How to fake a clean house ...for those last minute visitors

My husband is notorious for springing people on me the last minute. Like, "Hey babe, Joe Schmo is coming over in 20 minutes." My first reaction is to freak out. Which I do. And then probably mumble a few certain words. And then I look around my house. And yeah. 20 minutes? No Way. I wish I could say that my house is immaculate all the time. But truth is, it is only 'immaculate' like one day out of the year...maybe. I work full time and have the babe running around constantly making a giant mess and the hubs running around constantly making his mess. And then there's me...yes, I admit. I make a mess too...and not to mention what ever heck mess our dog just did. :) Anyways, so I have gotten a great system down for those 20 minute visitors.... that I get probably once a week. I'm serious....my husband doesn't understand planning or either he just plain forgets to tell me until 20 minutes out. I'm lucky if it's 20 minutes too. There's been 10 minuters also. ..yes, that's a word...10 minute visitors...10 minuters :)

My house is quite open so there's no way to just shut the door to the living room or kitchen or dining room. When you come into the front door, you pretty much see everything....front room, stairs, hall, living room...walk a little bit further...dining room and kitchen.

So, these little tips apply to a semi-'contained chaos' home. If you have a huge mess on your hands, you'll probably need more time. I like it when I get the 1 hour visitors, it gives me a little more time but still...1 hour?...especially when your house is in massive chaos and your dishes are piled so dang high you can't see the window??  You can't get too much done in that amount of time, especially deep cleaning. I'm going to be very vulnerable here and show my deepest darkest secrets of my messy house...so don't judge :)..this is actually pretty contained compared to how it usually gets.

So, this is how I get my house from this:

To this.... in 20 or so minutes.

And yes. It does require complete attention on your part with no little ones interrupting and no stops for a sip of coffee...although you may need it lol. And yes, this will get your heart rate up. And as I said, this is how to FAKE a clean house. So, a lot of these tips mean you actually have to clean up afterward :) You'll see what I mean by that as you read on. I've tried to put these in some sort of category, but they all really fall into one category. Hiding and Half Cleaning...well, and Faking ;)

The main thing is to pick up the clutter in only the rooms that people are going to see. That will make 90% of the impact, especially if you have a lot of stuff strewn about :)

Hide the obvious.

• Clean only the rooms that people are going to see and trash the others. I'm serious on this. I usually have a stroller parked in the middle of the hallway. Huge toys that have no real place to go except in the middle of everything. Laundry piled in the corner. Etc Etc. So, I just move all those into my bedroom and shut the door. My bedroom and the laundry room are catchalls for everything that needs to be out of the other rooms. I know no one is going in them so it's a safe place to hide junk..I mean, stuff :)

today the stroller has been exchanged for a large rug :) ...and here's a sneak peak into my bedroom makeover. yes, the toys are staying :) jk

• Storage containers are your best friend. Contain clutter in cute storage baskets, bins or other containers. For the baskets that over flow, just throw a cute blanket on top of them, then you can't see the clutter inside and it actually looks like its just a place to store you blankets which is totally stylish :) ...aka barbies with no heads sticking out of the basket are not. These are also great to corral movies, books, magazines, remotes, mail, randomness....etc.

• Hide shoes in a cute basket/bin behind the door. If it has a lid, even better!

• I like to hide toys behind the couch. I love my sectional because it offers this whole 'out of site' cleaning. Where it looks clean cuz you can't see it even though its there. 

•  I also hide toys behind the arm of one of the couches in my front room...and sometimes I hide things behind that big chalkboard...

• Dirty dishes..ugh. Throw dishes in the dishwasher if empty. This is time consuming, so just throw them in there with no rhyme or reason if you wish. If you don't have a dishwasher or the dishwasher is full, then stack the dishes nicely in the sink. This usually makes it look like you have less dirty dishes than if they were all thrown in there nonchalantly. This also helps if you have one of those nice cutting boards that cut over the sink, then just place that on top of all your dishes and then you can't see them :)

• If you have mail or randomness on the counter, place them in a cute basket or box instead to contain it. Just be sure to sort through later :)

• While we are on the kitchen, clean the fridge and make it free from magnets and mess. Throw them in the box on the counter if need be for the moment. Or put them all on the side of the fridge that no one will see.

And yep, you never see my kitchen because I hate it. Well, don't hate it, but I would rather have white cabinets but am freaked to paint these since they really are so nice...

• Hide things under the couch if need be. Yes, I do this. But not like with trash or anything, only my laptop and cords. I usually have them out somewhere and its just super quick to hide them under the couch than to take them back up to my office.

"Cleaning"

• Pick up obvious clutter. Toys. Trash. Dishes. This will probably be like 50% of what you do and make a 90% difference.

• Pick up the big pieces of lint/string/trash that you see on the carpet. Then you won't have to worry about vacuuming

• Sweep and don't mop unless you have obvious dirty spots. Then just spot mop. Or...if you are like me...I rarely even sweep in these cases since I have wonderful tile that completely hides all dirt and dog hair.

• Make sure the counters and tabletops are clutter free. Wipe them down quickly.

• Dust. Someone can always spot dust especially on dark surfaces. It's quick to just get a duster or swiffer and go over tabletops.

• Get rid of dead flowers. This is my thing I always stress about forgetting because really, it's super inviting going to sit down next to some dried ol' nasty flowers :) 

• If you have a microfiber couch, do this simple trick to pretty much clean anything off of it...like dirty little finger prints, random food debris that has been stuck on. This won't do much for liquid spills but you might as well try while your at it and see what it ends up looking like. Just take a brush and scrub the heck out of the spots. 

Then make the fiber go all in the same direction after you are done scrubbing, use your hand to do this or the brush.

Hiding the Dirty

• If it's day outside, open the curtains and let the sun shine in. Makes for a brighter, cleaner looking space.

• If you need to turn down the blinds, turn them up! The bottom side of the blinds don't attract as much dust and grime, so when you turn them up, the bottom sides show rather than the nasty top part.

I had NO idea the tops of these were this bad lol. Shows how much I turned these up, I never ever see the tops at all. Maybe it's that time of year decade to clean them.

Straighten Up

• Straighten the chairs in the dining room.
• Straighten the pillows and throws.
• Straighten the rug. Yes, I don't understand how my rug that is on carpet moves constantly. But it does. So this sadly is one thing I always have to do and it drives me mad.
• Straighten up books and magazines.

Make Things Smell Good

• Trick the senses by making it smell like your house is clean :)  Use febreeze. Use carpet deodorizer if you have time. Get a candle going. Plug in your Scentsy. Plug in your Airwick or Glade plugin. Spray some spray....and by all means, do not stink up the bathroom. I just have to say this because it seems inevitable at my house. And not because of me, but another certain someone :)

The Bathroom

• I've noticed that for the most part, people don't use the bathroom when they come over for an hour or so, but you never ...ever...want to leave that to chance if your bathroom is a mess :) So, if it is, hide the mess in the cabinet. Throw away trash. Scrub the toilet quickly, not forgetting to pick up the lid and clean under there. Wipe down the sink, faucet and mirror. Pick up obvious debris left on the floor.
• Be sure to straighten the bathroom towel also and flip it over -that side is always cleaner.

And I think, for the most part, that's it! Once the people leave, it's always fun because my house returns to a mess in like 10 minutes lol. The toys get dragged out. The stroller returns to its resting spot. The mail gets back out so I can make sure I'm not hiding bills that will forever be lost otherwise. The babe tosses the pillows everywhere. The laundry returns to the corner...But! For that little moment in time, my house looked awesome ;)

Large Geometric Rugs Under $250

I am still on the long...long search for the perfect rug for my living room. So of course, I have rounded up a ton more designs (you can see the other designs here). These are once again large (7x10 about or bigger) rugs all under $250 as of today (some are on sale, so act quick). I would like to stay closer to $100 myself, but sometimes that doesn't happen :) I have been going back and forth between what I want in there. Pattern, no pattern. Geometric, floral. I'm still not too sure. But here's the line up of geometric(ish) rugs that I found on my search for the perfect rug. I have also thrown in a few patio rugs because those are great to use in the dining room.

Short side note: I haven't see any of these in person (except the first one) so I can't contest to the quality of these rugs, so do your own due diligence before a purchase :)

Maples Fretwork Area Rug - Tan(7'x10') $149. This also comes in blue, green, grey, black, green, gold and red. This is the rug I have in my front room in a 5x7. Love it. I put it in my living room and fell in love. So, I actually have this one on order for...guess how much....$113! Yep. See, you can get large rugs for around $100 :) Right now Target is having a sale on 20% off a home decor purchase of $125. This qualifies. Plus, you get free shipping since it's over $50. And, if you have your redcard, you get an extra 5% off. And! Use code SAVE10 to get a $10 giftcard with it :) That's like $103. Yep! So act quickly before these sales go away :) These sales apply most of the Target rugs listed below too!

Indoor/Outdoor Stripes Area Rug (7x10) $249 I love this rug. Navy is really in right now. But if you don't like the navy, it also comes in green and cream.

Indoor/Outdoor Geometric Area Rug - Navy (7x10) $249  Another navy rug but with a super bold pattern. Love this. Plus remember, you get 20% off if you purchase soon. That brings it down to $200.

Threshold Indoor/Outdoor Area Rug - Lemon-Lime (7x10) $199 This one is if you want to be really really bold. I think this would look amazing with navy accents or even aqua.

Indoor/Outdoor Chevron Area Rug - Navy (7x10) $249An awesome chevron rug, comes in orange, aqua, navy and mulitcolored. Love this one in the aqua for outdoors...even indoors.

Townhouse Rugs Area Rug, Chevron Stripe (8x10) $179 Another awesome chevron rug. This comes in multiple other colors also, just with a little bigger price tag.

 NuLoom Ikat Chevron Rug (7'6"x9'6") $249. Love ikat especially in chevron. This rug is a woven rug, so not much for plushness but at least it looks cute :) comes in grey, yellow and aqua. Plus save 10% when you sign up for emails!

nuLOOM Dawn Collection Trellis Outdoor Contemporary Rug, (7'10"x10') $182 Even though this is an outdoor rug, this would look awesome under a dining table -easy cleaning :) And you can't beat that price.

Safavieh Courtyard Collection Indoor/Outdoor Area Rug, (8'10"x11'6") $215 This one is big :) It also comes in a smaller size about 7'x10' for $155. It also comes in a grey. Another great one for the dining room. Or even the patio.

Threshold 7'x10' Rectangular Patio Rug (7x10) On Sale $100 Great deal for such a large rug! It is an outdoor rug but can easily be converted indoors for under a dining table. It also comes in a charcoal/river and orange.

Sari 6'7"x9'6" Rectangluar Patio Rug $159. This comes in a beautiful grey also. Oh, and a pretty light blue. For patio or under your dining table.

Safavieh Indoor/Outdoor Courtyard Rug in Grey (8'x11') $179.99 Love this rug! Love the color, love the pattern, love the size, love the price :) plus, once again, sign up for emails for overstock and get 10% off your first purchase! Not a bad deal.

If you want more area rugs that won't break the budget, just click here on the picture to see my last round up!

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. Use your own discretion in purchasing items. The purchase/return is between you and the seller/company. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Ikea Hack: Hamper into Side Table

So, I like to think I keep my house relatively clean. Although I'm sure my mom would disagree since every time she comes over to watch the babe and I come home, she's practically cleaned the house. Which is great. But then I realize that maybe my house isn't as clean as it should be :) I do know my big downfall though. Laundry. Ugh. I hate hate hate laundry. Detest it. I'm one of those people who would rather go and buy new clothes than do laundry. Which of course...then creates that much more laundry.

So, in my attempt to maintain this laundry I went to Ikea and bought a nice little hamper...which was dumb, since I already have like 5 hampers, but whose counting :) As mentioned, this was an attempt. Because it never actually made it into my house. It has sat in the garage for over 5 months now :) I told you...I hate laundry. Anything to do with it. And that also means hampers.

I figured it was about time to put it to use. But didn't care to use it for it's actual use. And it the spirit of repurposing something, I decided to turn this into a cute little side table! Not only did this hamper get repurposed, the top is actually a cabinet door I found at ReStore years and years ago.

So, cabinet door meets hamper equals side table :)

This was a super easy project to do. First, was to take off the bag on the hamper which left just the frame.

 

Next was lining up the hamper frame onto the underside of the door and securing it using half inch pipe straps I found in the plumbing aisle.

One frame piece is a bit shorter than the other, so to make sure the table sat level, I put some felt between the door and the frame on the shorter side. I was able to do this since I used the half inch pipe straps and the frame itself is only about half that size.

Now to make it a little bit prettier. I just unscrewed the straps that kept the frame from folding down on itself. With the pipe straps secured, the frame itself won't move anymore so there's no need for them anyway. Plus they are ugly :)

And that's it! Super cute upcycled table.

 The cost of this was maybe $5. I think I bought the door for about a buck and then the hamper was $4 if I remember correctly.

Now, since it's that time of month again, lets get onto the other projects involved in the "Repurpose Reuse Recycle" Series!

Bigger Than The Three of Us - DIY Bamboo Shades  

 

Lovely Etc. - Hanging globes

All Things G&D:  DIY Boot Socks from Old Sweater Sleeves  

Life as a Thrifter- Quick & Easy Candle Holders

It All Started With Paint: Union Jack Flag Mason Jars 

10 Tips For Decorating A Living Space

1. Color matching. I like to use the same muted tones in different colors or use the same color just in different variations of shades or tints. I try not to use more than 3 accent colors in any room. Keeping your substantial pieces of furniture a neutral color will let you play around more with accent colors. 

2. Unmatch Matching Sets. Having matching sets in a living room or bedroom may make it feel like you’re in a furniture store. Buy furniture from different places, this will give your space a more unique and eclectic look. If you have matching sets, break them apart, maybe use your chest of drawers as a sideboard in the dining room, or move a nightstand into another room.

3. Pricey Fabric. Falling for pricey fabric may just get you off budget, instead of buying yards of it, buy a small amount and use it for accessorizing. Cover a pillow with it or even a lampshade.

4. Lower the Art. Bring wall art down to where it is in line with your eyes. Art is meant to be enjoyed, you shouldn’t have to crank your neck to look at it. Although I have a problem with this since most art in my house seems quite high but it is actually in line with my eyes...I'm just too tall I guess :)

5. Windows. Window treatments can either make or break a room. Think of the windows as the eyes for your room. Don’t your eyes always look a little bit better with some mascara or eyeshadow? Think of the window treatments as the makeup for your window. This will set the stage for the rest of your room.

6. Decorate in odds. Having three pieces in an arrangement is more pleasing to the eye than only having two. The same is true for other odd numbers. When decorating, group items in threes. Or when hanging art, think of using three pieces, but remember, they don't all have to be identical. A mirror and two flanking pictures works just as well together.

7. Repurposing. Have something you want to throw out? Repurpose it into another spot in your house. An old dresser can become a sofa table or a sideboard. Sheets can become window treatments when cut down the middle and sewn. Plant stands are great fit ins for side tables. An old door can became a new headboard. The possibilities are endless.

8. Storage. Decorative storage is a must for all rooms. Use storage baskets or bins for all things small and large. Put under the coffee table as a catch all for magazines and remotes, in the entertainment center to hide DVDs and games, in the entry way to hide shoes, or to organize a pantry or a closet.

9. Molding. Crown molding, decorative molding and high baseboards add dimension to a room and add architectural interest.

10. Bring in Texture and Pattern. The more texture you have in a room, the more authentic and interesting it is. The same goes with pattern. But more is not necessarily better. Strategically use texture and pattern to bring warm and interest to your room. Use it in rugs, accent pillows, throws, curtains, and accessories.

Free "Whip It Good" Kitchen Art Printable

One of my New Year's resolutions this year is to paint my kitchen cabinets. It's weird because I never ever have resolutions. And the one time I decide to pick one, it's something monstrous :) Figures. I hardly ever write about my kitchen. Mainly because I never really have any projects going on in there and the fact that it has stayed looking the same for the past 5 years. Serious. Maybe a spice rack has moved from one corner to the other but that's about it. It was a hard decision to paint my cabinets because they are really really beautiful...just not my taste. I always wished I would have moved into a home that either had white cabinets already :) ...or had dated oak cabinets that I wouldn't feel bad painting. But these cabinets are knotty alder and have some beautiful character....so, that's why it has been so many years of living with something I don't like even though they are nice :)

Anyways. One downfall to the cabinets is that they cast a weird goldish yellow hue all over the kitchen. The kitchen isn't bright like I like. So...until the huge process of the cabinet painting commences, I figured I would try to add a little cheer and brightness to the place. It's not much for now, but more small projects are already in the works. So for now, it's just a cute little printable that I whipped up (no pun intended...but actually kind of funny considering...so I guess pun totally intended :) )

I decided to actually change the stuff up on my counters. I have had this cookbook on the counter for years now and I think I may have baked one recipe in there. And yet there it sits like I use the recipes on it all the time. I figured it was about time to change that up and add a little something else. So, I put these prints in some Ikea frames and called it good!

It adds just a little bit of 'lightness' to the kitchen. Not much...but hey, this kitchen hasn't changed from 5 years so it's actually a dramatic change on my end :)

The large print is a 8x10 and the small is a 4x6. Download them here for your own personal use!