Get Your Home Ready for the Holidays!

It’s holiday time! Thanksgiving is over and the December holiday season has begun. This should be a time for celebration and fun, but for many people the holidays bring a great deal of stress. Guests visit more often, excited children run in and out of the house (often bringing snow or mud with them), decorations have to be pulled out of storage and hung, and there are meals and get-togethers to plan. And what if your holiday involves gift-giving? It can be daunting to figure out where you will put the new clothes, toys, and other gifts that will need to be stored after the holidays.

There’s no doubt that December is a busy time when it comes to cleaning the house and maintaining a healthy and orderly indoor environment. The key to making it through the month while maintaining your sanity is to stay organized and to maintain a schedule – and call 1-800-FOR-COIT when the big jobs come up so your house will be fresh and clean for guests, parties, or special meals.

To make it through the busy holiday season while maintaining a clean, healthy, and organized home, COIT suggests the following steps:

Create a custom checklist of cleaning tasks, room-by-room, and stick to a schedule. Post the list on your refrigerator or a family bulletin board. Certain tasks, such as dishwashing, eliminating clutter from end tables, and wiping countertops in the kitchen should be performed every day if possible. Sweeping floors is recommended every two to three days, and vacuuming should be performed once a week in carpeted areas (more often in high traffic spots). You can assign family members to each cleaning task and create a calendar or check-off sheet. Try turning it into a teamwork event – promise something fun (like a special dessert or a trip to a sledding hill) when everyone’s chores are completed each week.

Have your air ducts cleaned if you have a HVAC system and haven’t scheduled an air duct cleaning in the past two years. Dust, mold, allergens, and other contaminants can get circulated through your home if you have dirty air ducts. This problem can become more pronounced once you close your windows during the colder months. Clean air ducts are especially important if you have family members who are allergic to dust or other airborne allergens.

Purge magazine racks, bookshelves, bedroom closets, and toy storage spaces. If you’re expecting an onslaught of new catalogs, books, clothing, toys, and other holiday goodies, December is a good time to donate older items to a local thrift shop or non-profit organization. Make space for gifts before they arrive to avoid a cluttered environment after the holidays.

Place a footwear tray near the front door along with a variety of clean slippers and a small sign that asks family members and guests to remove footwear before entering the house. This step will go a long way toward keeping dirt, mud, and other contaminants off the floors and out of the home.

Schedule professional cleanings in advance. If you want your home to look fresh before family arrives or just in time for a holiday party, schedule a carpet cleaning and upholstery cleaning service, a drapery and/or blind cleaning service, and other required professional cleanings in advance of the event. COIT also offers a Tile and Grout Cleaning Service if you have tiled floors that need freshening up. Holiday time can be busy at your local COIT office, so it’s a good idea to call as early in the month as possible so we can schedule your services in time for your event. You also might want to consider scheduling a carpet cleaning service after any big get-togethers or parties you are planning, because spills, spots, and tracked-in dirt often go along with large get-togethers.

Breathe. The holidays can be a hectic, challenging time. If you stay organized with a checklist and stick to a cleaning schedule, you’ll be taking important steps toward maintaining a clean home. If spills or other problems occur – and they probably will – just breathe. COIT is here to help you address the problem and to help you return your home to its clean, normal state after the holiday rush.