As we get into the home stretch we’re busier than ever and yet we want our house to look nice when company comes over so I was looking around for tips to help you make your house look good fast. Based on my reading and my own experiences of having to whip things into shape in no time, here are six quick cleaning tips:
- Choose Your Battles – You might not have time to pick-up and clean everything so focus on the public areas of your home. Just close the bedroom doors, shut the office door, and focus on the kitchen, dining room, family room and the bathroom that guests will use.
- Time it – Set a timer for 15, 20 or 30 minutes as you enter each room. Having a time frame will keep you focused on the major things that need to be done – and you’d be surprised at how much you can get done when you put in 20 minutes of focused effort
- Hide It – You probably won’t have time to truly sort through and put away a lot of clutter in a limited time so put it all in a bag, box or laundry basket and stow it in the basement or the closet until company leaves.
- Take a guided tour – Cheryl Najafi of CherylStyle.com suggests walking in the front door as if you are a guest. Then sit in the places your guest might sit and wander the same way your guest might. This way you’ll see what they would be likely to see and you can sweep up those dust bunnies before they embarrass you.
- Eliminate the gross out factor – clean the bathroom! There isn’t much that is more disgusting to a guest than a dirty bathroom. Fortunately a quick scrub with a toilet brush and a fast swipe of the sink, counter, mirror and toilet can be done in 10 minutes. And don’t forget to sweep up the hair and give the rugs a quick shake. Then close the shower doors or draw the curtain on soap scum, leaving that for another day.
- Suck it up – A quick vacuum in the rooms your guests will be using can make a huge difference (especially if you have pets). Don’t worry about getting into nooks and crannies or moving furniture because you’ll certainly have to clean again after the party, but a quick run before hand can change the feel of a room.
Cleaning your house in 30 minutes isn’t going to make it ship-shape on a regular basis; this is the emergency run for those times when you have to clean your house fast. I’ve found that a thorough cleaning right after Thanksgiving and a good follow-up in mid-December go a long way toward keeping the house presentable and leaving the way clear so a quick run through can do wonders.
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