When The Holidays Are Over

IT’S TIME TO CLEAN UP!

After all the excitement of the holidays — spending quality time with family and friends, enjoying delicious food and drink, and giving and receiving presents — your happy glow can quickly disappear when guests are gone and you have to deal with the cleanup. Getting your home back into tip-top shape can be challenging, but these tips will help when your guests and gifts are gone, and you’re left behind with the mess.

Clean as you go

Hopefully, you’ve been cleaning as you go, so that this tip isn’t a surprise for you. As you prepare the holiday meal, wash the pots, utensils, dishes, and cutting boards as you go. Instead of stacking dirty dishes or glasses on the counter, put them in the dishwasher immediately.

Take down the holiday lights and decorations

Make next year easier on yourself when you clean up this year’s decorations.

• Take pictures of your lights and decorations. Then print them out and put them in your holiday bins, or save the pictures to an album on your phone. The images will cut down the time you spend decorating next year.

• When you take down a string of lights, wrap them around a paper towel tube or a piece of cardboard to keep them untangled and easy to unravel next

December.

by Debbie Sardone

• Label your holiday bins with the specific room or area where you use those decorations and lights. Pack and unpack them accordingly.

Deal with holiday cards

Collect all the holiday cards that arrived in the mail and make a list of who you received cards from. You can use this as a starting point for next year’s holiday card list. Then toss those cards in the recycling bin, immediately clearing your mantle and counters from the festive clutter.

Get rid of unwanted gifts

Don’t feel guilty if you received a gift that you don’t want. Return it, donate it, or re-gift it. And since you’re already headed to Goodwill with unwanted gifts, save yourself a trip and get rid of old items that you received replacements for.

Hire a professional service to clean your home

Let’s face it — all the spills in the kitchen and increased traffic through the bathrooms left your home a mess. Instead of bravely facing the task of cleaning this by yourself, hire a cleaning company like Bucket & Bows Maid Service to deep clean your house. Let the professionals tackle cleaning kitchen cabinets, stove, oven, countertops, floors, dusting and vacuuming the living areas, cleaning toilets and sinks, and getting your house back in shape. What a great way to usher in the new year!

Smile ... and Relax

Remember how great it feels when the holidays are over and the cleanup is done? When you aren’t sidestepping twinkling Santas in the foyer, and you realize how big your rooms really are? Get the whole family involved. Order in some pizzas or subs and dance to some happy music. Happy holidays, and don’t sweat the cleanup!