7 Ways to Make Your Home Look Cleaner than It Actually Is

Posted on 25/09/2015

How Can I Make My House Look Spotless?

Let’s imagine the following scenario: friends of yours or relatives text you that they are an hour away from your home and that they are glad of the chance to meet you. You take a moment to blankly stare at the message. You take a moment to feel happy that you will see them, since it’s been a while. And then your brain finally succumbs to the panic as you realise one hour is all the time you will have to prepare your home for the visit. And that panic is well justified, if home cleaning has not been a priority for a while.

Perhaps you have been meaning to get down to it, but something has always come up and prevented you. Or maybe it is that you had to go to the store and resupply your cleaning inventory. Whatever the reason for not keeping up with cleaning chores, it doesn’t matter. Fact is that you have to be quick and make sure you mask the mess that your home currently is before the guests arrive. Cleaning the mess is out of the question, since one hour of time won’t get you anywhere, but you can still hide the worst from sight in a way. Here are few tricks that will make your home more presentable:

- Hide the clutter - if there is stuff lying all over the place, you can be quick and toss it all in a basket, bag, or just about anything you can spare for this and place it somewhere your guests won’t look. This can be done fast and without too much hassle. You just have to be careful not to break anything in your hurry. Later, when the guests leave, you can take out the items and finally put them where they belong. 

- Dishes - if there is a towering pile of dishes in the sink, then you must be creative and think of where to hide it. Yes, hide it, not clean it. Obviously you won’t have enough time to clean everything, so just do a set you will need for your guests and stash the rest. The oven makes a perfect hiding spot for your dishes. Just be careful when you stack them inside, because you want them to come out easily and be ready for cleaning later.

- TV, toilets, tabletops - these three could be the telltale signs that your home isn’t perfectly spotless. The TV in particular is the focus of your living room. If there is too much dust on it, chances are the faces of your guests will frown. There is hardly any reason to explain why cleaning the toilet is important, right? And cleaning the tabletops should be obvious too, since that’s what you will look at when you sit for a chat with the others.

- Pet hair - if there is a layer of pet hair on your sofa from your beloved pet Mr. Fluffy, chances are your visitors will not be particularly happy. For this reason, you must make an effort to remove it before they arrive. There are various specially designed products that can help with that task, but in case you have none of them, a rubber glove works just as well.

- Clean where guests visit - since there is not enough time to clean everything, you can focus your efforts on cleaning the areas that your guests will visit. The entryway is a good starting point. Next? Probably the living room and bathroom. Spending your time in these areas is important, since that’s what your guests will see.

- Scent the rooms - spraying some air freshener or introducing other means of scenting the rooms goes a long way. There is nothing like a great smelling room, even if it is not thoroughly cleaned. In fact, a good scent will draw away the attention of your guests so that they don’t notice dust and dirt.

- Put shiny distractions in your room - shiny and reflective objects in the room will also work as distractions for your guests. Their eyes will be drawn to them and not see the mess in other parts of the room. Consider adding a vase or a mirror in the room, in order to achieve this effect.

Follow these simple tricks to ensure that the guest visit is not a disaster. Remember that staying focused on your tasks and giving in to panic goes a long way in ensuring you have a pleasant time, despite the fact that your home might be a mess.