Cleaning my house for 1000 visitors

[iris lilies]

I’ve been cleaning and organizing our downstairs for the house tour next weekend where at least 1000 people will come through. We sell 2000 tickets every year so it may be more than 1000 to come to our house, I don’t know.Not all who buy tickets see all the houses on the tour.


We did a decent winter cleanup job because every year we clean the chandelier, baseboards, chair rail in January or February. We do touch up of paint.But I didn’t paint the heat registers and they look bad, but oh well. I have a zillion things to do and painting the heat registers will not get on that list.


I needed a minimum of one more big load of mulch in my garden (that is 1 truckload, 22 5 gallon buckets) and I’m not sure if that’s gonna get done either but since they are only a few weeds It will be fine regardless.


I’m walking around looking for cobwebs and I’m looking for areas that need dusted that tall people will see. Normally for dusting I take the attitude that if I don’t see it it doesn’t matter! Ha ha

[razz]

That kind of tour would intimidate me so hope the fundraiser succeeds with your valuable help and viewing. Can you share some pics of what those coming through might see or rather would you please share?

[iris lilies]

That kind of tour would intimidate me so hope the fundraiser succeeds with your valuable help and viewing. Can you share some pics of what those coming through might see or rather would you please share?

I am having a professional photographer come Monday morning after that house tour because our house will never look as good again, so I wanted it to be photographed with all of the flower arrangements I am making. You had better believe I will share them you know me always putting up photos of an upside down whatever.

[iris lilies]

Many people will skip our house because it’s on the small side and they may not think it’s very interesting, and maybe it’s not very interesting!


The last holiday tour I worked, the smaller house was everyone’s favorite because it had very clean Christmas decor, clean simple but bold and effective.


We have had our garden on tour many times but at the most Maybe 200 people come through the garden.

This is our neighborhoods major fundraiser and it usually nets $35, 000-$50,000.

[Teacher Terry]

I think it’s great you are doing this. Can’t wait to see the pictures. How big is your house?

[iris lilies]

I think it’s great you are doing this. Can’t wait to see the pictures. How big is your house?

1900 sq ft, but only the first floor, patio, and garden are open.

[frugal-one]

OMG... I would totally be freaked out! 1000 people!!!!!!

[iris lilies]

I have had to assert my position as Director of Aesthetics for our home because DH doesn’t seem to have eyes. You know, those things that you see with that are in your head? Yeah he doesnt seem to have those.

I asked him to clean out his stuff from the living room so that I could clean the floor and start arranging things in their final set up. He left behind a dirty 5 gallon bucket full of wood by the fireplace. I’m not sure in what universe that is considered an attractive item.

And then there are these rusty remnants of ornamental Iron hanging on our wood fence for years. DH and I go back-and-forth about getting rid of them. I want to get rid of them he wants to paint them gaudy colors so I just drop the conversation because I guess I would rather have them there, rusty, than painted circus colors. I’m going to remove them for the house tour, they will be stored in the garage.

[happystuff]

Wow! I like going on house tours, but wouldn't want to be the stop on one - lol. Good luck and have fun!!

[JaneV2.0]

It sounds like a monumental undertaking: I hope you make pots of money for your neighborhood!

[Teacher Terry]

Most men wouldn’t be any different than your husband. It’s funny. Store the rusty crap where he can’t see it and once he forgets about it make it disappear. Trust me this works.

[nswef]

Iris lilies, I love the bucket of wood in the living room....it's useful so in his mind it is lovely! You are brave. If I thought 1000 people were coming through my house I would be intimidated. You are a true citizen of you neighborhood.

[iris lilies]

Iris lilies, I love the bucket of wood in the living room....it's useful so in his mind it is lovely! You are brave. If I thought 1000 people were coming through my house I would be intimidated. You are a true citizen of you neighborhood.

naw, house tours are fun. It’s a huge ego stroke because hundreds of people express nice things about your house even if they privately are thinking something different.

We have lived here for 30 years and I always wanted to be on the house tour but we were not a candidate for it because our house was too far along to be a “before renovation” and it was stuck in renovation stage for decades.

[catherine]

I have had to assert my position as Director of Aesthetics for our home because DH doesn’t seem to have eyes. You know, those things that you see with that are in your head? Yeah he doesnt seem to have those.

I asked him to clean out his stuff from the living room so that I could clean the floor and start arranging things in their final set up. He left behind a dirty 5 gallon bucket full of wood by the fireplace. I’m not sure in what universe that is considered an attractive item.

And then there are these rusty remnants of ornamental Iron hanging on our wood fence for years. DH and I go back-and-forth about getting rid of them. I want to get rid of them he wants to paint them gaudy colors so I just drop the conversation because I guess I would rather have them there, rusty, than painted circus colors. I’m going to remove them for the house tour, they will be stored in the garage.

Haha! I relate totally. I certainly don't claim to have a lot of artistic vision, but I feel like Frank Lloyd Wright compared to DH. I'll try to explain my thoughts for the house in VT and he tries so hard to understand, so I'll draw pictures, I'll show pictures from Pinterest, I'll do whatever it takes but he'll say, "I don't see how that's going to work." And then after we've done it (these are usually DIY projects that we have to work on together) he thinks I'm a genius. My current case-in-point is the outdoor shower. We'll have a dozen fights over how to do it, but it will work out fine in the end.

IL, good luck on your house tour! That is so exciting, but I'm with frugal-one, I would be totally freaking out. And definitely post pictures!

[iris lilies]

We just had the Oxiclean Service guy here to clean our sofa and two chairs. I’ve never had a service like this here before.


So, A nice young guy came and cleaned the sofa and then told me that he could not clean the pink chairs because they are a bright color and their chemical will change color from hot pink to rust color. Ack!

He recommended a specialty company, but there is no time for that, so I will have to work with our shop vac and damp rag to clean these chairs.

I keep telling the bulldog of the house “you are why we cant have nice things!”but of course if I were a disciplined person, he would not be allowed up in the furniture.

[Teacher Terry]

We had a couch cleaned once and it made a huge difference. I covered my couch instead of refusing the big guy but he took a toll on the sofa regardless. The little ones don’t shed. Your bulldog feels very guilty:)). I had a house in Wisconsin that was built in 1900 and it was so interesting with 3 floors plus a basement. It was a great place to raise kids because I could get away from the noise. My husband actually has great vision. We moved walls, etc in this house and he was the mastermind but I decorate.

[lmerullo]

I don't want to be responsible for ruining some nice chairs, but try brushing in baking soda and vacuuming it off. Testing in a not visible area, of course! What type of fabric are they?

Our couch is leather now, so just requires a damp wiping down and a sealing once or twice a year. Plus - doesn't hold a doggie scent!

[iris lilies]

I worked all day on 8 floral designs. Most were simple and inexpensive, using a fair amountof stuff from my garden. But the English garden on my mantle was neither simple nor inexpensive. Probably about $180 in flowers here. It is a bit much! Haha, but that’s ok, it is what I wanted to do.

here is a photo in bad lighting. I will have better photos later. It is upside down.


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[iris lilies]

I don't want to be responsible for ruining some nice chairs, but try brushing in baking soda and vacuuming it off. Testing in a not visible area, of course! What type of fabric are they?

Our couch is leather now, so just requires a damp wiping down and a sealing once or twice a year. Plus - doesn't hold a doggie scent!

Thanks for tjis. Baking soda would help the doggie smell, But I did not try that. I just took a damp rag and a tiny bit of soap and rub down the dirty spots. It is OK not perfect but OK.

[catherine]

I worked all day on 8 floral designs. Most were simple and inexpensive, using a fair amountof stuff from my garden. But the English garden on my mantle was neither simple nor inexpensive. Probably about $180 in flowers here. It is a bit much! Haha, but that’s ok, it is what I wanted to do.

here is a photo in bad lighting. I will have better photos later. It is upside down.


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That is beautiful! Really gorgeous, IL. How do you keep the flowers watered? Are they in containers or do you use those little floral tubes? Your house is beautiful, too--it looks like you have fantastic architectural detail. Were those built-ins always there?

[razz]

Gorgeous arrangement with the same questions as Cath. I would love to have done the tour for real.

[iris lilies]

That is beautiful! Really gorgeous, IL. How do you keep the flowers watered? Are they in containers or do you use those little floral tubes? Your house is beautiful, too--it looks like you have fantastic architectural detail. Were those built-ins always there?

Florals on the wreath are in tubes. Florals on the mantle are in wet foam. I am spraying them with water several times a day.

But I already took the wreath down, it was too big and dark for the total arrangement. I will probably hang it on the fence out front.

Dh built the book cases. Our house was a shell, stripped to 4 walls and a floor (and no interior staircases) when we bought it. He built everything.

[Teacher Terry]

I love the flowers. So pretty.

[iris lilies]

Better photos from tour today:

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Middle Shows table set with Victorian China and Victorian floral arrangement.

[razz]

You have had fun with this effort and the effect is really lovely.

[Teacher Terry]

I love your decorating. I have a similar square oak table and love it after 40 years.

[Teacher Terry]

Any idea how many people came through?

[iris lilies]

Any idea how many people came through?

About 700.

300 on Saturday, 400 on Sunday. We went theough 200 cups (we offered water.) it was a steady stream on Sunday, it was never really crowded and we only had short lines to get in.

These house tours are so unpredictable, you can never guess what will be the popular thing. With our house it seem to be the tile backsplash in the kitchen. at least 100 people had to touch it. It is a mid range tile, basket weave pattern, white and gray, nothing interesting. But something about it required people to touch it and when I asked some of them they said it looks three-dimensional.I guess it is Kinda.


Different people liked different things but the other most commented upon things were floral designs, pink chairs, the spiral staircase made out of church pews which was not on tour but we showed pictures of it.

outside they all wanted to know name of the weird tall plants. It was leek. They had to walk right by a fully loaded small cherry tree and many did not know what that was.

[rosarugosa]

IL: I think we need to see pictures of the backsplash and the spiral staircase. After all, we are practically family. :)

[catherine]

IL: I think we need to see pictures of the backsplash and the spiral staircase. After all, we are practically family. :)

I agree! Must be fun--like market research to have a huge group of people coming in and then finding out what resonates with them.

[Teacher Terry]

That’s a ton of people. Pictures please:))

[iris lilies]

You people are funny! I will humor you. First up: regular things in our house that we live with every day.

Tile Back splash tile in kitchen:

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Tile in context, upside down of course, sorry

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Spiral staircase from 2nd to 3rd floor, treads made from oak church pews. Also, you can See the fan window and French doors going into the master bedroom that are architectural salvage. There is a fair amount of recycled building materials in our house.

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[Teacher Terry]

I love it all. The tile is unusual. You have great taste.

[catherine]

OMG, I love that staircase, especially knowing it was made of church pews. But that clerestory window is gorgeous, and what is the patterned thing to the left--with the green and red?

[razz]

Really interesting to see. Thanks.

[iris lilies]

OMG, I love that staircase, especially knowing it was made of church pews. But that clerestory window is gorgeous, and what is the patterned thing to the left--with the green and red?
The patterned thing is a four panel screen that DH made and I covered in fabric that goes with the colors of our living room, pink and green. It was upstairs during the house tour because it didn’t really quite fit.

This area of our second floor is what we call The Wasted Space because decades ago my mom commented “ oh my this is so much wasted space!”Ha ha. We designed the second floor this way purposely because there is only one tiny window in that area, it is up against the building next door, and it is very low light and I just didn’t want a dark little hallway or room.

The flooring is black and white marble tile which is very faaan-cy. I would not use that flooring today but at the time it seemed the right thing to do.


I truly believe the next owners of this house will redo the second floor, tearing out walls, putting in a different staircase and etc.

[rosarugosa]

Great stuff - thanks for sharing! The staircase is lovely and I do think the backsplash is quite cool and not like anything I've ever seen.