7 steps to a clean, peaceful home for the holidays

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Argh! The holidays are coming and I don’t even want to think about trying to keep my house clean for the parade of people that will be passing through, and I delight at the idea of opening my home to the people I love the most.

Now is the time to start cleaning for those holiday get-togethers. Your house can stay company clean if you follow these seven steps.

1. Wash the dishes every night. Do it right away as soon as you finish supper. No matter what you think you want to do after you eat, if you don’t take care of the dishes right away, they won’t get done.
2. Make the bed every morning. My great-grandma used to say that if the dishes are washed and the beds are made, the house is clean. I know it seems foolish to make your bed when you have clothes thrown all over the bedroom floor, but trust on this one.
3. Spend 15 minutes before bed picking up around your house. Just 15 minutes, that’s all. Take that time to clear off flat surfaces, sweep the floor, wipe down the counters.
4. Don’t set things down “just for a minute” put them away. We all have those areas in our house that are always a mess. Usually the worst one is the flat surface nearest the front door. The end of your kitchen counters, the coffee table. Stop putting things down “just for now.” You don’t want to have to deal with stuff twice. Deal with it once and put it away. If it doesn’t have a home, find one or throw it away.
5. Wash, dry, fold, and put away a load of laundry every time you have a full load. I admit that I won’t do this one because I don’t have my own washer and dryer in my house. If you are fortunate enough to have your own washer and dryer do laundry every time you have a full load, don’t just wait until you are out of clean underwear. Likewise, if you do not have your own washer and dryer, set a weekly laundry day and stick to it!
6. Get rid of clutter. This is key to keeping your house clean long after the holidays have passed. When you find something out of place ask yourself, “Do I love this? Do I use this? Will I feel bad if I get rid of it?” If you answer no to all three of those questions, pass it on. Goodwill, Freecycle, and the local dump are all great places to get rid of your excess junk. Please don’t give garbage to Goodwill. They have to pay to get rid of it.
7. Finally, relax and remember the people who are coming over are interested in you not your stuff.

This article has been featured in Personal Development and Happiness Carnival.
photo used by permission stephcarter cc-by-nd

Tags: Cleaning, Hospitality

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 14th, 2007 at 5:03 pm and is filed under Simple Living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.