Room by Room: How to Get Your House Ready for Christmas
The holidays are here, and it’s time to clean and get your home ready for the incoming visitors. Does it seem overwhelming, what with all the shopping, wrapping, errands and cooking that seems that you need to do? That’s totally understandable! In fact, I am feeling a little overwhelmed myself. But I have found that if I make a cleaning list I can actually get things done quicker and feel a sense of accomplishment when I mark something off of it. Plus if you concentrate on one room a day, you will be house ready.
1. Living Room
- Floors can get tracked on and generally messed up. But before you tackle the floors, look up – it’s a good idea to work from the top down. That way, if anything falls on the floor while you’re cleaning, you won’t have to clean it up off the floor again! Try working in this order:
- Ceilings – use a vacuum or duster to clean cobwebs from the ceiling corners.
- Wipe down ceiling fans. My fans always clutter so much dust.
- Take down light fixtures and clean them. Soak these in warm soapy water while you are doing the other items. That way they are ready to go when you finish the room.
- Wipe smudges off walls; dust any wall art.
- Wash inside of windows and wall mirrors.
- Clean draperies and/or blinds. This is something that you can do while you doing the other things in the Living Room. In fact, I always take my curtains down first and throw them in the washing machine. I switch loads between tasks.
- Clean furniture – use furniture oil on wood and upholstery cleaner on couches and chairs. You can use an electric mixer to make your own by whipping up 4 cups of hot water and 1 tablespoon of dish detergent until it makes a thick foam. Use this foam on the upholstery and wipe/rinse with a damp cloth. I mean seriously how cool is that.
- Now clean carpets with vacuum and rug cleaner, or vacuum and mop if they are hardwood. Wash area rugs if you have them.
2. Bathroom
- Work top-down here, too.
- Clean mildew off the ceiling if present (use bleach).
- Dust fans and overhead lights.
- Clean curtains.
- Wash the inside of windows.
- Clean bathtub, sink, and toilet. ( I am lucky in that this is one job that my husband will do for me. Don’t hate)
- Organize bathroom items so they are not cluttering up the sink or vanity. This is totally a big problem area in my house. I am constantly cleaning off our sinks and telling the girls to keep their counters in their bathroom clean.
- Mop floor.
- Clean any area rugs. ( If they are washable this one thing that you can do first so by the time you are done in the bathroom, your rugs will be done as well.
3. Kitchen
- Once again, start high.
- Clean ceilings.
- Organize and clean out upper cabinets, such as the ones above the fridge and stove.
- Organize and clean out head-level cabinets above the counter
- Clean countertops and sink.
- Organize appliances so they are not cluttering up every level area.
- Throw out old food from the pantry, cabinets, drawers, and so forth. ( I do this everytime I go to the grocery store which is like twice a month.)
- Clean out the flatware drawer.
- Wipe down the front of the fridge, dishwasher, and stove.
- Organize and clean out below-the-countertop cabinets and drawers.
- Vacuum and mop floor
- Wash area rugs. Once again you can do this before you start in your kitchen so the rugs will be done by the time you finish in this room
4. Bedroom
- Depending on how many bedrooms you have- you can take a bedroom a day. But first, start on the guest rooms just in case you run out of time.
- Dust ceiling fans and ceiling corners.
- Wipe any smudges on walls.
- Dust dressers, bureaus, and wall art.
- Dust lampshades.
- Wash bedding and put away heavy comforters. You can throw a load in the washers and switch loads between tasks. Remake the bed with lighter blankets, pillowcases, and sheets.
- Pull old clothes out of the closet and donate them. Go through your drawers and do the same.
- Vacuum and mop floor, or vacuum and wash carpet.
For kids’ bedrooms, look at the items that need washing like nursery curtains and bedding and get those in the wash soon. Then if your kids are old enough to clean then you can sit back and let them the do the rest.
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