apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

at a minimum-- no dirty dishes in sink or dishwasher, bed must be made, and tables must be cleared of clutter. Otherwise Sunday night is so depressing...

I try to pick up before I leave, but oftentimes I'm in such a hurry that it just doesn't get done.

I always, always make time for this. Sometimes I barely sleep the night before because I'm cleaning maniacally, but I have to have a clean apartment to come home to. It's the nicest feeling.

I am down right OCD about it all- it really bothers me if I haven't had a chance to do my mad dash to uber tidy before leaving!

You could write about this issue and read all of our silly responses later, or.......... you could just go tidy up.

I like to spend a few minutes before I leave just putting things away put fresh sheets on the bed, a clean towel out. it is just nice to come home to for me.

Guilty. I like to a clean, tidy space to be the last thing I see as I'm leaving, as well as the first thing I see upon arriving home. My wife and I usually split this duty (she's slightly more neurotic on the deep-cleaning aspect of this issue); I pack and do last-minute trip stuff while she cleans and prepares note/supplies for cat-sitter, etc.

It's not a neurosis, it's the correct way to do things. (I was well trained by my mother....)

The last thing I want to do when I come back home is tidy up. I'd rather do it before I leave.

Well, since presumably your mother doees not live there, I would say it is up to you. We won't tell anyone if you leave your place messy for once. My personal New Year's resolution is to blow off more sh*!. It has definitely helped reduce my previously-intolerable stress level. Maybe you should try it!

Have fun on your trip --

Definitely tidy before I leave - wash dishes, make my bed, etc. I like the feeling of coming home to a clean space. Also, I typically have laundry to do from the trip so it's nice to not have any other cleaning chores hanging over my head.

I don't think you have to go crazy, but definitely do as much as you can and leave no dirty dishes or trash out! It's so much nicer to come back to a clean home.

We go into a kind of manic overdrive before a trip because so many things have to be taken care of business, multiple pets, regular tidying, packing. It also puts a definite deadline on the dozens of tasks we kept meaning get to 'tomorrow' and makes them seem urgent. Never been anywhere that I didn't start the trip in a groggy brained/overly excited haze.

I'm going out of town for the long weekend too, and even though I made my bed, vacuumed, did the laundry, took the trash out and cleaned the bathroom, I just realized I forgot to unload the dishwasher and left a frying pan in the sink and now I'm overwhelmed with guilt.

Halvorsen, I suggest Prozac for that OCD ; )

No, you have to do it. It is SUCH a nice feeling to come home to a tidy house. I even get this way before leaving for just the day (i.e. work etc.). Coming home to a dirty house is so depressing.

I always tidy up before heading out for a trip. It's always totally worth it when you get back, except when the kitties decide to party while we're gone :0. I'm not sure where I picked up the habit but it always seems to happen even if it's just before I head out the door--nothing crazy just usually straighten up and make sure dishes are washed.

If at all possible, I even get my laundry done before I pack to come home. That worked better in Egypt (where costs were low) than in London, where the self-serve laundromat cost almost $20 US for ONE load! Then coming home to a clean house is relaxing, not stressful. (There are always the pet issues that might need attending, unless the pet sitter managed to get to them -- more than enough to deal with when jet lagged!)

guilty - but not just before going out of town; i do this before leaving the house ever. and before going to bed each night. when i'm done with something, i put it away. it's not that difficult, though it's a concept my roommate hasn't quite grasped.

I have to organize stuff before I leave. My roommate....not so much.

She loves to leave dishes in the sink.

Heather AB and Ermu - I was just going to leave a similar comment!

While I try to keep things tidy - even just for when I come home from work at night (bed made, living room picked up, dishes from last night's dinner done, counters cleared) my roommate does not share this trait.

I love her, but I don't love her crap everywhere, the week old dishes and general disorganization invading my space. :)

YES! And fresh sheets too.

I always tidy up before I leave. I think its a holdover from my mother telling me to wear clean underwear in case I was in an accident. What if my plane crashed and theauthorities came to my place and found it messy? Yikes!

It does not control my life, but my OCD requires that I tidy before:
1. Going to bed.
2. Going to the office.
3. Going out of town.

You at the very least need to clean up the dishes, run the dishwasher, and take out the trash. Or maybe that just a problem in the deep south. If you don't take out the trash here, you quickly get some kind of a bug problem... which is not a pleasant surprise when returning home from vacation!

yeah, i wouldn't call it a neuroses for me, just that nice feeling of coming home to a clean place.

Eh, I don't care what my place looks like when I'm not there.

The only thing I do is wash all dishes and throw out the trash, so nothing gets horribly smelly while I'm away.

Yes, at the very least the dishes must be done. When we leave it's sometimes for a couple weeks or more on tour. And after spending a few weeks in super 8's and a messy van it is SO NICE to come home to a nice clean apartment and just relax.

I don't go crazy with the cleaning b/c there are so many other fun things to do in life. But one lesson I have learned is to DEFINITELY take out garbage before you leave town. My bf and I went on a week-long trip once and came home to the noxious odor of rotten grapefruit. (The trash was empty except for this one sad, deteriorating fruit!) The smell took days to air out...

while preparing for a short or a long trip, it may get tiring to clean and tidy... but it sure beats having the ghost of a messy place waiting for you the moment you return... Makes it harder to relax.

Also, if its a long drive/flight, you will probably be tired by the time you get home. Cleaning up is the last thing one wants to do in such a situation, right?

Not a neurosis! I bring home clutter when I've been away. Bags and luggage dropped in the middle of the floor. Coats thrown over the backs of chairs. It is bad enough cleaning up the clutter you've brought home without having to clean up the clutter you've uncovered once the job is done. . . .

I was just getting ready to leave for the weekend, straightening up first, then packing...
It is just awful to come home late to a messy house when you have to get up for a new week in the morning! It makes me feel behind before I start!

OCD here too. Going away means a very full day of cleaning top to bottom, checking dogs' provisions, re-doing list for pet sitter, paying all bills, bathing or at least brushing my dogs ...

During the usual weekly cleaning routine, I know I clean stuff that could go two or three weeks, but I clean it anyway.

Sick-in-the-head. Clean, but sick-in-the-head.

Wow, lots of disturbed people. I try to have the dishes/trash done, but you know, sometimes it just doesn't happen.

yep, I just got home from a trip and it was so nice to come home to a clean home.

i'm not so good with cleaning on a regular basis, but when i'm going out of town the house MUST be tidy before i leave.

that lamp is so fun!

I always try to put fresh sheets on the bed and leave no dirty dishes or mess. During my most recent trip, in December, my neighbor had to come in and pump water from my stopped up and leaking radiator, and because of that I will be adding "Put away all bras hanging in the shower" to my list of things to do before I go away.

My abode must be very clean before I go anywhere out of town, even just for a weekend. Kitchen and bathrooms need to be clean w/ new towels out. The bed has to have clean sheets. Vacuuming, etc. Always good to come home to a clean home, but especially after coming off of a 20 hour flight and massive jet lag (which is generally the case for me).

Yes, and it's so bad for me that I even hate to leave the house for work with something as minor as a coffee cup in the sink.

Definitely. Not OCD-level (my husband tends that direction, though), but I loathe coming home, lugging my stuff up to the apartment, and then being faced with a mess. Well, I would loathe that, I don't think it's ever happened.

I've never understood why people tidy before they leave. When I get home with my luggage and stuff from the trip, there is going to be messy anyways, so why bother?
Only thing I do is take out trash and run the dishwasher so stuff doesn't smell.

Yuck, who wants to come home to a messy house? That just means you have work to do before you can recover from your trip.

Too many generations of refugees in my family, I guess. My mother has a deep superstition about leaving things undone, lest she never return, and before leaving even for one day, she pays all bills, cleans the already always spotless house and makes sure nothing "embarrassing" (a very broad category, let me tell ya) is left where anyone might find it. I'm not this obsessive, but...have been accused of not falling all that far from the proverbial tree. Oh well!

I think it's about how I go away for a weekend and if I come back to an messy apartment, I'm just going to want to pull my hair out since I'm worn out by then. Nothing better than being able to drop into bed after a long weekend.

I don't go overboard but I try to manage to:

-Straighten up the living room
-Clean the kitchen and bathrooms
-Make bed and pick up clutter
-Finish all laundry

I don't care that it's spotless - just something I would want to return to.

I make the beds and tidy up, run (but don't empty) the dishwasher and take out the trash. Just don't want to come home to funk.

I'd never feel guilty about not emptying the dishwasher. I thought that's what dishwashers were for---storing clean dishes. :)

I have to take out the trash, make the bed, and do the dishes. And...lay a clean shirt on the bed. I'm superstitious!

Ingrid, curious - why a clean shirt?

peculiarly, i actually have mild ocd, but it tends to relate to sorting, but necessarily to cleaning; certain things have to be in certain places before i go, but cleaning doesn't necessarily happen, as i do tend to be in a hurry. putting things exactly where they should be takes up a lot of time, and by the time that's through, i'm usually late!

I said yes, mostly because I would just prefer to come home to a clean house. It's not a need, however.

Emily

Trash out at a minimum!

Better yet: clean sheets and towels, and no dirty dishes.

Ideally: clean bathroom, floors, and kitchen.

Heaven: gnomes to freshly-stock my fridge and pantry just before I return (and unpack for me)!

Nothings worse after going away, usually to relax, to come home to a house that is nonrelaxing. Its so much more inviting when a guest comes over, well for myself the same rules apply.

I agree Matthew K. I would want to be welcomed back to my home after a long travel - not be confronted with lots of things to do while I'm really wanting to fall on the bed or couch.