This living room cleaning checklist is meant for any room that you and your family or friends frequently spend time in. It could be a tv room, family room, game room, sun room, etc. All of the tips and supplies should apply to any of these rooms! Get our free download emailed right to your inbox!
How often should I clean a living room?
General tidying should be happening every day and depending on your stage of life, sometimes multiple times a day. A good cleaning that includes vacuuming anywhere from once a day to once or twice a week, and everything on this checklist (except for the seasonal list) should get done once a month.
How long does it take to complete this cleaning checklist?
For us, deep cleaning the living room takes a lot less time than most of the other rooms of the house. That’s because it’s the room that we rest in at the end of the day, and we like to rest in a clean room, so we are constantly tidying and doing light cleanings.
How long this living room cleaning checklist takes you will be completely dependent on how frequently it’s done, your ability to focus on the task, and the size of your home. And when I say your ability to focus on the task, I mean for any reason. Some days I can get deep cleaning done in less than a half of a day and other times it can take me a day or two because of scheduling conflicts, children needing me, or my inability (or lack of desire) to focus.
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What supplies should I have for cleaning the living room?
This supply list is what we use for cleaning our living room. Use what you have or add to what you currently use!
- Baking Soda
- Washcloths
- Extendable Duster
- Window cleaner
- All Purpose Cleaner
- Dyson Cordless Vacuum – You don’t need this one, it’s the one that we use and love. Our house is almost a hundred years old and outlets are few and far between. A cordless vacuum makes vacuuming go a lot faster.
Living Room Cleaning Checklist:
Living Room Cleaning: Organizing
First tidy the room. Take everything that doesn’t belong and put it in its right place. As in the previous posts in this series, we recommend having three boxes in your room that are labeled trash, relocate, and donate. Place items in the appropriate box. You can do this with just surface items or go through your closets and all shelves, cabinets, drawers, and storage.
Go through books, toys, games, decor, candles, etc. Everything should be evaluated at least once a month to determine if it’s something that’s adding value or help to your life each month.
Sometimes this organizing part is overwhelming, especially if you haven’t gone through things in a while. Here’s our guide to decluttering!
Living Room Cleaning: Wash/wipe/clean everything
Start at the top and work your way down when cleaning. This way, when you’re dusting, you’re not dirtying things below that are already cleaned. Let gravity work with you!
- Wipe the ceiling fan blades and light fixtures.
- Dust the corners of the room and the walls. This includes any molding, chair railing, wainscotting, and doors.
- Wash windows and mirrors (anything with glass), and the television.
- Wash blinds/curtains.
- Wipe down windowsills.
- Dust all furniture. This includes tables, tv stands, chairs, radiators, and heating elements.
- Dust plants (real or fake).
Living Room Cleaning: Reset
The idea of the reset part of this living room cleaning checklist is to make your living room feel fresh. It gives the room a new start, and when done with care, can make your family and anyone visiting feel rested and refreshed just walking into the room!
- Change out and/or wash blankets and pillows
- Tidy and organize cabinets and shelves
- Empty the trash can and trash box, relocate the items that don’t belong in the bedroom, and put the donation box in your car or where you won’t forget it!
- Restock items that you are out of, such as tissue boxes or lotion.
- Water the plants. (Bring in fresh flowers occasionally if you can!)
- Vacuum and/or sweep.
Seasonal Living Room Cleaning:
There are deep cleaning tasks for the living room that don’t need to happen regularly, only once or twice a year. Here are our suggestions. Let us know in the comments below what your seasonal living room cleaning looks like.
- Change out decor for the season.
- Change out candle scents to match the season.
- Update pictures.
- Refresh the carpets with baking soda before vacuuming.
- Check the batteries on fire alarms and remotes.
What does your living room cleaning routine look like? Is there something that we missed? Let us know in the comments below!
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