The holidays are a busy time for all of us. We go from fall festivals and pumpkins straight into peppermint and winter holidays. Here at The Cleaning Crew, LLC we want to help make keeping your house clean a stress-free experience even while you are balancing a busy schedule.
Here are 3 easy tips to help you prepare for the holiday rush.
1. Declutter
The less clutter you have, the easier it is to keep your house clean. So whether it is easier to buy portable sheds (to be able to store unwanted items before having time to look through it all), get rid of unwanted items completely or give items to charity, it’s all about having less in the home, especially items that are not being used anymore. This can be stressful, but once it’s all done, hopefully, there’ll be more space in the home. If you have a particularly large amount of junk that you no longer need you might want to reach out to a rubbish removal company to determine whether they can take away your rubbish for you. A friend of mine who lives in Australia managed to find a rubbish removal company by searching for ‘Cheap rubbish removals Melbourne‘ online, so you might want to do some research to find a similar company in your area. Furthermore, as the cold weather approaches and you are stuck inside, it’s the perfect opportunity to take the time to purge. If you’ve got belongings that you’re not planning on actually getting rid of, you could look into renting a self storage facility to keep your clutter out of your home for periods of time if needed.
We pinned a helpful decluttering list recently on our Pinterest Page. You can check it out by clicking here.
Don’t forget to sort through:
- Fridge and pantry
- Filing cabinets. If you are guilty of throwing any document you find lying around your house into the filing cabinet without even realizing what it all is, it may be worth checking out sites like FilecenterDMS.com for a paperless option. This will save you space as you’ll no longer need the cabinet and the documents you do decide to keep will be a lot easier to file and manage.
- Storage bins
- Junk drawers
- Knick-knacks and décor
- Closet
This blog entry at A Debt Free Stress Free Life has some great tips for decluttering, but any professional organizer will tell you to start by making 3 piles.
- Trash is the easiest to get rid of, so start there. Get rid of broken or used items, and shred old paperwork.
- In the spirit of the holidays, fill up a box to donate. These can be food items from your pantry or clothing and household items to take to the nearest donation center.
- Decide what is valuable enough to sell. Maybe you are a collector and have things that can be sold online at auction sites, or maybe you just have a few things you want to put together for a yard sale.
Whatever system you use for decluttering your house, it is the first step to a truly clean home.
2. Deep Clean
Most of us do a typical “Spring Cleaning,” but it is a great idea to do a deep cleaning every season. With all the gatherings and meals coming up, your kitchen needs attention now, not in a few months! Plus, your gutters and windows need attention after all the fall leaves, and your guest bathroom will be used more than it has been all year.
That’s where we come in. The Cleaning Crew, LLC would love to take care of all the cleaning duties you don’t want to think about so you can focus on what’s important during this holiday season.
Let us come help you with things like freshening up guest rooms, deep cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms, gutter and window cleaning.
3. Prepare for Overnight Guests
Once you’ve got the house decluttered and deep cleaned, it’s time to prepare for guests.
Teresa at Tiaras and Tantrums has created a fabulous checklist for those preparing for overnight guests. You can find it here. But, we’ll give you the basics.
In the bedroom, keep things like tissues and extra blankets in sight. Give guests their own space. Leave room in the closet or dressers for them to unpack their things, especially if it is an extended stay. No one likes to live out of a suitcase.
Also, make sure there is a dedicated guest bathroom that is stocked with plenty of necessities like toilet paper and towels.
For an extra touch of hospitality, you can consider some of these ideas:
- Supply extra toothbrushes or specialty soap.
- Leave non-perishable snacks and water bottles in each guest room.
- Have plugs available for charging stations.
- Leave fans in each room if you know your guests will need them.
- Supply them with air freshener or cleaning wipes.
- Share the Wi-Fi password.
- Write a note to welcome them.
Leave the preparation to us so you can enjoy the celebration! Give us a call at 541-601-6236 today for a hassle-free quote or to give the gift of cleaning with a Cleaning Crew gift card!