So you just got the call–you’re about to have surprise guests! They might only be planning to stay for dinner, but you know that they’ll take one look at your home and run the other way. Here are a few quick tricks you can use to get a small space, like an apartment or the first floor of your house, into passable shape before everyone gets there.
Dust obvious surfaces
This is the biggest thing you can do to make your apartment/home look cleaner than it really is. Grab a Swiffer cloth or plain old feather duster and run down your bookshelves and any other flat surfaces. These places show dust really clearly (there’s nothing more obviously dirty than a black bookshelf with a coat of grayish-white dust) so a quick wipe will do wonders for it.
Make your bed
We get it–you’re just going to get back in it in a few hours so why bother making it? Well, subconsciously, an unmade bed makes your whole room look messier than it is. Just a quick tug of the blankets to the corners of the bed and suddenly it looks like you have your cleaning game together (even though you don’t).
Wipe down the toilet and sink
Grab a Mr. Clean Magic Sponge (or even just a wet paper towel) and give a quick once-over of the sink and back of your toilet. When someone enters your bathroom–and someone probably will–these are the two things that will catch their eye. You can close the shower curtain to hide the grody mess in there but there’s no way you can hide the toilet. Get rid of the chunks of toothpaste stuck in the sink and any beauty supplies that have accumulated on the back of the toilet and you’ll be able to trick the casual guest into thinking you actually clean your bathroom on a regular basis.
Sweep the floor
Just a quick sweep of the kitchen will get rid of all the crumbs, spilled coffee grounds, and other debris of a busy life. Plus, you can spend the minute while you’re sweeping feeling like Cinderella. You might not have noticed it, but once you sweep you’ll realize how gross your floor was and be glad that you didn’t subject anyone else to that mess.
Close your drawers
This will take you 30 seconds and it’s so worth it. Just like an unmade bed, open drawers make it look like your room is dirtier than it is. Taking less than a minute to close them all (even if you have to jam some clothes in a little too tightly) will make it look like the bedroom is a million times more organized than it really is.
What are your last-second cleaning tips? Tell us in the comments and on our Facebook page!
