Thoughts on sitters rearranging your cupboards.
I have felt my privacy has been invaded when my last sitter chose to rearrange my kitchen cupboards on her own accord. She also entered a room where the door was closed and moved items. The door was then left open and our dog was allowed to enter and chew the doona cover. This was after explicit instruction not to leave doors open when the house was empty. He does have a tendency to make himself comfortable in bedding. I don’t know why she was in the room at all.
Not quite sure how to broach the subject t with dotter so seeking other’s thoughts and advice.
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Rearranging the cupboards-could it be that they emptied some shelves to put their own items in and then put back all your things but not in the order you had them ?
We ask homeowners to clear a shelf in the cupboard before we arrive , but sometimes when this hasn’t been done by homeowner have had to move things around to make space for our own groceries in kitchen/ toiletries in bathroom whilst we live in their home . We put things back at the end of the sit but it likely won’t be arranged exactly as it was before . ( unless we take a photo of how it was - but that seems excessive)
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Please just take a breath. Did you make any space for the sitter who had to live in your home? I’ve had to rearrange things to make space so we can actually put our things there, fridge, cupboards etc.
Are you saying they took everything out the cupboards and completely changed it all around? Or are we just talking about a few minor things were not quite where you left them?
I’m sure leaving the door open was an accident. If you can find it within yourself to just ask normally I’m certain there is a reasonable explanation? Maybe they heard a noise, smell, heard water? A million things that worth them just opening the door to check.
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Hardly an attack, as stated, just asking people’s thoughts. As stated also, each cupboard had been reorganised including drawers of cutlery. Thanks for feedback though as I hadn’t experienced anything like this previously.
Thank you for your feedback. Yes there was space left and shown to sitters. I just hasn’t experienced that before. Thank you for taking time to respond.
When one has a sitter, there is an invasion of privacy, I think that is unavoidable.
When I am looking for something that I suddenly need (for instance a vacuum cleaner), I may open some doors. Of course I should close them too.
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Probably have a chat with them about the open door & subsequent chewing as that’s annoying (& was mentioned). We’ve had a couple of HOs tell us about sitters who reorganised their cupboards which they thought was funny rather than anything else. And they didn’t object. We also met one sitter who had a star 
taken off her for not putting things back properly and was told by the HO that she should have taken before and after photos which seems a step too far. You’ve already invited a stranger into your home so the cupboard thing seems relatively trivial and they may have thought they were simply being helpful @BClark
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@BClark
If there was room for the sitter, it was totally wrong of them to move things around. I might misplace an item or 2 having forgotten which cupboard or drawer I had gotten it, but I can’t imagine any reason why someone would rearrange anything in your home.
Also, in my opinion, a closed door is something I will totally respect. If I have no reason to go into that room, I won’t. As someone else stated, if I’m having to look for something that I can’t find anywhere else, I might look there but wouldn’t even think about moving things around. When you have specifically stated that the door should be closed, there is no reason for the person to leave it open to allow something to be ruined.
I guess if people don’t think it’s a big deal, I’d ask if you’d feel the same if your mother-in-law came into your house and rearranged your kitchen cupboards?
As far as your question on advice, I guess I’d make sure to over emphasize the door issue, possibly going as far as locking it if there is absolutely no reason for the sitter to go into that room and write off the rearranging as a wacko OCD individual that isn’t indicative of the rest of the sitters on THS.
Dan
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Just wondering if the cupboards were clean? I wouldn’t rearrange cupboards but have had to empty cupboards and cutlery trays that were dirty (in one case had ants) but put things back in the same places
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I was left here with a dishwasher running, so now I am guessing a bit where to put things 
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As a PP, I would feel the same if someone re-arranged my cupboards and drawers. They are as they are because that’s how I like them.
Misplacing things is normal and fully expected, but purposefully re-arranging things would be too much.
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No advice but id feel the same about my privacy . Awful
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Sitters should not start to rearrange things for no apparent reason.
If, like others, I have to move things to put my stuff there then I do take a photo to ensure it is back as it should be.
I think some sitters have time on their hands and start to tidy up as if the place is their own.
I have seen countless reviews from HOs marvelling at all the work that the sitter has done including:
They re-arranged all of the cupboards
They cleaned my car even though they didn’t use it
They completely tidied the garage
and so on
If I see a HO giving reviews like that I don’t apply as I feel that looking after the pets is not sufficient!
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I’m not an owner on THS but I can imagine this annoying me intensely. It’s a fine line between sitters having to empty a dishwasher and find places for things so that a few things aren’t exactly as you keep them and a total rearrangement of everything.
Another person commented about OCD; maybe the sitter had to clean everything before using it? (By which I do not mean that your house is dirty, I mean there are people that have to do that by compulsion).
I think I would put the facts to the sitter and see why they did those things. If the answers are not reasonable, or not forthcoming, put it in your review & drop as many stars as you feel the matter deserves.
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@BClark It is really not acceptable what happened to you and I don’t agree at all with
@Enjaybee 's response. This behavior from a “trusted” housesitter is totally innaceptable. I am a sitter and although I am not paid, I act as if I am a professionnal. I have a policy of not opening any drawers, closets, chests that haven’t been adressed to by the HO during the initial visit, such like spaces prepared for my stay, and those for cleaning products and animal products. If I am looking for something and can’t find it, I will send a message to the HO. This rule applies to all rooms except the kitchen. I always warn the HO about this. I won’t bother the HO during their vacation because I am looking for a laddle! But the vacuum cleaner, yes I would, but this doesn’t happen because I always ask where it during the home visit. As for closed doors, I wil ask about them but never open them without a very good reason and with a written permission by the owner.
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@Dominique I really think you blow this out of proportion (similar to the OP) In housesitting the unexpected comes up and it seems completely excessive to require written permission over minor things like checking in on a room or opening a drawer. I’d be annoyed if a housesitter was texting me to ask where things were - just use your own initiative and look.
This is ‘trusted’ housesitters after all so it should be assumed that there is no bad reason that drawers or cupboards were opened. Maybe they were looking for the hoover, a bucket, a mop, maybe the clock needed batteries or the cats tag fell off and they were checking all the rooms. Maybe they heard a disturbance in one of the bedrooms and went to check. Maybe there was an awful smell coming from the room and they wanted to check 
Try not to blow things out of control. I see this all the time on this forum people get all high and mighty about the most minor of things. I feel like a lot of homeowners forget that to look after the pets the sitters have to actually LIVE in the home. They will say they cleared space and then we find there is a single shelf in one cupboard that has been made available or a single drawer in a bedroom and we are staying for 6 weeks.
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Hi … just a reminder at this point of our kindness values and that everyone has different opinions and perspectives and that’s what makes our community great. Thank you for keeping it respectful and kind.
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One of my biggest frustrations while pet sitting. I’ve been known to leave them out on the counter top because I haven’t got a clue where they go.
I have had a message once asking where a certain bowl was as it wasn’t where she left it. No it wouldn’t be because you left it in the *** dishwasher!
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Personally I wouldn’t be bothered by the cupboard rearrangement. There have been a couple times where some things have been moved in my kitchen and I couldn’t find them, but because they did such a great job with taking care of my dog and keeping my home clean that it didn’t bother me at all.
Opening doors and drawers in rooms would feel as an invasion of privacy to me, but I realize, that it’s a risk I take by letting a trusted sitter into my home. If I’m afraid of someone going through personal things I just locked it. Or put in a safe space that’s out of reach.
I would probably just address how leaving the door open lead to your dog chewing the doona cover, but would probably ask questions as to why she went in there in the first place. As others have mentioned, she might have just been looking for something and forgot to close the door. I don’t think it’s a bad idea to ask questions as it might be constructive feedback for them in the future not to leave doors open when instructed not to.
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I don’t go into rooms where someone has said not to and I don’t clean rooms I don’t use. But maybe your sitter has an explanation, so ask neutrally. It’s not cool that your cover was chewed on. I’d ask about that, too.
I once rearranged an entire cutlery drawer at a sit, since I washed the trays and all utensils, because of crumbs and gross sticky stuff. It was disorganized to begin with and when I reassembled it, I put things in order.
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