How to Quickly Clean Your House for Guests

Today is the first day of Fall and that means….house guests for the upcoming holidays! Sometimes those guests are unexpected, so I frequently do evening cleanings, like the one I am sharing today, so the house is ready just in case anyone pops in the next day. My parents recently visited and I created a hot cocoa bar and bought fresh flowers, so things like that and a tidy home are ways you can make your house guests feel really welcome. The video I created shows my evening house cleaning routine and below I also have a free printable checklist, so you can always be prepared to get those important tasks taken care of the night before guests arrive!

I created a cleaning house for guests checklist printable to go along with this video, so you can always have a handy reminder ready.

night time cleaning routine free printable list

// which areas will be seen by guests

My evening routine focuses on the main living areas, which are the kitchen and living room. I find it sufficient to keep things ultra tidy, especially since dishes and cat fur can build up around my house, if I don’t do daily maintenance. I am sure anyone with pets can relate! Your most used areas might be different, but when guests are coming over, don’t overwhelm yourself with cleaning the whole house – just focus on those areas that the guests will see and use.


// take out all trash

The last thing you want is gross trash cans for your guests to smell when they enter your house. Even if it isn’t trash day, get those bags out of the house and into the outdoor trash cans. I put these little hooks on the side of my trash can to make the bag stay in place. Super handy, so the trash bag isn’t shifting every time I use the trashcan!

// kitchen clean up

Next, I empty the dishes and then will put any dirty ones in there and let them run overnight. I find taking everything out of the dishwasher and putting on the counters first and THEN putting them in the cabinets from there is most efficient.

clean with me video

I will wash the pots and pans by hand and any other small items that need to be hand washed like my apple slicer, strawberry huller and then my tumbler. I love this amazon find, which came with brushes that fit perfectly inside bottles and tumblers and it even came with a special brush for cleaning those reusable straws.

Next, I will give the countertops and stove top a good wipe down and then go back to finish drying those hand washed items.

// fresh flowers

After I put everything away, I decided to arrange these flowers from Walmart to make them a little more presentable. Having fresh flowers is always an elegant way to welcome guests to your home. You could also put a small arrangement in the guest room. 

fresh flowers for guests

// dining room ready

I usually keep my dining room set with a tablescape for the holidays, just so it is ready to go in case guests arrive. If you want to see how I set this one up, click here for the post!

fall tablescape ideas 2019

// vacuum the main living areas

Ok, time to tackle crumbs and cat fur. I’m using my Miele here, which I recently did a review on. I have had it around 5 years and it is still going strong. I use my cordless Dyson V8 for quick pickups around the litter box, but my Miele comes out for longer jobs, since I don’t have to worry about the battery dying midway through a big house cleaning. I use the hard floor brush for the tile and wood and will switch to the one for carpets, when I do the area rugs. There are also different attachments that came with my Miele for the couches and for dusting furniture.

It’s a pretty quiet vacuum, as you can see Bugatti the cat isn’t bothered by it...at least not until I got too close to him!

miele and cats

// dust and vacuum other small items

You may want to dust any tables or furniture that will be in the main view of your guests, and don’t forget their guest room. I recently found these little pet stairs, which happen to match my couch perfectly! I had to get these pet stairs for Bugatti, one of my cats, since I think he is starting to get arthritis and seemed to be struggling to get onto the couch. I just give the pet stairs a good vacuum and they are good as new. The cover can be taken off in case you need to wash it. Paying attention to little details like this can really make a difference in how clean your house looks…and smells!

I hope this gave you some good tips for Fall guest cleaning, don’t forget to download that free checklist below, so you have it handy next time unexpected guests are about to pop in! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a very happy day!

How to Quickly Clean Your House for Guests

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