spiders!!!!eeeeew

Hmmm, well, you're right in that spiders are very beneficial... in fact, killing them off specifically would be ill-advised as it would just lead to a bug population explosion... but..

you could do a number of things to keep them and your other unseen bugs at bay. First off; clutter and muck. (as my son calls it) If you have too much stuff you create little hideouts for bugs and spiders. Muck is dust, pet hair, grit from outside, food particles, cobwebs in the corners, dust bunnies under the beds, etc etc... this stuff is a playground for bugs... which therefore attract spiders. (if either of these things apply to your situation, and you need some help and encouragement with the problem, I reccomend flylady) Next on the list is attic space; seldom visited, used for storage, often dusty... spider and bug paradise! Our attic is unfinished and unused so we throw a scattering of mothballs up there once in a while as it chases away mice, bugs, spiders... just about everything. My sis says, if you have a really clean house, and have done the mothball thing and still have a big issue... look at WATER. You may have cut off as much of a food source as possible but what about water? This one can be sublte... do you leave dishes soaking overnight? Even just a dish or a cup full of water in the sink? What about plants, do you water them enough so that there is any water in the little dish under their pots? Oh, and drains! plugging up your drains with rubber stoppers cuts off access to the water that stops in the U-bends....

I love spiders and am terrified of some of them, so I never kill them deliberately. But I also don't want to see them or be bitten... so these are the things I do. Good luck.