Is your home ready for the holiday party season? There’s nothing quite like being home for the holidays, especially if your house will be the place where friends and family gather to celebrate. The good news is getting your Oklahoma City area home in beautiful shape for holiday parties and guests can be stress-free, especially if you break up your to-do items into manageable chunks. Here’s a handy 7-day checklist to prepare your home for holiday gatherings.
Day 1: Assess your needs and make a plan.
Your first order of business in preparing your home for holiday visitors is deciding what needs to be done and making a plan of attack. Here’s how to approach this important task:
- Check your home, both inside and out, to see what needs cleaning or repairing. This is a great time to check for any leaking faucets or showers to prevent water damage.
- Imagine you are a guest in your own home. What would you notice most? What do you need most? Let those insights influence what you address in the next several days.
- Make a detailed list of everything you need to do before visitors arrive.
Day 2: Clean carpets and flooring.
Cleaning floors not only adds sparkle to your home but also improves air quality by eradicating dust and dirt. Follow these tips to get your floors in tip-top shape:
- Inspect all floors and carpets, and treat any stains.
- Mop heavily trafficked tiled areas, such as kitchens, foyers and bathrooms.
- Shine wood floors with wood polish. This adds an extra touch of freshness that guests will enjoy.
- In addition to vacuuming, consider having your carpets professionally cleaned and/or deodorized. This added step not only makes carpets look new; it also eliminates dirt, dust and allergens that get trapped deep within carpeting.
Day 3: Clean the bathrooms.
While other parts of your home can wait, your bathrooms must appear clean and inviting to help guests feel at home. To prepare bathrooms for your visitors, be sure to:
- Scrub toilets inside and out, and consider adding a toilet bowl freshener to help eliminate odors.
- Wipe down all surfaces, including the sink, bathtub, shower, counters and cabinets.
- Mop or vacuum. Don’t neglect the hard-to-reach places where dust tends to gather.
- Clean out trash bins.
- Replace dirty towels with fresh guest towels.
- Be sure soap, toilet paper and other needed supplies are filled and plentiful.
- Remove medicines and other items that you don’t want guests to have access to.
Day 4: Ensure guest areas are equipped for entertaining.
Examine the sitting areas and bedrooms that guests will use, and make sure everything is arranged to make visitors feel welcome.
- Brush down chairs and couches to remove pet hair.
- Bring out extra folding chairs now, rather than waiting until everyone is already present and in need of a place to sit.
- Set up tables, trays and coasters for guests’ food and drinks.
- Get rid of clutter to make more space for visitors to enjoy.
- Make room in the coat closet for guests’ coats.
Day 5: Clean the kitchen.
While it’s true that your kitchen will get a lot of use during your parties or meals, it still helps to clean it and get needed items ready ahead of time. This also prevents kitchen fires.
- Wash all kitchen surfaces, including the oven, stove and sink.
- Gather any platters, serving tools, and baking dishes you’ll need, especially if they are stored in hard-to-reach areas.
- Set out fresh sponges, clean dish towels, fresh linens and tablecloths.
- Clean out the refrigerator so that you have plenty of space for any food that guests may bring, as well as for any leftovers.
- Consider having tiles and grout professionally cleaned to remove grime and provide a fresh look.
Day 6: Polish furniture and do a general cleaning.
Now that other major areas of your home are sparkling clean, it’s time to tackle any areas that you haven’t already addressed.
- Dust tables, shelves, furniture, electronics, ceiling fans and anything else in need of dusting.
- Wipe down all wooden furniture with wood polish.
- Vacuum, sweep or mop any floors that have not already been cleaned.
- Straighten up shelves.
- Set out holiday decorations.
- Launder drapes and curtains.
- If you have owned your furniture and upholstery for a long time, a professional cleaning can have them looking and smelling new in no time.
- Consider applying a fabric protector to keep upholstery from being accidentally stained by spilled food or drinks.
Day 7: Set up and touch up.
With your holiday party quickly approaching, it’s time to tackle all the little, last minute tasks that will have your home in perfect shape to host a great gathering.
- Inspect your home one final time, looking for anything that still needs to be done.
- Empty trash bins.
- Fluff seat cushions.
- Fold blankets.
- Ensure silverware, dishes, napkins and other related items are ready for service.
- Fill salt and pepper shakers, sugar bowls and butter dishes.
- Set up any remaining food and beverage stations.
- Make a grocery store run to buy anything that is in short supply.
- Prepare food, especially anything that can be prepared ahead of time, so that you don’t have to cook for the entire length of the party.
Professional Cleaning Services Can Help Add Extra Sparkle to Your Home
Why not make your holiday party preparations more manageable with a little added help? A professional cleaning can give your home extra freshness and a deeper cleaning, while freeing you to focus on what matters most as you prepare for your holiday guests to arrive.
At TRILINK Restoration Services, we do more than property restoration and damage prevention. Our experienced, thorough cleaning teams will happily and expertly treat your carpets, eliminate dirt and grime, restore grout to looking bright and new, remove dust from air ducts, and have your home sparkling clean in no time.
Contact us today at 405-525-5465 to learn more about our home cleaning services or to schedule a cleaning in time for your upcoming holiday party plans.
