Is this room messy?

[lailasmum]

I don't think it's messy, it's just in use. I have a messy house, we're all pretty untidy and there's not enough storage. There's always stuff where it shouldn't be and falling over on the floor.  I'm long past caring. 

[luuknam]

I think it’s hilarious that anyone would think that hanging a jacket on a door frame makes someone a slob lol.

 

 

Yes, feeling very thankful we hang our coats on chairs.  :lol:

 

(In our previous place we got a coat rack, but when we had to move and tried to unscrew it from the wall, it wouldn't come out cleanly... so, we left it, not wanting to damage the wall. Since we're also renting this place, and were planning to do so for only 1-2 years (it's been 3/4 year), we have zero desire to risk messing up a wall with another screw-in coat rack, and stand-alone coat racks are weird and take up a lot of space for no good reason.)

[Meriwether]

Messy but really easy to straighten.

[SanDiegoMom]

My biggest problem is the white walls and the fact that there is no picture hanging on the wall in the background.  Those two would drive me nuts much more than the clutter.  

 

We have clutter, but our rooms are big enough thankfully that there are non-cluttered places for the eyes to rest in between the cluttered places. :-) Though right now I will admit there is a pile of white paper shreds from someone making paper snowflakes earlier today! 

[PeachyDoodle]

There's something discordant? about that room. Even with every item picked up, I think there would still be something jarring about it. With the white, white walls and dark furniture and rug on the floor, it just doesn't feel comfortable. Because of that, every item that is out of place seems wore than it is. I have a throw blanket (or 2) on my couches, but they don't seem as messy. The room just doesn't feel joyful for some reason.

 

Yes, I think what bothers me more than the untidiness (and it's definitely untidy) is that the room isn't put together somehow. That's jarring to me. It was something that bothered me tremendously about our old home, where we were limited in our decorating choices.

 

I'm definitely irritated by rogue items that don't have a home/aren't put in their assigned place, like the jacket on the door. I've been known to get rid of things entirely if I couldn't find a suitable way to fit them into my organization system. But like most others have said, that's in my own personal space. I am not bothered by it in other people's homes. 

 

Describing this room as a "tip" seems extreme to me, though -- sounds like what my mother used to call our house when she thought it was getting too messy: a "junk hole."  :lol: FWIW, she never let our house get very messy. Her preemptive tidying eventually rubbed off on me -- here's hoping it rubs off on my one kid who currently doesn't see the point in walking the three extra steps to the laundry hamper!

[fralala]

Not a mess. Nope.

 

Evidence: there is a whole box of what appear to be train tracks that have NOT been dumped out on the rug, then kicked to various places across the floor. Also, all the furniture appears to be in place rather than pushed together to create a "bouncy house." Where are the loose papers, half-drawn on, the markers and pencils kicked under furniture? Where are the heaps of books perched precariously? The Play-Doh tools? The abandoned game of "Don't Pick it Up!" Monopoly that has unfortunately been infiltrated by a stealthy toddler?

 

We have lots of blankets piled up in our living room-- it's the coldest room of the house and the sedentary nature of couch-surfing tends to make us chilly.

 

Now, I'm not saying I consider this room clean, or tidy. But it's not what I call a mess. I have higher standards for my messes, and my children know that, and live up to them, the little darlings.

[Catwoman]

Not a mess. Nope.

 

Evidence: there is a whole box of what appear to be train tracks that have NOT been dumped out on the rug, then kicked to various places across the floor. Also, all the furniture appears to be in place rather than pushed together to create a "bouncy house." Where are the loose papers, half-drawn on, the markers and pencils kicked under furniture? Where are the heaps of books perched precariously? The Play-Doh tools? The abandoned game of "Don't Pick it Up!" Monopoly that has unfortunately been infiltrated by a stealthy toddler?

 

We have lots of blankets piled up in our living room-- it's the coldest room of the house and the sedentary nature of couch-surfing tends to make us chilly.

 

Now, I'm not saying I consider this room clean, or tidy. But it's not what I call a mess. I have higher standards for my messes, and my children know that, and live up to them, the little darlings.

It’s important to have high standards. :D

[fairfarmhand]

My biggest problem is the white walls and the fact that there is no picture hanging on the wall in the background. Those two would drive me nuts much more than the clutter.

 

We have clutter, but our rooms are big enough thankfully that there are non-cluttered places for the eyes to rest in between the cluttered places. :-) Though right now I will admit there is a pile of white paper shreds from someone making paper snowflakes earlier today!

Yes! I had the same thought. Even tidied it looks odd.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[hornblower]

My biggest problem is the white walls and the fact that there is no picture hanging on the wall in the background.  Those two would drive me nuts much more than the clutter.  

 

We have clutter, but our rooms are big enough thankfully that there are non-cluttered places for the eyes to rest in between the cluttered places. :-) Though right now I will admit there is a pile of white paper shreds from someone making paper snowflakes earlier today! 

 

 

lol for all the mess on my horizontal surfaces, my walls are bare. We have only one thing hanging, in a hallway. All our walls in the open floor living space, in my bedroom, & in the bathrooms are completely blank. & the living area ceiling is vaulted so they're large blank grey walls!  I wonder if it's because there is clutter here that I really appreciate the blank calmness of the walls even more...

[hjffkj]

Is it messy, yes. Is it a mess, no. So I don't know how to vote since you asked 2 different questions

[BooksandBoys]

Yes, it’s messy, but mine looks like that right now. This is my limit, though. If it gets messier, I start to feel stressed, and we (I) work to bring the house back to “neat†at least once a day, often more.

[Williams1956]

I voted messy, because it certainly isn't neat. But it doesn't look dirty or gross to me. Maybe cluttered would be a better word. Various places in my home look like this at various times of the day and we have many pick-up sessions throughout the day to keep it from getting worse. 

[hjffkj]

I wish that is what my living room looked like right now as I get ready for guests to arrive at 8. My entire house is messier than that right now. It will take me 2 good hours to get my downstairs company ready if it we're just me cleaning, but the kids are helping. So I'll get it done in an hour and some change.

 

The house always loses in the priorities game. Currently, my writing is top of that list

[alisoncooks]

I love that the dog is in the before and the after, lol.

He's like: "Don't mind me; I'm just chillin'."

[Farrar]

I really don't understand the people who are saying both that's it's *very* messy or messy enough that it would be upsetting and that it could be tidied up in 5-15 minutes. To me, a mess that can be cleaned in well under half an hour can't possibly be that bad.

[fairfarmhand]

 

I like a perfectly cleaned room, but not enough to stop doing other things to keep up with perfectly cleaned rooms all day long. There are books to be read...

 

This.

 

I won't sit in a messy room and do an enjoyable thing, but I could walk through that room and not get irritated at it. Now at the end of the day, we do need a tidy time so mom can wake up early and read her Bible in a room that won't threaten her sanctification.

[hjffkj]

The 2 rooms that I need clean to keep my sanity are my room and the kitchen. The rest I can ignore for a long time before getting too anxious. Waking up in peace is important for me though

[poppy]

The first photo is definitely messy; I could not function in a house like that.  The second photo is "lived in" but I still couldn't function.  

 

This got a bunch of likes. I'd like to see a photo of a "normal / everyday" living room from a person who considered the picture #2 (the tidied  up picture) so bad you couldn't function in it.

Not a challenge to that view-- I'm just genuinely curious.

[Garga]

This got a bunch of likes. I'd like to see a photo of a "normal / everyday" living room from a person who considered the picture #2 (the tidied  up picture) so bad you couldn't function in it.

 

Not a challenge to that view-- I'm just genuinely curious.

  

I’ll post a photo when I get home.

I will say though that my personal standards have no affect on whether I can have an enjoyable time at other’s houses who don’t have the same standards. (Although if you’ve been my friend for 20+ years, you know that I may just start wiping things down or doing dishes when I come over....but not until we’ve been friends for a good long while).

 

Yes, I’m curious, too. The second room isn’t decorated, but it’s not a mess. The blankets on the couch could be folded, but it seems like one could function in it, though it needs a coat of paint and a picture on the wall.

[Ausmumof3]

It just looks lived in. Not messy messy but not pristine.

[Garga]

The little stool that’s against the wall in the 2nd picture needs to be tucked next to the couch and floor lamp.

 

The chest in the 2nd picture that’s tucked next to the couch and floor lamp needs to be in the center of the room as a coffee table.

 

I can’t see if there’s anything where the two couches meet, but if there isn’t, then the floor lamp needs to be there.

 

And they need a nice big wide picture on the empty wall. Doesn’t have to be expensive.

 

Color on the walls.

 

I think that would make me feel better about the 2nd picture.

Edited March 16, 2018 by Garga

[Ausmumof3]

There's something discordant? about that room. Even with every item picked up, I think there would still be something jarring about it. With the white, white walls and dark furniture and rug on the floor, it just doesn't feel comfortable. Because of that, every item that is out of place seems wore than it is. I have a throw blanket (or 2) on my couches, but they don't seem as messy. The room just doesn't feel joyful for some reason.

I think that's quite insightful. It would take literally five minutes to fully tidy but it still wouldn't feel tidy. I have rooms like that in our house where no amount of tidying feels tidy because they need redecorating.

[elegantlion]

It is messy but it could be tidied up in five minutes.  My question is more: does it matter?  If it matters to the individuals who live there, then that's their decision, but I don't see any moral imperative to be tidy.  Is the word 'messy' pejorative?

 

I said it's not messy because it could be straightened in five minutes. It looks like it's being used and isn't that the intent of a home? 

 

I too find something unaesthetic about the tidied picture, the space is not utilized well, imo. I like the hardwood floors, but the sofas shoved back against the wall makes the room appear stark. There is no artwork in the photo. I would add a coat rack behind the door,  replace the stool with the bench that is beside the sofa, move the lamp so it's visible, and add a large area rug with some geometric patters that would work well for train construction. I want to rearrange the room, more than tidy it. 

[Farrar]

I agree that the room could use a little decor - it's an older sofa, plain white walls, no art or posters or anything, a lack of any real color scheme, dopey knick knacks or candles or something on the mantle. But surely that's different from being so bad that you couldn't function in a space? Surely "I personally couldn't live with the (lack of) decor in this room and the older furnishings" is different from "this room is so bad that I couldn't function there."

[maize]

Not messy.

 

Not guest ready but could be picked up in five minutes or less.

[caedmyn]

Somewhat messy. About how my living room looks after my children have supposedly picked up (ie they pick up the middle and ignore the edges!). If I think about it that level of mess bothers me (my house never looked like that pre-children), however, I am no longer willing to do the amount of work required to keep things always picked up to my neatness standards (since my 5 children apparently have no standards...sigh)...so I don't think about it and settle for making them (mostly) pick up once or twice a day and when I can't stand it anymore I spend an hour putting all the random out-of-place stuff in the entire house away.

[Jkacz]

I agree that the room could use a little decor - it's an older sofa, plain white walls, no art or posters or anything, a lack of any real color scheme, dopey knick knacks or candles or something on the mantle. But surely that's different from being so bad that you couldn't function in a space? Surely "I personally couldn't live with the (lack of) decor in this room and the older furnishings" is different from "this room is so bad that I couldn't function there."

Not addressed to me, but I would have a hard time spending any time in that room even after it was picked up. There is something "jarring" about it (for lack of a better word) that would make me want to leave the room. In my house, my rooms are comfortable - Lots of earth tones, area rugs breaking up the large expanses of hardwood, and pictures on the wall framed in natural wood tones to break up the walls.

[kiwik]

Like a big industrial garbage can, the kind you put construction waste into, or outside a shop in the alley.

That's a skip. A tip is the actual garbage dump you take the stuff to. Well in NZ anyway.

[LucyStoner]

I personally have no opinion or judgement on other people’s homes, unless they veer into hoarder territory, which I consider a mental health issue.

 

I like a very clean home to live in. I was raised in a clean home and so have many decades of experience. It comes very natural to me. I also would like to point out that one can have a very clean home and still value and enjoy their people.

 

 

I totally agree.  I don't understand why some people conflate neat and tidy with a lack of care for others.  

 

However, having experienced it myself, I also consider being seriously anxiety stricken by a small amount of clutter or items out of place to be a mental health issue.  Maybe a less serious one than hoarding, but then factoring how much anxiety and how well the person can manage that anxiety, for some people it may well be as problematic as hoarding. Learning to walk away from a bit of a jumble was a pretty good breakthrough for me.  

 

I grew up in spaces that were not just messy, they were filthy dirty.  I am going half mad sharing space with a sibling right now who didn't learn to improve much on how we were raised.  

[Pawz4me]

lol for all the mess on my horizontal surfaces, my walls are bare. We have only one thing hanging, in a hallway. All our walls in the open floor living space, in my bedroom, & in the bathrooms are completely blank. & the living area ceiling is vaulted so they're large blank grey walls!  I wonder if it's because there is clutter here that I really appreciate the blank calmness of the walls even more...

 

We don't have anything on our walls, either. Mainly because since we bought this house two years ago we've been "getting ready" to paint. :lol: We will get there eventually (probably in the next couple of weeks--really!) and then there will be a few things on the walls. But just a few. I don't like clutter of any kind, including wall clutter.

 

I think the problem with the room is that it's not cozy or home like at all. There's nothing at all about it that would make anyone really want to come in and sit down and visit. I'm not a matchy matchy decorator type, but our home looks (I think) cozy and welcoming. That room . . .  doesn't.

[LucyStoner]

 

I think the problem with the room is that it's not cozy or home like at all. There's nothing at all about it that would make anyone really want to come in and sit down and visit. I'm not a matchy matchy decorator type, but our home looks (I think) cozy and welcoming. That room . . .  doesn't.

 

I just assumed that it was the living room of a person without a lot of time, inclination or resources to decorate.   College students, people without a lot of extra money, renters who can't paint, someone very busy, someone who just moved or just started keeping house, someone who hates knickknacks and stuff like that.  I dunno.  

[Jean in Newcastle]

I totally agree.  I don't understand why some people conflate neat and tidy with a lack of care for others.  

 

However, having experienced it myself, I also consider being seriously anxiety stricken by a small amount of clutter or items out of place to be a mental health issue.  Maybe a less serious one than hoarding, but then factoring how much anxiety and how well the person can manage that anxiety, for some people it may well be as problematic as hoarding. Learning to walk away from a bit of a jumble was a pretty good breakthrough for me.  

 

I grew up in spaces that were not just messy, they were filthy dirty.  I am going half mad sharing space with a sibling right now who didn't learn to improve much on how we were raised.  

 

I used that term and I have explained that it had nothing to do with saying that people who were neat and tidy had a lack of care for others.  It was in a list of things that I spend time doing rather than cleaning.  No one is saying that I am saying that people who are neat and tidy don't go hiking or any of the other things in the list. 

[hornblower]

, but our home looks (I think) cozy and welcoming. That room . . .  doesn't.

 

 

but it has the dog! I will cuddle with the dog on the couch and be quite content. Also the arms of the couch look like you can precariously  balance a mug of tea and plate of cookies on it - nice for snacking :) 

[Above The Rowan]

There's something discordant? about that room. Even with every item picked up, I think there would still be something jarring about it. With the white, white walls and dark furniture and rug on the floor, it just doesn't feel comfortable. Because of that, every item that is out of place seems wore than it is. I have a throw blanket (or 2) on my couches, but they don't seem as messy. The room just doesn't feel joyful for some reason.

Yes. This is what was bothering me.

I couldn't figure out which way to vote because my first instinct was to say "yes this is messy", but it's not actually 'messy' really. Its just...unsettling. The bare walls and no personal effects or decorative items anywhere, that's what would really set off my anxiety - not the untidiness.

 

My house is almost always untidy - we have 4 people, and 4 guinea pigs, living in about 850 sq ft of house. And we have a lot of books! But while my house might be untidy, it's not 'dirty'. And even though it's a bit on the cluttered side, my house has things on the wall, and a bit of a decorative scheme to it. Even my guinea pigs' cage accessories colour coordinate with the decor in my living room lol.

 

A messy or untidy house is fine IMO, but I can't handle a room without any warmth or personal touches.

[LucyStoner]

I used that term and I have explained that it had nothing to do with saying that people who were neat and tidy had a lack of care for others.  It was in a list of things that I spend time doing rather than cleaning.  No one is saying that I am saying that people who are neat and tidy don't go hiking or any of the other things in the list. 

 

I was thinking more about things people have said to me or the "good moms have messy kitchens and happy children" type internet memes.  

[hornblower]

To me, the blanket on the couch, the dog on the other couch, those ARE the warmth and personal touches.

 

Yes, in both photos, to me the rooms are obviously lived in. Real people do stuff there. That doesn't look impersonal.

 

This is impersonal. I love it btw. I covet it. I love everything about it - the walls, the windows, the colors. I would ruin it in hours though.....

[LucyStoner]

When I see a blanket on the couch, stretched out over the seat, I assume that the couch is in bad repair or stained.  When I was a child, we often covered our couches with old blankets because the cushions were coming apart or just generally not nice.  We never had a couch that didn't come from the sidewalk or a yard sale type situation so that we were covering them with blankets wasn't that surprising.  It may also be why I banish blankets from my couches.   :lol:

[LucyStoner]

its so funny because to me a blanket on the couch symbolizes that the room is cold. In fact, I am sitting on my couch, covered in a blanket that I had pulled off the couch. I place blankets on my couch because I get cold and want easy access :-)

 

People come up with all sorts of odd associations in childhood.  Your take on it is definitely more logical than mine.  Blanket = cold makes more sense than blanket = need to hide the horrible couch.  

Edited March 17, 2018 by LucyStoner

[KathyBC]

Y'all know what's discordant about it, right? No books!!!

[regentrude]

I don't get the complaints about the white walls. White walls are great, very clean and uncluttered. Full of possibilities.

And no knick knacks, how wonderful.

Edited March 17, 2018 by regentrude

[wintermom]

I agree with the lady herself, it's not messy or tidy.  

[rocassie]

I voted "yes" because at the end of the day, I would have the kids and/or myself put it back into order.  It is more disarray to me vs. messy as it looks lived in and a lot like our main room that the family uses.

[Garga]

People come up with all sorts of odd associations in childhood.  Your take on it is definitely more logical than mine.  Blanket = cold makes more sense than blanket = need to hide the horrible couch.

 

My first thought was “stained couch†when I saw the blanket still spread on the couch after the cleanup.

[Catwoman]

I think that several of the previous posters hit the nail on the head when they mentioned the "discordant" atmosphere of the room.  It's not put together and would never look that way with the furnishings in it and in my mind, that's just the same as being messy - things thrown together/around with no thought.  

Anyways, as requested, here are photos of my living room/dining room (because they flow together).  I am fully aware of the fact that some/all of you may find that it's cluttered or messy and couldn't function in my house :) (Also, I am not responsible for the coasters on the cedar chest - that is ALL DS).

 

View from bedrooms

 

View from the front door

(These two are reversed)

 

Dining room

  

I am going to be honest, I think these pics looks more "discordant" than the "tidy" images of the original room.  I don't think the images you have shared look any more "put together" and to ME....it looks like the images you have posted and the images in the OP indicate a room that makes good use of the space and things they have.

 

IOW....I think "put together" and "things thrown together with no thought" and "they flow together" are all really really subjective.  Which isn't a bad thing, but I wouldn't say your images are any more messy than the "tidy" images of the OP.  

 

 

And, FTR.....I never noticed any coasters.  I noticed a bunch of other stuff though.

 

I have to disagree with you. I think the room in the OP was very thrown-together and not at all cozy or homey. There was honestly nothing at all I liked about it.

 

WendyandMilo’s house looks like a happy home. There’s a style and a warmth to it that the other place completely lacked. It has character, and it seems like a home I’d enjoy visiting. It’s very different from my homes, but I really like it. :)

[Bluegoat]

I agree that the room in the OP had a strange quality.  It wasn't just that it seemed non-decorated to me.  It seemed like some things had kind of a weird, random quality.  Like, the coat on the door, it was just kind of out of place.

[Tammi K]

It's messy but so what? In just a few minutes it would be tidy.  It's not as if there are three day old cereal bowls half filled with milk or full ash trays lying around.  It isn't even cluttered. It just has bits and pieces lying about.

 

It would go from messy to tidy in about 10 minutes and back to messy in a blink - several times every day if there are actual people living in the house.

[Murphy101]

Yes. Obviously.

 

That’s really not in question.

 

The question is why she cares what strangers think of the fact that her room looks lived in?

[catz]

It looks lived in to me. I wouldn’t go as far as messy. My living room currently looks worse.

[Tsuga]

Yes. But not in a "oh my gosh how do you live like that" way, more like "welp at some point I'm going to have to pick all this up" sort of way. It's hard to tell if it's dirty.

 

When my children were the age hers are (I think her children are toddlers/preschoolers) that sort of mess was inevitable, and we separated off an area as a playroom.

 

That's how I solved my need for a clean living room. Or toys were in the bedroom. The playroom was always a mess. They actually shared a room so we could have a playroom so that the living room was always tidy(ish). If you are in a single bedroom with more than a few kids I don't see how your house would not look like that all the time until kids went to bed.

Edited March 17, 2018 by Tsuga

[Mergath]

Yes. Obviously.

 

That’s really not in question.

 

The question is why she cares what strangers think of the fact that her room looks lived in?

 

My guess is that maybe it's her teen's room, or an adult child living at home, and she's like, "Clean up this mess!!!" and the room's owner is like, "Come on, this isn't messy!" 

 

Enter the internet to settle the feud. 

 

And thinking that room is so messy you couldn't possibly survive it and having children seem to me to be mutually exclusive. My home is clean, but with a six-month-old and a nine-year-old it looks like a toy store and a book store both exploded in my living room.  :lol: