The time of year has come when friends and family will infiltrate my barriers of introversion and be all up in my home space. The air is growing colder, the holidays are approaching, and I will be inviting loved ones over to my house, in order to avoid the massive, anxiety-inducing crowds of public recreation areas. They will come over for drinks, they will come over for dinner, they will come over to make crafts and bake cookies. I must properly prepare for this invasion.

Step 1: Declutter

Thankfully, the hoarding gene more or less skipped me and I have relatively minimal “why do I have this?” items cluttering up my space. However, this is real life and there are a few things scattered about that need to be put away in their designated areas…and other things that are just unsightly and must be hidden.

Step 2: Deep Clean

Weekly home cleaning is a given. During my holiday home prep I will be taking it up a notch. I plan to:

• Deep vacuum my rugs with a baking soda deodorizing step, because pets.

• Clean out my coat closet, for there are way more than coats in there right now and it’s not cute (or practical).

• Organize and wipe down my kitchen cabinets. Seeing as food is the main event, for three entire months, my kitchen is going to be working overtime and I need to organize it with efficiency in mind.

Step 3: Decorate

The final step is an enjoyable one. After all of the cleaning and organizing, I will let my creativity take the lead as I adorn my home with festive decor.

-Candles: I will carefully place every candle I own all throughout my main living area. Candlelit rooms will provide a feeling of warmth for my visitors, while also camouflaging any spots that I forgot to clean in steps one and two.

-Throw blankets/pillows: As I have made clear in previous posts, soft fluffy throw blankets are already accessible across the span of my living room. I will add seasonal throw pillows to the mix, for extra softness, additional texture, and to further enable a quick nap for myself between houseguests.

-Wreaths/seasonal foliage: As the months change, I will add and switch out various wreaths and blooms throughout the interior and exterior of my home. This decor will wow visitors and passersby alike.

Upon completion of steps one through three of my Holiday Home Prep, I will take a brief break, as rest is an essential component of productivity. Next, I will turn my focus to other important tasks of the season: recipe curation, gift recommendations, etc. Stay tuned.