lavacha's Profile

I'm deeply embarrassed when kitchen and bathroom aren't tidy and clean - I try to do those every day. I clear tables, floors and seating every night, so it always looks organized - but don't open a drawer!

For anything else it depends on the person and the occasion - the less I appreciate the visit and the more I feel the need to apologize for my mess, the more I clean.

Good friends can drop by anytime and find me in spotty painters clothes and the hallway covered in cat fur plus sawdust plus spilled coffee - to neighbors dropping in I will apologize that they have to pick their way through the mess, but don't feel guilty.

I realized it relaxes them - they don't feel the need to scrub when I'm coming by.

I WOULD deep-clean for my MIL, but she never calls ahead, so we both have to live with her thinking I'm a slob :-)

If someone calls ahead, I'll clear away clutter and/or projects in the hallway and the living room and shut the doors upstairs. If they have or bring kids or pets, that's it.

If the guests have no pets and/or kids, are allergic or super-neat and judgemental I vacuum again the same day (my cats shed like crazy), and take that visit as deadline for dusting all 60 bookshelfs, scrubbing all doors and frames, waxing the antiques and stairways, window-washing, cleaning radiators etc. - all the stuff I hate doing and tend to postpone until I can't stand the dirt anymore.

I've gone so far as disabling the lighting in the glass vitrine when guests arrived because I hadn't managed to dust it... I always reserve about 30 minutes before guests arrive to make myself presentable and to get a nice smell from the kitchen - fresh coffee, lemon juice, scones or freshly baked cookies. Even very clean and judgemental guests were distracted by smell and commented they felt more appreciated by me taking the time to prepare a punch especially for them (10min.) than sweeping the driveway (>30min.) when I apologized for it.

For overnight guests I finish sewing and ironing, since that happens in the guestroom, dust and vaccuum it and deep clean the bathroom and kitchen cupboards.

Spontaneous overnighters have to live with no wardrobe space, since I've stuck the laundry in there. I always redress the bed and the basket with towels etc. after a guest leaves, so it's ready for the next. I put a fresh glass, bottle of water and some sweets on the nightstand - those little touches seem to cancel out quite a bit of dust...

Still, the attic-converted-to-shared-office is off limits to guests apart from close friends - and since I've seen their respective messy corners, I don't need to feel any shame or guilt.

Great advice so far. Training your cats really matters. If you haven't so far, try to train them to a sharp whistle or clap instead - shouting NO will bore you before they learn, and sharp noises hurt their sensitive ears. A dog whistle works too. Try to precede the NO-noise with a gentler warning sound like tongue clicking or a low hiss.
If the cats don't react - sometimes curiosity or stubborness is stronger than training - repeat your noise and at the same time spray them with a little water or canned air (on surfaces that you don't like wet, bookshelves etc.).
I usually get old cats from the shelter and after 1-2 weeks every cat is trained and a soft tongue clicking is usually enough.

For horizontal surfaces: cats dislike jumping on wobbly or slippery surfaces. Before placing breakable stuff on it, try to prop one leg up (tennis balls cut in halves are great) and place a silk or satin sheet on top for a few days. If they jump up they'll slip and slide and will remember to use something more stable the next time, so you're free to decorate. Put heavy decorations at the ends of shelves or consoles or next to the usual landing or lounging places as those pieces are more likely to be chin-marked. Fragile or slender decorations should be safe at places where your cats only pass through - until they fight for the right-of-way, that is. Try to block areas where you don't want your cats to linger with a hard rubber mat for a few weeks - the spiky or open worked ones meant as doormats work best (saved my printer).

For wicker and rattan stuff I dust with a few drops of essential orange oil on a microfibre cloth every few weeks, the cats hate to have to lick this off their paws so they don't scratch there. If you dislike scratching posts, use the side of a cheap bookcase or a door frame instead, just tape some sisal to about 4 feet height. If you have more than 1 cat you'll need something flat for territorial scratching too - the sisal mat at my Backdoor gets changed when it is shredded...

Houseplants: avoid poisonous plants and place some stones or glass marbles on top of the soil to discourage digging, and don't fill your planters completely. A 1-2 inch rim is sufficient to keep everything off the floor. Get your cats some cat grass or papyrus they're allowed to dismember near their food bowls, and ferns won't survive if not hanged high enough. Spray dried flowers or natural decorations with hairspray, you'll have to dust less (no idea why but it's true) and cats dislike the smell.

Embrace the fact that cats help you to keep organized - anything pawable has to be corralled in bowls or baskets, anything made of fabric lying around will get fur on it ...

In my opinion, wood does not need to match tones or texture - a matching forest is a boring monoculture.
If a particular 'mismatch' really bothers you, try to pull it together with one accent piece integrating your types of wood.

Carpenters sometimes sell or give away veneer scraps or strips, and I've used free vinyl samples where the fake wood decor was discontinued.

I made some shadowboxes for artwork (some including fabric scraps used in the room), glued a veneer mosaic on the outside of storage boxes (cardboard, clementine boxes), and glued veneer strips on the front of an IKEA Lack board, around a large unframed mirror and around the base of a neutral lampshade... endless possibilities.