Top tips to quickly tidy the house?

[Stayingafloatish]

Guests arriving in 7 hours and the house looks like an absolute tip. Kids have barely been off a few days and it looks like a tornado has swept through.

Any top tips to get it done quickly besides to bin it all?! 😂

My top tip is get off MN and start cleaning

Put a list of all that needs to be into ChatGPT.
Mine has just told me to stay in bed until 9am 🤣

For toys, grab each storage unit and go around the house chucking the right toys in rather than taking individual toys to the box. Then do the next box.
Same with a bin bag for tissues/snack wrappers etc.
Hoover only what is visible. Focus on the bathrooms - they really make a house feel dirty if not clean.

First thing’s first - get a load of washing on. Next, walk around with a carrier bag - better still get everyone to walk around with a bag - fill with rubbish or recycling.
Empty/reload the dishwasher and get it on.
Tidy area by the front door, put shoes where they belong (in our case they live on shoe racks yet my hooligans always seem to just leave them on the doormat)

These would be my immediate things to do.

A sack per person to chuck all their stuff in and throw in their rooms. Shove unnecessary clutter like loads of coats in car boot to get out of the way. Grab polish and duster, whizz round with hoover…

Bag up anything and everything out of place and chuck it in the car boot.

Job's a good 'un 💪

Binning it all is a good strategy, to be fair. Haha.

Pick up all the rubbish first
Then pick up any clothes, to the laundry or away
Then grab all the toys into the toy box
Vacuum and wipe surfaces.

Does rubbish not go directly into bins?

A load of washing, the basket method and a quick wipe and hoover. Get the kids to do it!

😂😂😂

Remind the kids Santa is watching … this is the one day of the year they help without grumbling.

Focus on the kitchen and bathrooms plus a hoover through the house. Don't worry too much about the kids dragging toys etc out.

Get the hoover out and tell the children anything still on the floor in 5 minutes is gone, haha

Scoop up everything that isn't where it should be and dump it somewhere your visitors won't go, e.g. your bedroom. You can then start putting things away properly, but it won't matter if you don't have time to finish before they arrive.

Make a cup of tea, tree lights on and take a moment.
Then ask everyone to pick up their own stuff and deposit in their bedrooms.
Set the robot vac going and have another cuppa.

Clean the kitchen and bathroom first, they’re usually quick and it’s essential they’re clean. Get the kids to pick up toys, shoes, clothes lying about, set a timer and a prize for the tidiest space. Once the floor and surfaces are clear, dust and hoover.

Or do one room at a time, half hour timer and whizz through doing what you can in that time. Start in rooms that need to be visitor ready.

Get boxes. Shove everything in them. Hide in your bedroom.

Clean the kitchen and bathroom. Job done.

Have you thought of phoning your guests to say you all have a tummy bug? 😆

Thanks for the tips and motivation! 4 hours in so far and hoping I’ll be done in another 2 hours.