How to Get Your Home Ready for the Holidays in 4 Weeks

The holiday season is a wonderful time to celebrate with your family and friends, but it can also be stressful if you’re not prepared. You want your home to be cozy, festive, and welcoming for your guests, but you also have a lot of things to do, such as shopping, cooking, decorating, and more.

How can you manage everything without losing your sanity?

 

 

Don’t worry, I have you covered.

In this week’s Joy of Nesting, I’ll share my holiday guide and timeline that will help you get your home ready for the holidays in under four weeks. You’ll learn how to plan ahead, organize your kitchen, clean your house, and more.

By following this guide, you’ll enjoy the holiday season with more ease and joy.

Four Weeks Before Thanksgiving

The first week of your holiday preparation is all about planning and organizing. You want to make sure that you have everything you need for your guests and meals.

Here are some tasks that you can do four weeks out:

• Make a list of guests you’re expecting and confirm their arrival and departure dates. This will help you plan how many rooms and beds you need, as well as how much food and beverages you need.
• Check your inventory of bedding, towels, toiletries, and other essentials. If you need to buy or replace anything, do it now. You don’t want to run out of these items at the last minute.
• Change the bedsheets in the guest room and make sure it’s clean and comfortable. You can add some extra pillows, blankets, magazines, or books for your guests to enjoy.
• Have the house cleaned by a professional service or do it yourself. Pay attention to areas that are often overlooked, such as windows, baseboards, ceiling fans, etc. You don’t always notice these spots because you look at them week after week but a fresh set of eyes will notice.
• Have the kitchen professionally organized by a service or do it yourself. Sort out your pantry, fridge, freezer, and cabinets. Discard any expired or unwanted items and make a list of what you need to stock up on. You want your kitchen to be neat and functional for your cooking needs.
• Check out the Clear the Clutter Kitchen Makeover, my online organizing program to help you prioritize your kitchen tasks. The printable downloads included in the program are great for making sure your pro-organizer gets to the things you want prioritized! 
• Wash the table linens and iron them if needed. Store them in a dry and clean place until you need them. 

One Week Before the Thanksgiving

One week before Thanksgiving is all about decorating. To make your home look festive, work with all natural decorations like clippings from your yard.

Here are some I love.

• Magnolia leaves.
• Boxwood.
• Myrtle.
• Hyacinth.
• Paperwhites.
• White amaryllis. 
• Nandina aka Heavenly Bamboo.
• White and pale green pumpkins.
• Pomegranates. 
• Caroline laurel.
• Bay laurel.
• Long, cut branches of pomegranate tree.
• Horse apples aka Osage oranges (one in the same).
• Quality faux fruits and veggies in Fall colors.
• Pyracantha (be careful of the thorns!)

Four to Five Days Before Thanksgiving

This is all about cooking and setting up. You want to prepare as much of the food as you can in advance and set up everything for your guests and meals.

Here are some tasks:

• Shop for the perishable items on your shopping list, such as fresh produce, dairy products, meat, etc. Store them properly in your fridge or freezer. 
• Set up a beverage station in your kitchen or living room with drinks, ice, glasses, coasters, etc. You can also prepare some punch, eggnog, mulled wine, or other festive drinks in advance and refrigerate them. Have a variety of drinks.
• Arrange some entertainment options for your guests, such as board games, puzzles, books, movies, music, etc. You can also plan some activities or outings with them, such as visiting a local attraction, going for a walk, watching a show, etc. 

One Day Before Thanksgiving

The last day of your preparations are all about finalizing and relaxing. Finish up any remaining tasks and get ready to welcome your guests and celebrate the holidays. 

• Prepare as much of the food as you can in advance and store it in the fridge or freezer. You can reheat some dishes on the day of the meal. You want to save time and energy for the actual cooking and serving.
• Set the table with your table linens, dishes, cutlery, napkins, centerpieces, etc. You can add some festive touches, such as candles, ‘crackers’, name cards, etc. 
• Check your guest room and bathroom and make sure they have everything they need. You can leave a carafe and glass on the nightstand. A small arrangement is nice too, using some of the greenery from the table centerpiece.

On Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day is finally here! You have done a great job preparing your home and now you can enjoy the company of your guests!

• Enjoy the food! Be sure to take some photos and videos to capture a few memories.
• Relax and have fun with your guests and join them in their entertainment or activities.
• Thank your guests for coming and give them some leftovers or treats to take home.

Congratulations! You’ve created a cozy, festive, and welcoming home for yourself and your guests. When Christmas rolls around in four short weeks, you can revisit these guidelines.

Bonus point, some things will already be done from Thanksgiving!

Download Your Free Gift

 

 

To get started on a home where you feel healthy, happy and connected grab my complimentary design and wellness download, The Wellness Home.

It’s the prettiest little book. It’s a quick read with super easy design solutions that help you lead a beautiful, healthier lifestyle at home, plus my 3-to-5 Things Framework that gives you step by step actions to get started and stay on track. 

That’s it for today. Thank you for stopping by!

Shiree’

What is Wellness Design? Learn more about the connection between your wellbeing and your home, featured on Deirdre Fitzpatrick’s Dying to Ask Podcast. And if you’d like to dive deeper into this topic, check out my blog post, “Hiring an Interior Designer”.