Before putting your home into full holiday mode, take some time to set the stage first. Doing so will help ensure that you and your loved ones fully enjoy the spirit of the season. Home organization expert Marie Kondo provides the following tips for holiday prep.
Take some time to visualize.
What’s your ideal holiday scenario? A festive open house teaming with friends and family? Or a cozy family gathering with hot cocoa around the fireplace? Visualizing what you want your holiday experience to be like will help you focus on creating the perfect environment.
Take inventory.
Before you start buying decorations and home goods to outfit your home for the holidays, move through each room of your house and take stock of what you already have and what you’d like to get rid of. Focus special attention on the rooms where you’re likely to gather most, such as the kitchen, dining room, and living room.
Make room.
From bulky packages arriving in the mail to decorations of all sizes and greeting cards, the holidays often involve a degree of disruption to your usual living space. Take some time to carve out space to house all of these holiday-related extras so that your home doesn’t end up feeling cluttered and messy.
Prep the fridge.
Holiday entertaining, baking and all-around indulging often means a fridge and freezer packed to the max. Before you start stocking up, take an hour or two to clean out your refrigerator and freezer. This will ensure that you have ample space for incoming groceries, as well as a frozen casserole or two for unexpected company or nights when you’re too exhausted to cook.
Clear space for decorations.
Holiday decorations make our homes come alive with sparkle and warmth, but not when they conflict with existing items. In order to ensure that your holiday decorations enhance instead of detract from your interior ambience, clear appropriate spaces by removing framed photos, knick knacks and plants.
Throughout the holiday season, Kondo also advises to “accept the unexpected,” whether it be a canceled flight or a burned roast. Remember that holiday spirit doesn’t come from external factors, but from within.