For a lot of people, the holiday season is something to look forward to. It usually means that you get a break off of work. It will also mean that you have more time for you to catch up with your family and friends.
In general, it’s the season of merrymaking and a chance to relax and be free of responsibilities.
Although it’s always nice to relax and wind down during this holiday season, do know that it doesn’t last forever. Thus, you should make sure that you make the transition period easy for you. Otherwise, you might not be able to welcome the new year with a fresh start.
On that note, below are some simple cleaning techniques you should use for each specific room in your house. That way, you are sure to get the clean and sparkling brand new start to start your year off right.
1. Living Room
First things first, the holiday season is a season of reconnecting with loved ones so you’re likely going to be using your living room a lot during this particular period. With that said, you should make sure that you keep it clean before you greet the new year so that you start off on the right foot, especially if you’re going to be entertaining guests during the New Year’s celebrations.
If you have kids, then make sure that you have a stylish basket in the living room to store their toys in. Aside from that, you can try and rearrange your living room display to change things up.
Better yet, clean up your shelves and tables if you plan on buying new displays and sell or give away the old ones that you no longer like.
2. Bedrooms
Whether you’re making a home upgrade or you would like to keep things as is, keep in mind that some areas in your house may need varying cleaning techniques.
Master Bedroom
The new year is a great time to refresh your style, even in your master bedroom.
If you have any old pillows, blankets, comforters, or even a mattress, then it might be a good idea to start your new year with new beddings. If not, you might want to clean every piece of bedding including your mattress.
Another part of the master bedroom that you should fix up is your closet. The holiday season is the best time to donate and give away items so search through your clothes and see whether or not you’ve had clothes that you haven’t worn in a year.
Section these clothes as either something you’d sell, give away, or throw away entirely.
Kids’ Room
For your kids’ rooms, you should encourage that they learn to pick up after themselves while they’re young. Explaining to them why they need to clean up instead of just asking them to do it may make them be more open to it.
Again, having storage for their toys is a great way of making their room more organized. You can create cool labels that are visually attractive for each container that is based on a particular category.
For example, toy cars go on one basket and dinosaur toys are on another. This simple system will make picking up after themselves more enjoyable and easy to understand.
3. Closet
If you are pressed for time but still would want to give your house a refreshing feel, you can start off by cleaning and decluttering your closet. At Planet Maids – Maid Service NYC, we also advise our clients to learn to pick up and fold their clothes.
When cleaning out your closet, make sure that you have boxes with you in different categories: to donate, to throw away, to keep, or to sell. After the gift-giving season, some people might give you new clothes and you will need a new space in the closet.
Thus, cleaning out your closet is the best choice of action before you start the new year.
4. Kitchen
During the holiday season and with the upcoming New Year’s celebrations happening, you are bound to have a lot of food preparation going on. Thus, you should make sure that your kitchen is as clean as possible so that everything is sanitary when you prepare food again.
When preparing food, make sure that you are cleaning as you cook and not afterwards. Also, remember to clean the walls of your kitchen as well as your countertops. Cleaning your refrigerator is also a good idea before you start storing more holiday food items.
5. Bathroom
When cleaning your bathroom, you should make sure that you also clean the showerhead and sanitize it so that no buildup of bacteria occurs.
Make sure that you cover a lot of the areas. Since you’re already cleaning it, might as well get all of them in one go. Scrub your bathtub with half a slice of lemon embedded with salt. Clean out in between the tiles.
Also, don’t forget to organize your bathroom drawers and closets. Organize the items similar to one another by placing them near each other. Throw out any empty bottles that you might have or recycle them.
6. Laundry Room
The laundry room isn’t something that people often think about keeping tidy, but you should definitely take this opportunity to care for your laundry room.
First of all, you should make sure that you get rid of worn-out towels or sheets and the like. You can recycle them at recycling centers.
Also, you should make sure that you clean your washing machine and dryer as well. You can use vinegar and baking soda to clean the washing machine, one ingredient per cycle. For the dryer, make sure that you remove and clean the lint trap.
Conclusion
It can be difficult for a lot of people to shift their mindset from their relaxed and holiday lifestyle back to their normal routine. Since this is the case for a lot of people, learning this about one’s self will make it easier for you to learn what habits you should develop that will help you make this transition go smoother without putting yourself in a bad mood.
As mentioned above, a cleaner home will make it faster and smoother for you to get back into that focused mindset that you need when you’re back to work again after the holidays. So, make sure that you don’t neglect the cleanliness of your home even during the holiday season.