The holiday season is fast-approaching! And if you’re feeling a little less than merry and bright about preparing your home for the holidays, then this holiday hosting checklist is for you!
Whether you’re typically the host for your family or friends or this is your first time hosting holiday celebrations, it can be a daunting task. Preparing your home for parties, large meals and overnight guests often involves weeks of cleaning, errands and decorating.
But just because you’re the host doesn’t mean you need to spend your holiday season busy and stressed. This year, make your holiday merrier with these holiday hosting hacks.
Your Holiday Hosting Checklist: 10 Tips for Preparing Your Home for the Holidays
Figuring out how to decorate your home for the holidays and how to clean your house for the holidays can be exhausting. Use these tips for less stressful holiday preparations that will have you rockin’ around the Christmas tree or lighting the menorah in no time.
Pull Out Holiday Decorations Early
Don’t wait until the day before a party or your guests arrive to decorate. Pull your decorations out of storage early so you can assess their condition. Are there broken lights that need fixing? Items that need to be replaced? Anything missing? It’s better to know far in advance so you have plenty of time to make adjustments or purchase new items.
Holiday Hosting Hack: Save time on decoration set-up by hiring a handyman to hang those lights for you! If you’re spending your holidays in the Hamptons, A Votre Service can help.
Focus on the Big Details
It can be tempting to decorate every nook and cranny of your home when you’re preparing your home for the holidays. But that’s a recipe for overwhelm! Instead, focus your decorating on the main areas of your home where guests will be spending the most time: the living room, kitchen and any other main living spaces.
Holiday Hosting Hack: Add simple white candles (real or battery-operated) to other spaces in your home (such as bathrooms, bedroom windows, etc) to create a cozy, holiday atmosphere throughout your home without any need for major decor.
Add a Deep Clean to Your Holiday Preparations
Figuring out how to clean your house for the holidays at the same time that you’re decorating and preparing for guests can feel nearly impossible. One simple way to make it easier? By hiring a cleaning service to do a deep clean for you! Make your house sparkle from top to bottom with a deep clean focused on everything from flooring and countertops to dusty baseboards, dirty windows and even appliances.
Holiday Hosting Hack: Book the same cleaning company to do another deep clean once the holidays are over, so your home can go back to its original condition faster (and with less work for you!). If you’re planning a Hamptons holiday, be sure to reach out to A Votre Service about our Hamptons deep cleaning services.
Finally Fix That Broken Doorknob
One of the best tips for preparing your home for the holidays is to finally fix those nagging home issues that you live with on a daily basis. Broken doorknob? Window that gets stuck? Door that’s hard to close? Whatever minor home issues you’re facing, get them fixed before the holidays so you – and your guests – can focus on comfort and joy this season.
Holiday Hosting Hack: Hire a handyman to fix these home items for you, so you can spend your time on the holiday preparations you actually enjoy! Contact A Votre Service to learn more about our Hamptons handyman services.
Add Baby Proofing to Your Holiday Hosting Checklist
If you have young children coming to stay with you this holiday season or expect to have young children at any of your holiday gatherings, you may want to consider some basic baby proofing. Your guests will thank you and you’ll be able to relax knowing you’re keeping your smallest guests safe. Invest in some door knob covers, cabinet locks, baby gates and outlet covers and be sure any large furniture is anchored to the wall.
Holiday Hosting Hack: Prepare a bin of some kids’ toys, books and other gear (such as sippy cups, plates bowls and bibs), so your guests don’t have to stress about packing all of that. When the holidays are over, send the items home with your guests or donate them to families in need!
Get The Chimney Cleaned
There’s nothing better for a cozy holiday at home than a roaring fire in the fireplace. So, when preparing your home for the holidays, be sure to add chimney and fireplace cleaning to your holiday hosting checklist.
Holiday Hosting Hack: Don’t worry about doing this task yourself. Reach out far in advance to find a chimney sweep near you and bring them out to do this messy job before your holiday gatherings.
Prep Guest Rooms
One of the best holiday hosting tips to make your guests feel at home is to fully prep your guests rooms for their arrival. Make the beds with fresh sheets and plenty of comfy pillows, of course, but consider adding some additional touches of hospitality. Add a stack of fresh towels to the room, provide a small basket of basic toiletries and leave out a few light reading books for guests to enjoy. Your guests will appreciate it!
Holiday Hosting Hack: Consider making the beds with holiday-ready linens like flannel sheets, a cozy knit blanket and holiday-inspired pillows. If you’re hosting your holidays in The Hamptons, then reach out to A Votre Service to learn how we can help with your guest preparations and other home organization needs.
Pull Out The Good China
If there’s any time to use the fancy dishes, it’s the holidays! Much like with your holiday decorations, you don’t want to wait until the last minute to pull out the good dishes. Take them out early for inspection and cleaning and make sure you have everything you need to host your big holiday meal.
Holiday Hosting Hack: Outsource the cleaning of dirty or dusty dishes to a cleaning service. This could even be part of your pre-holiday deep clean!
Use Seasonal Scents When Preparing Your Home For the Holidays
The best way to add a little extra joy to your holiday hosting checklist? By filling your home with holiday-ready scents. You’ll feel happier as you work to prepare your home and your guests will love walking into a lightly scented home that reminds them of their favorite holiday memories.
Holiday Hosting Hack: Don’t worry, seasonal scents don’t have to mean burning strong candles in your home all day and night. In fact, one of the best ways to fill your home with Christmas joy is to simmer a pot of water, cinnamon sticks, star anise, orange peel and other cozy spices on the stove. Do this before a big event or whenever you want a little extra holiday cheer.
Save Time on Holiday Errands
Have you even hosted a holiday party if you haven’t run out to the grocery store at midnight the night before? With all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it’s easy to forget an important errand or to simply run out of time to get it all done. This year, consider making a master list of errands and their locations far in advance of the holiday season, so you can strategically plan when you’ll accomplish which tasks.
Holiday Hosting Hack: Outsource your errand running! Believe it or not, there are lots of errand running services out there that can do your shopping, dry cleaning, mailing and other tasks for you. If you’re planning a Hamptons holiday, then explore A Votre Service’s Hamptons errand running and accommodating services for help.
Make Preparing Your Home for the Holidays Easier
This holiday season, there’s no need to be preparing your home for the holidays alone! With our holiday hosting hacks, you’ll be ready for guests – and ready to party – in less time and with less stress.
While you may enjoy many aspects of your holiday preparations, it’s okay (and even encouraged!) to outsource the parts that don’t bring you peace and joy. After all, a stressed out host is no way to make a holiday merry and bright!
Need help determining how to best prepare your home for the holidays? Contact A Votre Service today to learn more about how our Hamptons house cleaning, property management, handyman and errand running services can help make completing your holiday checklist a little easier.
