{"id":140020,"date":"2022-11-27T17:13:39","date_gmt":"2022-11-27T22:13:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/?p=140020"},"modified":"2023-04-10T16:13:54","modified_gmt":"2023-04-10T20:13:54","slug":"prepare-home-for-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/design\/prepare-home-for-holidays","title":{"rendered":"10 ways to prepare your home for the holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"getting<\/a>Photo: Emily May\/Flickr<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The holidays seem to come earlier every year. We had barely recovered from our Halloween candy hangover when the Internet began weighing in on Starbucks\u2019 red cups. But there are advantages to getting into the holiday spirit early, especially when it comes to readying your home for guests. These 10 tips will help you to stress less and enjoy the season.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Mark your calendar:<\/b> Party season is upon us! Print out a physical calendar or update the app on your smartphone to stay on top of everything. You\u2019ll also want to make sure invitations, cards and packages arrive on time, so set reminders accordingly.<\/span><\/p>\n

The holiday season can be a gruelling exercise in time management, so lists are your friend- gift lists, grocery lists and to-do lists. Make sure that you block off enough time to reasonably accomplish things like errands and shopping, accounting for extra travel time, parking etc. which is always more challenging during the holidays.<\/span><\/p>\n

And when you are populating your calendar with your festive fun, build in downtime. The holidays are meant to be fun, but even the most die-hard reveler needs to pack it in at some point. Taking a minute to recharge is time well spent.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Clear out the clutter: <\/b>While there is no need to <\/span>react like Gayle<\/span>, YouTuber Chris Fleming\u2019s interpretation of a cleaning-crazed mother (\u201cThere cannot be any sign of living in this house!\u201d), it is important to remove unnecessary objects from public areas, such as the entryway, kitchen and living\/dining area.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

But harnessing that enthusiasm, the holidays are a great time to do a seasonal purge of unwanted household items and clothing. Not only are you making way for incoming gifts (what are you wishing for this season?) your second-hand castoffs could be upcycled or re-purposed by someone else. <\/span><\/p>\n

And when you introduce holiday decor into your living spaces, you are creating more clutter. It\u2019s a good idea to take down or put away year-round items to let your holiday decor take center stage.<\/span><\/p>\n