So you get a text message that tells you company is dropping by and they're only 10 blocks away. Don't panic. Take a deep breath, now panic and check out these 5 tips for making your house appear clean in a flash. That's right, I said appear. Who has time to really clean in 10 blocks?
1. Clean the Three T's: Toilets, Tabletops, the Television. What? The television? Yup! Most living rooms are centered around your tv and the amount of dust that hangs on it, your netflix stack and dvd box set pile that's off to one side could be tell tale signs of why the rest of your house isn't exactly spotless. Plus if you sit chatting in the living room, you'll be staring at it wishing you would have moved it. Toilets and tabletops are a bit more self explanatory, but important none the less.
2. Stash with Efficiency: When company drops in we've all been in a situation once or twice where things get tossed in a basket and shoved in the spare bedroom or closet. It's a quick solution, but it can be done with more efficiency so you can find your stuff later on. Add things to your basket according to the room they go in. That way when company leaves, you can remove the items easily without making 100 trips across your house or apartment to put things where they belong.
3. Pet Hair: Even if you have a sparkling clean house, if your sofa is covered with a layer of dog or cat fur, it suddenly looks less tidy. Keep a rubber glove or your favorite pet hair busting product on hand to knock it all down in a few sweeps.
4. Dishes Be Gone in Seconds Flat: Please don't judge me for this tip. Admitting that I've done it more than once is punishment enough alright? So here goes. Put your dishes in your oven. Wait, what? If you pile your dishes in the sink then it looks like you threw them all in there at the last minute as everyone knows you can't really wash dishes in that manner and you'll still look like a slight slob, even though you have clean counters. Instead, grab a baking sheet and stack like items together and slide them in the oven. They'll slide right back out, be prestacked and ready to be washed so you can recover from the guilt you just gave yourself for following through with this tip. Side note: don't preheat your oven... even by accident... until they're removed.
5. Spend 5 Furious Minutes on Your House Everyday: Isn't that cheating? We're talking about last minute company here, not preparing all week long for them to come! True, but think about how much you can clean in those few minutes before they arrive. 10 blocks isn't much. With traffic and parking and walking up your stairs, 5 minutes is a safe estimate. Bring that panic to your life every day and clean with the same intensity for just 5 minutes and your house will always look better for it. Plus, you still have time to watch Raising Hope without telling yourself you'll pick up on commercials.
Do you have a quick clean-up tip that helps you out when company calls? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Image: Rachel's Harmonious Home in Berlin
Originally published 11.1.11 - JL
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My credenza/sideboard in my living room has been great for quick stashing. Then you open it after your guests have left, and all the c*&p comes falling out.
The oven trick is funny. But, most New Yorkers keep their sweaters in the oven...what do they do? LOL
I have totally used the oven trick! It's also good for stashing large pizza boxes until they go out with the trash.
I'm trying to tackle my office paperwork piles today. It is slow going, but necessary, after too many quick fixes...!
Hahaha... I've used the oven trick before, in my very first apartment, when my aunt (whose floors could be eaten from) decided to come by and check the place out. Holy crap, I was terrified she'd open the oven door. Thankfully, she didn't.
My husband and I do a three song clean. Works wonders.
I've never before admitted this but here goes...
I have three cats and if I don't let them sleep on the sofa they all want to sleep on me. I keep an inexpensive throw on the sofa to keep their fur and paw prints at bay. I keep some nice toss cushions in a drawer in my sideboard. When company is on the way I stuff the kitty throw in the drawer and put the pillows on the sofa. It's a very convincing 30-second trick. If I get busted mid-switch I just pretend I'm bringing the blanket in from the clothesline and take it upstairs to stash.
I quickly run to the kitchen and grab a container of leftovers and throw it on a wall to distract the guests from the mess everywhere else. Works and is a great point of discussion.
Ben is funny
Ha Famous Amos!! Excellent thinking! Neater than Ben Win..; ) everything into the oven, spray clean the bathroom 'appliances' and mirror..shoes/jackets from kitchen thrown behind bedroom door. Quick spray of handy Fabreze/(emergency)..and if time..wipe the black mascara from under my most likely 'wrecked face'.. wheeeeeeeeeeww..
This article and these posts are fantastic.
I have cats, and they stink up the litter box while I'm at work. Even after cleaning the box, there's about a 10-minute stink-reduction period. So when I get a last minute call, I light really strong lavender scented candles that I have triangulated around the room *before* cleaning the box, giving them maximum time to permeate the room, then I blow them out just before the guests come in.
The combination of lavender and burnt candle takes away the lingering cat box smell.
...I feel gross.
because we live in such a small place, i've made it a point to clean hardcore on sundays, and just 'pick up' during the week. i'll even 'reward' myself with things like...
weekdays: 'when the dishes are done, then you can eat dinner' or sundays: 'when you're done vacuuming the couch then you can get cleaned up for the day'.
luckily we dont have guests over on sundays 99% of the time so i can look awful while getting my apartment in order for the week.
the only tip i would offer if i were to be the 'unexpected guest' is to have a clean floor. there's nothing worse than removing your shoes, walking to the sofa and having stuff get stuck to your feet. barf!
These people are terrible friends. Can't they give me more notice.
Also - where do I get these vacuuming children? I'd like a pair.
I always give the bathroom mirror a quick pre-company clean, too, because I figure people are definitely going to be looking in it, possibly even GAZING....
Wow, just those 5 things would take me more than 10 minutes. Heck, the dog hair alone...
i make neat stacks of everything. if people call last minute, they can't have their expectations too high, so i just make sure all the books/magazines on the coffee table are stacked by size, remotes are together, and shoes are out of the way. i make (what i think are) cute vignettes out of items i don't really have a home for. daily facial bathroom stuff is grouped together; pens, pencils and paintbrushes are aligned and vases and candybowls placed together.
nothing beats washing a wine glass directly before pouring your guests a splash, no?
My husband and I made a pact when we were first married 30 years ago that our house would never be more than 10 minutes away from guests. It's tidy enough daily for people to call and say they are "in the neighborhood." Dishes get shoved in the dishwasher, the child's room door gets closed, and the various lotions, sprays, goo bottles get put away in the bathroom.
It's easy if you think that way every day and make a pact with your partner to keep it that way.
Brilliant!
Dishes in the oven is soooo unappealing...... I have a glass oven door! I try to ensure that my house is never messy enough to be embarrassed by it and if my 'friends' are judging me by the state of my house then they're a little bit pathetic in my opinion. I love the basket idea.... I stash it in our walk in robe. It's mainly the kids mess: toys, clothing (why my girls feel the need to strip off 10 times a day is beyond my understanding, lol) and pencils.......
oh my goodnes... The oven tip is GENIUS! We dont have a dishwasher & so there's always a plate or 2 (or 10!) in the sink. Thanks !!
I keep my home clean enough for myself that it's not an issue. However, when some one called me out of the blue to say that she'd arrive in ten minutes, then I just said no, that would be inconvenient for me. No one who doesn't live here may crash my home unless there's a unique crisis or she has a search warrant. Otherwise it would be disrespectful of my household. I wouldn't invade other people's homes, either. My family and friends feel the same way. We value our homes as havens.
My hubby once did the oven thing, without telling me. 2 days later I preheated the oven for dinner and my kitchen was overrun with the stench of rotten food. I was cranky.
Thanks everyone! Seriously needed to read this today.
My friend's mom had the best trick ever. She would wheel the vacuum cleaner into the room right before guests got there and would say OH you caught me in the middle of cleaning! They inevitably just assumed she was in the middle of a cleaning flurry, thus the mess.
@lizziepeony: best. tip. ever.
My mom did the oven thing once and we are still teasing her about it. My grandparents never caught on, though!
Slap small saucepan on stove with about 1 inch of water inside, turn burner on high. Stow all dirty dishes in oven as per above while water is heating. When water boils sprinkle 1-2 tsp cinnamon into it, turn burner down to medium, then wipe down counter tops. Turn burner off, leaving sauce pan in place. Kitchen looks neat as a pin, whole house smells nice! This will cover the strongest odors - guaranteed.
Putting fresh lines out in the bathrooms and bedrooms instantly makes a home feel fresh too.
One day I 'popped' in on a friend and was astounded on how great his home looked-neat and tidy-no clutter-like it was ready for a showing. Flylady.net was his secret. And I've used her sage advise, cleaning tips and encouraging words ever since. I use the 27 fling boogie with clients when helping them declutter their closets.
break the nick-nack and piles o' stuff habit and your home will be tidy, whether or not it's clean. We have two cats, two dogs, and work full time.
We are very neat, but actual cleaning -- removal of dirt -- only happens about every three weeks. Maintenance means we don't accumulate clutter.
So when we do have friends pop in like they did this weekend, we had "normal" dishes on the counter (a day's worth, not a week's) and mail on the table (the day's, not a week's).
I like to think our tidy habit means no one sees the dust bunnies under the sofa or the spots on the bathroom mirror because these are evidence of "normal" living, as opposed to a evidence of a vacant home.
I LOVE the idea of 5-furious-minutes a day and can't wait to try it!
1. Use the dishwasher for dirty dishes, and not just when guests are on the way. Put all the dirty ones in there immediately after use! That is what it's for! The oven is silly if you have a dw.
2. Put out clean towels. In fact, keep guest towels out at all times.
3. Use clumping litter and lots of it and your cat box will never smell bad.
4. I like the removable pet-hair throw idea, but my cat likes to sleep on pillows, so I just remove the pillows.
5. And if you have time, I really like the idea of cleaning the tabletop/toilet. (My TV is in another room.) You should also swipe off the bathroom sink. Just concentrate on the surfaces a guest might actually see/touch.
Confession: In 1994, I had to call a rubbish removal service to clean out my spare room. It held virtually nothing but stacks of paper and magazines I had swept off the table every time company came! For two decades!
I love that picture! I'm like potpie, I need those adorable house elv--no, children.
Love the oven tip. I'm a stay at home mom with older kids so the house is always clean because what else am I going to do all day?
I have no idea how people with full time jobs keep a presentable house. Especially if they have kids.
ccrat - you made me laugh at your last comment!
@potpie - Hilarious.
The oven trick is great, I've used it MANY times since I don't have a dishwasher. However, I've also forgotten I've used that trick... what a price to pay! Once I found the wretched dishes with my nose several days later. Another time I started up the oven with several pieces of tupperware in there. Ooops.
My mom just comes over and yells at me for having a dirty sink (not with dirty dishes in it, mind you, or food, it's just never *shiny*) and cleans it.
My uh "tip" is everyone else's - hide it. I put mail in drawers, shove my husband's backpack under the couch, etc etc. Then 3 months later it gets bad and I get to spend a weekend reorganizing while my husband criticizes what he calls my "frenzies" when I hide stuff.
The drop-in is an obsolete holdover from pre-telephone days. Why deal in standing invitations, command performances, surprise inspections, and ten-blocks-away-company-text-messages? Instead, coordinate visits with considerate advance notice. I'd really resent feeling forced to scamper around hiding things. It seems undignified. I'm keeping the rare luxury of spontaneously showering, sleeping, or being otherwise unavailable at home. It's a valuable benefit of being self-supporting, childless, and living only with my husband.
This happened to me and my husband about two weeks ago. We try to keep things neat, but after a late-night call from two friends who were having drinks in our neighborhood and were now a couple of blocks away I looked around and wasn't pleased that things weren't perfect. All I could do was quick-clean the bathroom and great them warmly as my husband opened a bottle of red. When they were gone I looked around at the paperwork on the dining room table and the stuff being sold on Craig's List that was collected in a granny cart by the bar and just accepted what had happened. I love my friends - I thought it was a treat that they wanted to see us and don't think they judged us at all.
If it is an eveing visit, use candles and dimmers on your lights. Our housekeeper was on a two week vacay and since we are super busy cleaning was not done. A friend recently stopped over one night unexpectedly called, and came so we just dimmed all of the lights and lit a few candles. Kept it bright enough not to seem like a love den but low enough to hide the fact that the carpets were a mess with dog hair fromt he three dogs we have and every inch of surface had dust on it. Our friend commented about how clean our house always is, lol. Thank g-d that our housekeeper resumes her schedule today!
Sorry for type-os! forgot to check before I hit post!
Love this post & the comments! @LizziePeony, I must admit that your Mom's tip works oh so well, too! LOL!
Here's what I do/reach for:
~ All-Purpose Spray Cleanser: Spray kitchen & bathroom counter, faucets, sinks & toilet & let it work while you ...
~ Microfiber Cloth #1 (damp!): Dust mirrors (first), TV, tabletops, etc.
~ Microfiber Cloth #2 & 3 (wet!): Wipe, rinse & polish/dry previously sprayed surfaces with clean microfiber cloth (separate one for kitchen)
~ Vacuum if there's time: High traffic areas (carpet vacuum stripes make a room look so fresh & so clean). Vacuum works great on hard surfaces, too; so, skip the broom in a pinch.
beyond loving all the tips, I'm loving that I'm not the only one that doesnt keep their house spotless, or even presentable to others at all times (read: most times). I always assume everyone else is just naturally clean, when they too probably have dirty dishes in their ovens!
No magic - just keep up with the junk every day & purge most of the dust catchers from your house. I empty the dishwasher every morning while I wait for my coffee to brew so there's always a place for the dishes. Squeegee the shower before you get out; wipe down the bathroom surfaces with your damp towel ending with the floor. Clean up after dinner every night. Then all you have to do on the weekend is vacuum & dust & give the bathroom & kitchen a good wipe down with an all purpose cleaner, with a weekly "extra" like a couple of windows.
Thanks for all the helpful tips!
The one time I brought a neighborhood friend into the house spontaneously, my mom freaked out and yelled at me because the house wasn't clean enough for guests (we were like 6, we didn't care), so I've always vowed to try to keep my own house reasonably "drop-in guest-ready."
My biggest challenge spot is my bathroom, which is also the guest bathroom. I keep a container of those ready-to-go wipes (I get the Mrs. Meyer's ones for cheap at TJ Maxx) in my bathroom cabinet so that if, for example, guests come in for drinks after dinner (so I haven't had the 10 minute warning), I can excuse myself to go to the restroom and sneak in there to give everything a quick wipe-down.
My biggest tip, though, is noticing cobwebs and dustbunnies when visiting my friends' houses, realizing I don't care, think no less of them, and am just glad to be seeing them, and realizing they probably feel the same at my house. :)
@Deanna … agreed! FLYLady's tips are genius efficient cleaning especially for impromptu showings when our house was for sale … so much so that we kept at it once it sold! Her site is packed with info; so, I've listed my favs here:
Swish & Swipe (daily): Swish/clean toilet bowl with brush & disinfectant. Swipe bathroom mirror, sink, toilet clean with spray cleanser. FLYLady uses Windex & paper towel … I use all-purpose spray (diluted peppermint castile soap, vinegar, essential oil) & clean rags. Note: for this to work best:
- Corral daily personal care items into a dedicated basket/ bin to be stored under the sink after dressing every day (to keep counters clear)
- Store spray cleanser & cleansing cloth/rags under each bathroom & kitchen sink.
Clean kitchen sink before bed: Empty kitchen sink & clean it & surfaces. This doesn’t mean that you must always wash your dishes … just make sure that they aren’t in the sink. FLYLady mentions rinsing items & putting them in a dishpan under the sink. I won’t do that … ever. Too tired to deal with them? … dirty items are rinsed & stored in the dishwasher. The next day, hand-wash whatever doesn’t normally go in the dishwasher & run the dishwasher once it’s full. Paranoid of the dirty dishes-in-oven option … afraid I’ll forget they’re there especially since I may skip a day using the oven.
27 Fling Boogie: grab a bag or trash can & toss 27 things that don’t belong (i.e., hole-punch confetti, lint, gum wrapper that missed the garbage can, donation items, etc.).
These comments are great. I usually wipe the hardwood floors with Bona cloth and spray some Mrs. Meyers around the house to make it smell like I've been cleaning! Don't underestimate the power of suggestion. And I shove papers and things into cupboards, then can't find them later.
I have a room where I throw everything - clothes, shoes, bags, paperwork left lying around all go in there. I close the door and the rest of the house looks super tidy.
Seal up your windows really well. You'll have a lot less dust.
i wash my dishes after eating/ cooking, or scrape and stack for later. sweep every few days, since my hair is long, and we have no rugs on the wood floors. i try to put things away before bed, or before going out in the morning. clean the bathroom weekly. a little clutter's okay- i live there, for pete's sake!
@ccrat: clean the "tabletop/toilet"?? Gross! That sounds worse than the SNL "Love Toilet"!
While these are great tips I'm afraid they aren't really useful to me. Chances are, if I'm about to have people spontaneously drop by then I'm in sweats and looking like a complete mess so I'm scrabbling to make myself not look like a slob instead of the house.
@Mama Gigi... I'm laughing hysterically in my quiet office cubical. LOVE the three-song clean. It makes it less of a panic attack if you can dance your way to a clean home!!
I like this idea for other things in the house too... 2-song showers, or maybe 4-song dinner preps, the possibilities are endless!!
I think I will adapt XX-song dinners depending on how much free time I have, since we almost always listen to music at home anyways!!
http://twopeasteenypod.blogspot.com/2011/07/music-in-kitchen.html
Thanks for the advice! Bookmarked!
My rule is that if someone is coming to my house for the first time, I care what the house looks like, and can go into a cleaning frenzy. After that - all bets are off, and if they don't like the clutter/crap they see, they are more than welcome to put it away themselves. (I've never had anyone not like the crap/clutter...)
Guests? Yes, it is good to clean for them, but actually I like having a clean house for myself and my family. Now that does not always mean that it is clean, or even presentable (we work and have kids), but I sure apprecaite it when it is.
I love all these tips! It is nice when people give advance notice, but life doesn't work that way and you can miss out on seeing people that you might not see otherwise. We are not ten minutes away, but we are about 30 minutes away from unexpected company,a nd that is often enough.
Oh I've had the best LOL just reading everyone's tips + tricks. I have to say though with 2 young children (one nicknamed Agent Chaos) it depends on the company. One friend is a neat freak so I do clean before she arrives. Another friend is the opposite, so whatever the state of our home is, it's definitely tidier + cleaner than hers! My mother used to complain every time she visited but after babysitting Agent Chaos she's never said a word since.
The oven trick I've only used ONCE and never again! After a lovely warm spring day out we came home to play "what's that smell?" Since then I've always made sure to wash the pots + pans everyday to avoid this.
I am a firm believer in spending five minutes a day tidying up. It saves so much time in the long run! Also, when I walk in to a room with perfectly fluffed pillows I assume it is spotlessly clean.
I know this was a typo - fresh limes I assume was the intention - and I am totally into clean & sober these days. But back in the day - putting fresh lines out might have gotten amped up guests to do the cleaning for me.
I thought "fresh lines" meant "fresh linens."
Fresh linens actually makes more sense! Although scattering random bowls of citrus around might impress or confuse guests into overlooking dust bunnies. Housekeeping is not my forte, obviously.
my job when I was growing up and company came was to grab all the magazines and newspapers, open the basement door and throw them to the bottom! --- this requires a basement but it sure was handy since we always had lots of them!
When I house hunting for my first house, the realtor took me to see a house where an old lady, a widow, lived on her own. She was probably over seventy but her house was absolutely spotless. She proudly showed me her stove (it was a really old piece but she said it was in perfect working condition) and she opened the oven. The oven looked it has never been used, that's how clean it was! When saw it, I felt ashamed because I knew that my house will never look like that - definitely not on an everyday basis.
A while ago, I used to do the 15-minute cleaning attack a day (I think it was on a previous Cure?) but that has been long abandoned. I like the idea of 5 minutes of furious cleaning - I need to start doing that.
Not obsessed by cleaning, but being neat and never leaving piles of stuff around means you're halfway there. I'm always surprised when visiting and seeing most people's standards are lower than mine. No-one ever seems to clean their windows, and there is always a line of crud that they don't seem to see anymore. Here's a tip if you are a girl or all girl house. Regularly lift the lid of your toilet and CLEAN it.
In Abu Dhabi we all have one or more maids, even for the smallest apartments. However, I realized I was getting very lazy, so I did "without" for one year.
I found the key to a clean-looking home was to just not have any surfaces. The first thing I do is clutter up any surface with things that could go elsewhere - from books to sunglasses to dishes even.
I started getting plants, etc. that could go on any available surface and also stopped stocking my home with furniture that had would let me drop my t-shirt from the gym on it!
A friend shared her philosophy on this topic and I love it. She has a great outlook on life. Nichola says, "If you're coming to see me, come anytime. If you're coming to see my house, make an appointment."
I had to really think about the fresh lines in the bathroom.
Had such a good time reading this... and fantasizing about trying to implement all of these recommendations, after the ten minute warning call!
Running around the house singing at the top of my lungs, furiously cleaning the tv and tabletops and throwing things down the basement stairs, briefly contemplating the underside of the toilet seat and gagging, while stripping off my dirty sweats and wiping streaky mascara off my face, simultaneously heating cinnamon water on the stove, chopping pillows, lighting fire hydrant sized lavendar candles and hiding the pots in the oven. When the door bell rings, I will race to the door, flipping the dimmer switches as I go, fling it open, take in my guests with my reddened eyes and wave my arms vaguely, speechless because I am panting, and Katrina and the Waves is still playing full blast, and point towards the fresh lines on the dustfree coffee table. Realizing my bottomless blunder too late, I am ready for this catastrophe. I simply reach into the oven, grab a handful of leftover burnt chili from the pot and throw it at the wall!
Best part of all this: the guests are unlikely to stay too long and even less likely to drop in on any notice in future!
Oh well. I think I'll just stick to screening my calls. The people I really want to see will have to put up with the old lines and me in my sweats.
Hmm... I've never seen company (especially unexpected) have problems if I am still tidying and the last clean-up task is dishes, and I'm wrapping up when they come in. Everybody understands dealing with dirty dishes.
"I quickly run to the kitchen and grab a container of leftovers and throw it on a wall to distract the guests from the mess everywhere else. Works and is a great point of discussion." -Ben Win
-I cannot stop giggling about this one
Yes very good Ben Win, certainly gave me a laugh. The one thing I really hate about cleaning articles is the baking bread idea. I don't know who came up with the idea that every household keeps pre made dough or indeed home made dough continually stocked somewhere. I suppose this would also interfere with the excellent dishes in the oven idea. I don't know what I'd do without that.
About the "stashing in the oven" thing ... here's an alternative.
Laundry baskets + Bathtub = Vanished clutter
I also think that if people want to see ME they can come anytime, and if they want to see my HOUSE they need to make an appointment.
But there are times when the clutter just has to GO AWAY, so I keep handy extra laundry baskets. I go around the house and toss in whatever doesn't belong there. Then into the bathtub and close the curtain. (If guests are going to open my shower curtain, then they don't need to be my friends anymore!)
On a good day, I'll skip the bathtub and actually put the stuff away. But the bathtub works when you don't have time (or inclination) to do that.
You can do this with dishes, too!
I've done the bathtub trick on housecleaning days, just so I can get rid of the clutter FIRST and then actually CLEAN the room and THEN go put everything away. I tend to get distracted when I'm putting stuff away, going from room to room, and never get to the actual cleaning part. So this keeps me on track.
And, unlike forgetting the dishes are in the oven, you will use the shower pretty soon and HAVE to put everything away.
Fly Lady has a great podcast of an emergency cleaning session. She'll walk you through a 45 minute "my mother-in-law will be here in an hour" cleaning. I highly recommend it. And I've been doing "swish & swipe" for decades, before someone came along and gave it a name. If you "swish & swipe" as a general rule throughout your entire home all the time, you won't need to give up hours of your life to "cleaning" your home.
We spend more time and energy worrying about the state of our home instead of just picking up as we go along (says the lady who keeps empty laundry baskets for stashing stuff :-)
Practical and fun list to get it done quick! Thanks for sharing!
My unexpected-guest-strategy fail:
Unexpected guest: We'll be there in ten minutes.
Me: That's not convenient. We're having sex.
UG: Okay, eleven minutes.
Greet them at the door with a couple of strong G&Ts. They won't care about (or indeed remember) the condition of your place after the first few sips.
I've NEVER had unexpected guests call or text that they're on their way over. Does that really happen? I understand the concept of last-minute cleaning, but I've never had to do it because people just rudely invited themselves over.
Over the last two years, we had our house on the market for about eight months, total. Here's what we learned for last-minute cleaning when someone was coming to view the house - most should apply to quick-cleaning for visitors:
1. Dishes go in the oven (if you don't have a glass door)! This is a great trick and you'd be amazed what can go in there. In fact, any kitchen clutter can go in the oven or in the dishwasher, or even in the fridge if you have room.
2. Keep fabric surfaces like couches and beds covered with cheap blankets if you have pets; toss the blankets under the bed or in a closet (or even in the dryer, if you have one) to get a quick pet-hair-free surface.
3. Keep a basket in the den/kitchen empty for paper clutter. Toss everything in and then stow the basket on top of fridge, in closet, under bed, wherever it will fit! This was essential because we didn't want strangers seeing our bank statements lying around.
4. Grab a swiffer in your hand and swipe the TV, counter top, bathroom floor, and any little corners where pet hair might accumulate. This can be done quickly and will get up a lot of gunk.
Along the lines of "spending five minutes a day", I read a great tip in the comment section of Bleubird blog a few months ago:
Touch it once.
It's made a difference around here. I don't just pile things on the piano waiting to then be sorted to their respective storage places. I instead pick it up and take it to its final destination. It really helps!
I agree with rossini19.
And gatineauhills, I'll be over in 10 minutes. You're ON!! GO!!
I love that we all scramble at the last minute to clean up for... each other! And I think we are probably all forgiving of 'messes.' Thank you all for sharing, this has been great to read.
That said, I usually let my cat hair tumbleweeds strut their stuff, while I tackle odors, toilets and cat boxes. If there is extra time, surfaces and kitchen.
Once, I went out with a friend knowing my apt was a dump, but I thought, 'we're going out it's fine.' I was wrong. We went back to my place and I was annoyingly apologizing left and right saying, "I've been traveling, sorry for the mess." The mess didn't bother me, I really had been traveling a lot, but I was mortified by the oh so unpleasant, dirty sink smell heavy in the air. There is no 5 min prep when you are already out with your unexpected guest :(
The lesson: stay on top of odors because they will heighten your 'mess' tenfold.
I say I'm not home.
Unexpected guests? Who does that? That's pretty rude and narcissistic to just assume that people are just sitting at home ready for your visit with a moment's notice.
I just make friends with people who don't care much about the condition of the shoebox apartment - seriously, with, like 6 inches of counter space in the kitchen and a cat, things are bound to be messy. It's hard to keep up with!
I spend my time "tidying" daily, picking up things, doing dishes, but deeper cleaning only happens on weekends. I've found that I am outrageously more happy telling myself to just relax and enjoy your company. I probably wouldn't want to be friends with the kind of people that would judge us for our dust bunnies anyway. :) Homes are meant to be lived in, not cleaned!
Even slightly more efficient than just straight into the oven, put them all on a cookie sheet and then into the oven. One felled swoop!
:)
-Alana
http://www.kitschykitten.com
I don't care much if the house isn't spotless, but I can't stand it when the house smells. I run the dishwasher daily, take out the garbage every couple of days and light a candle for about 30 minutes every evening.
Ben Win - I burst out laughing! Thanks.
Ditto Gatineauhills!
I recently (and for the first time in a LONG time) had unexpected guests call from 10 minutes away. (It was OK - we love them). Since I'm an annoying Virgo, everything was already OK and the wine was chilled. Have to say - it was fun!
Someone drops in not giving you proper time to clean-
my solution- don't clean.
Say to them "Welcome to what our house really looks like. Now you are a true friend and just so you know, we don't fake clean for true friends dropping by.... this is how we live-"
I've found lot of people who really like to know you're not being fake just for them.
Plus- who isn't a little crazy and sloppy from time-to-time.... especially once you have kids.
I once discovered that my mother-in-law's vision was failing, but not her sense of smell. All I really needed to do was wipe a few things with Pine-Sol to make her think the whole place was clean.
#1 Best way to clean up living room is to have a big#$$ storage couch with a seat that opens up to toss in all the stuff hanging around.
Think about it...small space...couches take up room, lumps eating up space that can also be for storage.
I'd likely begin pre-heating my oven without remembering I had filled it with my dishes...
@ gatineauhills: This is the best post ever! I kept imagining it, seeing it like a short, demented movie, and couldn't stop laughing! Well done!
Ah, yes. I've used the old stash the pizza boxes in the oven trick. Of course, I forgot about it when I went to heat the oven. It took me a few minutes to figure out why my apartment was getting foggy...
This is funniest post! We gave up on having a rug in our living room the past couple of months b/c we couldn't justify it looking "antiqued" when the reality was our kids pretty much killed it due to the high traffic it got. I must say, way easier to sweep away the evidence.
I moved to the forgotten borough in New York City (Staten Island) - not expecting any surprise guests any time soon! They'd be at least a 25 minute ferry ride away (if they'd venture this far). I recommend this solution!
For a quick fix for dispelling litter box odours at short notice, I use Arm and Hammer's Litter Deodorizer. It works wonders and leaves a litter box smelling fresh - perfect when forgetting to clean the litter boxes and when guests are due to arrive. I also put one of those air freshener adjustable things outside the back of the litter box. Another trick to make things smelling nice, especially if you don't have a place to store your dirty laundry, is getting a fresh fabric softener sheet - Bounce fresh linen smell is perfect - and leaving it in the laundry bag. Another thing, always have scented candles at hand - vanilla works well, potpourri and some scented home oil to revive the scent. Works wonders. Also, put liquid fabric softener in a little spray bottle with water and voila it's an instant fresher upper on sheets, carpets in hallways, etc.
Putting the pets in a different room to contain their fur while you clean. That way their fur won't keep accumulating where you've already cleaned. When the guests arrive, you can let the pets back in (if you planned on letting them mingle with people) or just leave them to dirty up one room instead of the entire house.
I live in a studio apartment so my priorities are a little different. The focal point of my space is my bed, so the first thing that makes my place look pulled together is making the bed. Then I clean the countertops, clear any dishes that are out, and sweep the kitchen and bathroom. I shake out the rug in my bathroom and then sweep, as there are always lots of strands of hair lying around the bathroom if I don't do that. Another quick tip: open your blinds or curtains to let in the maximum light in your space, and open the windows if the weather is nice. If it's after dark, then light a candle and turn on various points of light rather than the overhead. Lighting has such a big impact on how nice your space looks and it only takes a second to flip a switch or pull up the blinds. And opening the windows is always a good idea to minimize stuffiness.
Unlike most of the previous posters, my house is always neat. Yes, really. I raise puppies for a guide dog school, & learned a long time ago that what wasn't put away got eaten. What my house isn't always is clean. I try to broom-sweep the hair daily, & vacuum about 2x per week, but they can shed it faster than I can sweep it. Also my back yard (aka the dog run) is either a dust bowl or a mud wrestling pit, depending on the weather, & gets tracked inside everytime they go out. There is no 10 minute fix for this.
So if you don't give me more than 10 it's a quick flick thru the BR, scoop litterboxes, check toilet, wipe counters, & pick up the larger fur tumbleweeds. You want clean, come Wednesday or Saturday.
I like to incorporate all the senses:
Clean surfaces that get the most visual attention (mirrors, table tops, toilets, and floors)
Think about what gets touched and give it a quick wipe down or wash(sofa cushions, throws, handrails)
Create a nice aroma (candles are fine, but good cooking/baking works well too)
Switch the laptop or ipad to your favorite Pandora station (nothing to do with clean, but creates an environment nonetheless)
And for taste? It's really hard to say negative things about a home with a candy bowl...
The title made me laugh. Thank you.
I will definitely try tip #4.
I have 5 house bunnies that are "competing" for territory...so there are always bunny dropping about. Combine that with most of the bunnies going through a shed = a house that looks like I have never vacuumed it. I vacuum 3-4 days a week, but it is just not enough to keep up. My friends know and accept the state of my carpet...um... life. I try to balance my mess with a very clean kitchen and bathroom.
@Jess L. - I hate when rabbits just drop. :) Yeah, I'm dealing with the fur balls too and there's just not much you can do but chase after them every single day. I worry less about the fur than I do about the droppings. It's not hygenic for anyone for them to be lying around.
LOVE IT! "Bring that panic to your life every day..." ROFL!!!
Does anybody know where I can get these pillows for the Eames chair by Herman Miller?
"I try to ensure that my house is never messy enough to be embarrassed by it and if my 'friends' are judging me by the state of my house then they're a little bit pathetic in my opinion." - I'm with you on that one Elecat. I try to keep my house reasonably clean at all times, but my dusting skills need improving (I'm tryin', I'm tryin'). Swishing your kitchen sink and dishrag with bleach (if you can) does wonders in making your house smell clean. @gatineauhills - I nearly died laughing reading your post.
More confessions. Disclaimer - these are desperate solutions for desperate times:
- Similar to the oven trick: Throw misc. items into a hamper, and put it in your shower. CLOSE THE CURTAIN TIGHTLY. (Obviously, this only works if your shower curtain is opaque.)
- My duvet is very fluffy. I have make my bed on top of evenly distributed piles of folded laundry before.
- Find a way to incorporate a couple lidded storage boxes into your decor... but leave them empty. That way, when you need to tidy up in a hurry, you can bulldoze all the little things on your desk / coffee table into them, stick the lids back on, and put them back in place. No one suspects a thing.
- Inside your luggage is also a good place to stash things. Plus, you can wheel it from room to room in your panicked cleaning frenzy.
Good luck, fellow tidying procrastinators of the world.
I live in a small town, where "dropping by" is completely normal (and welcomed). i like to say, "if you don't make your bed they will come". It's like they know you're behind on your game!
I'm not the best housekeeper in the world, either- frankly, it bores me. That said I can only tolerate so much clutter & muck before I feel overwhelmed. The laundry basket trick for clearing off surfaces & sorting later is one I endorse- otherwise I get sidetracked from cleaning. My biggest challenge is the dog hair from our two rescue Chihuahua mixes; it's unrelenting & even after a good cleaning the tumbleweeds emerge from who knows where. Oh well, love me love my dogs!
My husband and I both work long hours, and we hate having to waste weekends by having to clean. We break it up and do one thing every day - spend fifteen minutes cleaning something so it's not so daunting.
The tasks will be less time-consuming if you spread the chores out over the whole week, and it won't be as tiring for you. Having a tidy home will be more relaxing to you so you will have more time to just enjoy your life.
Clean as you go - wash the dinner dishes and sweep the kitchen floor right after dinner and put the dry dishes away the next morning while your coffee is brewing. Wipe the bathroom sink down after you brush your teeth at night before bed. Vacuum one room of the house as soon as you get home from work before you settle in for the evening. Put your coat away when get home instead of tossing it on a chair. Bag up the garbage and set it next to the door and take it out as you leave for work in the morning. Strip the bed and put on clean sheets every Saturday night. Do one or two loads of laundry on three different days of the week instead of having to do all of it at once and take up a whole day.
The end result is a comfortable and relaxing home.
I'm a pro at shoving things into my bedroom and closing the door just as guests arrive.
Then one day, a visitor opened my bedroom door! And said something about how messy it was! That was really her own damn problem, not mine (she does that type of thing all the time) but wow.
Oh the other hand... I have this phobia about people lurking behind shower curtains. Sometimes I can't help but glance behind the curtain. I know I shouldn't pry but what if OMG PSYCHO?. So, at a formal dinner I discovered the hostess had stashed all her piles of paperwork in the shower! I thought it was charmingly human, since I'd have done the same thing, but I'm glad she never knew I saw it.
Favourite house tidying trick: put on your coat about 10 minutes before you actually have to leave. Look at the house as though you've just come in, or perhaps as a guest might see it as they enter.through the door. Pick up the items near the front door/hallway. Move through to the livingroom, then on to the adjacent living areas: kitchen, etc.
This doesn't replace a good cleaning and tidying, of course, but it's a nice way to sort out what is usually seen first, and it certainly makes coming home a lot nicer.
alejandraramos said what I was thinking -- do people really have friends who telephone 10 minutes before coming over? Mine never would. I get either plenty of notice or none at all. The latter just happened last week when a friend was picking up take-out at the same place we were and we invited her back to the house so we could all nosh together. The house was NOT clean, but I'd rather see my friend than worry about the condition of my house.
I'm a little embarrassed if someone comes by and the dustbunnies are out of control or there are piles of dirty dishes, but everyday clutter doesn't embarrass me in the least. Books and magazine, some shoes by the door, kids stuff, a few dishes in the sink -- this is all evidence that we are LIVING in this house and not just occupying it. Not embarrassing.
My place is always neat and clean anyway.
:-)
Best comments ever! I am a bit of a lazy pig so I've been following Flylady. As corny as it is, it really works for me.
A friend passed on to me the dishes-in-the-oven trick decades ago. Really helpful. Mostly. A friend was coming over with her preschoolers. Didn't get around to the dishes. Put them in the oven. Would have worked except, she is a vegan. I always struggled to second guess what was appropriate for her extremely restricted diet, the details of which were always relayed after the fact. Every visit was a lecture on another forbidden food. Throw in a vegan toddler, double trouble. I begged her to bring food for her kids. She brought veg lasagne...which needed some heating up. No problemo--throw it in the mickey. That's when I learned these people don't cook with electricity. (Huh? Never saw that coming.) "Just put it in the gas oven for a few minutes...." Uber mom (with the immaculate house) doesn't visit any more. Your real friends will love you, dirty dishes and all.
Oh yeah, watch out for the jam-all-the junk-in-shopping-bags-and-toss-them-in-the-garage trick. They store flat and can be easy to yank out in a hurry. The handles make them easy to haul, several at a time. My mom used to do that. Dad threw them out thinking they were trash. Label them, in big letters?? Or unpack in a hurry after guests leave.
Oh yeah, friends might give you advance notice, but mothers-in-law like surprise visits, and they WILL inspect the house.
Another fun cat photo! I know cats are fashion darlings right now, but how about evening the score with a dog photo next? :) Thanks for the quick cleaning tips, the pet hair removal is crucial!
Having a list of Blue/Pink jobs works pretty well to maintain my house tidy and clean during the week!!
Enjo microfibers are also BIG help on those "5 minutes clean up" before guests arrive!! =)
On the flipside - I have moments where I would like to visit friends without necessarily making plans in advance but don't bother calling cause i'd feel bad about puting them in a 10-min cleanup rush. So, instead of having a good time together, we both end up staying in our own dirty houses alone when in reality no one really cares how clean the other's house is!
this post and it's comments are great - I feel better knowing i'm not the only non-neat-freak
oh gatineauhill... fabulously funny !
wow great ideas here.. and as many have said, visit me or make an appt.
my tiny tiny apt in a village where the norm is million dollar huge houses is a revelation for many of my friends. the ratio of apts to houses is tiny and there is no housekeeper in my budget.
6. Get a giant cat and push all mess under it.
Any friend or family member comfortable enough to stop over with such little notice already knows my level of tidiness, or lack therof and since I don't have shallow, ridiculous friends, it works out just fine.
Gatineauhills, you had me laughing so hard that there were tears streaming down my cheeks. Thank you!!!
What's so hard about simply doing the dishes after you are done eating?
I never have dirty dishes because they are immediately washed after a meal. Heck, I don't even keep food waste in the house overnight. In other words, I never have trash in the house overnight. And then people wonder why they have pests coming into their homes.
I enjoyed these tips! My favorite was the dishes in the oven. LOL
No children! An I Robot is an excellent alternative. I love mine!!!!
mayabee is both hilarious and 'keeping it real'!
Love this! I have cinnamon water on the stove now! My mother once did this with my aunt and grandmother in tow...there was leftover spaghetti in the kitchen, beer cans stacked up (I was a recent college grad at the time) I threw everything in the closet! And...my grandmother marched over to the closet to see what kind of space I had and...bam everything tumbled out like an avalanche!
I love unexpected company, and anyone comfortable enough with me to just stop by is by definition comfortable enough to be exposed to my daily mess. I'll do a quick sweep to make sure nothing truly embarrassing is evident (especially if it's been a busy few days and I've neglected some things in the bathroom), but other than that, I could care less. Why yes, that is a bra on the end of my bed. It's one of my favorites. There's no need to be scandalized.
Honestly people, deep clean once a week and put things away after you use them. Done. It's perfectly normal to "live" in your home (a few clothes out in the bedroom, some pet hair on the sofa.) it happens. But storing dirty dishes in the oven? in NYC that means roaches.
I have read that if people smell cleaning products, they think "clean," so in a pinch make sure to wipe a few things down with very scented cleaning products (like the pine-sol mentioned above).
I have read that if people smell cleaning products, they think "clean," so in a pinch make sure to wipe a few things down with very scented cleaning products (like the pine-sol mentioned above).
When my boyfriend's coming over I usually throw dirty dishes in the oven or in the fridge (the latter only works if I put all of the ingredients for cooking a dinner out on the counter). I also put miscellanea in blue Ikea bags then stick the bags in my tub behind my dark blue shower curtain. I once drunkenly confessed to the bathtub hiding place to the boyfriend once, and now he always checks the tub when he comes over. New stash place? Ikea bag under the bed. (I have a studio apartment without closets, God help me...)
This is the first comment I have ever posted anywhere, but I just had to say...gatineauhills...holy buckets. That was so funny.
Hahaha... I have been using 90% of these tricks for years although a couple are new to me. Being a student who works full time on top of that has always made making my apartment company ready an exercise in creative problem solving.