Quick Clean-ups Yield Big Results

By Sandra Phillips

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Here’s a 30 minute shortcut to make your house look clean and organized in a hurry!
Three things you can do in a hurry:

1) Light a scented candle to help the house smell fresh and get rid of stale odors or get some frozen cookies out of the freezer and put them onto bake!

2) Turn off the Television (so you won’t get distracted), and turn on some rousing music to get you going

3) And third, open up the curtains and turn on lights to make the house seem happy, larger and bright.
To help you feel comfortable having our visitors, there’s some quick pick-ups you can do for greatest effect with the least investment of time!:

Entry:

Your entry area, no matter how small, is the first (and sometimes only) place guests see when they come into your home. It sets the “reputation” for the rest of the house.

Clean up anything lying on the floor (shoes, backpacks, coats). But simply straighten books or magazines lying on tables. Don’t worry about taking time to sort them now, or to dust around them—just create one (however high) tidy the pile.

Kitchen:

The biggest impact for the time spent is to clean off the kitchen counter! Quickly put away cereal boxes, dishes, utensils and pans. Wipe it down. Put all dishes in sink and fill with hot soapy water; let them soak. It looks like you were just about to do them! And you are! (Load them into dishwasher later.). Finally, empty any overflowing trash. That’s it!

Family room/living room area

Next grab a laundry basket and a trash bag and move into the family room. Put all magazines, mail, shoes, blankets, toys, empty dishes and miscellany clutter into the basket for redistribution later. Then toss any empty plates, old newspapers, pop cans, wrappers, etc. into the trash bag. (Take this trash bag with you into the next room.) Fluff and straighten the sofa pillows for big visual impact.

Bathroom:

Because guests might use your bathroom, spend your final minutes here.

Start by squirting bowl cleaner in the toilet. While it’s working, use the new disinfectant, biodegradable wipes to clean the counter and sink. Wipe toilet outsides, lid, and finally the rim. Toss the wipes. Next, clean the toilet inside (there should be a dedicated toilet brush by every toilet in your house). Shine your mirror—just in the spotted areas—with a dampened microfiber cloth. Empty the garbage into your ‘family room’ trash bag, and if the doorbell hasn’t rung, set out fresh a fresh towel or two.

If you have More time:

Take down cobwebs

Make bed

Pick up all dirty clothes in bedroom, and put in hamper; place any clean clothes in one big neat pile to hang up later.

Dust only where noticeable. Don’t dust anything higher than your tallest friend

Other

Get a neighbor, friend to come over and help you

Get the kids/spouse to help

Go to a Laundromat when you’re behind. Get it all the batches done at once.

Get rid of clutter and there won’t be so much to clean (40% less)

Get rid of extra furniture you don’t use/need. It makes the room look bigger.

Store kitchen appliances that are on counters out of sight, unless they’re used weekly.

“My priority is to be a good mom, not to have a perfect house. (Melissa Taylor, Denver, CO)
I love the plaque that says, “My house is clean enough to be healthy, but dirty enough to be happy.”

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