Prepare your house for…holidays in 5 steps

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Hello everyone! I’m so sorry for not writing constantly lately…the truth is that life has changed a lot in the last months (almost a year now) and I believe this happened to all of you. Some say it’s better working from home, others totally disagree, others didn’t get the chance to work from home… Let’s say I am somewhere in the middle between those who love their home-office and those who miss being in the same place with their work team. However, this is not the topic of article today’s article, I am just trying to justify my unfair behaviour towards you and share some of the feelings that have overwhelmed most of us in the recent period. Instead I would like to write about something more enjoyable, something that gives me hope for the best: the fact that soon holidays are coming. I know they will be different and probably without family gatherings but they still give me faith and I will ask all of you: please be careful what you wish for in 2021 😅 let’s all make a better effort this time! 🤭

However, I’ve let myself loose in writing and I still haven’t told you what I am writing about: today is about how to get your house prepared for the holidays 🤩. Either you will be by yourself this year or with your companion or a friend or your closest family, preparing the house is part of the process. And I must say that we might already be late for starting. Just kidding…or maybe not since tomorrow is December already. It depends on what you usually do with your house in this period. I remember as a child at home we always used to make most of the preparations together and it was an alternative way of spending time with family, so I really loved it. I will not be home with my parents this year, but I will be for the first time in my own house and I am pretty excited about it.

So, step 1: make a plan! You need to be really organized, otherwise you risk getting lost on the way. I have actually made a list of the things I would like to do in each room of the house and I am starting to think about the things to be done each week or I won’t have enough time to do it all. This is because for me preparing the house for the holidays means first of all a total clean-up even in places that one does not get to touch during the all-days clean-up.

But let’s say this is the most exhausting part. The better one is

Step 2: when you start planning the decorations. At my house as a child we used to decorate the tree and everything almost at Christmas-Eve and we took them away in mid-January. However, in Italy, tradition is to decorate on the 8th of December and take off the decorations at the beginning of January. Well, let’s just say that since I am a person that knows how to make compromises, I am planning to take the best on both traditions and I will decorate on the 8th of December and take them off at mid-January… Just to be sure 🤭 the problem is: will I make it for the 8th? 😰

So…step 3: start making a real list…a shopping list: what do you exactly need in each room and what is it that you already have. It is not that easy to imagine and you don’t have to be extremely precise, but for example I know that I don’t have any decorations since it’s a new house and I know I want to decorate the door, buy a Christmas tree, decorate the windows and enlighten the terrace. I also know that I want some Christmas-cushions (they can be simply white and red or green without specific Christmas decorations, so that you can also use them in other occasions if you’d like to).

Also, I have already bought a fantastic warm plaid that will go perfect with the holidays atmosphere. Then, I would like to buy some decorations for the table, something that will contribute to the enhancement of the house. For example, I was thinking about this personalizable table runner with holidays decorations perfectly fit with the atmosphere.

Step 4: start shopping! Even though this is not a great moment to walk around shops, fortunately nowadays you can find anything online, so it is my full reccomendation to spend some hours online for your own health and you will see that you will find everything you need faster than you would have ever imagined. You will seem to lose part of the entertainment, but hey, look at the bright side: you will save a lot of time that can be invested into decorating or simply relaxing and taking a deep breath after finishing the clean-up.

Step 5: it’s time! Well, not yet, but soon it will be and I am pretty excited. Please send me photos and ideas of your own decorations, I would love to see them!

But until then, I wish you to stay healthy and hopefully next year’s holidays will turn around as they used to be: the greatest time of the year to spend with your family and friends.