Your living room tends to have less foot traffic and less clutter than any other room in the house. It’s often the place for more formal entertaining, meaning the kids’ soccer cleats and homework papers don’t tend to mysteriously find their way into the living room like they do other places (think: under the kitchen table, under the family room couch…).
But all that lack of use means a build-up of something else: dust! Lots of it. “When a room sits and it’s not being used, it’s still going to have a layer of dust and cobwebs,” says Debra Johnson, a training specialist for Merry Maids, a national cleaning service, who has decades professional cleaning experience. “What’s nice about cleaning up the living room, though, is that it’s mainly a matter of touching it up.”
Instead of devoting hours to scrubbing like you may need to get the bathroom clean, the living room is more about washing or dusting surfaces, including nooks and crannies, baseboards and light fixtures. If you only have a few minutes and you want to check one room of your house off your spring cleaning list, this is the place to begin!
Ready to start your living room spring cleaning? This checklist can help you get started:
- Take down light fixtures and wash (you may be able to do this in the dishwasher).
- Use cleaner to wipe down tables and chairs.
- Dust and polish wood surfaces.
- Dust and clean glassware.
- Wash the baseboards, door ceilings, windowsills, doors and walls.
- Wipe down any cupboard or cabinet surfaces.
- Vacuum and wash vents.
- Wash windows on the inside and out.
- Dust any additional light fixtures and lampshades.
- Launder any window treatments you may have.
- Wipe down any picture frames and mirrors using glass cleaner.
- Dust any decorative items you may have in your office.
- Sweep and wash floor, or vacuum, depending on the surface.
- Remove any cobwebs in the ceilings or in corners.
- Take a seat in your dining room and relax before moving on to another room.
This post is updated regularly.
