How to Maintain a Pest-Free Living Room

Welcome to the second blog in our series on maintaining a pest-free home! We are going room by room in a standard house and assessing the common pests found in that room before diving into the most efficient ways to prevent pests from invading that space in particular. Today’s focus is on the living room (or family room), which has all kinds of attractions for pests. It is a place for talking and laughing with your favorite people, catching up on the newest episodes of your favorite show, enjoying an afternoon snack, and playing board games on a snowy winter day. Unfortunately, all of these experiences are exactly why the living room is a common target for pests of all species. Any pest can find themselves in the midst of your living room, but there are certain kinds that seek out the large space in particular. Let’s take a look at the most common living room pests, and then explore the most efficient ways to keep pests out of this spacious room. 

Common Living Room Pests

Every house has a different layout, which means that the location of the living room varies. Some homes have an open floor plan where the living room bleeds into the dining room, while others have a living room that begins five feet away from the front door. Larger houses even have two rooms that could act as a living room, so the homeowners can have a separate living room and family room (or den, office, game room, etc.). No matter what your living room situation is, one thing is for sure: pests find this space just as appealing as we do, but for all the wrong reasons. 

• Bed Bugs: Bed bugs are not just a bedroom problem. They can be in any room of the home, provided they have a dark hiding place that they can retreat to during the day. These pests come out at night to feed from an unsuspecting host. Their bites are in lines or clusters, as they don’t like to spread out while feeding. Once the adults have their first meal, they can begin laying eggs and grow their population at an alarming rate. Bed bugs can survive for over a year without a meal, so they can be dormant in furniture and decor until they find a new host.
• Fleas: Speaking of blood-sucking pests, fleas are another problematic living room pest. They get inside our homes by hitching a ride on a host and then staying there as long as they can before finding a more secure hiding spot. The most common way that fleas get inside our homes is by jumping onto our dogs and cats while they’re outside, then either staying on the animal or hiding within their beds and blankets. However, you don’t have to own a pet in order to have a flea problem; they can also feed from humans and hide in the carpet. 
• Ants: Yes, ants can unfortunately be a problem in the living room as well. These food-driven pests will invade any space that has access to a food source, and since most of us eat in our living rooms relatively often, there can be plenty of leftover crumbs for ants to find. Each species has its own preferences but ants generally like sweets, meats, greasy food, and breads. They will lead their fellow workers to a food source through a pheromone (invisible odorous chemical) trail.
• Spiders: The good news is that spiders will only stay in places that they find a steady food source, which is usually insects. The bad news is that spiders also like our homes as shelters because they like to stay warm and dry. Spiders can squeeze through gaps and cracks in the house, and they are even more motivated when the weather cools down outside in fall and winter. Most spiders are pretty harmless to humans, but the two most dangerous U.S. species (brown recluses and black widows) like to hide in the most isolated areas of our homes, so it’s essential to stay vigilant against these antagonistic arachnids.

There are plenty of ways to prevent pests, especially the four we discussed, from invading your living room. All it takes is paying a little extra attention to the room and time spent on the basic chores that you likely already do. The most important factor to remember is that most pests don’t want anything to do with us. The longer they can hide from us and our pets, the happier they will be. Every season brings its own pest problems, so there is never a bad time to start thinking about pest prevention.  

Vacuum Often

For most people, vacuuming is one of the most tedious chores that yields extremely favorable results. The feeling of walking on a freshly-vacuumed carpet is pure bliss, but keeping your carpeting clean has many other benefits. There are plenty of smaller insect pests that love to hide in carpet and eat from it, so vacuuming removes both the pests themselves and the dirt and dander they are after. Dust mites and carpet beetles are two of the most common carpet pests because they live on the smallest of dirt and dust particles that reside in our carpets. You don’t have to vacuum your home every day (unless you want to), but a weekly vacuuming of every rug and patch of carpeting should be enough to keep the minuscule pests away.

Inspect The Screens

We’re not talking about your TV screen, though it’s a good idea to dust it every now and then. We’re actually referring to the screens in your windows and sliding doors. Many living rooms have at least one of each, and it’s nice to open up the house on a temperate day to allow the fresh air inside. But if your screens have any gaps and holes, you could be letting in more than just the cool breeze. Most household pests are small enough to fit through imperfections in a window or door screen. Inspect each screen for any tears, gaps, or holes all along the edges and in the middle. Small holes can be patched with a small piece of screen mesh, but if you find a lot of imperfections, it might be more efficient to replace the whole screen. There are many online tutorials on repairing window and door screens if you need assistance in this area. 

Check Your Pets

Our furry friends often love the living room just as much as we do, and it’s easy to see why. They get to lounge on the comfortable flooring or on their very own bed or blanket, enjoying the comfort of indoors while still getting to look outside at their domain. The soft fur or hair that covers our cats and dogs is just what some pests seek out, especially if the animal spends a lot of time outside. Fleas, ticks, and mites are the most common hitchhikers that love our pets for their thick fur. If you don’t already, carefully inspect your cats and dogs often for any tiny pests. These kinds of pests like to hide in the crevices of an animal, so pay special attention to areas around the neck, by the tail, and on their paws. It’s also a good idea to check their bed, blanket, or favorite carpet spot for any hiding pests that are waiting for their host to return. Talk to your vet about treatment and prevention options if you find any pests on your pet during an inspection.

Take Your Shoes Off

Every household has its own rules about shoe-wearing inside the home, and these guidelines are often implemented by the person who does the majority of the cleaning, which makes sense. Depending on the rules of your home, people may wear their shoes in the house, take them off as soon as they step inside, or have designated “inside” shoes that they don’t wear outdoors. It’s all a matter of personal preference, but we advise limiting the amount of time you wear your shoes inside the home in order to prevent pests. Our shoes accumulate plenty of dirt, grime, dander, bacteria, and particles throughout the day, and all of this can transfer to our flooring if we continue wearing them to walk everywhere in the home. The most efficient way to do this is to take off your shoes within several feet of the door. If you really want to wear them in the house, we suggest cleaning your floors more often and never placing them on the furniture. The less “outside” dirt and debris in your living room, the fewer attractions pests will have. Besides, who wants to sit on a shoe-printed couch?

Be Cautious With New Furniture

Speaking of furniture, it is essential to carefully inspect every new piece of furniture you get before bringing it inside the home. This more so applies to used furniture, but it’s still better to be safe than sorry when it comes to any furniture. Different kinds of pests can hide in the cracks and crevices of most pieces, and once they get inside your home, they can spread out to hide in nearby places where they can reproduce and cause you more problems. Bed bugs, carpet beetles, and fleas can be found in secondhand couches, fabric-covered chairs, rugs, and mattresses. Termites and carpenter ants can live within wooden furniture, like bookshelves, tables, and chairs. Before bringing the furniture inside, check every angle of it for signs of pests, such as holes, weathering, and any live pests. As a good rule of thumb, we recommend not taking home that couch on the side of the road with the “free” sign, no matter how well that color would fit in with your home.

Inspect For Imperfections

It’s perfectly natural for houses to accumulate some natural wear-and-tear over the years, especially if it’s already old when you purchase it. If your region experiences some serious weather throughout the year — heat, rainstorms, snow — your home may develop more imperfections than usual. Pests can use these cracks and gaps to invade a house, and the living room is usually one of the most common rooms to experience this. It’s likely because of the number of windows and sliding doors, proximity to the front door, and location in reference to the sun’s path. We recommend checking both the house exterior and interior for any cracks, holes, crevices, gaps, and wearing. Pay close attention to the foundation, flooring, and walls, as these typically accumulate more. Small imperfections can be filled with caulk, and larger gaps can be sealed by a combination of copper mesh and caulk. On that note, it’s a good idea to check for any leaks and water damage in the living room while you do this. These issues may require professional assistance, and it’s helpful to get them fixed before certain pests (termites, roaches, carpenter ants) exploit the weaknesses. 

Dust Regularly

This is another chore that is not the most fun, but it does result in some very satisfying results. It’s perfectly natural for dust to accumulate in our homes just from people and pets living there. Dust is essentially a combination of bacteria, hair, dead skin cells, clothing fibers, pollen, and other particles. If you have a lot of knick-knacks and picture frames placed around your living room, dusting can be quite the daunting chore. The largest dusting motivation we can give you is to just think of how many pests eat dust and would be happy in a dust-filled living room. Dust mites and roaches are two of the most common, and they never invade alone. It’s a good idea to dust when you begin to see dust particles on objects in the living room, then vacuum afterwards to ensure that the entire space is dust-free and thereby pest-free. You can also use the time spent dusting to simultaneously check for cracks and damage on the house itself, as described in the previous step. If you have the beginnings of a pest problem, a good dusting of the room should uncover it relatively quickly.

Remove Clutter

This is much easier said than done. The living room, in addition to being a hangout spot, is also the standard place for dumping stuff in between activities. Busy families traditionally fill this space with backpacks, sports equipment, laundry, toys, blankets, homework items, mail, and any other everyday items that are haphazardly placed here before finding their actual homes. You don’t have to keep your living room completely spotless and free of any clutter in order to stay pest-free. In fact, having a clean home doesn’t completely guarantee that you will be pest-free! Pests are free spirits who will go where they please, so any home and business is susceptible to pest problems. That being said, it’s true that cluttered spaces are far more likely to experience pest issues than uncluttered areas. Clutter gives pests even more hiding spots than usual, and spiders, rodents, and silverfish commonly love cluttered rooms. Some pests, like roaches, even eat packaging, boxes, books, and papers that sit for too long. Try to keep the clutter in your living room to a minimum and don’t let the mess sit for too long without moving it around. If you are looking for storage solutions, there are plenty of aesthetically-pleasing baskets and containers available on the market today. Just make sure to inspect them for any pests or eggs before you buy them because — well, you know the importance of checking for any signs of pests by now. 

Green Puts the Life Back in Your Living Room

The living room should be the place where you can relax and spend time with your family and friends, not worry about the random pests you saw near the fireplace an hour ago. Whether you need an efficient solution for a current pest problem or you want to prevent pests from entering your home in the first place, Green Pest Services is here to help! Our team of highly-trained technicians are dedicated to solving each pest issue with the utmost care and efficiency. We have years of experience in solving even the toughest of pest problems, from ant invasions to wasp nests to bed bug infestations. All of our treatments are completely safe for both people and pets, so you don’t have to worry about toxic chemicals lingering around your family and furry friends. Take back your living room from persistent pests and contact us today to learn more about our efficient pest control services!

Citations

10 most common household pests. (2022, November 8). Gunter Pest & Lawn. Retrieved September 12, 2023, from https://www.gunterpest.com/news/10-most-common-household-pests/ 

Farkas, J.T.Q. (2023, July 31). Top 8 common household bugs and how to get rid of them (2023 guide). Today’s Homeowner. Available at https://todayshomeowner.com/pest-control/guides/common-bugs-in-house/ (Accessed on September 12, 2023).

Insects and bugs in the living room. (n.d.). Pest World. Retrieved September 12, 2023, from https://www.pestworld.org/pest-in-the-house/living-room/ 

Ricigliano, D. (2020). Identifying common household insect pests. University of Maryland Extension. Available at https://extension.umd.edu/resource/identifying-common-household-insect-pests (Accessed on September 12, 2023).