The thing with the living room or sitting room is that everything about it is individual, even the name.  Is it living room, sitting room or maybe even parlour? This makes the notion of a definitive cleaning plan for a living room quite difficult because every single one will have its own specific complexities but nevertheless we must attempt one. For all people who’ve ever struggled with how to best clean a living room or even just a general communal area then this is the article you need. You will need:•    Duster•    Polish•    Dusting cloth•    Hoover As with all the rooms in the house, you start up and go down.  This is where these long handled dusters come in so handy because it means you can actually reach the top before you head down.  This means dusting everywhere.  Curtain rails and the corners – where cobwebs are most likely to occur – are the more obvious places to dust.  It’s also worth drawing the blinds and dusting in between the individual slats because during the day when the cleaning usually takes place you wouldn’t really be aware of the dust that you can only see when the blinds are closed. At around mid-level in this room you’d get the window sills and fireplaces and then the shelves, which may well go floor to ceiling, would also come under this remit.  It’s worth remembering that with surfaces that aren’t meant to be shiny there is very little point in polishing them.  For example, you average matte shelves just need to be thoroughly dusted with a duster but your painted and varnished window sills and mantelpieces should be sprayed and polished.  This goes for the whole fireplace unit unless it’s untreated stone which should be swept far more regularly than the full room clean. Taking the books or CDs etc. off the shelves to dust behind and around them is a personal choice and though it does absolutely need to be done it probably doesn’t have to be done every time you clean.  Leaving it every other clean or so is perfectly acceptable.Ornaments come under a slightly different heading but the same rules apply.  If it isn’t shiny, don’t polish it.  The glass in picture frames, the frames themselves and mirrors all need to be polished thoroughly and with a proper dusting cloth or they will get streak marks.  Another helpful tip when cleaning the ornaments etc. is that if it is small enough to be held then it should be cleaned with the cloth so that you can really get into any tricky corners or orifices and you also avoid the potential damage caused by a vigorous sweep from a long handled duster. The hoover really comes into its own in this room.  You can probably find a use for all the attachments in this room and it’s the easiest and simplest way to get all those pesky crumbs off the sofas and armchairs.  Be especially careful if you have long haired cushions because a hoover may not respond well to this.  On most occasions however you can use the hoover on soft furnishings and floor to add the finishing touches to your now impeccably clean living room. Obviously, some of this information may not apply and some of it will have to be adapted to your individual situations but it’s a systematic and thorough way of tackling you communal space and leaving it sparkling.