They are upon us, aren’t they? We’ve all been running around shopping, baking, entertaining and decking our halls! Are you ready? Or more importantly, is your home ready? Every year I seem to think my home is ready, and then I find myself with house guests or in the midst of celebrating and discover that it wasn’t quite there. And I think: I’ll take care of that next year for sure. This year I came up with a plan to make sure my home is REALLY ready, so I can relax and enjoy my loved ones and the holiday spirit.
1. Deep clean first! I get so anxious to get my home decorated, I usually skip over this very important step. But the holiday decor isn’t quite as lovely with smudged windows and dusty baseboards. Schedule time to do a thorough deep cleaning — before Thanksgiving is best. Clean out the refrigerator, vacuum behind furniture, clean the oven… all those tasks that get shoved aside during weekly cleaning. Now’s the time to tackle them. And no, it’s not too late.
2. Take care of the little things. Little things make all the difference, so now’s the time to fix that squeaky door, change out your shower curtain liner, tighten the screws on that rickety side table and make sure you have fresh filters in your HVAC system.
found on motherearthnews.com
Your home looks and feels well-cared for when you’ve attended to those pesky little 5 minute jobs… and most of them really ARE 5 minute jobs!
3. Stock the pantry! I never considered the importance of this until I read Edie Wadsworth’s blog post on the topic. And that was when the light bulb went off. Holiday meal prep and baking is much much easier when you have most (if not all) of what you need already on hand!
The methodology is simple: make a master list by referring to your favorite holiday or old stand-by recipes, search for coupons or weekly deals, and make as few trips to collect these items as possible. Grocery shopping is so much quicker when you’re only filling in the gaps of milk, fresh produce, or something you ran out of! And we all want shorter simpler trips to the store, don’t we?
4. Tend to the yard. It’s not always easy to work around Mother Nature this time of year, but your entire home will look neater if your exterior is in good shape. Go ahead and clean the leaves out of your flower beds (though it’s tempting to wait until February!) and trim back unruly plants and bushes. Spray weed killer where needed and give the yard a good cut and trim. With growth slowing in colder weather you most likely won’t have to revisit those tasks for several weeks.
found on hgtv.com
We usually do ours the week of Thanksgiving, with one more cut and trim session if needed before Christmas. We’re then sitting pretty until February!
5. Deck the halls! You’re now ready to get decorated and the earlier the better. Whether you go all out or just add a few touches, the sooner this is done the more time you have to enjoy it.
I usually strive to have all of that done right after Thanksgiving. And I’m usually successful. But this year life got in the way a bit. After looking at my bins of decor and my few decorations set about, I decided to declare it a year of simplicity. Seeing all that unfinished business was robbing my joy, so I plopped some greenery in various containers, decorated my mantel simply, and settled for white lights and beaded garlands only on the tree. Turns out simple works. Rather than stress myself to get it all put out, I’m now enjoying a simply festive home in these last days before Christmas. The bonus? Less to take down and put away in the New Year.
And so I declare my holiday preparation plan a success! Wishing you all the joys of the season and peace in your hearts.
Find more DIY and home decor inspiration on my blog, Decor & More.
