How to clean your living room in 10 minutes or less – CNET

Company is coming and your living room looks like a bomb went off. No problem. This mad dash technique can get your living room clean in just 15 minutes. All you need is a quick decision-making process. 

Get your supplies together

To pull off this amazing feat of cleaning, you’ll need a few supplies:

  • Laundry basket
  • Trash bag
  • Recycling bin (if you recycle)
  • Vacuum
  • Dusting wand

Grab and sort

To get started, quickly set the recycling bin and laundry basket in a central location, like on the coffee table or on the couch. Now, with the trash bag in-hand, start at the front door and work your way to the back of the living room. 

As you go, grab items. Toss them in the trash bag if it’s trash, the laundry basket if it’s something you’ll put away later, or in the recycling bin if it’s something that can be recycled. The trick is to make super quick decisions. Junk mail? Toss it. Lost sock? Laundry basket. Yesterday’s newspaper? Recycling bin.

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Once you’ve done the sweep, put the trash bag in the garbage, the laundry basket on your bed or in the laundry room to sort through later, and the recycling bin in the garage or kitchen.

Final touches

Time to give everything a quick polish. Go to work giving all of the surfaces — the television, shelves, coffee table and knickknacks — a once-over with the duster. This shouldn’t take you more than a couple minutes. Remember, you’re doing a quick clean, not a deep clean. 

Finally, do a speedy once-over with the vacuum and put your cleaning supplies away. I also like to light a scented candle at the end of my high-speed clean to make it appear like I took a lot of time to make the room look nice. 

Need to get your kitchen clean, too? Here’s how to get your kitchen clean in under 15 minutes.

Also check out how to get your bathroom clean in less than 10 minutes.