How to Prepare Your Home for the Holidays

Tips for Getting Your House Ready for the Holiday Season

The holiday season is fast approaching. If you like to play host to family and friends and gather everyone for celebrations, it’s a good idea to get your home ready for the holidays. That's easier said than done, especially if you have a big house or family on the way.

But you can get started prepping your home for the holidays now – and make sure your home is comfortable and properly decorated – with the tips below.

Do a deep clean

Before doing anything else, roll up your sleeves, prep your cleaning supplies, and do a deep clean of your home and its most important rooms. Try to focus specifically on:

• The bathroom, especially the one your guests will use
• The kitchen, which will likely see plenty of traffic both while prepping the next holiday feast and after
• The living room
• The dining room
• Any guest bedrooms you think will see visitors

Swap out bedsheets, take a rag and dust any surfaces you see, and use a sponge and heavy cleaner to scrape away dirt in the grout of your kitchen and bathroom tiles. Cleaning your home is a wise idea to prepare your home for guests at any time of year, not just during the holidays.

Pay special attention to windows

Your windows serve as the first impressions of your home in more ways than one. So you should prep your home for the holidays by doing a deep clean of your windows specifically. To clean your home’s windows:

• Use a mild soap and water mixture to clean window sashes and frames.
• Unclog weep holes in your windows by removing problematic blockages. Use a soft brush or a vacuum cleaner for this.
• Take a glass cleaner and thoroughly wipe down the windows’ glass surfaces. You can use either a store-bought glass cleaner or make your own by combining rubbing alcohol, water, and vinegar.

Crystal clear windows act like invitations for holiday guests and make any decorations on their sills look better, too.

What if your windows are old or drafty? Swap them out with new, energy-efficient windows that trap heat in during the day, keeping your home warm no matter how cold it gets outside.

Decorate with delight

There’s no time too early to decorate for the holidays (okay, maybe in July!). But as soon as the weather changes and you feel the air turn a little crisp, feel free to start prepping your home for the holidays and decorating by:

• Adding a seasonal wreath to your front door. Try something with orange leaves for fall and a green wreath for winter, or make your own!
• Placing seasonal decorations on your windowsills or on shelves. Bow or bay windows are perfect spaces for holiday decorations – throw up a few snowmen or Christmas elf statues to show the holiday spirit indoors and to passersby on the street.
• Hanging stockings over the fireplace.
• Putting up a tree (preferably in front of a nice picture window for all to admire!), especially if Santa’s due for a visit. Just remember that live trees take a little more care and attention, and they’re not the best if you have pets who are liable to chew on the branches or drink the tree’s water.

Spend a bit of time decorating your home, and it’ll feel inviting, vibrant, and fun when your guests arrive for dinner or a longer visit.

Light up the night

Nothing says, "the holidays are here," like beautiful twinkling lights inside and outside your home. When prepping your home for the holidays, break out the ladder and string up some lights outdoors. If that sounds a bit too tiring, try getting creative indoors by stringing lights along the kitchen countertops or around the frame of your front door.

You can use the same lights on your tree as you use in your home or mix things up and use totally different lights for a special look inside and out. It’s up to you!

Switch up your home’s fragrance

Nothing makes a home feel more prepped for the holidays than the right fragrance. While you can use scented candles with fragrances like pine, sage, and citrus, you can also whip up your own home-cooked smells by simmering water, cinnamon sticks, and apples in a small saucepan.

It's perfect for getting everyone's appetites ready for dinner. Plus, it is easier to maintain than constantly checking and relighting candles while attending to guests. Holiday-appropriate fragrances are fun throughout the holiday season, too, not just on Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Fire supplies

Have a fireplace to keep your home warm n’ toasty during the chilly Mason City winters? Grab some firewood and fire starters before the first snows hit, usually around November. Lighting a fire is another great way to improve your home’s fragrance with a natural, pleasing scent, plus take some of the load off your heater when Iowa gets cold.

Stock up on extra toiletries

The last thing you want to do is run out of toiletries – especially toilet paper! Whether or not you’re hosting a lot of people over the holidays, it’s smart to prepare by stocking up on certain extra toiletries like:

• Toilet paper
• Sanitizer
• Hand soap
• Shampoo and conditioner
• Towels

Getting your home prepped for the holidays now and having these things ready to go means you can invite anyone you like to enjoy your holiday-ready home. But you'll also be able to handle unexpected extra guests without having to make an emergency run to the convenience store.

Food for feasting

The holiday season is defined by delicious food. Stock up your pantries with baked goods and snacks like gingerbread cookies, sour cream raisin pie, Iowa ham balls, and more.

Hosting a big holiday feast at your home? Do your shopping at least a week in advance, so you don’t miss anything and you avoid last-minute grocery store rushes. Turkey, ham, prime rib, stuffing, rolls, cranberry sauce, and other staples go quickly. Having these common holiday food items already in your refrigerator before the big day will make having a special meal all the easier and more enjoyable.

Holiday snack stations

Odds are your guests will want something to munch on while they socialize or while they wait for dinner to be ready. Even while you're decorating your home, you might get a craving for something sweet if you're in the holiday spirit.

Another tip to be holiday-ready is to set out a few snack stations with candies and cookies on coffee tables or in the kitchen. Sweets are the perfect fix for winter fatigue or low energy.

Having overnight guests? Prep the kitchen and bedrooms

If friends or family members are staying overnight, be sure to prep your guest room and kitchen accordingly.

In the kitchen, have a coffee station ready to go with K-cups, ground coffee, mugs, and anything else your guests might want. A few bowls and boxes of cereal stationed strategically on the counter will also help the morning go smoothly and allow everyone to wake up and make breakfast on their own timeframes without having to wake you.

Make sure the beds have fresh sheets, comforters, and fluffed pillows in the guest bedrooms. To go the extra mile and make each house guest feel like they're in a heavenly holiday suite, place a few chocolates on pillows or decorate the guest bedrooms' nightstands with little plants and holiday-themed decorations like snow globes. These little touches make all the difference and can turn an overnight stay into a magical experience.

What if you have more guests than you have beds? Break out the air mattresses stored in your attic or prepare ahead and pick up a few from the store early in the season, long before your guests arrive. If your holiday celebrations end later in the evening than you anticipate, a few extra folks can stay to sleep off the fun before heading home the next day.

Getting your house ready for the holidays can be fun and exciting. If you’re looking into new windows to prep your home for the winter, especially energy-efficient windows that will help your home stay warm, don’t wait – contact Window World’s Mason City store today for expert assistance and recommendations.