From Thanksgiving on, we do a lot of entertaining in our home. We host both Thanksgiving and Christmas and also throw an annual tacky christmas sweater party for my birthday. It’s so much fun, and I just love having a house full! Since this is the one time of year we really have a lot of traffic going through the our home, I do a few extra things to make sure things are in order.
How I Prepare My Home For The Holidays
Deep Clean
First thing I do, before any decorating or stocking, is clean, clean clean. I’m one of those people who has to have a clean home, despite the fact that I have two boys who are constantly undoing my efforts, I’m always trying. My weekly cleaning always includes a top to bottom dusting and your standard tidying. On a monthly basis, and especially right before we have holiday visitors, I do my deep clean. My deep clean includes: cleaning the grout on the bathroom floors and shower, washing baseboards, washing my white couch, washing curtains if needed. I also go around and give my walls a wipe down. Yes, my dreaded matte paint walls. They don’t come as clean as I like since they’re matte, but I still give it a try and it does cut down on some of the finger prints. When we moved out of our first home, I learned a few little tips and tricks first hand to really get things “looking fresh and new”. I carried what I learned to this new house, so hopefully I can keep it looking new longer. Check out that post for full details on what I use to deep clean.
Freshen Up
Before we have guests, I go through and see what needs to be freshened up. Maybe a new hand towel, new shower curtain liner, new sheets if we’re having overnight guests. Whatever doesn’t look its best gets replaced. I always use those cheap $3-$4 shower curtain liners and replace them fairly often anyway, but I always make sure they’re fresh before guests come over.
Stock Up
Then I do my stock up! All of the necessities you can think of; a giant pack of paper towels and toilet paper, napkins and paper plates to cut down on dish duty after guests. Running out of toilet paper with a house full of guests is not good, so I try to never let that happen. Since it’s a busy time of year, I try to make sure we’re stocked before things get rolling and I also try to do a lot of online ordering, because shopping with a toddler is a nightmare, and it saves me time. I order most of my Christmas presents online, why not my essentials too?!
Walmart has everything in one place, so I ordered my Viva® Paper Towels and my Scott® Bath Tissue online and took advantage of their free two-day shipping. You can also order online and pick-up in the store!
It was easy and I also saved money on the Ibotta app – $1 off Scott® Bath Tissue for any variety, 4 ct. pack or larger (now until 11/29) and $1 off on Viva® Paper Towels for any variety, 6 ct. pack or larger.
Decorate
When the house is in tip-top shape and everything is fully stocked, I break out the decorations and get festive! I decorate the most for Christmas more than any other season or holiday, but it still isn’t all that intense. As much as I want the outside of my house to look like the Griswold’s it’s currently only rocking a wreath and a small light up tree. I may call it a day and leave it there, or add a little something else.
After all that, I do my best to keep things in order, while my boys do their best to undo it. Either way, we’re stocked and ready for all the season has to bring. Up next, the annual tacky christmas sweater party (for my 30th birthday, eeee!)
How do you prepare your home for the holidays and #GetGuestReady? Have you tried online ordering from Walmart?
-Brooke
Now, let’s…get…linking!!
NEW! I’ve started a collaborative Pinterest board for the Oh, Hey Girl! Link-Up. I would love for you to join and share your looks there too! Just send me a message on Pinterest or at [email protected] if you would like to be added.
Link up any post you would like to show off; your outfit, home decor, recipe, workout. Anything at all! Because, oh, hey girl! I want to see it!
Link-Up ‘Rules’
1. Follow me on Bloglovin or Instagram
2. Link back to my site from your post, you can grab a button if you like!
See who I link with here! (p.s. – if you have a new link up on your blog, leave it in the comments, so I can add to this list!)
