Top 5 things to clean to make your guests think you’re a decent housekeeper

Ivy says:

Sometimes you have guests coming over unexpectedly and you don’t have time for the full cleaning route. And sometimes you just don’t feel like cleaning like a madman when there are guests coming over. So what are the most important parts of your house to hit to make your house look decent? Following is a list:

1. Toilets– because they’re probably going to want to use your bathroom, so make sure your toilets are sparkly clean. It’s easy to pull the shower curtain to hide a soap-scummy tub, and people will overlook a less-than perfect sink, as long as your toilet is looking good.

2. Mirrors/glass/other shinies- A general film is okay, but if you have smudges and splatters on your shiny/glass objects, that’s very noticeable. Whip out the Windex and give them a quick shine.

3. Floors– Vacuum or sweep and mop as needed. If I’m really short on time, I’ll do what I call “spot-mopping”; that is cleaning the parts of the floor that have spots or are otherwise funky. This works out better if the floor stays generally pretty clean but just has a few spots of funk on it. If your spot-mopping results in nice, clean spots and otherwise dirty spots, you’re going to have to go all out and mop the whole floor.

4. Cobwebs– Knock down any and all cobwebs. Pay special attention to your light fixtures, that’s where my cobwebs hide, only to come out when people come over. You can always tell them you’re decorating for Halloween, but that only really works one month out of the year.

5. Clutter– Even if you have to sweep it all into a laundry basket and hide it in a closet, get rid of the clutter on your tables and countertops. People tend to notice stuff like that, for some unknown reason.

Have a very happy weekend, everyone!

Check out these other great posts:

• Keeping Guests Entertained On The Cheap
• How To Clean A Very Dirty Toilet
• A Quick Tip To Curb Clutter