You have a friend or family member who called to say they are going to be in the neighborhood and want to stop by. You feel like your house is a mess and you can’t keep them from coming into the house. Even a house that is professionally cleaned can get messy from daily life. Here are 6 quick cleaning steps to fake a clean house. Clean Up Your Clutter A house with clutter always looks messy. The first step to faking a clean house is to go around and collect items that are out of place or laying around your house into an empty basket. If you are in the middle of laundry and don’t have an empty basket you can always use a brand new garbage bag to collect the random items instead. If you have more than a little clutter or a larger home, focus on cleaning up the clutter in the rooms or areas the family or friend may see or be in while visiting. Once you are done, you can easily store the basket or garbage bag out of sight in a closet or extra room until later. Make Your House Smell Good A freshly cleaned house always has a certain smell to it. Find your favorite spray air freshener and a candle that both have a similar smell. Spray the air freshener through your house to remove any unpleasant odors and light the candle to help your house smell better, longer. If you don’t have both an air freshener and a candle, use whichever you have to help cover smells. If you have animals or you haven’t cleaned for a while, both spraying an air freshener and lighting a candle can really help remove the smells that can come with both. Clean-Up Where They Will Be Most guests that stop by our house at the last minute end up spending most of their time in the living room, so focusing on this area is important. Make sure to do a quick vacuum of your living room and wipe down any surfaces that they will touch or see, like your coffee table, end table, and/or TV stand. A vacuum and a quick wipe down of all your surfaces will help make sure everything looks freshly cleaned where they will be the most. Disinfect The Bathroom The most valuable type of cleaning product you can have to use in these situations of quick cleaning is disinfecting wipes. Disinfecting wipes allow you to do a quick wipe down of your sink, counter, and toilet. If you don’t have any disinfecting wipes, use your favorite cleaner to spray and wipe down your bathroom surfaces. If you have the time and an extra candle, light a candle in your bathroom to help your bathroom smell good. This can also help take away any additional smells your bathroom may have. Clean Where They Enter The first area of your house that most guests will see is your entryway. Make sure you cleaned up any clutter in the entryway and straightened any shoes sitting around. Use your vacuum to do a quick once over of the entryway area. If your vacuum doesn’t work on your entryway surface, grab your broom and sweep up anything on the floor that may have been tracked in from outside. Don’t Forget To Check Your Dishes Nobody likes to have a dirty sink when people come over. If you have the time, quickly load the dirty dishes into the dishwasher. If you are running short on time, rinse your dishes and stack them nicely in your sink. If you can’t any dishes to be in your sink when visitors come over and have a full dishwasher, collect all your dishes into a basket and put them away where they can’t be seen until the guest leaves. Don’t forget to put them back after they leave otherwise you may be in for a surprise later. With these six quick tips, your house is now looking and smelling better in a short time, without your visitors ever knowing!