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Most homeowners don't have large blocks of time to refresh their homes to welcome holiday guests. Fortunately, with a few simple fixes, any home can be a holiday haven of hospitality. Here are some ideas on how to prepare for the holidays whether north or south of the Equator
Start by entering your home the way guests would enter. Go outside to the front sidewalk and take a good look at the house. Is the lightbulb burned out over the porch? Are the porch corners full of spider webs (and Halloween is long past)? Has dirt collected on the sidewalk and the porch? In short, does the front of the home need a good cleaning and sprucing up? Then get out the broom, the snow shovel, the ladder, the clippers for dead branches, and any other tools needed to give the front of the house a good cleanup. Invest in a new welcome mat or choose a handsome outdoor rug in a holiday theme.
Next, if you're in the part of the world where it's cold when Christmas comes, freshen up those scraggly looking planters. Toss the dried-up chrysanthemums of autumn. Replace them with a few pots of poinsettias or some evergreen swags or sprays. Be sure to tie big red bows around the plants. Pots of poinsettias or other vivid flowers also may work in places where Christmas comes during summer vacation
Now step inside the door and take another good look. Does the entryway look like a whirlwind has blown through? If so, get a big trash bag and gather up all the mail and magazine, mittens and Macintoshes lying about (or surfboards and sandals in the Global South). Hang them up or store them somewhere until the guests depart. And recycle all those outdated paper publications and mail adverts. And get a nice oval rug or other area rug for guests to step on as they come through the door.
Speaking of hanging things up, is there room in the coat closet for your guests' jackets? Make a space on the clothes rod for their coats, or move some of the family's gear to a bedroom temporarily. Don't overlook making space on the floor for boots, overshoes, umbrellas or other weather-related gear.
So your guests are inside the house; now where are they going to sit? If you're having more guests than you have living room seating, grab some chairs from the dining room, bedrooms, den or home office or even a few folding chairs from the closet. Don't worry about the furniture arrangement. Instead, put extra chairs out so that everyone can join in conversation or group games. When it's time to eat, get everyone to bring a chair back into the dining room.
Don't stress out trying to do a massive top-to-bottom cleaning, even if your guests are staying over. Instead, engage all the family members to do a quick once-over around the house before the guests arrive while you make certain that the guest bedroom and bath are in tip-top shape. Cleaning can wait until the guests depart.
Finally, rather than spending hours putting up holiday decorations, set the mood by placing lots of candles all around the house. Light the candles, dim the lights, and everyone will feel festive immediately!
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