Tips to Get Your Home Organised For The Holidays

A holiday is defined as “ an extended period of leisure and recreation”, so let’s keep it that way.  No one wants to spend their Christmas Holidays and New Year celebrations stressed out over a messy house or multiple jobs that have to be done. 

Here are a few simple tips to get your home ready for this years holidays season aka, an extended period of leisure!

1. Curb Your Clutter

See your home as a guest, take a walk through the front door and look around your space with fresh eyes. You should be proud of everything you see in the living and entertaining areas and want to show it off. If you spot an item that doesn’t spark joy , question if you should keep it. See  the“How To Curb Living Room Clutter Diagram”.

2. Create A Welcoming Sanctuary

Now that you have cleared the clutter and put haphazard items away, let’s go back to the entrance. Is there a place to drop a bag, or take off shoes? If you are pushed for space, try setting up a “drop off” zone on high traffic days to keep the entertaining area clear and clutter-free.

3. Prepare Your Kitchen

Let’s be honest, the kitchen and dining areas go into overdrive during the festive season. Make it easy for yourself by keeping your kitchen and entertaining benchtops clear. You will need this space for appetisers and drinks. Use the same “curb the clutter” premise and keep benches clear of anything except for your favourite spark joy items.

Now is also a great time to do any deep cleaning before the holidays start. Give the oven, cupboards and mixmaster a once over.

4. Make Space and Reduce Waste

We tend to indulge a little over the holiday period, and rightly so. Our pantries become full with special occasion and celebration foods we don’t normally cook, eat or buy at any other time of year. Hence, tis’ the time to maximise your fridge and pantry space.

In preparation, take a look in your pantry, are there items you can “use up” now? Check your dry foods for ingredients you can use in this year’s festive bake-up. Items like glacé fruit, flours and cooking brandy don’t really go off so don’t be scared to use them up rather than throwing them out. The less food waste the better!

5. Get Out Those “Special Use” Pieces

As a tidy consultant I have come across many special use items; candles, table cloths, serving wear, glassware, coasters, napkins, serving spoons, tea towels, hand towels, soap, guest towels, placemats, wine buckets, bottle stoppers and even pet outfits (just to name a few). 

Now is the time to find them. So often while pulling out items from the back of a clients wardrobe mid-declutter I come across one of these,  “oh I was looking for that”  responses…sound familiar?

Locate your speciality items now, and store in a place you will remember and access easily as you set up your home for the holidays. And if you don’t want to use it, ask yourself why you have it. Can’t be bothered finding it…then you definitely don’t need it.

5. Tidy Up The Bathroom

With more people coming and going over the holidays, the bathroom becomes a high traffic area. Cleanliness is vital, and let’s be honest a bathroom says a lot about someone. There is a reason restaurants invest in spa-like restrooms. Take the time now to declutter the sink area, placing as much as you can in drawers and cupboards. Clear benchtops = easy to clean.

5. Minimalistic Can Be Chic

How many times have you had to move a table centrepiece to make room for food? Fewer decorations is often best. When entertaining focus on the food, the drink and the quality of conversation, less on the nic nacs. Guests remember good food, company and music more than anything else. There is a lot to be said for a fresh table of flowers; sustainable and chic.