Holiday Sweep: How to Prepare Your Home for Guests this Christmas

Picture this: Relatives are staying over for the holidays, you are hosting the clan Noche Buena, and just to throw in more excitement to your already overscheduled week, hubby just decided to throw a house party for his coworkers.

Between taking care of the kids and juggling your daily to-dos, when will you ever find the time to prepare for the festivities?

Kathleen Ong, professional events organizer at Ripple Effect Organizing, a company that specializes in home and office de-cluttering and organizing in Quezon City, says you can lessen the stress of preparation by investing time in getting organized. Take time to design simple “Holiday Systems”

This way, every year, the holidays wouldn’t be so stressful and overwhelming, she says.


Easy breezy tips
Before things turn into a nightmare before Christmas, read on for practical tips that will ensure hassle-free holiday housekeeping from the professionals.


Make a list and check it twice
Before you launch into a cleaning frenzy, evaluate the state of your home, Ong suggests. First, make a list of the areas that need attention.

Next, list the things that need to be done per area. Remember that it’s not just the tidying up that needs to be addressed, simple repair is important, too. Is the faucet in the powder room leaking? Is the light bulb in the hallway still working?


Prioritize
There may be a million and one things to do before the guests arrive, so it’s important to prioritize. Divide your list into “Now” and “Later.” Think about where the guests will possibly go while they’re in your home. These areas should be placed under “Now.” Areas such as the living room, dining room, kitchen, and bathroom should be on top of this list. Your daughter’s room might be begging for a major cleanup, but if the guests are unlikely to enter her room, it’s best to do it during a less hectic time. Put it under “Later.”

 

Click here to see more tips on how to prepare your home for guests this Christmas.

[previous|page|next]

Read on to see more tips on how to prepare your home for guests this Christmas.

 

Delegate
Even the most seasoned housekeeper might feel overwhelmed with the long list of holiday to-dos. Assign some of the tasks to your household staff. If you do not have helpers, ask family members to pitch in, Ong says. Not only will this make things easier, it is also the perfect way to teach your children to help with household chores. It’s a good opportunity for family bonding as well.


Enjoy
The best way to beat stress? Take joy in the little things. Stop looking at your list like it’s a death sentence. Instead, think of how much fun it would be to start putting up the décor, and be thankful for the opportunity to spend time with the kids. It’s Christmas, cheer up!


Here They Come
Putting up the tree and hanging baubles are a given, but what else do you need to prepare for when guests come over? Here are a few scenarios and tips on how to get ready for them.

•    Balikbayan guests. Your relatives from abroad are home for the holidays, and are staying over for a couple of weeks. Take a cue from entertaining guru Martha Stewart. In her Homekeeping Handbook, she writes, “The trick is to make guests feel at home, but also away from home. Set up the guest room. Vivian Wycoco, a financial manager for a business process outsourcing company, who often has balikbayans staying at her house a few times a year, suggests changing the sheets, pillow cases, and curtains. If there’s no extra closet, attach hooks to the back of the bedroom door. Place a wastebasket inside the room.

•    Prepare the bathroom. After cleaning the toilet, bring out a fresh bar of soap, a fresh hand towel, and a new roll of tissue, Wycoco says. Stock the cabinets with towels and toiletries. A mat will keep the floor from getting muddy.

•    Do the little things that matter. Think like a guest. “What would you appreciate if you were the one visiting? What would make you feel welcome and taken care of?” Ong asks. Pamper your guests and show them hospitality a la five star hotel. Prepare a goodnight goodie box.with mints, massage oils, scented candles, and maybe a pouch of painkillers and antacid. and leave it on their bed. Don.t forget to leave a pitcher of water and a clean glass on the bedside table every night.

 

Click here to see more tips on how to prepare your home for guests this Christmas.

[previous|page|next]

Read on to see more tips on how to prepare your home for guests this Christmas.

 

•    Leave a note. If your home has quirks, leave a note of instructions for your guests (.If the door is stuck, give the doorknob a little jiggle when you twist.). Print out the instructions on fancy paper, roll it up like a scroll, and tie with a pretty ribbon. Put the scroll in the goodie box.

•    Provide house slippers. Place a basket with indoor slippers by the entryway. Not only will this provide comfort for your guests, it is also a practical way to keep the dust and dirt outside. Instead of choosing fluffy bedroom slippers, why not choose pretty native tsinelas for an authentic Filipino touch that your  balikbayans will surely love?


Relatives for Noche Buena
A family reunion of sorts, the annual Noche Buena is a party in a class of its own. Be ready for a circus, what with rowdy cousins who haven’t seen each other for a year and fussy toddlers who are accident-prone.

•    Childproof your home. Your kids may be past the curious crawler stage, but keep in mind the other toddlers your guests will have in tow. Keep, or at least relocate décor that might break or topple over. Cover up the Christmas light sockets. Little fingers can easily poke these.

•    Set up a ground floor siesta room for the grandparents. Lolo and Lola might not be up for a hike, so save the upstairs rooms for the other guests. Prepare a quiet place downstairs where they can rest or take a nap before Noche Buena.

•    Prepare a first aid kit. A bunch of kids, candy canes, and hot cocoa in one room? It.s best to be prepared. Assemble a kit with band-aids, cotton, disinfectant, alcohol, thermometer, and tweezers. Throw in some calamine lotion, eye drops, laxative, cough medicine, antacid, fever medicine, and anti-diarrhea medication for both kids and adults.

•    Spruce up the living room. Organize your DVDs and magazines or keep them out of sight altogether. Select just a few for the coffee table to minimize clutter. Put away breakables as well.

•    Set up the garden. Decorate a simple bench with Christmas décor to extend the holiday feel outdoors. This can be the area for guests who are smokers.

•    Go buffet. There’s no need for a proper buffet table, use the dining table instead. Just be sure to set up a separate service table for the flatware, dinnerware, and glasses. Rent extra chairs if necessary.


Photo from sxc.hu

SOURCES:
● Kathleen Ong, professional organizer, Ripple Effect Organizing, www.rippleeffectorganizing.com
● Vivian Wycoco, fi nancial manager, business process outsourcing company
● Martha Stewart’s Homekeeping Handbook 2006