How to fake a clean house

[Deleted]

When you’re short on time, here’s how to give your living spaces the illusion of cleanliness.

The Living Room

• Reserve one side of sofa cushions to be shown to guests. Before company arrives, flip over the cushions to reveal good-as-new fabric. When guests are gone, flip them back.
  
• Rid the sofa of pet hair by wetting the fingertips of rubber gloves and gliding your hand over the sofa. The hair will stick to the rubber.
  
• Stack books, catalogs, and magazines in neat piles on the floor or arrange them in a deep decorative basket.
  
• To disguise windows in need of washing, pull curtain panels closed.
  
• Fold a clean blanket neatly and drape it over a stained sofa.
• Strategically placed throw pillows can also camouflage soiled upholstery.
  

The Kitchen

• When the dishwasher is full and the sink is overflowing, stow dirty dishes and silverware in a stockpot and pull them out later to be cleaned.
  
• Cover up the lingering aroma of last night’s supper by boiling nutmeg, cloves, or cinnamon and orange peels in a sauce-pan on the stove.
  
• Declutter the refrigerator by taking down notes, drawings, and magnets and throwing them in a plastic bag. Sort through it later.
  
• Fold hand towels to hide stains. Two tips: Hang the clean side over the oven handle (with the stains in the back), or roll towels in neat spirals and stack them pyramid-style next to the sink.

The Bathroom

• Glide a sticky lint roller over the bath mat to pick up hair.
  
• Light a candle. Everything looks better (and cleaner) by candlelight.
  
• Hang a fluffy bathrobe on top of damp towels dangling from the hooks on the back of the door.
  
• Store a rattan or canvas basket on top of the toilet and throw in stray cosmetic brushes.
  
• Hang fresh guest towels. The humidity in this room makes textiles look droopy, even after a recent machine washing.
  
• Mound cosmetics and hairstyling products in a container underneath the sink. In a pinch, pile them in the tub and close the shower curtain. Cross your fingers that guests don’t snoop.

[spindrift]

Good hints. I already do a lot of these. It's useful to know about damp rubber gloves picking up animal hair. I'll try that.

[pookie]

The washing machine is a good place to hide stuff,also the oven but don't forget you put your stuff in there,you could have a baked surprize.
Ironing usually gets shoved in the walk in robe.

[lagatta]

I think I'll take up the boiling spices and orange peels. I love fish, I love onion and I love garlic.

My mum would kill me for even thinking of some of the others, but I'll be trying the animal hair hint. I don't have a sofa any more though; what would normally be my living room is my office.

[Deleted]

The living room hints I can abide by and do use some. The kitchen and bath ones I cannot. That's downright sloth and disgusting.

[welle]

I think I'd laugh so hard if I saw a bathtub full of cosmetics...

One friend sticks magazines in the oven to hide them, or even in the freezer. LOL.