How to get your house ready for your guests

  • By Stacy Giordullo Angie’s List
  • Tuesday, November 24, 2015 4:04pm
  • Life

It’s time for guests, parties, shopping, decorating, wrapping, cooking and entertaining. Keeping your home a peaceful haven during the crush of holiday stress can sometimes seem too big to tackle. Yet taking time to declutter and organize items around the home can help calm the chaos that oftentimes accompanies the holidays.

“Be kind and patient with yourself, and accept that we can’t be superheroes despite the notion that everything must be perfect when families and friends arrive,” says Melanie Raelin, owner of Wits End Organizing in Medford, Massachusetts. “I’ve realized people really don’t look around at the perceived mess as much as we think, and that they’re there to see you and your family, not your stuff.”

Here are some solutions to ease you into the holiday fray:

Evaluate the holiday decor

As you start to pull out holiday decorations from storage, keep your favorite items and give away the rest. “Ask yourself if you really love it,” says Diane Luck, owner of Diane Luck Personal Organizer in Portland, Oregon. “Or is it something you just picked up on sale? The things that don’t give you joy should be passed on to someone else who might enjoy them.”

Once you finish decorating, take a photograph to document the display and store the picture with the decor. “That way, next year someone else can help set everything out, and there won’t be any guesswork,” says Deb Oppel, owner of Decluttered by Deb in Minneapolis.

Take time to donate

It’s also a good time to decide what clothes, coats, toys and books you no longer need and gather them for donation. “When the kids are old enough, it’s nice to have them involved in the process,” Raelin says. “When they make up their gift wish lists, it’s a great opportunity to bring up the notion of making room for the new. It’s best to pack away toys and items the kid has outgrown before the holiday season, and donate to some of the great charities serving children in need.”

Guess who’s coming to dinner?

If guests throw you a curve ball by announcing a last-minute visit, take time to walk through your house and look at it as if you were a stranger. Focus on the main areas your guests will occupy, such as the living room, bathroom, kitchen and guest bedroom. “You can do a lot in one day,” says Linda Goldman, owner of Altogether Organized in Highland Park, Illinois. “Just putting things where they belong will go a long way in making your home clutter-free.” Pay attention to floors and clear the surfaces of tabletops and dressers. Make sure you have enough seating, and put out fresh towels for overnight guests. Take a quick inventory in any bathroom your guest might use, and clear out any items you don’t want rummaged through.

Call in the big guns

If organizing your home feels like an overwhelming task with the holidays looming, consider hiring a professional organizer for an objective approach. Sometimes, a consultation helps give homeowners the kick-start they need to finish the task. Rates for an organizer range from about $50 to $100 an hour, and most have a 2-3 hour minimum requirement. During the holiday season, some organizers can play more of a “personal assistant” role and help with event planning, party preparation, buying and wrapping gifts or delivering donated items.

Look for a highly rated organizer with whom you feel comfortable. Many professionals stay up on the latest industry trends and follow a code of ethics by belonging to the National Association of Professional Organizers. Whether you try to organize on your own or bring in some extra help, our experts say homeowners should keep calm about the clutter.

“Take a second to enjoy the holidays,” says Pamela Morrone, owner of Creating Clarity in Los Angeles. “With all of the chaos and to-do lists, it’s important to throw it all out at some point and enjoy your friends and family.”

Stacy Giordullo is a reporter for Angie’s List, www.angieslist.com, a resource for consumer reviews.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.