As the holidays approach, now is the time to get your home in shape and welcome guests. From friends and family to your b2c commerce colleagues, opening your home is a great way to bring in the festive season. It’s also a fabulous way to create wonderful memories that everyone in your family can share. Before you begin the process of inviting people inside, it’s a good idea to make sure that everything in your home is exactly as you want it. Proper cleaning and a decorating plan are a crucial part of any holiday plan.
Declutter All Rooms
Getting ready for the holidays means getting your home free of stuff you don’t necessarily need or want. Now is the perfect time to look through your attic and basement. Bring out your old decorations and sort through them. If you see something that doesn’t quite look right, fit your home anymore or is broken, now is the time to throw it out. The rest of the home should also be decluttered so it looks sleek and neat.
Clean Completely
A clean house is an inviting house. Cleaning a home should be done at least several days before inviting people inside. Take a close look at all areas of the home. Remove any existing dust and dirt. Winter means that people can easily tramp in snow and ice. Consider setting up welcome mats outside. They can serve as a place for people to place their shoes and clean them off before heading home. Organize the entryway with places to stack items. Shelving and cubbyholes can be used to keep umbrellas, sleds and other winter gear when not in use.
Get Guest Rooms in Shape
Many people love to welcome guests who are traveling from far away. A guest may have come many hundreds of miles just to stay in your home. Now is the time to invite them to your home with a great guest bedroom. A good guest bedroom has lots of comfortable places to sleep, plenty of bedding and lots of easy storage space. If you don’t have a dedicated guest bedroom, you can always set aside a specific place in your home. A room you use for crafts or where you store other things such as bicycles. Make sure there’s enough room for everyone sleeping there.
Create an Overall Decorating Plan
An overall decor plan should be in place before you begin. Think about the kind of decorations you like best. You might prefer to go for lots of fun decorating items and scatter them everywhere or something a bit more minimalist. Think about the interior and exterior of the home. Each should work hand in hand to create an organic look. Use similar colors in both places. For example, a string of small fairy lights can be placed along the trees inside. Bring those same fairy lights inside and string them around the staircase and along the living room ceiling.
Ask Kids to Help
Get into the holiday family spirit with help from the kids. Kids love to decorate. Let them pop popcorn and string it. They can participate in all sorts of holiday decorating activities and help clean the home. Set up a chore list and provide small prizes for kids when they’ve done the tasks on it. They can do things such as help make up the bed in the guest bedroom, clean the bathroom floors and think about how to decorate their own rooms. Invite them to make special decorations for any younger guests their own age. They can create welcoming cards and pick out toys that visiting children will enjoy playing with when they visit.
These simple tips are a great way to get right into the holiday spirit at home. Cleaning, decorating the home and spending time with kids are fun holiday activities.
