Ever have those times where guests show up unexpectedly? Or how about family call you and let you know they’re in the area and are going to stop by in about an hour? This situation always seems to happen to me when my home is looking it’s worst.
While these tricks aren’t for every day life, they are great for those emergency moments.
Hide those dirty dishes!
Nothing can make a kitchen look more messy than a pile of dirty dishes. The quickest way to hide them is to throw them in the dishwasher. This works well for me, because I don’t actually use my dishwasher. My fiance didn’t grow up with a dish washer, so to make him more comfortable, we hand wash all of our dishes. This means I always have an empty dishwasher! However, if you are like normal people, you probably actually use yours, which means that it may be full of clean dishes. Remove just enough of the clean dishes to throw in all the dirty ones! Never hurts to double wash some clean dishes!
Wipe away
While I’m a bit of a germaphobe, so I always have cleaning solution on hand, however, this isn’t the case for most people. If you’re out of cleaning solution, microfiber towels are your best friend. With a bit of water and elbow grease, pretty much any grime can be wiped away with minimal effort. It won’t ACTUALLY be sanitized, but it will look like it!
Entryway
Entryways are important to see since they’re the first thing guests see. My kitchen is part of my entryway, so these go hand and hand for me. However, if your place is nicer than mine, you most likely have a nice entryway. If there are shoes hanging around, jackets or backpacks on the ground, grab them and run to your bedroom! Generally bedrooms are your safe space for messes. Guests don’t enter your bedroom often (if ever) so throw everything in there till they leave!
Hide the smells
Light a candle, plug in one of those air fresheners, spray some febreze, or in a real pinch, spray some glass cleaner in the air! Whatever it takes if there is a funky smell in your home.
Bathroom
I keep a set of fancy towels in my linen closet, just for guests. It is my only matching, non bleached, set. The moment I hear someone is on the way, I whip those bad boys out to hang in the guest bathroom. Beyond that, a quick 5 second toilet scrub and throwing any junk on the counter under the sink is the quickest way to keep a bathroom looking clean. I keep a salt lamp on the bathroom counter all the time in the guest bathroom, because it makes it look more welcoming.
Last ditch effort-Make the room dark
If you have no chance for cleaning at all, dim the lights and close the blinds. With less light, hopefully no one can see the dust. While this isn’t ideal, it works for rooms that someone may not be spending much, if any, time in.
Side note – bonus points if you have a nice house plant or flowers that you can place front and center. This may help distract your guests!
