Welcoming guests into your home can be overwhelming when you think about the prep that goes into cleaning before your friends arrive. Although prepping the house may seem like a burden, all it usually takes is straightening up a few key rooms to give guests a good impression.
- Begin where guests will enter the home. This is usually the entryway or foyer. Make room in and tidy up the coat closet so guests will have places to stow their coats. Remove any clutter that congregates in the entry, including shoes, mail or dog leashes. Put them in a basket and move it to a closet or storage area. Give the floor a thorough cleaning or vacuuming.
- Focus on the rooms where guests will be spending the majority of their time. In most cases, this is a dining area or living space. Because these are often the places where families spend the most time, they may require some significant tidying up. First and foremost, remove any clutter, especially items that have been left around but belong in other areas of the house. Even the most spotless home can look messy or unclean if there is a lot of clutter.
- Dust, vacuum and/or mop the primary entertaining areas. Now is the time to do the thorough cleaning you might have been putting off. Move the furniture and clean the dust bunnies that have collected. Wipe down the windows and sliding doors that tend to collect fingerprints. Use the vacuum nozzle to clean cobwebs from corners and debris from narrow areas where it tends to accumulate.
- Spend ample time cleaning bathrooms or powder rooms. Restrooms need to be spotless and sanitary. Devote a lot of your cleaning time to doing a thorough cleaning. Make sure to clean any spots off of mirrors and scrub tile floors so that they are free from hairs and any sticky residue from hairstyling products. Be sure there are no rings in the toilet. Although you may feel like you can skip cleaning in the shower or bathtub — and even hide items behind frosted doors or shower curtains, clean it anyway. Some guests may peer behind the curtain and get an eyeful. Be sure to empty the wastebasket and set out fresh towels.
If you are extremely pressed for time to clean and your budget allows, you may want to hire a cleaning service to come in prior to the party and do a thorough, professional job.
