Of course some people don't see dust and dirt (in their own homes, anyhow), while others see it magnified one hundred times. But you want your home to be immaculate and sparkling when guests come into it. If you have a large family, it may be difficult, and not really important, to keep it that way all the time. But for a party, it must be at its best.

the cleaning schedule
Out come the lists again! On your master list you will have planned the times when you're going to clean the living room, the dining room, the bedroom where guests will leave their coats and the bathroom. The kitchen has to be kept clean all the time anyway, so you needn't do a special job on it. Far better to plan to lie down with a cold cloth over your eyes and some soothing cream on your face for ten minutes before you dress, rather than try to erase the latest tracks from the kitchen floor.

don't paint the back porch
You needn't plan to clean the cellar or the attic, either. Don't be like the family of my paternal grandparents who, fortunately with great humor, used to say that the minute they knew anyone was coming to visit they set to and painted the back porchl There isn't time and it isn't necessary to do a spring cleaning job before a party. Give a special cleaning to the rooms you know the guests will use, and forget the rest.

The cleaning list may go like this, if the party's to be on a Friday:
cleaning list
Wednesday: Clean necessary bedrooms.
Thursday: Clean dining room, living room and bathroom or powder room.
Friday: i/2 hour before guests come, check master bedroom, bath­rooms or powder room. Check ash trays in all rooms. Empty and clean all those your husband has managed to use in the hour he has been home.

After that last-minute check-up, relax! You will, of course, have to empty ash trays during the evening, and a silent butler is a big help for that. But if your guests arrive and find a mashed-out butt in one ash tray, they will not dub you a bad housekeeper.

the lining room
Since this is not a book on how to clean a house, I leave the methods to you, but if you will remember to polish all polishable furniture, dust books as well as furniture, vacuum, empty wastebaskets, remove the too-many magazines and other odds and ends your family leaves around, you will have made your living room a place of comfort and ease for entertaining.