I HAVE been made fun of numerous times by people who think I suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder when it comes to many aspects of my life.

I like to think that I am organised in most things – I hate to be late for anything and I always like things to be perfect.

In fact, I was once told that I had the cleanest car that anyone had ever seen, and I will never let my car get too dirty.

I moved into a two-bedroom flat with my fiancé at the end of November and it is the first home away from our parents. We couldn’t be further apart in terms of cleanliness if we tried – my bedroom at my parents’ house was immaculate and my other half’s mum always tidied up for him as he couldn’t be bothered.

Even though the flat was only built five years ago, I was gobsmacked at the level of mess that was left by the previous occupiers and it took us two weeks to carry out a deep clean of every room before we even got round to any decorating.

The worst part of the flat was actually the oven which had not been cleaned in the slightest during the previous five years – it took a professional oven cleaner nearly four hours to clean it and he said that had it been any worse, he wouldn’t have gone near it!

I get the funny comments from people that I know because I simply cannot understand how people live in mess. Do people not take pride in their homes anymore?

I start the day by getting ready, making breakfast and I will not leave the house until the breakfast mess is cleared up and our bed is made.

I even put the cushions neatly on the sofa so that when I come home, I can relax in the knowledge the flat is not a mess.

If I left home or returned to a messy flat my stress levels would instantly rise.

But, the same can’t be said for my other half who leaves his towel on the bedroom floor and his socks and underwear on the bathroom floor for me to pick up every morning despite my nagging comments.

The fluff that this leaves on the floor drives me mad!

I don’t know why it helps but after work on a Friday evening, I de-stress by carrying out the week’s deep clean – hovering the entire flat, cleaning the bathroom and kitchen floors and worktops and dusting.

As I write this column, I know how ridiculous this sounds but having a clean house is important for me, as the famous phrase “tidy house, tidy mind” really sums up how I feel.

The tidiness of a house says something about the person that is living in it. People complain about the importance of having clean streets so why should the inside of a house be any different?