What to Clean Before Guests Arrive
A full sink of dishes and clothes lying everywhere — these are not the things you want to show to guests. But do you really need to make your place sparkling clean if you don’t need it to look like this in your everyday life? If you start a massive cleaning session with a limited amount of time, there’s a risk of not finishing on time. It’s easy to get nervous, lose the anticipation of meeting the people you love, and even ruin your mood.
5-Minute Crafts has prepared this article with a checklist of things you don’t have to clean when you are expecting guests.
It’s easier to communicate with non-perfect people.
Don’t limit your time with relatives and friends just because you can’t invite them into a perfectly clean home. Nothing is perfect. You can turn your home into a magazine cover, but what’s the point?
If you calm down and let everyone (including yourself) be imperfect, communication, free of judgment, will become easier and more pleasant.
Small imperfections create a more welcome atmosphere. Guests feel that they’ve come into a place that lives by its own rules. Ask yourself: where is it more comfortable for you to talk to your friends — in a museum or at home? Perfect order can’t replace a good conversation.
Turn cleaning into a game.
To feel less nervous about the result, turn cleaning into a game. Mark the things that you don’t use much and may have to get rid of.
Bathroom
The guests will definitely come in to wash their hands, so the sink and the mirror above them need at least a quick clean. But the bathtub won’t be used, so don’t wash it if you don’t have much time. Just close the curtain and make sure it looks good.
Bedroom
The same goes for the bedroom. Close the door and your secrets will be hidden. Besides, a closed room is just another place for storing things. You can hide all the clothes, unsorted stuff, bags, and whatever else behind the door.
Drawers and wardrobes
Do your closets have non-transparent doors? If they do, you will save a ton of time. There’s no need to make all the insides perfect: nobody will open your closet out of curiosity.
Just think about the shelves your guests might need and clean those.
Appliances
Don’t wash the oven, microwave, dishwasher, and other appliances. There’s no time to wash the toaster and the kettle. Hide the things that are too dirty.
But the stove is not something you can easily hide. You can cover the surface around the burners with foil.
Laundry
Again, you can use your closed bedroom to hide all the unsorted laundry. You can hide it under the bed or in the closet. If you don’t have time at all, you can just put all of it on the bed.
Curtains and blinds
Curtains make the place especially cozy. Just make sure they are even, and check all the hooks.
Check the blinds and make sure they are all parallel.
Children’s toys
If you have a small (or not so small) child, nobody expects you to have perfect order. Toys are made to be played with. You can spend a lot of time sorting and cleaning, but 10 minutes later, the place will look just as it did before. It’s better to spend this time cleaning something else.
Don’t do things just for guests.
There’s no need to quickly finish small renovations or move around furniture. Your guests will understand that your place is in the transformation period and that you care about comfort and want to make it even better.
Just hide all the tools and materials that may damage the guests’ clothes.