Once December arrives and we all realize that Christmas is right around the corner, the scurrying to get our homes organized for the holiday season begins. This can become overwhelming- trying to not only shop for gifts, decorate for the holiday season but also clean and organize your home for guests. I recommend getting an early start. Creating a holiday plan will help you will stay on track and enjoy the holidays more.

GET ORGANIZED FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON:

Conquer Your Clutter

Before dragging out all the Christmas decor, start by getting rid of any clutter. I recommend you go room by room- put away, donate or toss any items that are cluttering up the rooms. This will likely be your biggest task. By starting this early you can take your time, set aside one day a week and do one or two rooms in your home. I like to use these cute cube bins to organize the various items I want to keep.

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Prep the Guest Rooms

Do you have a guest room? If not, choose another room to prep. If you do and are like me the guest rooms become a dumping ground for anything that doesn’t have a home. It’s good to get that taken care of weeks before your guests arrive to help reduce some of the stress. Clean out all the junk, tidy out the closet or dresser drawers so they are available to your guests. Put fresh sheets on the bed and give the room a good clean, vacuum, dust, clean blinds or curtains. Now the day before your guest arrive you just need to do a quick dust and you are ready for company.

Simplify Décor

Decorating my home for Christmas is one of my favorite things to do. By simplifying your decor you can make things a little easier over the holidays. Start by getting rid of any decor that you don’t use if you find that you are packing up things after you have decorated your home the chances are you could donate or toss the rest. Only put out as much as you can maintain. If you don’t have time to be dusting and a cleaning up the constant falling glitter from ornaments just keep it simple.

Meal Plan

Meal planning is great all year but really helps during the holidays. Start by planning any big meals, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Then create a plan of any days that you may have guests over, having a meal plan set up for when company stays at your home really helps. You can plan your grocery list in advance and make sure you have enough food to feed everyone.

With a little planning and organization your holiday season can be fun and stress free!