posted by Cheryl on family life

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I’m going to be upfront, and admit that I am NOT one of those southern-momma type stay at home moms, who cooks gourmet meals every night and keeps a house so clean that even the closets look like an Ikea catalog.

What I will admit to, however, is enjoying keeping a very nice, clean, orderly home. I enjoy it when people tell me that I keep a clean house, and that they feel comfortable coming over. It gives me great satisfaction.

That is probably my mother’s fault, since she always kept a perfect home… But she was also a stay at home mom. I am a work at home mom (to be). How can you keep a perfect house, while working 40 hours/week?

I’m going to give you my secret.

Shortcuts.

That’s right, I said shortcuts. I cut corners everywhere. No one would ever tell, but multi-tasking and taking shortcuts are a way of survival when you’re a WAHMie who likes to keep a nice house. You simply can’t be vaccuuming while taking client calls, it doesn’t work that way!

Today, I’m going to share with you some of my all-time favorite housework shortcuts. These are the every day tips and tricks that I use to keep my house neat and tidy, with everything in it’s place, WITHOUT spending 3-4 hours/day on housework!

By the way, if you’ve got guests coming in an hour, follow all of these tips and your house WILL be clean and ready for their arrival in under 60 minutes! I promise!

Shortcut #1 – laundry can be hidden. Clean laundry, of course. It takes 10 minutes total effort to put the wash in the machine, and then in the dryer. DON’T let it pile up, because then it turns into an all-day affair. But if you do your laundry every time you have a full load or two (depending on the clothing habits of your family), and you’ve got guests coming with no time to fold it – closets make a great place to store a laundry basket full of clean clothes. Make sure to hang up anything that will wrinkle, but everything else can wait until you have time. (Psst – the dryer works for this, too…) – Total time, 10 minutes to wash it and put it in the dryer.

Shortcut #2 – the vaccuum cleaner is your best friend. Nothing looks worse than a perfect house with messy carpets and furniture. I am fully obsessed with vaccuuming, and if I had the time, I’d do it every single day. But since we don’t live in a perfect world, I do it every other day – usually after dinner. It takes 10 minutes to do a quick vaccuuming of the entire upper floor of our house. If you stay on top of it, it doesn’t take long!

My favorite tip here – vaccuum your furniture every.single.time. It might sound crazy, but we have a couch, loveseat & chair (with ottoman) in our living room. And I vaccuum them every single time I vaccuum the floors. Just like everything else, if you keep up on it, it only takes an extra 5 minutes to clean the surface – but it gives your home a much cleaner appearance, and prevents that “butt smell” from building up on your sofa. – Total time, 15 minutes to vaccuum the carpet & the furniture (max)

Shortcut #3 – surface clean when you’re in a hurry! Nobody is going to notice if the inside of your cupboards is dirty (except maybe your mother in law), but if you’ve got baby food stuck on the counter top, everyone will see that. If you’ve only got 5 minutes to make your kitchen look as clean and tidy as possible, throw all of the dishes in the dishwasher or sink and wipe down the counters, removing extra clutter as you go. Voila! Instant clean appearance, and no one will know that it only took 5 minutes! – Total time, 5 minutes.

Shortcut #4 – ask for help! Who says you have to do all of the work yourself? If you’ve got 15 minutes to get the entire house in tip-top shape for guests, the best way to multi-task is to grab another set of hands! Have hubby take out the garbage, carry the laundry, and vaccuum or sweep the stairs. While he is doing that, you’ve got time to surface clean the kitchen and do a quick vaccuuming. All of a sudden, you have 30 minutes worth of cleaning done in half the time! – Total time, ZERO!

Shortcut #5 – scented candles are a girl’s best friend. Nothing makes a house more inviting than a nice scent, and it takes all of what – 10 seconds to light a candle? Do it 20 minutes before your guests arrive, and they’ll come into a wonderful smelling house! – Total time, 1 minute (if you have to find the candle)

Shortcut #6 – speaking of scents… Did you know that every drain in your house has a trap? That little “u-shaped” bend under the sink is under every.single.drain (except the toilet…) If you want your house to smell like you’ve been cleaning all day, pour a teaspoon or two of your fav all-purpose cleaner like Mr. Clean or Pinesol into the traps of your drains (I like Mr. Clean with Febreeze, it smells to pretty…) The whole house will smell like you’ve been cleaning all day! – Total time, 5 minutes.

Shortcut #7 – get anal about your toilet. Okay, I know that is a funny pun (if not a little gross) but ANYway – my favorite tip I like to share is simple. Remember that all purpose cleaner, like Mr. Clean, that you poured in your drains? Pour some in the holder for your toilet brush, too. Not only will the area around your toilet smell nicer (if that is where you keep the brush), but then when the toilet starts to look a little bit gross – all you have to do is grab the brush, do a quick swirl through the bowl (total time, about 10 seconds before you pee…) and put it back. Voila, clean toilet! – Total time, 1 minute.

Shortcut #8 – flowers show that you care… And not just when you give them away. Picking up a bouquet (or snipping them from your garden) and putting it in a central place in your house will give the appearance that you really put a lot of effort into keeping a nice house, and it only takes a minute. Plus, it will really brighten up the place – and keep wandering eyes away from the dust collecting on your TV set. – Total time, 5 minutes to arrange (once you have the flowers)

Shortcut #9 – SWEEP. Dirt builds up so fast on floors, it amazes me. Sweep it all up in a hurry, and toss it in the garbage. No need to mop unless your floors are really, really dirty – the surface dirt should be enough for a nice clean look without hours of effort. – Total time, 10 minutes.

Shortcut #10 – Hide things. I keep blankets in the living room to cuddle on, but they’re all behind various pieces of furniture. Dog toys are kept in a little box next to the fireplace, behind the fireplace poker. Coats can be hung up, or tossed in a spare room closet. Laundry can be thrown in a hamper. Dirty dishes in the dishwasher or sink, or – worst case scenario – even your oven. YOU’LL know that they’re there, but no one else will. Hide everything that is out of place with the last 8 minutes of your hour!

Total time to a perfect *looking* house – 60 minutes, without one chipped or broken nail. Obviously a bit harder if you have kids running around UNDOING EVERYTHING (because we all know, they love to do that…) – but you can eliminate steps along the way, multi-task, and of course – get hubby’s help if he’s around.

Anyway, those are my tips to keeping a clean house for guests *without* spending hours on it every single day. Do you have any tips to share? If you blog about them, let me know in the comments below!