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14 Things You Need to Start Doing Now for Your Spouse’s Sake

You have no idea how annoying your habits at home can be. We’re here to tell you

Mitchell Parker January 14, 2014

Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative trends, breaking news, industry analysis and humor.

Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative... More

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OK, nobody’s perfect. But seriously, you really need to start putting a new roll of toilet paper on the spindle when it’s out. And you definitely need to start closing the toilet lid, like, 10 years ago. Oh, and I’m pretty sure someone has been telling you to stop throwing your clothes on the floor — next to the hamper, no less! — since long before your hair turned gray.

We asked Houzzers what their biggest bone of contention was with their significant other, and more than a hundred responses have painted a pretty clear picture: We love you, but you’re killing us! “I have been married over three decades. It’s easier to train a puppy,” says Houzz user okdokegal.

Not sure what you’re doing wrong? No worries. We’re here to help. Start doing these 14 things now for your partner, and you’ll be on the road to redemption.

Artistico

Learn where everything is and where everything goes. Oh, you don’t know where the sugar is? Well, I really don’t want to stop whatever I’m doing every time you need something. This is your house, too. How about we schedule some time to do a quick inventory? Or maybe we can label drawers, cabinets and bins for a month until you learn where everything is and goes.

And P.S.: If something is empty, it goes in the trash. Says smartin1: “Eating or drinking the last of anything, then putting the empty container back in the pantry/fridge. Really?!?”

FX Pros, LLC

Close the cabinet doors and drawers. Is our house haunted? Is there a poltergeist? Should I call a young priest and an old priest? If I wanted to see what was behind those cabinet doors, I’d have bought floating shelves.

“I seem to be the only one in the house who can remember to close cabinet doors in the kitchen,” says Houzz user PirateFoxy. “I am considering putting up obnoxiously bright signs about it.”

Agnes Blum

Clean your dishes. Seriously? You’re an adult, and you still pile dirty dishes right on top of the counter? I love you enough to claw your crusty food off a bowl because you left it there overnight, but please, make this stop!

It takes five seconds to scrape, rinse and put a dish in the dishwasher. If the dishwasher is full, please just empty it! But if you don’t have time, or you don’t have a dishwasher, please scrape the plate, rinse it and stack it neatly in the sink with like dishes — stack plates together and bowls together; put utensils together etc.

Mullet Cabinet

Maybe you need two dishwashers?

Brooklyn Limestone

My specialty scissors and tools aren’t for your sloppy tasks. So you really need to cut that milk carton, huh? Well, sorry, my very sharp and very special scissors are not the right tool for the job. In fact, please take care of all my nice tools. That means not leaving them in the grass to rust.

“We came to an understanding about scissors when I found my beloved happily cutting up a chicken with a brand-new pair of coating shears. (These are really sharp),” says Daybreak Workroom. “Using an expensive stain brush to apply bottom paint to the skiff was another low point. My tools are not marital property.”

Maybe sandpat has the right solution: “You can always put a padlock through the handles.” Or maybe bungalowmo is onto something: “Put the scissors in a Ziploc bag and keep them with the cleaning supplies. Trust me, no one will find them.”

ReStyle Group Interiors

Put dirty laundry in the hamper; clean clothes go back in drawers or get hung up. Unless the kids are away and we’re in a moment of passion, let’s keep our clothes off the floor. They don’t go on chair backs or slung over doors, or strewn about the bathroom floor. If it can be worn again, hang it back up.

“My biggest annoyance is laundry,” says Melody Campbell. “All over the house, followed by, ‘It’s not dirty!’ Then why is it on the floor?”

Polly Blair

Don’t leave piles of mail, newspapers or magazines out. You know, every now and then there are really important things that come in the mail. It’s probably good to go through it at least once in your lifetime. If you can’t get to it right away, file it away neatly and get to it as soon as you can.

Traditional Staircase Hidden Cat Retreat

Help clean out the litter box. You smell that? Thought so. Empty the litter box as soon as an odor is present. It’s great that you lit a candle, but your waiting for us to come home and clean out the box drives us crazy!

Heritage Design Studio

Turn off the light when you leave a room. Guess what? Lights are one of the biggest energy sucks in a home. They’re like spotlights illuminating your laziness and wastefulness. Hit the switch!

HOUSEWORKS

If you can’t, then maybe it’s time we installed a lighting system with timers.

Sandvold Blanda Architecture + Interiors LLC

For the last time: Close. The. Toilet. Lid. Male, female, dog, cat — if you use the toilet, the seat goes down. This is a big one for Daniel DeSantis Interiors: “The kids leave the toilet seat up, which invites our giant dog to drink out of the bowl. First, the irritating sound of lapping toilet water, then having to clean up the dripping throughout the house. Can’t take it.”

Houzzer piedmontdiva has a simple solution: “I have four magic words for you: soft-closing toilet seat.”

Donatelli Builders, Inc

Replace the toilet paper. Just do it.

Andrew Snow Photography

Shut the doors and windows. Did you know a fly crawled into my nose last night? Did you? Please shut the doors and windows before I get eaten alive by creatures.

Munger Interiors

Don’t take your towel out of the bathroom. And definitely don’t take my towel out of the bathroom. I get it. You wore your towel out of the shower yesterday to get dressed. You threw the towel over the chair and forgot it when you showered today. The only towel there was mine, so you took it. Well, guess what? Now I’m standing here cold, naked and dripping!

Dura Supreme Cabinetry

Put a garbage bag into the can. Thanks for taking the garbage out. Really, that’s great. But when you leave the empty can and still toss trash in there, I die a little on the inside.

Take off your shoes or wipe them on the doormat. “Members of my house try to sneak in with their shoes on,” says monika2024. “I go ballistic when I catch them. Their response: ‘My shoes are clean.’ Grrr. My response: ‘Then lick the bottom of them.’ That’s when they usually take them off.”

Have more peeves? Join the discussion