Clean Your House Quickly in 10 Minutes

The phone rings - it's a friend or relative telling you they're going to stop by in a little while. Your hands suddenly feel cold and clammy and you start breathing shallow breaths in terror.

You look around and see piles of dirty laundry, stacks of dirty dishes, shoes piled, books and papers scattered, toys playing hide and seek and you are filled with panic.

How can you possibly let someone set foot inside the door with the disaster you are in right now?

Simple, get off your butt and do a little creative cleaning to make the place presentable to your unexpected guest.

Grab as many empty laundry baskets, cardboard boxes, Rubbermaid containers and the like that you can find.

Start at the doorway/entryway and start grabbing everything and throwing them into boxes or baskets. When a box or basket gets full, quickly - without hurting yourself or anyone else - rush it to the master bedroom (or spare bedroom if you have one).

Throw it onto the bed or the floor then rush back to the doorway to start over.

If your guest will only be coming to the door or stepping inside the doorway, then you can breathe easy: You're almost done.

Straighten the rug and do last-minute tidying while you wait for your visitor. When they arrive, make sure the lights in the rest of the house are off and don't allow them to step further than the entryway.

If they'll come inside and stay for a visit, then suck it up because you're not done!

In the living room follow the same strategy as the doorway. Stack books and magazines neatly in a corner. Grab everything else that you can and throw them into the baskets and boxes then off to the bedroom.

Don't worry about vacuuming unless you get finished with everything else and have time to breathe before you hear a car in the driveway.

If you have room under your couch or chairs, stuff things under there - as long as they can't be seen. This won't work if your couch is one of those that sits up on legs, so don't even try it.

If you have a computer desk, underneath it is also a good spot to hide things. Having hiding spots in the living room will save you from having to make so many runs to a bedroom.

In the kitchen grab the dirty dishes and start putting them into the dishwasher (unless it's already full) and the oven. If you have room under the sink and in other cabinets - heck, even the fridge! - shove the dirty dishes there. Don't worry if you break a dish or two - deal with that after your company leaves. Who needs a complete set of dishes anyway?

Clear off counter tops using the same method. You can always come back later and put things back where they were.

Again, remember that the master or spare bedroom is your greatest ally: Use it as the dumping ground for items that have nowhere else to go - especially during this current crisis.

Make sure the bathroom that a guest would need to use is presentable.

That's your next area to tackle.

Grab every piece of dirty clothing and stuff it into the washer. If the washer is full, throw the items into the bathtub. As a matter of fact just pick up everything that's on the floor and throw it into the bathtub. Then pull the shower curtain. Hopefully your shower curtain isn't clear.

Pull a trash bag from underneath the sink (if there aren't any, make a mad dash back to the kitchen and pray you have trash bags under that sink). Now empty the bathroom trash and put in a fresh liner - nobody wants to see your used toilet paper so this is an important step. Put the bag of trash into the bathtub with everything else. You can deal with it later.

Anything else than can be grabbed and thrown under the sink or into the tub should be done right now.

For the last step in the bathroom, use a damp paper towel or wash cloth to wipe off the counter, sink and finally the toilet. If you used a paper towel, throw it away. If you used a wash cloth, throw it into the bathtub.

Now you should spray air freshener throughout the house to cover the cat litter smell. Make a quick walk-through to look for anything else that should be moved, removed or covered.

Keep the blinds or shades pulled because sunlight will make the cobwebs and dust in all the corners and on the end tables more visible.

If you still have a few minutes, run the vacuum over the living room floor and use a broom to sweep the kitchen. Sweep all dirt underneath a rug. Deal with that later also.

Now look around - you have a clean and somewhat presentable house so you can welcome your guest inside. Just make sure you keep the doors to all bedrooms and the utility room closed. Don't allow your guest to wander anywhere except the doorway, living room or kitchen. If they must, you can allow them use of the bathroom. Hope and pray they don't look behind the shower curtain or open the cabinet.

If for some reason, your guest didn't call ahead but instead just dropped by unannounced, use this same strategy while you make them wait on the porch. Give them a magazine to read while they wait.

Once they leave, rest easy and then begin the process of returning items to their rightful places of disarray. Be sure to inform everyone you know that in the future, they should kindly give at least 24 hours' advance notice of an unexpected visit.