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Fall is here and you know what that brings – family visitors, holiday parties, and stress. Yes, stress! Don’t get me wrong, I love having family over and throwing parties, but cleaning our home for guests can be a bit overwhelming. Guests tend to have a more critical eye and will spot things you wouldn’t normally see. So to make the holiday cleaning less stressful, I’m sharing a few Stress-Free Holiday Cleaning Tips & DIY Fall Centerpiece.
DIY crafts help me unwind, and I can use the escape during the chaotic holiday season. And what better craft project than a fall centerpiece? Also staying clean and organized can help keep things in line. Let’s get to the cleaning tips and my handy cleaning checklist.
Holiday Cleaning Tips
Tips 1 – 3
Before we get started, the most important tip is to give yourself at least seven days to clean your home. Don’t try to cram cleaning into one day. Next, walk through your home and note all the things that need to be cleaned. Be brutal. Start from the ceiling and work your way to the floor in each room. Then get the entire family involved and delegate tasks to each person. After all, they helped make the mess, let them help clean it too!
Tip 4
Once you’ve completed tips 1 – 3, it’s time to check your cleaning supplies. I usually check each cleaning agent and restock my “must have” cleaning supplies at my local Walmart. This time around, I needed to restock my cleaning bucket with Windex® Original Glass Cleaner, Disinfectant Scrubbing Bubbles® Bathroom Cleaner, and my new favorite – Scrubbing Bubbles® Toilet Cleaning Gel.
Tip 5
To help with this part, print out a cleaning checklist* and pick a room to start cleaning. When I clean, I like to break each room into thirds – top, middle, and bottom. Starting from the top is a trick I learned from a professional cleaning crew.
Top – The top area of a room usually involves cleaning with a vacuum or duster. Focus on cleaning cobwebs from the edge of the ceiling and clean dust off of vents, walls, and lights.
Middle – This area involves a lot of surface cleaning and vacuuming. So before any cleaning starts, I straighten and put away items that don’t belong. The middle section is also where most of the cleaning happens, and where I use the majority of my cleaning products. I use Windex® on all glass surfaces, mirrors, door knobs, stainless steel, and countertops. And when I get to the bathroom, I use Disinfectant Scrubbing Bubbles® Bathroom Cleaner on almost every surface: tile, porcelain, fixtures, vinyl, and more. And since there will be a lot of guests using the bathroom, I also place a Scrubbing Bubbles® Toilet Cleaning Gel in the toilet bowl. Each flush keeps the toilet clean and smelling fresh for up to seven days.
Bottom – The bottom area involves sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, and dusting. Sweep and mop any hardwood floor. Vacuum carpets and dust all baseboards.
*Click on the Holiday Cleaning Checklist for a free printable.
Fall Centerpiece Crafting Break
Whew! I don’t know about you, but by the 6th day of cleaning I need a crafting break to re-energize myself. This year, my craft is a fall centerpiece that involves cleaning and 30 minutes of crafting! I’m finally clearing off the counter next to my sink and using old bottles to create my fall centerpiece.
Supplies:
- various bottles
- burlap ribbon
- twine/rope
- hot glue/glue sticks
- flowers
- pine cones
- wood box or tray
- mini fall gourds
Fall Centerpiece Directions:
- Clean bottles
- Glue burlap ribbon around each bottle
- Glue on rope/twine accents
- Insert flowers into each bottle
- Arrange bottles in a tray or wooden box
- Add pinecones and mini gourds around the bottles
It’s amazing how relaxing 30 minutes of crafting can be. Creating something beautiful is enough to get me going for the last day of cleaning before my guests arrive. I reserve the last day for quick last minute touch-ups. I quickly go through each room with a bottle of Windex® and wipe up any new messes or smudges. Then right before guests arrive, I give the bathroom a once over with Disinfectant Scrubbing Bubbles® Bathroom Cleaner to make sure everything is clean and sanitized. And that’s how I ensure I have a stress-free holiday cleaning.
Do you have tips for a stress-free holiday cleaning? Share your tips in the comments below.
To find out more about the cleaning products I use:
These are good tips. I definitely divide my rooms in threes and clean from top to bottom
I try and “farm’ out as much of the chores as I can. With four kids it can be a little messy but as long as it doesn’t look like a bomb blew up I don’t worry so much. It the people in the house, not the house, that they are there to see 🙂
We’ve all been there with trying ot clean the house in a day. You’re right, that’s never a good idea.
I agree with not trying to clean the house in one day. I know that when I do that, I get lazy and don’t do a thorough job. BTW, I hate cleaning those vents. They accumulate so much dust! Ugh.
We are cleaning junkies here and these are fab tips. I just got some Swiffer items to do some dusting, too. Happy holidays!
These are amazing tips!
On Saturday I’ll begin cleaning my home for the Thanksgiving feast we’re hosting so I will definitely be referring back to this.
xoxo, Jenny
I love this list you have here. These are great ideas in dividing out the housework. I really want to give this top, middle, bottom zoning a try.
As a kid I used to hate that mom made us deep clean the entire house around the holidays, but now as an adult I’m so grateful because I actually know how to do these things! Great tips and pointers here. – katy
As much as I didn’t want to think about it, the cleaning needs to be done. I love the tips and the centerpiece!
Great ideas here. Especially like the tip to divide the room in thirds!
I love to clean. I feel so accomplished when I’m done.
I just found out 6 days before Thanksgiving that 5 members of my family are coming. I really need these tips, so thank you.
Totally agree it is nuts to clean it all in one day! LOVE your fall centerpiece, so pretty.
Those are great tips. My kids liking cleaning the mirrors and windows with Windex, they always ask to do this!
That centerpiece is adorable! I absolutely love how it came out 🙂
Excellent checklists though it makes me tired reading them!
Great tips Erlene. Having owned a professional cleaning business for the last 18 years, I’ve done it all. We always start at the top and work down. We purchase cleaning supplies at Walmart because they often have the best prices on cleaning supplies. Windex is my preferred window cleaner too.
Love your centerpiece.