A 15 MINUTE QUICKIE (CLEANING THAT IS!)

In the ideal ‘Leave it to Beaver’ world, our homes are immaculate, dust is THE bad four-letter word and our children love nothing more than to accessorise with aprons and feather dusters.

In the ‘Real Houses of Reality Hills’ world however, kids view cleaning as the bad ‘c-word’, the fridge harbours unidentified alien life forms that vaguely resemble last month’s casserole and the floors tell a tale of pets and popcorn.

The latter ‘real’ world actually works for most of us most of the time. However, what about those times when you have people coming over unexpectedly and the house looks like the road runner and coyote have taken over?

Well, if you can buy yourself just 15 minutes before your visitors arrive then here are some foolproof ways to get the house looking clean, tidy and inviting.

OK. Grab that stopwatch. On your marks, get set and go!

0 – 2 Minutes: Grab a large basket and go room to room collecting anything that shouldn’t be there. If time permits return items to their rightful place. No time? Ok, you can have one (just one!) temporary storage room. Make it a room that guests won’t see and make sure that when they leave you get the items back to their rightful places.

2 – 4 Minutes: Run the feather duster over all exposed surfaces

4 – 8 Minutes: Quickly run the vacuum over the living, dining and kitchen areas

8 – 11 Minutes: Wipe down bathroom mirror and shower screen. Wipe down toilet. Check toilet rolls and fan towel.

11 – 13 Minutes: Wipe down kitchen bench, sink and appliances. Place any dirty dishes in the dishwasher or stack neatly in sink.

Last Few Minutes: Flick on the kettle and some tunes; run a brush through your hair, swig some mouthwash, spray a little deodorant and perfume, put on a fresh top or dress; open the windows and spray the house with a refreshing essential oil like lavender, eucalyptus or lemon.

Visitors still haven’t arrived? Great, pick some fresh flowers from the garden and put in a vase or jar – put out a platter of snacks or nibbles for your guests – put away those things you stashed in that one room….

Voila! Move over Stewart and Lush, there’s a new domestic goddess (or god!) in town!!!

Jen MacCulloch
Founder, Oh So Organised
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