A 5-Step Guide on How to Clean a Living Room (Like a Pro)

The living room is one of our go-to places to relax and spend time alone or with family and friends at home. Hence, it’s important to always make the place look and feel pleasant by keeping it clean and organized. 

We must ensure that our end tables, ceiling fans, light fixtures, and other furniture are free from clutter, dust, dirt, and other pests (like clothes moths and carpet beetles). 

Keeping the mirrors, windows, and floor SPOTLESS is another way to make the living room feel cozy and inviting for our family and guests. 

This five-step expert guide will show how you can exactly achieve a clean lounge with effective basic cleaning, deep cleaning, and maintenance techniques.

Are you ready to learn how to clean a living room and fulfill your living room goals? Keep reading to know more!

Required Tools for Cleaning a Living Room

Before you start cleaning, the first thing you MUST DO (and should not miss!) is identify and gather all the supplies and organizational tools you need.

Putting together all the required tools allows you to easily identify what is lacking, save time, and get a boost of motivation before doing your routine.

Cleaning Supplies

When cleaning, the supplies you need to prepare include:

• At least two microfiber cloths/soft cloth
• Furniture polish
• Window cleaner or white vinegar
• Old newspaper
• Warm water and dish soap mixture
• Feather and radiator dusters
• Vacuum cleaner and brush attachment
• Upholstery stain remover
• Carpet Shampoo
• Mop and bucket
• Lint roller for pet hair
• Baking soda and essential oil mixture for a fresh scent

Organizational Tools

Aside from the aforementioned cleaning solutions and equipment, you must also prepare organizational tools, such as shelves, baskets, and trays. 

These will help in keeping your supplies well-arranged, intact, and clutter-free. This way, it’s easier to find the tools you need and transport them from one place to another if necessary.

Pre-Cleaning: Preparation and Preliminary Steps

After preparing the required tools, your next steps should be creating a cleaning plan and decluttering the living room.

Having a plan in mind makes cleaning a lot easier since you already know which part of the living room to clean first. This lessens your cleaning time and helps you save energy for other tasks.

On the other hand, decluttering the living room a few minutes before the actual cleaning helps ease your tasks, as you won’t need to declutter and clean all at once.

Creating a Cleaning Plan

A cleaning plan makes your work SYSTEMATIC. It defines your routine, specifically on which areas to clean daily and weekly. You can also specify what cleaning task to focus on first, and so on.

To give you a clearer picture of what we mean, here is an example of a plan you can utilize when living room cleaning:

• Daily:
  • Declutter
  • Throw trashes in the bin
  • Clean food spills and debris with a microfiber cloth, vacuum cleaner, duster, and other tools
• Weekly:
  • Clean ceiling, ceiling fans, ceiling fan blades, and light fixture
  • Clean windows and window sills
  • Remove dust from furniture and other items
• Monthly:
  • Move the furniture and clean the bottom floor part to remove all the dust and debris
  • Wash your carpet and let it dry

Decluttering a Living Room

Decluttering is as simple as cleaning as you go.

This means returning all the clutter to its proper positions, throwing the garbage into the trash, and straightening up the bookshelf. 

You must also ensure that the coffee table isn’t filled with items that permanently belong to the kitchen, bedroom, or other parts of the house.

Basic Cleaning Steps

Now that you’re well-equipped for the pre-cleaning stage, it’s time to get some cleaning done by learning these basic steps, which include:

• Dusting and vacuuming
• Cleaning windows and mirrors
• Cleaning the sofa and other upholstery

Dusting and Vacuuming

Dusting and vacuuming go hand-in-hand. 

With dusting, you can remove visible dust on your light fixtures, wood furniture, under the plush carpet, and other parts of the living room.

However, if you wish to eliminate dust and dirt COMPLETELY, you must vacuum the area two hours after dusting. Specifically, you need to vacuum beneath the area rugs and hard surfaces.

You can also vacuum hard-to-reach areas, such as the ceiling, as this tool often comes with a brush or vacuum attachment.

Here are the four essential tasks when dusting and vacuuming:

1. Dust areas and fixtures from top to bottom (ceiling to the floor).
2. Use a damp microfiber cloth to remove dirt and dust on your coffee table and other furniture.
3. After two hours, vacuum your living area from top to bottom.
4. Use a vacuum and its brush or upholstery attachment to remove dust from sofa cushions and other living room items.

Cleaning Windows and Mirrors

The next basic task to do is cleaning windows and mirrors using a window cleaner bought from a convenience outlet.

But, if you’re the DIY type, you can mix white vinegar, dish soap, warm water, and lemon to create a DIY window cleaner. Remember to put it in a spray bottle for easier use.

Here are a few reminders when cleaning windows and mirrors:

• Spray a few drops of cleaning solution from your spray bottle to the window and mirror; gently wipe with a microfiber cloth.
• After which, use a crumpled newspaper or cloth to clean the area.
• Don’t forget to clean your window treatments or window blinds using a handheld vacuum.

Cleaning the Sofa and Other Upholstery

The third basic cleaning step to take note of is cleaning the sofa and other upholstery. 

These items tend to accumulate dust and odor, being the place where we most often sit or lay down when in the living room.

Dust, dirt, spills, and odor will surely damage your precious upholstery. So, it’s really ESSENTIAL to clean it properly from time to time. 

Here’s how you can gently clean these pieces of furniture:

• Remove all the items stuck in between or beneath the sofa.
• Remove the cushions and covers (if applicable).
• Clean the bare sofa using the proper vacuum attachment and cleaning solution. 
• Properly clean your couch.
• Re-attach the cushions and vacuum them again using a specific upholstery attachment.
• Put back clean covers on the sofa.

PRO TIP: When you see marks or minimal stains on your sofa, remove them lightly with a damp cloth.

Deep Cleaning a Living Room

To deep clean a living room means cleaning it at least twice a year or every six months. That goes to show how deep and extensive deep cleaning is.

When deep cleaning, you need to cleanse the living room from top to bottom, INCLUDING corners and hard-to-reach spots.

It involves the following processes to keep the living room spotless:

• Removing and cleaning vent covers
• Shampooing throw rugs, carpets, and upholstery
• Scrubbing hard floors
• Cleaning window sills, windows, shelves, picture rails, and living room cabinets inside and outside

If you don’t have enough time to deep clean your living room, you can hire professional deep cleaning services in Boston. 

Hiring a professional service makes a huge difference. Cleaning professionals take care of EVERYTHING in your living room, specifically, areas you might overlook when doing things yourself.

How to Clean a Living Room Everyday: Maintaining Cleanliness

Everyday living room cleaning or maintenance is not easy, especially when you lack a comprehensive cleaning plan.

To help you out, we made sure to include a daily cleaning routine, plus quick cleaning tips for a spotless living room. 

Daily Routine for a Clean Living Room

Having a daily routine makes cleaning MORE EFFICIENT. It gives you time to focus on your tasks and lessens the overwhelming feeling that prevents you from doing things immediately.

Follow this living room cleaning checklist and use it as a guide when tidying up:

• Clean as you go (i.e., clean food spills, put away dishes, and throw your trash in the bin)
• Return books, clothes, toys, and other things to their proper places
• Straighten up decors, seat cushions, curtain rods, pillow, and pillow covers
• Fold or arrange throw blankets
• Wipe your coffee table
• Dust or vacuum your fabric furniture, upholstered furniture, leather furniture, and wooden furniture

TIP: Consult a furniture maker for expert advice on how to care for your furniture pieces.

Quick Cleaning Tips for a Spotless Living Room

Cleaning the living room may take up most of your time if you don’t take these quick cleaning tips seriously:

• Gather and prepare your cleaning supplies before starting the whole process.
• A glass cleaner and a damp cloth are your best buds when cleaning your living room windows and picture frames.
• Use a lint roller to remove pet hair from the sofa.
• Ensure the vacuum cleaner is in its low setting when cleaning the ceiling fan.
• Don’t forget to use furniture polish for pieces made of wood, leather, and vinyl materials.
• Maintaining the cleanliness of carpets is beneficial to prevent carpet beetles.

How to Clean and Organize a Living Room

Living room cleaning also involves organizing furniture and decorative items to add aesthetic value to your home.

To help you realize the full potential of a clean living room, we discussed the basics of organizing in the following sections. 

Organizing Furniture

Organizing furniture in your lounge area might be challenging. It entails creative thinking to put pieces together and set up an ergonomic and comfortable living room.

To help you breeze through this process, here are some details you shouldn’t miss when organizing furniture pieces:

• Arrange your seat depending on the angle you’d like you and your visitors to see. It can be in front of a television, a fireplace, or a window.
• If you have large living room windows, you can place the seats or sofa near them to maximize the lighting.
• Choose a layout. It can be symmetrical to balance the area, floating for a more defined and spacious living room, or L-shaped if you prefer to set dividers between specific areas.
• Make sure your furniture pieces don’t get in your way during emergencies.

Organizing Decorative Items

In our experience, organizing decorative items is one of the most difficult tasks to do. You need a keen eye to mix and match items so they look visually appealing and functional at the same time.

If you’re worrying about organizing decorative items by yourself, we prepared HELPFUL TIPS to guide you:

• Group similar decorations together and mix and match them on a flat surface.
• Combine appealing colors. Don’t mix dull with dull; put some color into it.
• Place decorative items on coffee tables, but ensure that they don’t occupy the entire area.
• Choose light fixtures and a ceiling fan that complements your living room’s layout and floor-to-ceiling height.
• Invest in shelves and trays that can both be decorative and functional organizers for your living room.

Best Practices for Cleaning a Living Room

Cleaning is not a one-and-done deal because you need to do it repeatedly (daily, weekly, or monthly) for as long as you have space to clean.

Putting our discussion into perspective, here are the BEST PRACTICES for living room cleaning you should integrate into your cleaning routine:

• Ensure the cleanliness of your space from the largest to the smallest detail.
• Establish a mindset that you are cleaning for your own good — to breathe good quality air, and relax without clumps of dust and debris surrounding you.
• Try setting a timer to motivate yourself and lessen procrastination.
• Open your doors, windows, or curtains when cleaning to let light in and foul odor out of your living room.

Frequently Asked Questions

Cleaning living rooms is not easy, but we will make it bearable by answering some of your FAQs in this section.

Conclusion

After reading this expert guide, we’re definitely sure you now understand the steps on how to clean a living room.

You can certainly enjoy your well-deserved “me time” once you achieve your living room goals: clean, spotless, and good-smelling. 

Now, what are you waiting for? Prepare your tools, create a cleaning plan, declutter, clean, and organize.