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How do I fake a clean home when unexpected guests say they are coming over?

Although you might want to panic since your home might looked trashed at the moment.

There is no need to panic at all, you got this.

I have 10 tips to make your house look clean in 20 minutes or less.

The goal is not to think perfection, after all you have kids and maybe pets that live here.

People do not expect your home to look perfect all the time. There are going to be messes.

You home does not need to be perfect just look semi clean and mostly uncluttered.

Cluttered spaces scream messy space. The less “stuff” or less clutter the better, especially when it comes to how to fake a clean home.

So let’s dive in..

I have 10 tips to fake a clean home in 20 minutes or less you can use when you get that call that someone is stopping by.

Need to make your house look clean in 20 minutes or less? No need to panic. Here are 10 tips to fake a clean home so it is ready for unexpected guests.

1 – Catch The Clutter

Grab your catch all bin aka empty laundry basket and get to it.

Pick up all the toys, papers and little odds and ends laying around and toss it into your basket.

Only focus on the main areas of your home that your guests would see.

2 – Straighten The Furniture

As you are picking up all the clutter straighten out your furniture.

Fix the couch cushions and rearrange your throw pillows neatly.

If you have books pile them into a neat stack. That way it looks put together.

Check your kitchen and dining room for chairs. Make sure to push them in against the table nicely.

Fix any table runners or decorative pieces you may have on any surface.

3 – Empty The Kitchen Sink

A very quick way to make your house look clean is to make sure there are no dirty dishes piled up in your kitchen sink.

A clean sink screams clean home to anyone that walks in to it.

If you have a dishwasher load your dishes from the sink into it.

Even if there are items you hand wash just place them into your dishwasher for now. You can take care of it later.

If you do not have a dishwasher, quickly rinse anything and lay them out on your drying rack.

No one will ever know they are not actually cleaned.

4 – Clear The Crumbs

If you have children there are bound to be crumbs on the counters or table.

To a quick check of the areas you know collect crumbs and clear those away into a towel.

5 – Wipe Down The Main Bathroom

Take a few minutes to tidy and clean up the main bathroom.

Swish the toilet with a brush and wipe it down.

Wipe out the sink and counter top. Also change the hand towel for a freshened up look.

Spot clean the mirror if it is bad as well.

This makes your bathroom look clean even though you faked it.

6 – Straighten The Entry Way

Since this is the first area anyone will see take a few seconds to tend to it.

Straighten up the shoes, your purse or jackets you may have laying around.

If you have an indoor mat give that a shake outside your door to quickly clean up the space.

Weekly Cleaning Schedule Printable

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7 – Close Bedroom or Office Doors

How to fake a clean home within seconds, close all the doors.

Since guests that are just coming over for a quick visit they do not need to be in certain rooms like bedrooms or your office.

You can fake a clean home to guests by simply closing these doors.

My last house was one level and all the bedrooms were open to the living room.

Any time I had guests over I just closed all the doors and no one knew what a hot mess the bedroom might have looked like.

8 – Vacuum High Traffic Areas

If you have time grab your vacuum and hit the high traffic areas of your home.

Make sure you get the front hallway and any area rugs you have in your space.

9 – Light A Candle

Another key to fake a clean home is to make sure it smells nice.

Light a candle, use a scented oil diffuser or my favorite wax melts.

Wax melts have become my new favorite way to make sure my house smells amazing.

I have one in my kitchen that makes my whole downstairs smell good.

When I had little kids I was so afraid to keep candles burning, even though I loved them. So I turned to an electric wax melt. They are a little safer and I can keep them out of arms reach without the fear of an open flame.

10- Fix Yourself

Related : 14 Habits Of An Organized Mom

Lastly, to fake a clean home is to fix yourself.

I know it sounds silly since we are focusing on cleaning our home but your guests are here to see you.

When you look more put together not only will you feel great it will show to your guests.

Throw on a new shirt or outfit. Fix your mom bun hair and or make up for a quick freshened up look.

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Speed cleaning can be different for everyone.

It could be that 15 minutes you have before dinner or maybe it is a 2 hour let’s really clean up clean.

Maybe you have a guest heading over that gave you short notice.

You could even use these speed cleaning tips when it comes to your regular cleaning schedule.

Housekeeping should mean being a slave to keeping your home clean. Speed cleaning your house could be what you need. Here are speed cleaning tips to help.

The goal is to get it done and get it done fast.

When you do any cleaning task in your home work smarter not harder.

This is where speed cleaning can come in handy!

9 Speed Cleaning Tips From The Pros

1 – Start With Your Dirtiest Area First

One of my biggest speed cleaning tips are to start with the area of your home that needs the most attention.

This will do a few things for you.

First, by tackling that area you have put off for longer than you wanted you will feel so accomplished by getting it clean.

Second, it will give you the motivation to look at your clean space to want to clean other areas in your home.

I always start with my hardest job first when it comes to speed cleaning.

If I don’t, I lose focus and feel like that bigger area is still hanging over my head.

By getting the worst job done first I have plenty of energy to tackle the rest.

I find if I start with all the smaller tasks, I wind up not completing the main area that needs to get done.

2 – Have A Plan

The whole point of speed cleaning is to get it done fast.

Usually its under an hour but depending on the day you may only have 15 minutes.

Come up with a plan.

Take a look at the time you have to speed clean and make a quick to do list.

Try to really think about what you can get done in the time-frame you have.

Focus on the areas or things you really need to get done and prioritize them in your to do list.

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You probably do not have time to vacuum your entire home so only pick the areas that really need it.

If you are realistic here you will be able to get everything done and feel so accomplished.

3 – Pick Up Clutter

Speed cleaning does not mean actually cleaning a surface area with product. It can also be as simple as just picking up all the clutter from around your home.

Clear off your kitchen counters, pick up the toys or go tidy up your drop zone.

Put everything back where it belongs.

By just clearing all the clutter makes a home look cleaner and more put together.

Related: 14 Habits Of An Organized Mom

4 – If It Is Not Dirty Do Not Clean It

Just as I said about your to do list. Be realistic here.

Do you need to vacuum your whole house, no. There are rooms that are just fine the way they are.

Only focus on the area’s of your home that need to be picked up or cleaned.

If you are speed cleaning because you only have 30 minutes, spend that time on areas that actually need it the most.

If a bathroom in your home is basically clean, then leave it alone and move on to another area that needs your attnetion.

5 – Follow A Weekly Cleaning Routine

By following a regular weekly cleaning routine you will see all the difference in your home.

You will spend so much less time cleaning when you get into the habit of making sure things get cleaned when they need to.

Weekly Cleaning Schedule Printable

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6 – Set A Timer

They call it speed cleaning for a reason, we need to be speedy here.

Set that timer on your phone and only use the time you have set.

Try to beat the clock.

When the timer goes off, call it done.

Once you get into speed cleaning regularly you will get faster once you develop a routine with it.

This will allow you to add other tasks to your to do list eventually.

7 – Spot Clean

There is no need to clean every area in your home when you are speed cleaning.

Spot clean places like mirrors and counters. Only focus on the toothpaste your child squirted all over the place.

Or, that whatever it is on the kitchen counter.

Vacuum or mop the areas that really need it.

Your goal here is just to freshen up the space not actually deep clean it.

Save the deeper clean for your weekly cleaning schedule.

8 – Clean Out The Kitchen Sink and Make It Shine

There is something about a shiny sink. One that is not full of dirty dishes, it will instantly make your kitchen look clean.

This task should only take a few minutes and it makes a world of difference.

Load up your dishwasher or hand wash all those dirty dishes.

Then give your sink a quick wipe down to make it shiny.

A simple swish of dish soap and a microfiber cloth will do.

9 – Use A Multi-surface Cleaner

Using a multi-surface cleaner is your best bet, especially when speed cleaning.

I recommend having a caddy with all my cleaning supplies when I clean normally, but here there is no time for that.

Grab yourself a microfiber cloth and a good multi-surface cleaner to spot clean any area you need.

I am loving the Method brand for my cleaners!

So what does my speed cleaning routine look like?

Since my weekly cleaning routine is done mainly on the weekdays, speed cleaning is left for the weekend.

The time I have really varies depending on what we have going on. But I usually have a solid hour to speed clean.

Kitchen – 10 minutes

Load the dishwasher
Clean my sink
Spot clean the counters
Wipe off the refrigerator door handles
Vacuum up the cat food area

Living Rooms & Front Hall Way – 10 minutes

Pick up any kids items
Fix the couch cushions
Straighten the shoes
Vacuum the front door rug

Bedroom – 5 minutes

Make the bed
Pick up anything that does not belong and return it to where it goes

Bathroom – 10 minutes

Pick up dirty towels – usually found in my kids bathrooms
Spot clean sinks and mirrors
Fix hand towels

My Office – 15 – 20 minutes

My office seems to be the dumping grounds for everyone in my house.

Since I like to start of Monday’s with a clean slate in my office most of my speed cleaning is focused in my office.

Go through paperwork
Clear off desks
File anything that needs to be filed
Clean up crafting items or anything that does not belong

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