It happens when you least are ready for it. You get a phone call from someone that they are kind of near you and they would like to come see you and your main living area is a mess. You try to keep your home “guest ready”, but for some reason, that never seems to happen when guests are ready to come over. It’s the one day after your child was sick or you got wrapped up in some project and simply decided you didn’t feel like picking up the mess that evening.
If you have a quick 15 minutes before they arrive, you can do a quick clean-up that you can at least give your home the appearance of being clean without doing a deep clean right there and then so you can focus on the more important things, like spending time with your guest.
How to Do a 15 Minute Cleanup for Guests
First, grab a laundry basket and start tossing anything that doesn’t belong there in it. You can worry about where it goes later. Put the basket in a bedroom.
If you have mail or other papers lying around, grab a folder. Slide them all in it so they don’t get lost.
Do a quick sweep of the kitchen and spot clean. Toss any dirty dishes in the dishwasher or stove to get them out of sight. You don’t have to actually clean them right now, just get them in a place where your guests won’t see them.
Run a rag over the counters where you will be entertaining and dust these areas quickly.
Take the trash out so your home smells fresh. If you have a diffuser for essential oils, you could use this as well, but b aware that some people may have sensitivities to scents.
Since guests seem to always need to use the bathroom, do a quick wipe over the toilet and sink and toss anything out of place in a drawer. I would suggest that wherever you are, you have a good plumber on call in your area. If you’re in a really big city, having a good Los Angeles plumber (for example) is a necessity as it’s not good to have plumbing problems arise when you have guests, and if something happens you’ll want to handle it as quickly as possible.
Run the vacuum over the main floor area. Don’t worry about the whole house, you can get to that later.
This usually only takes me about 15 minutes if I rush. Remember that guests usually won’t notice anything you think is super out of place or the fine messy details you know are there. Don’t be too focused on these areas, and instead worry about de-cluttering and quick wipe downs.