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The holidays are just around the corner. Friends visit, family comes for a stay, and dinner parties happen often. Imagine that you just had the busiest day, only to realize that your company is arriving in an hour. Your mind starts to think of all of the things that need to be done.
With all that we have going on through the holidays, sometimes you have to clean in a hurry.
If you only have a small amount of time, you can follow these steps to get your house looking visitor-ready in no time!
1. Clear Your Entryway
You don’t want someone coming in and falling all over your shoes, coats, kid’s backpacks.
Gather things up into a basket, and you can put things back into their proper spots after the company leaves. I usually just put stuff away right then, I just run around as fast as I can, to put them away. This will only take a few minutes and it will make a huge difference in how your guests feel when they come into your home. I also try to clean the banister by the front door- it’s the first thing that they will see:
2. Clean up the kitchen.
It is inevitable that when someone comes into our home, they will go into the kitchen.
If you only have a few minutes, be sure to clean up any dirty dishes and wipe down your countertops and table. We use Multi-surface dusting spray Endust on the table, especially when we are in a hurry. It cleans very well & smells even better (a lemon scent). You can use it on any sealed surface: Marble, wood, vinyl, and even stainless steel. Plus, it will stay shiny and keep the dust away for days. It’s a win-win.
3- Dust Your Living Room.
A five-minute dusting will clean a room in a hurry. A dusty house looks like it has not been cleaned in a while. If you are spending time in your living room, your company will end up looking at your furniture. Make it shine. Use Multi-surface Endust Lemon in this room to avoid having to switch cleaners. It’s like a dirt-magnet, making it easier to clean. Use it on the sofa table, coffee table, and any end tables. It will be shiny & look great. When you have more time, after your company leaves, go back & use Endust on your baseboards & window sills.
4. Pick Up Things.
The living room is where your company will spend a lot of their time. Do you have any magazines or books left out? Put them away. I keep mine in my coffee table drawer. They are quick to clean up and take less than a minute. When the drawer gets full, I throw them away or give them to my neighbor & start over.
Are there blankets left out? We keep ours in our chair so that no one can see them, but we know that they are there. Toys? Toss them into an ottoman or put them in a basket.
5. Fresh Flowers.
When Mickey is running errands, I often ask him to swing by a local store & pick up white flowers for me. I love white Alstroemerias because they last for weeks. They also make quite a statement when someone walks into the house. I like to have them on the entryway table, to welcome guests.
6. Change out hand towels in the bathroom.
Take any old hand towels & run them to the laundry basket or toss them in the washing machine. Hang up a new fresh hand towel. I keep extra hand-towels under each vanity for occasions like this.
7. Wipe down light switches.
Grab your Multi-surface Endust, and use it on light-switch plates.
I think that when we are moms, we get used to having fingerprints on our light-switches since it’s a daily occurrence, but cleaning it is a simple fix that makes a big difference. Just a quick cleaning leaves them looking shiny & new.
8. Check your toilet paper.
Be sure that your toilet paper is stocked & not running low. While you are in the bathroom, check your hand soap, too.
9. Wipe down the toilet.
Clean your toilet with a disinfecting spray. Be sure to check the base of the toilet, too, especially if you have sons (yes, really).
10. Put a smile on your face.
Remember that above all, your friends are just there to see you. Be happy and just enjoy their company without worrying about your house. Yes, a clean house is lovely (and it makes me so much less-stressed when my house is clean), but your friend came to see YOU. 🙂
Pick up kids toys and put shoes away!!
I like to put clutter into a laundry basket that I then hide upstairs. I make sure the main bathroom is clean. And diffusing a pleasant scent really makes a big difference.
Vacumm house plus check restroom & tidy up.
I clean off the kitchen counters! They always seem to accumulate all the stray papers (kids drawings, school work, mail, etc.). If I only have a minute (literally, like someone is knocking on the door), they get thrown in the nearest cabinet! Haha
Vacuum the floors and wipe down the counters! Everyone seems to gather in the kitchen and the clean space gives the illusion that the whole house is clean! haha
I try doing some things you listed above, but always try to wipe the bathroom sink and get the faucet shiny! It just makes everything better when you have a squeaky clean sink. (And you can use the hand towel you were going to toss in the laundry, or a reserved-for-this-occasion canister of disinfectant wipes!)
I stash al the mail and paper clutter from the counters into my laundry basket and stash in the laundry closet!
Those are great tips! Thanks for sharing these. When I want
A clean house really quickly, I make sure the floor I swept
And vacccumed and the scentcy is plugged in for a smell
I use a cleaning product that smells nice so even if I don’t get a chance to finish putting everything away the place still has a nice, clean smell which I find makes a really big difference!
Vacuum the floors
Pick up the clutter!
I put everything that’s clutter in a laundry basket and hide it in my room!
I start my diffuser with lemon! always makes the house smell fresh and clean! then I tidy up things out of place!
Depending on how much time I have, I first I clear clutter off the kitchen counters / dining table, and living room surfaces. If there is no time to remove them, I just make the piles as neat as possible. Then I clean the toilet and bathroom sink area (I tend to wipe these down daily anyway so they are not too grimy), and put out a fresh towel. If there is still time, I’ll grab a feather duster and do a quick dusting of the living room and then sweep the floor.