Clean and Tidy Up Fast for Last-Minute Guests

By Susan McCarthy

Everyday practice: Developing the daily habit of resetting a room, or tidying it when you are finished in the space, can save you from disorder.

“Hey, we’re in the area; mind if we stop by for bit?” You stare at your phone, wondering why your friend or cousin thinks you’d be up for spontaneous entertaining. “We won’t stay long.” Of course, you say, “See you soon!” with as much enthusiasm as you can muster. It’s not how long they’ll stay that’s your concern but what they’ll be walking into.

Or, maybe you invited a coworker over for an after-work chat, and they said yes. Oops, is the laundry still piled in the living room waiting to be folded? To buy some time, you ask them if they’d mind picking up a bottle of wine or a pint of ice cream before arriving.

So, how can you clean and tidying up the entire house when you have 15-to-30-minutes?

Prioritize Your Efforts

Obviously, you can’t clean and organize your entire home in a quarter of an hour. You can touch on a few areas that will make your home look welcoming. Start with the area that bothers you the most and then fit in other tasks as you can. And, remember, that your real goal is to enjoy time with your guests.

If you spend your time with your guest thinking about the mess (or, worse, pointing it out), you won’t have fun, and neither will your guests. Let’s face it, they know they are entering your home without you having much notice.

Travel Your Guest’s Path through Your House

Start with a quick walk-through your home, following the path your guests are likely to take. Is there space for them to hang their coats in the entryway? Will they linger in the kitchen or will you direct them right to the living room? Do you need to move stuff off the chairs and couch? And, you know they’ll need to use the bathroom.

Tidy Up Fast

• Light a couple of scented candles so when your guests arrive there’ll be a welcoming fragrance.
• Close doors to rooms your guests aren’t invited into.
• Grab a laundry basket and toss inside things that belong in other rooms – toys, your knitting, shoes, etc. Remember, you don’t have to do a major clean-up, just grab the most obvious things along the path.

Clean What’s Most Noticeable

• Wipe down the sink and toilet.
• Put away anything you don’t want guests staring at.
• Make sure there’s a full roll of toilet paper so your guests don’t need to open cabinets (unless of course, they’re that sort of person – and you can’t help that).
• Set out a fresh hand towel so guests aren’t touching your damp bath towels.
• If you’ll be sitting in the living room, can you flip over cushions (particularly if you have a pet) or do you need to hit the seat cushions with a lint brush (or your hand, if you’re desperate)? Also fluff the pillows and fold any blankets
• If you’ll be spending time in the kitchen, clear items out of the sink and wipe down the counters. Don’t worry about moving things like the toaster or coffee pot, just clean around them.

Ignore These Tasks

Unless there is an obvious cobweb hanging in a corner, skip dusting anything beyond the dust-dulled coffee table you’ll be gathering around.

Don’t vacuum because if you try to vacuum quickly, you’ll just end up sweaty from your efforts. And, chances are, they’ll hear the vacuum when they ring the doorbell.

Don’t bother trying to clean the kids’ rooms. If there are other kids visiting, things will just end up pulled out anyway.

You Want Your Home to Be Welcoming

Avoid apologizing for the mess, no matter how large or small. If you point out clutter, that’s where your guest’s eyes will go.

Chances are that you’ve cleaned your house in the past month, so remember that your goal is to do some last-minute cleaning in a few obvious locations so that your guests feel welcome.

Create a house cleaning routine that can make you feel calmer about last-minute guests with ​The House Cleaning Habit.

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