Preparing your home for the holiday season can be expensive and stressful – especially when the months of November and December seem to just fly by. That’s why preparing everything early and sticking to a budget can take an enormous burden off your shoulders.
From the basics like decking the halls with Christmas figurines to decorating your interior space, here are five ways you can get your home holiday-ready without scrambling (and splurging) before Christmas.
1. Declutter the Living Areas
The first step to getting your home Christmas-ready is to take a good look at your living areas. If you’ve accumulated too much clutter over the year that you probably won’t use again, toss it, sell it, or give it to a charity organization.
If you don’t want to get rid of it, give useful items a designated space. This works particularly well in closets and the kitchen – giving every cup and dish its own space will make cleaning up after the holiday celebrations that much easier.
Decluttering your space is vital because it will help you become more organized. Plus, it will also be so much easier to decorate when there’s less stuff in the way!
2. Decorate Inside
Although you may be tempted to spend a lot of time on decorating to give every room a festive touch, try decorating just the main areas like the living room, dining room, and hallway.
Using garlands, holiday-themed throw cushions, and your Christmas tree should be enough to create an inviting space in the living room. Then, add figurines and other festive touches to other high-traffic areas – like the kitchen, hallway, and dining room.
For other areas of the house, you can opt for something simple – like a winter-scented candle.
3. Stock Your Pantry
Stocking up on pantry essentials well before Christmas will help you avoid last-minute shopping. Buy non-perishable groceries in bulk when they are on sale, and freeze perishables like vegetables and meat.
You should also look out for sales and discounts from your local grocery stores ahead of time to avoid the Christmas rush (and markups.)
4. Make Meals Ahead of Time
An excellent way to save time and reduce stress during the busiest period of the holidays is to prepare meals in advance and freeze them. Soups and casseroles are inexpensive to make and can be frozen for more than six weeks.
If you prepare food in advance, you can move the food to the fridge in the morning to defrost and pop it in the oven in the evening – and there will also be no mess to clean up.
Just be sure to wrap each meal well in a layer of foil or plastic before freezing, so it doesn’t get freezer burn.
5. Decorate Outdoors
When decorating outdoors, you can save time and money by being strategic with your decorations. Instead of purchasing several expensive wreaths, opt for one for your front door that has lights built in – this way, your décor will look festive during the day and at night.
You can decorate your planters and other outdoor areas with natural decorations like pine cones, birch logs, and evergreen sprigs.
Keep being AllDayChic!
