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My goal was to have this post up last week so everyone could have two weeks to work on it before Thanksgiving. Obviously, life was busy and that did not happen. Several readers commented on Week #6 that they wished they had found this series sooner, and I realized that some were feeling behind. Instead of continuing with week 7, this week is a special holiday edition that focuses on getting everything ready for holiday company. If you want to read the other weeks in this series, the links will be at the bottom of this post. Want access to the special holiday checklist? Sign up for my newsletter!
This is the last checklist for 2017 since the next 7 weeks will be crazy busy for the holidays. The 7 Tasks series will return in January to help you tackle those New Year organizing goals. 🙂
Ok, let’s get our homes ready for holiday company!
#1-The Sink
Yep, we are going to revisit a few tasks from Week #1 of this series. Since your kitchen and main areas will see the most visitors during the holidays, we are going to really focus on them. We are going to start again with cleaning the kitchen sink. When your sink is clean, it makes the whole kitchen seem better. It also tends to have a domino effect on the rest of the kitchen. Scrub it down and make it shine. As I mentioned previously, I have a quartz sink so I use THIS cleaner to polish my sink and make it shine.
If you have noticed the flow in the faucet getting lower, check it for hard water build up. Clean it with vinegar to remove hard water.
#2-The Fridge
In Week #1, we focused on cleaning the inside of the fridge. Since it has been a couple months, it probably needs it again. This task is especially important since Thanksgiving is coming up next week. Clean out all the expired food and wipe down the shelves. Starting out the week with a clean fridge that has plenty of room for holiday food will make life a lot less stressful. Going through the freezer is also a good idea to make room for any food you are purchasing this week. If you have a few minutes, clean up some of the random papers on the outside and wipe down the front of the fridge and the handles. If you have a water and ice dispenser on the front, chances are it needs a good cleaning too. Yes, mine is really bad.
The piece with the holes does come out, so I soaked it overnight in vinegar and gave it a quick scrub in the morning with an old toothbrush. So much better!
#3-The Stove
We haven’t tackled the stove yet in this series, so it is definitely time. The stove will likely be getting lots of use in the next few weeks. Wipe down the top and front to help your kitchen feel clean. Wipe out the inside of the oven and deep clean if necessary. It will probably make things taste a little better. Also, if you have a drawer on the bottom, wipe out the crumbs that happen to collect there.
#4-Table and Chairs
If you have little kids, then the chairs in your home are likely sticky. I wipe down our table and chairs every time I mop the kitchen floor as part of my routine. Take time to wipe everything down well this week so that your table is ready for those holiday guests.
#5-Walls in Main Areas
You probably don’t have tons of extra time to wash down all of the walls in your house this week. So for this task, just walk around your home and wipe down the spots on your walls and doors that really need it. In my house, the pantry door and a few other places get a lot of sticky handprints, so I am going to walk around this week and wipe off anything that catches my eye.
#6-Dust and Vacuum
As you do your weekly cleaning this week, make sure you dust everything well and vacuum. I try to do that every week, but sometimes things get missed. So take some extra time this week, and make sure everything gets dusted and vacuumed.
#7-Bedding
Wash the bedding in the guest room so that it is clean and fresh for holiday guests. If your guests are staying in your kids’ rooms, make sure that bedding is clean and the room is straightened up.
Most importantly, try to relax and enjoy the holidays with your family and friends. To access this week’s checklist and the other weekly printables, just sign up below. Email newsletters are sent every 2-3 weeks and I promise not to spam you! 🙂 Wishing you a wonderful holiday season!
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