When your guests make a surprise visit or when you slack cleaning your house till your guests arrive, follow these simple tricks to fake that you do a good job in keeping your house clean...
The Living Room
- Reserve one side of sofa cushions to be shown to guests. Before company arrives, flip over the cushions to reveal good-as-new fabric. When guests are gone, flip them back.
- To disguise windows in need of washing, pull curtain panels closed.
- Fold a clean blanket neatly and drape it over a stained sofa. Strategically placed throw pillows can also camouflage soiled upholstery.
The Kitchen
- When the dishwasher is full and the sink is overflowing, stow dirty dishes and silverware in a stockpot and pull them out later to be cleaned.
- Cover up the lingering aroma of last night’s supper by boiling nutmeg, cloves, or cinnamon and orange peels in a sauce-pan on the stove.
- Declutter the refrigerator by taking down notes, drawings, and magnets and throwing them in a plastic bag. Sort through it later.
- Fold hand towels to hide stains. Two tips: Hang the clean side over the oven handle (with the stains in the back), or roll towels in neat spirals and stack them pyramid-style next to the sink.
The Bathroom
- Glide a sticky lint roller over the bath mat to pick up hair.
- Light a candle. Everything looks better (and cleaner) by candlelight.
- Hang a fluffy bathrobe on top of damp towels dangling from the hooks on the back of the door.
- Mound cosmetics and hairstyling products in a container underneath the sink. In a pinch, pile them in the tub and close the shower curtain. Cross your fingers that guests don’t snoop.
The Kids' Rooms
- Stow pajamas under the pillow. This way, they’re off the floor and ready for later.
- Put blocks in a handled shopping bag and hang it on a hanger or a doorknob inside the closet.
- Put homeless stuffed animals in extra pillowcases. Or prop them up behind shams.
- If your kids have a play tent, hide toys and clothes inside it.
The Laundry Room
- Pile any laundry that needs to be folded in baskets or storage containers and lay them on the washing machine to be sorted through later.
- As for dirty clothes awaiting washing, simply toss them in the washer.
The Home Office
- Stash stray office supplies, like pencils and pens, in decorative stationery boxes or filing containers on your desk.
- Temporarily hide wayward Post-it notes and to-do lists underneath the keyboard.
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