Get Your Home Holiday Ready |
With the festive season almost upon us, the last thing people are thinking about is decorating their home and undertaking home improvements, however, there is a need to get your home in shape for the holiday season as this is the time of year that we really don’t want your home to let us down.
Indeed, it’s this time of year that our houses get used the most. We are often indoors, due to the cold weather outside and many families are hosting friends and family from out of town, which can make for a much busier household - and with a busy household, comes more strain on the house. |
For instance, if you have an underperforming water heater, when it comes to having to blast out warm water for a full house, it can really take its toll on the appliance, and the last thing you want at such a hectic and sociable time of year is to be thinking about appliance repair. It therefore makes sense to get any niggling issues resolved prior to the festive season fully getting into gear, as if you were to have to call someone out to the house, it will be a lot more expensive and time restricted if it’s over Christmas.
Now, let’s take a look at getting your home in shape for the festive season.
Now, let’s take a look at getting your home in shape for the festive season.
1. CREATE A WARM WELCOME
When people pull up to your driveway, you want them to feel warm and welcome. Having your home decked out in festive lights is most welcoming, as well as a well decorated front porch. You’ll want to make sure your doorbell is working, as there’s nothing more frustrating to both parties, than having guests ring the doorbell to no avail - and to be left standing out in the cold.
When people pull up to your driveway, you want them to feel warm and welcome. Having your home decked out in festive lights is most welcoming, as well as a well decorated front porch. You’ll want to make sure your doorbell is working, as there’s nothing more frustrating to both parties, than having guests ring the doorbell to no avail - and to be left standing out in the cold.
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The next step is to declutter the hallway, as this is likely to get packed out with shoes, bags, coats and gifts. You want to find somewhere, ideally out of the hallway, to store coats, bags and umbrellas as having to brush past everyone’s coat on arrival isn’t a nice feeling. A simple fix is a coat rack or even a handsome hall tree with storage bench, left.
If you have a dog, whilst he or she is most likely a very valuable member of the family that craves to greet each guest with a warm welcome - not all guests are keen on dogs, and therefore it might make sense to get a little gate installed so that you can control the flow of when your dog welcomes guests. |
2. DECLUTTER THE LIVING ROOM
Christmas is a time when a lot of clutter tends to occupy our space. A Christmas tree can be a beautiful centrepiece, presuming it’s in a clutter free environment, yet if it’s surrounded by clutter the whole space just feels messy. When you consider how many presents, sheets of wrapping paper and the like are going to flood your space, making the area as clutter free as possible is wise. Consider purchasing a few storage baskets (right) for these occasions, which you can even use in the off season to hold blankets, toys, books and magazines and other miscellaneous items. |
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3. GET EXTRA SEATING
You’ll want to consider the seating arrangements, as most homes are geared toward fitting only their families. Adding extra seating in the living or family room is easy by using ottomans and / or storage benches (left). Ottomans are great for holding items you may need for overnight guests, too, such as extra blankets and pillows. |
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4. CREATE AN INVITING GUEST ROOM
To create an inviting guest room is often as simple as decluttering the space and adding a few little touches, such as a nice scented candle, fresh clean sheets and towels along with a little care package - such as toiletries to make your guests feel extra welcome. If you want to really indulge your guests considering ironing the bed sheets, as so often, we quickly pull out sheets that have been lying in the airing cupboard - which can get a little musty; so if you want people to feel like they are in a luxurious bed, ironing the sheets can make all the difference. |
  
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5. CLEAR OUT THE FRIDGE AND FREEZER
At Christmas time, there’s so much good food to be had - whether it’s food that you are cooking yourself, or that guests are bringing. You want to make sure you have adequate space to store all the food, in a convenient and stable way, as it’s not very enticing to open up a fridge and see food stacked upon each other.
In a similar vein, due to the increased number of mouths you need to feed - make sure you have plenty of cutlery and plates, as there’s nothing more embarrassing than running out of plates on Christmas Day to the point that you have to resort to picnic style plates.
At Christmas time, there’s so much good food to be had - whether it’s food that you are cooking yourself, or that guests are bringing. You want to make sure you have adequate space to store all the food, in a convenient and stable way, as it’s not very enticing to open up a fridge and see food stacked upon each other.
In a similar vein, due to the increased number of mouths you need to feed - make sure you have plenty of cutlery and plates, as there’s nothing more embarrassing than running out of plates on Christmas Day to the point that you have to resort to picnic style plates.
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