Any good cheats or shortcuts?

Yes thumbs up from me
Love All the cheats .

I will be looking on amazon for the Superwoman book.

Its a shame that the front room
(the best room) is no longer.
Somewhere tidy to shove invite the guests.
Although from memory they were usually freezing cold!

My sister's FIL retired early and just before his wife was due home from work he would leave the vacuum out in the hall and spray furniture polish in the air.

I put glass shades, vases. ornaments. Including artificial flowers etc in the dishwasher.

GNers obviously have many more interesting things to do in life than peel or stuff mushrooms

Jacky I agree especially where cakes are concerned - just chuck everything in and mix it together! (Usually works!)

Love the cheats on here, especially Elegran's mashed potatoes - will definitely try this

I am the opposite of the OP - I think I usually choose the longest possible way to do things.

Some cheats I do use, though, are cheating by not doing things.

Not peeling potatoes - always cooking them in their skins
Not putting things down just anywhere (especially absent-mindedly) - used crockery straight in the dishwasher, shoes and coats away as soon as you get in.
Don't have ornaments standing around on shelves and mantelpieces.

I approve of the no-sew cushion cover ideas! I like sewing, but can't get the hang of sewing in straight lines.

A cooking one: Get a good bread knife, if you don't already have one, and cut sandwiches in batches, not singly.

And lots of complicated recipes turn out perfectly fine if you just chuck everything in at once instead of lots of fiddly step-by-step procedures.

I think the book is called 'Superwoman' and I think I have assimilated a lot of it into everyday life. The stain removing tips are brilliant.

And she did say that life is too short to stuff a mushroom

A long time ago Shirley Conran published a book called 'Life's too short to stuff a mushroom' where she gave exactly the same housework tips and more. Its worth a read - very funny book.

My dining table is used more like an office desk, so although it is organized it would look like clutter to visitors with its row of Post-it notes around the edge too! I shove everything into the laundry basket and hide it in the car! I also don't open the doors to cupboard under the stairs or dresser in case of avalanche!

Jalima, according to family legend, my dear Mum did that once, when fairly newly married, then wondered where all the dishes had gone.

Open the door wearing your coat and say "Oh, I am just going out!"

Flowers everywhere. Anything from the garden Budding twigs in spring, any greenery in winter .Makes the rooms look interesting and smell nice.
Phoenix I have always done the Hoover in the hall trick. Then read a book. ?

My MIL recommended shoving all the washing up into the oven (turned off!) if someone was coming round and there was no time to do it.
She never had a dishwasher.

SueDonim's sounds even better!

Take out the sticks from the diffuser,put the dry ends back into container and soon the fragrance will spread.

Jalima - uncanny! - my kind of housekeeping!

Tidy any messy paperwork/books/magazines into neat piles instead of having them resemble a landslide. Clear everything off the draining board so it looks as though you're up to speed with the washing up. Wipe loo seat & washbasin with a wipe or dampened loo roll.

Spritz yourself/house with perfume and be ready to open the front door.

For delicious skin-on roast potatoes, defrost McCain's jacket spuds, slice thickly, season, and cook coated in oil in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 200C. Add sprigs of Rosemary or a few chilli flakes for a kick if desired.

Put on a pot of coffee and put some cinnamon in a saucepan, lightly warm to create a freshly baked experience.
(make sure to have some shop-bought cinnamon cakes or biscuits in ready for guests.)

Whip round the downstairs loo and basin with Dettox. Change the towel
Flick round with a microfibre duster on a stick (and squirt with polish!)
Rush round with the hand-held vacuum cleaner and pick up the worst bits.
Chuck everything into cupboards.
Keep lipstick and hairbrush in the downstairs loo, use before you:

Open the door and welcome your guests 15 minutes later.

Sweep the kitchen floor and leave a bottle of bleach on the work top. The whole kitchen immediately looks clean and it appears that you are incredibly hygiene conscious.

Don't peel and cook potatoes for mash - buy a big bag of frozen and cook as much as you need of it in the microwave with a knob of butter. If you want to impress, chop an onion and soften it in a little butter and mix that into the potato. Or mix in some salad cream to have it with cold meat and salad.

Leave the vacuum cleaner in the middle of the room, pull the odd chair away from the wall, looks as if you were about to do some serious cleaning, and if they catch you sitting down with coffee and the crossword, you were of course just working on your meal plan on line grocery order

Welllll ... I picked up this housework cheat quite recently - covers essentials for unexpected visitors:

If you have an hour or less, prioritise:
- hoover where guests will tread through
- wipe round the sink / toilet area (disinfected wipes leave a nice smell!)
-have a new soap / fresh hand- towel handy
- squirt furniture polish in the lounge area (my personal favourite!)

My view is that most visitors (myself included) really don't come to see your house - they come to see you and if met with 'housework' clean scents ...well, voila!

(I really, really, really do want to believe this covers the bases! )