Throwing a holiday party at your home doesn’t have to be a holiday nightmare if you follow these simple tasks that help you keep your sanity—and your home clean and shiny for your next holiday party.
Don’t procrastinate.
Easier said than done when you’re gift shopping, decorating, and making a million other holiday preparations, right? Finding a few minutes for washing floors or cleaning your bathroom tub and shower can get you ahead as you mark off items on your party cleaning checklist. Try to keep your home as clean as possible right up until the day of your holiday party.
Clean before you decorate.
As beautiful as your holiday decorations may be, make sure you don’t do these two important steps in reverse. Clean the surfaces you decorate, then put up your decorations. Doing so saves you a lot of grief because your decorations won’t be covered in dust, and you won’t be moving your decorations to dust and clean under them.
Bring in the pros when you don’t have time to clean.
There is no shame in bringing in a ‘cleaning lady’ to get your home in order, especially when you’re down to the wire. If time is an issue, contact a cleaning service instead of an individual cleaner as they may have more available cleaners during the busy holiday season. Cleaning services also have proper insurance and back-ups just in case your scheduled cleaner catches a bug or has an emergency (here’s how to choose the best cleaning company).
Be efficient during the ‘big’ clean.
When you do clean before the festivities start, be efficient. Store all your cleaners in a bucket or some kind of carrying case and take them with you as you clean. This saves you time (and effort!) so you’re not running all over the house looking for cleaning supplies.
Prioritize.
If you have limited time for cleaning, don’t waste your time cleaning behind your refrigerator or reorganizing your linens closet. Devote your efforts to what needs to be done for your party. There is always time for the other tasks later—or pros that you can hire for those deep clean jobs later.
