So your parents or significant other are coming to visit and you haven’t cleaned for ages. Here’s what you do with only an hour to spare:

1. Make sure all your clothes are out of view. Mom/SO won’t spot things shoved in a cupboard, but s/he will notice a pile of laundry waiting to be done or old socks lying about.
2. Dust down surfaces after you’ve put anything away that needs to be out of sight. If you vacuum before you dust, the dust will settle on your newly vacuumed floor.
3. Always have a stock of those fragrant smelling balls that you can add to your hoover bag. Add a handful to your vacuum so that when you vacuum, the apartment will smell a lot better.
4. Put clean towels in the bathroom, and scrub the sink. Make sure the tap / faucet looks really clean.
5. Put toilet cleaner down the loo and scrub. If you haven’t bought cleaner in a while, spray kitchen / bathroom cleaner in the bowl and scrub. Make sure you put all your cleaning gear out of sight afterwards. It looks like you’ve just cleaned if you leave it in the bathroom.
6. Buy flowers for the living room or kitchen (or wherever you’ll be entertaining). They will make the room smell better AND create a pleasant focal point in the room.

Depending on the time available, you might want to wash the floor (if you don’t have a carpet). This always makes a good impression. If you don’t have time, though, just hoover and clean up any visible issues. If you’re really not fond of cleaning and worried about making the right impression with your apartment, invite people over after sunset. Dimmed lighting is a great boon.