How To Make Your Home Guest Ready In 10 Minutes or Less

There are some people who will call you a day in advance to let you know that they will be stopping by for a visit, while there are other people who will give you no notice at all. They will just call you to let you know that they are on their way. When this happens, your home may not be ready for guests. If you don’t have the time to do a thorough cleaning in your home, there are a few things that you can do to get your home ready for guests in just 10 minutes.

Clean Up the Entryway

The first place that your guests will be when they arrive is your entryway. To clean up this area, start by shaking out the indoor met to remove any dirt and debris. Next, sweep the area quickly. The floors of the entryway will likely have the most dirt in the home since it is the place that people walk first. Finally, make sure that there are hooks available on your coat rack for your guests to hang their jackets.

Tidy Up the Kitchen

You don’t need hours to tidy up your kitchen. If you have just a few minutes, you can make it look presentable. If there are dishes in the sink, load them into the dishwasher. Next, wipe down the table and the countertops to remove any dirt and debris that has been left behind. Finally, rinse any food out of the sink. If there is any dirt or debris on the kitchen floor, take a minute or two to do a quick sweeping. Each of these tasks should take you no more than a few minutes.

Make the Bathroom Look Presentable

If your guests are going to be at your home for over an hour, chances are they will need to use the bathroom. Therefore, you want it to look nice. Start by spraying down the toilet and the countertops. Next, straighten out your hand towels. Since you won’t have time to do a thorough cleaning to make the room smell nice, you can spray an air freshener in the bathroom before your guests arrive. It may not be as clean as you would like, however, it is the best that you can do on such short notice.

Prepare the Living Room

If you are going to be entertaining your guests in the living room, you should do a quick dusting. Dust the coffee tables, the end tables, and wipe down your television screen. If you keep books or magazines on your coffee table, you should fan them out neatly. If you have pillows on your couch, fluff them up and set the properly. If you have a throw blanket on the chair or the couch, make sure that it looks neat and even. Finally, if you have any Febreze in the house, spray your couches and chairs to make them smell nice.

Light Some Candles

If you had the time to do a thorough cleaning before your guests arrive, your house would smell nice after the cleaning. Since you don’t have that kind of time, you should light some candles and lay spread them out around the home. This will make your home smell clean even if it isn’t as clean as you would like it to be.

Set the Lighting Accordingly

If your guests are arriving in the evening or at night after the sun has gone down, it can be very helpful. You can turn off the overhead lights and turn on lamps. If you keep it dim in the room, your guests may not notice that the house isn’t as clean as you would like it to be. In the kitchen, you should turn on your smaller lights, such as the under cabinet lighting or the light over the stove. When you do this, you won’t be in the dark and your guests may not notice that your kitchen isn’t clean.

Prepare Your Bedroom

If your guests are going to put their coats on your bed or if they are going to walk by the bedroom and see inside, you should quickly prepare it. You can pull up your bedspread so that the bed looks made. If you have any dirty clothes in the room, put them in the hamper. If you have clean laundry that hasn’t been folded, put it back in the dryer or tuck it away in the closet until they leave. If you are quick, it should only take a minute or two to get the room ready. If you have a lamp by the bed, you should turn that on so that your guests don’t need to turn on the overhead light. If your guests won’t need to go in your bedroom, just close the door. If they aren’t going to be going into your bedroom, they don’t need to see what is behind the door.

Put Some Music On

To lighten the mood in the house, you can put on some music to listen to softly in the background. The right kind of background music can make your home more inviting.

Prepare a Light Snack

Nothing makes guests feel more welcome than a snack. If you have cheese and crackers in your kitchen, it only takes a minute or two to put some out on your nicest platter. You can also put out cookies. Since you won’t have time to bake a batch of homemade cookies, you can spread pre-packaged cookies onto a nice platter. This may your only option when you don’t have much time to prepare for your guests.

Serve Your Guests a Beverage

If your guests are coffee drinkers, start brewing a pot right after you get the call that they are coming. It should be ready as soon as they arrive. If they aren’t, you should make sure that you have cold beverages on hand, or at least some ice. If you don’t have anything to drink in the house, fill a nice pitcher with water and slice up some fresh fruit. It looks nice and the fruit will give the water some flavor. It will do if you have nothing else to serve.

If you are having unexpected guests arriving within minutes, you should be able to complete everything on the list above in 10 minutes or less. When your guests arrive, they will be amazed at how lovely your home looks. They will also be impressed by the spread that you put out in such little time.