I had a lovlely complement!

[Milims]

I was visited yesteday, by a lady I know, in an official capacity and just before she left she said that I have a lovely home! I was gob smacked! The hall carpet is worn out and needs replacing, the kitchen still isn't finished, there are holes in the kichen ceiling with wires hanging out, there is no floor covering in the kitchen - you get the picture I'm sure. Yet despite all of this she said that she found it homely and welcoming! It really made me smile and has made me look at my sh1t tip with new eyes!

[Milims]

Give me a home you can kick your shoes off and put your feet up on the sofa over cutting edge any day.

She did say that there are some houses she goes to where she feels that she should take her shoes off but doesn't want to in case her socks are muckier than the carpet!

[Big Al]

I was visited yesteday, by a lady I know, in an official capacity and just before she left she said that I have a lovely home! I was gob smacked! The hall carpet is worn out and needs replacing, the kitchen still isn't finished, there are holes in the kichen ceiling with wires hanging out, there is no floor covering in the kitchen - you get the picture I'm sure. Yet despite all of this she said that she found it homely and welcoming! It really made me smile and has made me look at my sh1t tip with new eyes!

I too believe that a "homely " house is not down to fluffed up cushions etc but could she be yaking the pi$$?

I know a few people who would say one thing and mean another with aplomb but then they are degenerate consumerist ar$es.

[TheGoodEarth]

If it is a sh1t tip then it was probably you that made it feel homely and welcoming. On the other hand she may be buttering you up to sell you something so be wary

[spider8]

I hate homes that look like show houses and you can't be yourself and relax in them. I take it as a compliment if people do just that, put their feet up, stretch out on the sofa. The atmosphere in a house is very important and the vibes you pick up mean a lot. We are house hunting and some places just do not feel good, no matter how tidy/well finished/decorated they may be. Be chuffed Milims, you have a true home .

[Shirleymouse]

My mum has an awful habit - she ALWAYS apologises for the mess when people call round, even if it is tidy. Sometimes I think she points out the cluttered and tatty things that people probably wouldn't have noticed. What's really annoying is that I can sometimes hear myself saying the exact same thing when people call at my house - am definitely turning into my mum!!

[Millymollymandy]

Oh dear that's sort of me , only I always tidy up and vacuum before anyone comes round. Cos I have a horror of them thinking I have a dirty untidy house - yet really compared to a lot of places I go to even my idea of untidy or dirty is very clean and tidy indeed.

I'd take that as a lovely compliment Milims and be glad.

I once had a brand new Ikea kitchen and barely dared cook in it. Give me old and bashed about any day now!

[battybird]

When the children were small, I developed the habit of leaving the vacuum cleaner out with a duster and polish balanced nearby. Then if anyone came round unexpectedly, they ended up apologising to me for stopping me doing the housework I baked early in the morning too (the boys were VERY early risers) so it always smelt industrious even though that was often all I did except play with the kids and deal with them! A home, in my opinion, is judged by the emotions relating to the building, lots of people have a house not everyone has a home!! (not very well put, but I am sure that is what your visitor was referring to Milims!

[Ellendra]

When the children were small, I developed the habit of leaving the vacuum cleaner out with a duster and polish balanced nearby. Then if anyone came round unexpectedly, they ended up apologising to me for stopping me doing the housework

Oooh, I like that idea!

[pelmetman]

I would take it as the compliment I am sure she meant it to be.


Sue

[MuddyWitch]

Millims, your HOME sounds lovely. I'm sure she meant it exactly as she said it. (I'd love to visit your place, it sounds loved!)

MW

[Rosendula]

Several years ago I was given a lift home from work by a colleague. She had a big, double-fronted detatched house in the Village of Inflated Prices (and worried every month where the money was coming from to pay her mortgage and loans). She was a real keep-up-with-the-Joneses type. So when she dropped me off outside my tiny little council house on the edge of an estate in Cheap City, she couldn't stop herself saying what she always said as a matter of course - "That's a lovely house you have". She said it hesitatingly and it was quite obvious she didn't think so and didn't know whether she should say it or not but that the habit was impossible to break. That answer is, you don't say it.

But like many others here, I believe a house is nothing more than a shelter to keep you warm and dry (if you're lucky), and that a home is made by the welcome, the love and the feeling of comfort and safety within those walls. I have lived in many houses, but only the one where I live now is truly a home. It's never tidy, often dusty, usually smells of some sort of food being cooked. There is usually mud on the kitchen floor. There are books left open, crocheting on the foot-stool, toys on the floor. And it's so much better than the sterile environment I grew up in, where guests were told to take their shoes off at the door, shouted at if they put their feet on the seat, and tutted at if they didn't take their empty cups through to the kitchen before being told they were always welcome. If people leave smiling, and in no rush, then it's a home. If people leave quickly, with their shoulders tense and with bumbled excuses, it's nothing more than a house.

[Milims]

Millims, your HOME sounds lovely. I'm sure she meant it exactly as she said it. (I'd love to visit your place, it sounds loved!)

MW

You'd be most welcome MW

[MuddyWitch]

Aww, thank-you!

MW

[Jessiebean]

We used to live in a big open plan house on the Gold Coa$t in Queensland with an inground pool and palm trees etc but it so "wasn't us" no we live in two slowly sinking 113 yearold workers cottages which suffer from tears and years of neglect. Slowly but surely they are evolving with a little bit of care and I am trying to get the garden a bit nicer but we are so much happier here away from shambolic soulless cheaply built expensive Gold Coast homes and in our quirky messy homey place, we tell people it is humble but we love it and many people are quite enchanted with it. Those that aren't we don't really want to take their opinions on board anyway as we obviously have different tastes and life goals. we enjoy living simply and treading lightly so don't care what those who want to spend and spoil think any way!
It is also easier to deal (psychologically)with the kiddie grime and it feels like a home to us.
Glad your home was recognised for what it is!