Living Room

Step-by-Step Guide to Cleaning the Living Room

The living room is certainly one of the most visited places in your home. It is where usually everyone walks in after entering through the door. For this reason you have to make absolutely sure the place is clean and properly sanitised at all times. You may do regular maintenance of the living room every week, or every day even, but the truth is every now and then you have to perform a thorough cleaning service in that area.

Start with the preparations: get your cleaning supplies ready and see that you are not missing any home cleaning tool. Consider getting some help – maybe a friend or relative, or why not even a domestic cleaning company, seeing that some of the tasks you will be engaged in do require a certain expertise and skill. If you want to make your cleaning fun and less stressful, you can play your favourite music in the background to get you in the mood. Get down to business by following the steps outlined below:

  • Start with a quick de-clutter – enter the living room and see if it needs some cleanup. In order to get down to the thorough cleaning, you have to clear some space and make it easy to perform the other home cleaning tasks. Otherwise clutter will just get in your way and prevent you from effectively doing your job. Don’t stress if you make a mess in the process, as you will get to that in a second.
  • Dust the walls and ceiling – it is time to get rid of the dust that has been accumulating on the walls and ceiling of the living room. Pay close attention to the corners, as dusting tools often cannot reach everywhere and leave areas that are dusty. While you are at it, inspect the walls and ceiling for spots and get to spot washing right after you are done with dusting. Remember to clean air vents, doors and doorknobs as well as switch plates, while you are at it.
  • Clean photographs and pictures – take them off your walls and carefully clean them. Be very mindful when you use spray cleanser, as the liquid can get under the glass and cause permanent damage to the piece. Lightly wet a cloth and use it to wipe away all of the dust.
  • Clean the fan and chandelier – there is nothing more disturbing than having dust fall down from the fan as you turn it on. While you are at this cleaning service, you have to dust down the fan and clean the blades, as well as any small fixtures you think could use some cleaning.
  • Time for the draperies – it is time to consider some curtain cleaning as there is usually a lot of dust in that area. Follow the manufacturer’s directions on whether or not you can machine wash the curtains or clean them by other means.
  • Window cleaning – once you are done with the curtains, it is time to clean the windows. You may not feel like it, but you should wash the inside as well as the outside of every window, if you want to make sure they are perfectly clean. While you are at it take off the screens and rinse them.
  • Move to couches and chairs – it is time to deal with the dust ingrained deep within your furniture. Upholstery cleaning is usually done with a vacuum cleaner attachment that can clean crevices. Clean all of the pillows and slipcovers too. If you need a more thorough cleaning service do consider hiring upholstery cleaning professionals, as they can take care of the soiled areas on your furniture.
  • Clean the décor of the living room – every statuette, picture, photo, vase, glass ornament or whatever it is you have sitting on the shelves or table of your living should be cleaned.
  • Clean the bookshelves – you cannot have an effective living room cleaning, if you do not take care of the dust that lurks under and around your books. You should not only dust down the shelves, but also the books. Now would be a good time to decide if you should de-clutter some of your old books.
  • Clean the carpeting of your living room – if you notice that the carpet is soiled and simple vacuuming will not clean it, perhaps it is time for some carpet deep cleaning. You can hire the cleaning service for this task, or hire the machinery and clean it yourself.

Take your time to carefully clean your living room, as you spend so much time in there already. You will certainly feel a huge difference and be glad you invested the time and effort in this task.

Heather Roberts - Guest contributor

Heather Roberts is a freelance guest blogger from London, UK. She has got many published articles on various topics such as home maintenance, garden and lawn care etc. She loves to spend her time with family and friends and she also tries to live an eco-friendly life.