident.

And I do clean the whole house but I wish I could clean everywhere. That would include in cupboards and everything as I get a bit obsessive at times. Probably that's I why I don't get enough cooking done until the last minute whenever I have guests.

It's been a little better lately. DH is liking the little Dyson vac and I am able to get the dishes done after breakfast which has always been difficult when we both leave at 6 am after walking the dogs.

If it's just my book club meeting here, I only pick up downstairs because I know no one is going upstairs. If it's a larger gathering, I clean the whole house, especially because I have to put the coats upstairs. I recently got a cleaning person and I am wondering why I waited so long.

Yes, everything gets cleaned before guests arrive. I wish I could/would keep it looking that way all the time. Ah, a new goal to set for myself! This will be a challenge, for sure.

I tend to invite people over spontaneously so I have learned to not worry about it. Friends don’t care, life is short. That said, I should clarify that I am clutter phobic and my version of untidy is probably many people’s quite neat.

Clean before a trip? Well, a few years ago I was overwhelmed with getting ready for a long European trip to visit family. I just could not see that I'd have time to give everything a going over before I left. I asked my neighbour who occasionally cleans for me to come in after I left and really clean the first floor, kitchen, floors, everything. I left 50 dollars and told her to tell me if it took longer than usual, I'd top it up. Well I came back a couple of months later. Oh the house looked so nice. I was glad I asked Amelia to do that -- but she hadn't taken the money. You guessed it -- she forgot to come in and clean. The house was the way I'd left it! (and I am not not not saying that I'm so tidy. It just wasn't as bad as I thought when I'd left.)

We keep the place pretty much clean and picked up most of the time. Every week or two we give the whole house a basic once over. DH hates clutter and dust or messes so he does a lot of the cleaning. What I hate is company dropping by unexpectedly. I like advance notice so maybe straighten up the kitchen and run a dust cloth around. That was the way I was raised, to have the house spic and span for visitors. My sister and I had to help our mom clean the whole house every Saturday morning as our weekly chore. I do close and sometimes lock the master bedroom door. I think of that as my private area and don't like people snooping. That is especially true of the master bath and the medicine cabinet.

I clean the whole house if having a party/event. There always seems to be a couple of wanderers at every event I've hosted. It really bugs me. I would never wander through anyone's house.

Returning to pipe in and say that I always clean the house from top to bottom before we leave on a trip. If something happens to us, no one will be thinking we were slobs (although, the house is usually pretty tidy anyway) and I love, love, love coming home to a clean house. It's like someone upthread said - it's like getting another week of vacation!

Of course, by the time we bring in our luggage, groceries (always go shopping on the way home because no food in the house), mail and whatnot, it looks like a hurricane went through. Unpacking and putting everything away often takes a full day. But, we usually either do our laundry or send it out to be done before we come home. That way, we don't have to do a mountain of laundry when we get home. I always find having to do that after a lovely vacation a real downer.

Funny story. We were having some old friends of my new husband come and stay a couple of days and I was cleaning and he just took his ease and did nothing saying they knew him and how he was such a wreck and who cared, and I lost it. I started shoving everything off the tables on to the floor and threw things about shrieking lets just go ahead and live in a garbage pit and dumped the compost bucket on the floor, well I wasn't totally out of control, I didn't dump the garbage on top though I thought of it. I went to bed and he quietly cleaned it up and since then when I ask for help he says what do you want me to do.

I used to be better, people would tell me I was so organized etc., but I’ve been finding it more difficult these days, there are things I’d frankly rather be doing than cleaning/tidying, I think I might have had more time. I’ve also got a teen who makes messes not picks them up. I will clean before I go esp. in case my neighbour has to come by (she’s got a key). The house has gotten really bad as I was working crazy hours over the summer/fall, so I’m doing another “spring” clean. I knew one mom who had icing on her floor for about a year lol.

patriciae you made me LOL. Wish I had your guts. So many times: "It looks fine." or "They won't care." well then, we should definitely give them something to talk about? Maybe you have given me courage for next time.

Chocolatesnap. I have a very very long fuse but am famous in my family for when I do lose it watch out. I might have a real fit of temper once in ten years. Those people are now my friends too and I would most likely aim for lets make sure no one sticks to the floor these days but they would know that I wanted to clean up and cant.