My office. But it's upstairs, and guests don't go near it.

Probably the bathroom - hasn't been cleaned today - eewwww - and it is covered in grit and dirt because the wind has been blowing really hard.

The dining room, bcs it's the catch-all for everything.

Though, right now, it's got kitchen pieces in it; they'll be gone by November 12, I'm pretty sure, and there isn't really any place else to put them.

It's also got:

* the shoes (currently in a messy cabinet--my tilt-out shoe cabinet broke, and I haven't gotten around to replacing it, so I just turned it around backwards),

* the backpacks (which have no place to go, so they sit around),

* a plastic crate w/ kids' books (God knows where that came from--well, actually, i do too--it came from the living room, and I need to toss some of them)

* two boxes of books (parenting & music) by the end of the piano--though it's a neat stack! I'm going to have to get rid of some of those things after all, since the bookcase that held them is going OUT soon.

The living room is sort of embarrassing, too--the floor is FULL of kids' toys. It's their playroom, since the floor space in their own room is sort of narrow and small. Normally I don't mind, but lately it's getting to me.

Then there are books stacked on every single flat surface. We really need to do something about the books.

Unexpected visitors? Probably my office - I still have those two packing boxes in the middle of it, "stuff" all over, and I'm cycling two fish tanks in there that are due for a water change tonight, so it stinks. And the previous owner had cats, the smell of which is seeping up through the carpet...it's not a fun room to be in right now. The master bedroom is "cluttery", but at least it's fairly clean and the bed's made, no undies on the floor or anything, so I think I'm okay there, though I'd prefer to clean it up a bit first. ;-)

Yikes, let me see. There are pants on the floor in the mudroom (only 4 now since I've found places for the rest of them), plus the normal shoes, backpacks, soccer bags (soccer ends next week - yay!), coats. So I've got to get that under control. The dining room table needs to be cleaned off, but DH uses it as a desk (we work out of the house), so it's never completely cleaned off. If they were overnight guests, it would really have to be the spare room. I cleaned it pretty much out over the spring when we were having cousins come up. I put down an air mattress on the floor. But there is still the shelves of games and art supplies, 2 crates of old records (I won't get rid of them, and don't really know where else to keep them), a dresser (empty to be used for the guests) with empty boxes on top (for getting rid of more stuff, but I've slowed down) and an antique coffee table in the corner (my grandmother's that I really wanted, but it would get destroyed in our living room right now - the room is too small and we have kids, so it waits until we build our house, which won't be for a few years) Guess the guests will have to sleep in there or get a hotel room. Oh, and they will not even be seeing the office ;)

undies on the floor, pants on the floor, shoes on the floor--we could have a whole wardrobe. Ooops, no, we couldn't, Jamie does NOT have undies on the floor!

C'mon, kiddo, you're lettin' down the side!

hmmmmm just one room? lol. i guess that would have to be my teenage son's room, but that shouldn't count against me!
other than his pigsty of a dungeon, i guess it's not the rooms i'd be embarrassed about, it's the sorry state of the closets. it's so easy to pick up a room and just throw all the stuff in the closet :)

LOL Tally Sue...head on downstairs, where dear hubby rules the roost. I'm quite sure you'll find undies and other misc. items all over on the floor down there - he's in the middle of a huge laundry "spree", and won't let me help (he's picky about his laundry).

But I refuse to be embarrassed by the basement - I'd just smile and say, "the basement belongs to DH", and leave it at that. ;-)

Hmm. . . Let's see. You mean, after I ignored the doorbell? Just kidding.

Right now it would be the family room, which is the first room people see. A tall, teetering pile of magazines on the coffee table, two piles of "stuff" I haven't put away since my Monday night stained glass class on the floor (no sense in putting it away now, we're going out of town for the weekend and Monday is the next class anyway), a bookcase filled with "stuff" other than books, etc., etc.

It would probably take 45 minutes, tops, to put the room in decent shape. Are you SURE the unexpected guests couldn't call first??

The teenage son's room is it for me too :). That room is just always a toss of stuff-I basically stay out of it. Shut the door and pray nothing escapes...

And our office is not horrendous but I'm not happy with it-there are always things stacked around the edges of a very small room on the floor. And stacks of paperwork on the desk.

Ann

Ahh...yes, the teenage son's room. I guess I neglected to mention THAT because I just figure everyone understands about teenagers. Actually, it's his closet that is real scary. ALL of his clothes are in one heap on the floor of the closet. We purposely put him at the end of the hallway for this reason, and you can't see inside his room unless you go all the way down there.

SadieSadie, nope! they won't call first. These are unexpected guests. And they are ringing your doorbell RIGHT NOW.

Jamie....come on. 'Fess up with the undies! LOL

Sheryl

My room. John has a box we brought home from Louisiana how many months ago? Couldn't get him to go through his papers there and throw them away. Heck no- we had to drag them all the way here and let them sit here and rot in a corner. UGH. This is also the room I have a very hard tim getting to during the morning routine. I just shut the door and call it good.

But no- I don't have undies on the floor.

G

Tangent here sparked by combination of teenage boys' rooms and undies on the floor...

I realized recently with slight surprise that for the first time in my adult life I"m living in the same house with a "guy". As in: my husband is certainly masculine :), but he is also EXTREMELY neat, tidy and organized. The man literally has never in our life together so much as left a sock on the floor. All his items are arranged according to a system-it may not be clear to me what but by golly they are tidy. He picks up after himself, he washes dishes, he never leaves a mess. Never.

And now....I've got a guy of the teenage male variety to deal with! Wherever he goes, he leaves trails of clothes and used cups and plates and papers and random bits of semi-disassembled small mechanical items. He sneaks in parts of motorbikes he is supposed to keep in the garage, and leans them against the walls of his room. After he leaves every morning sure as the sun rises in the east I will find a damp toothbrush and open can of deodorant in the bathroom.

It's been a major shock to my system, I can tell you that. And I keep thinking with a twinge of fear about the young lady who is out there someday and will end up as his wife. My daughter in law. I have a LOT of work to do before he's ready for her...

Ann

" Shut the door and pray nothing escapes.."

LOL, Ann!

Maybe you need your DH to be the one to get him ready for marriage--I've been told that when it comes to faith & religion, the *father's* beliefs and habits will have the greatest effect on their children's adult beliefs. I bet it's true of LOTS of stuff--men think sometimes that they're not important to children; mothers are all, our society says. But actually kids (boys AND girls) follow their dads.

If you work on him, he may just think "this is a girl thing"--if DAD says, "Hey pick up after yourself," it may carry more clout, esp. since HE does it. (what was DH like as a teenager?)

Today would be the BEST day for drop in guests . . . please come!! Most days I cringe, but as I had a friend over for lunch yesterday and am having a family birthday "shin-dig" tonight, I have had to get it together. If anyone were to walk into my walk-in closet however, they would have to be illiminated for fear they might talk! LOL!

Brenda

Well, I certainly can't have my DH teach our boys how to take care of a house! We have a chair in our bedroom that had several pairs of pants, shirts, and a vest hanging over the back. I swear these were from outfits DH wore the past 3 days. Socks on the floor. I no longer nag about it - does no good. He has other wonderful qualities, just not in the homemaking department!! Will it rub off on my boys? Well, so far one is extremely neat and tidy and one is NOT. The interesting thing is that DH's father is VERY neat and tidy. So I'm not sure why this wasn't passed down to DH (or any of his brothers, for that matter).

As for teenagers...we have 3 downstairs eating pizza right now and they are LOUD. They are spending the night tonight. All I hear is, "Dude, DUDE!" It did get DS to clean his mess-of-a-room, though. Not white-glove quality, but at least they can walk in it. I hate to see what it will look like tomorrow morning after they've been in it all night, though.

I didn't have brothers, so all this BOY stuff is interesting to me, especially teenage boys.

Sheryl

The balance in my household shifted when DD went to college.Now it is me,a teenage son,a preteen son and my husband(oh yeah,even the cat and dog are male lol).Lots of testosterone and sports in this house.No one else has mastered the difficult technique of loading the dishwasher.DS1 has decided that when he empties it,he will put each item in a totally different location and sit back and watch the madness when it's time for Mom to cook.I have trained the boys to wipe off the living room tables and bathroom if they are having friends over.Sometimes they do,and othertimes they ask Dad while Mom is out of the house.Actually DS1 keeps a tidy room.DS2 more closely resembles pigpen and leaves a mess in his wake where ever he goes.

I would be SO BUSTED!

It would start right away, in the entry/living/dining area, and would only get worse from there.

It's like this. I fell off the flylady bandwagon. Then we developed plumbing problems. My weekend water use is rationed because dh has been working on the drainage - this is the SIXTH WEEKEND he is spending on it. The problem affects the washer and also the kitchen sink. So - every weekend I am doing the entire family's laundry at the laundromat. During the same block of free time that we used to do the house blessing during. Plus, keeping a shiny sink is out of the question, there are hours upon hours that I can't wash dishes (right now included).

I'm miserable, folks. I've re-subscribed to flylady but until this plumbing problem is gone it's pretty difficult.

I *do* appreciate dh working on it, we are saving a ton of $$$ in terms of plumbing, but...it's hard to be patient.

My teenaged son has learned that if he cannot tidy it up the door must remain closed. That and the fact his room is in the basement, not many people need be exposed to it. LOL

Right now, because I am in the process of having the rugs cleaned and walls painted in the living room, I would have to say it is my bedroom, because that is where all the small furniture is right now. Two end tables, dining room chairs, my butter churn and antique water cooler and drapes. I hope to have it all put back together sometime tommorow.

I must say, I have kept on top of this house pretty well the past year, and usually there is not a room that I would not consider clean enough if company dropped in. Well, maybe the bathroom. I have a teenage son, daughter and a father with a new lady friend. He's worse than the two teens for primping and preening right now. LOL So the bathroom is always taking a beating, but nothing that a quick run through won't cure in a hurry if needed.

Darlene

Yikes! I'ts hard to pick just one room. The family room is overcroweded with "stuff" that has no place else to go - book, mags, extra chairs, etc.

Then there's the porch off the kitchen. During the summer I kept it looking good, but with the cold weather it's become a mud room and catch-all for everything else - and it has sliders from the kitchen so everyone can see it.

Moving from a colonial with a full basement and large attic to a raised ranch with NO attic, NO basement has be a very big challenge.

Diane, I wish we had basements here, too! And our attic space is very limited. The good part about that is that it keeps me from wanting to save everything. In our last home, we didn't even have attic space, so I started tossing like crazy. I haven't missed any of it!

Sheryl

I'd turn off the TV and be really quiet, hoping they'd think I'm not home and go away. : ) But that's just me.

LOL, Heather! And I have to admit I've done that more than once!

Sheryl

probably my diningroom where I have 2 coats, my pocketbook & whatever list of things to do I have going on. If I've gone shopping or haven't sorted through mail that day then I also have all that paper there too.

Michie