How To Clean Your House For Guests This Holiday Season: 7 Quick Tips

Yes, getting your home prepared for guests this holiday season can actually be stress-free. If you have ever wondered how to clean your house FAST for when guests come to visit, follow these simple tips to clean house fast.

It’s that time of year to get festive and host friends and family for holiday events. Unfortunately, the holiday cheer can often be lost in the frantic stress of trying to prepare for visitors. The holiday season is busy and stressful enough without worrying about how to get your home ready for guests on top of everything else you need to do.

If you are like me, time is in short supply, and finding out the quickest and most efficient cleaning hacks are super helpful for getting ready without taking a lot of time.

Here is a simple game plan to help you clean your house fast and show you how to always be ready for house guests throughout this holiday season (and beyond!).

Tips to Clean House Fast and Easy This Holiday Season

First of all, get your mind ready and your game-face on. You have a clearly defined goal here: to clean your house quickly as you prepare to host guests during the holidays.

With so much going on during the holiday season, you’ll need a solid yet simple gameplan to get it all done in as little time as possible.

Here are 7 steps to help you whip your house into guest-ready shape in no time so you can get back to the important stuff: having fun and enjoying the holiday season!

Declutter

Two important tips here: Don’t start this process the day before your guests arrive (start much earlier), and do only focus on the areas that yield the most benefit or importance.

Follow the path of your guests and declutter the public areas and guest spaces: the foyer, kitchen, living room, dining room, bathrooms, and guest bedrooms.

Instead of focusing on deep cleaning your home, start, instead, by de-cluttering problem areas and getting rid of things that take up valuable space. A de-cluttered room often gives the illusion of being clean even if it isn’t.

Remove anything unnecessary from countertops and coffee tables. Sort and clear out excess mail, newspapers, and magazines. Put away things that accumulate at the collection points of your home (entryways, counters, the bottom of the stairs, etc).

As you do this, focus on one area or task at a time. Trying to multi-task here will only leave you with a list of half-completed projects. Start in one room and once it’s done move on to the next.

If you run short of time, bag up the clutter and store it in car trunks, basements, or out-of-the-way closets. Sort and arrange through that stuff after your guests leave.

In our home, our catch-all areas are the kitchen counters and the bottom of the stairs. Here are some great tips for clearing off your counters and keeping them clean.

Get the Kitchen Ready

The kitchen is the heart of the home, at least ours is. During the holiday season, I spend a lot of time baking yummy treats and cooking for my family and guests. Take a little bit of time to go through your fridge and pantry to get rid of spoiled or expired food. Then organize both so you know exactly where that vanilla extract is or where the eggnog is hiding.

Add Nighttime Lights

You may know your home like the back of your hand, but your guests don’t. Make sure outside lights are working so visitors don’t trip on the way to your door. Also, put night lights in hallways, bathrooms, and bedrooms to ensure your guests can walk around safely after it gets dark.

Get The Bathrooms Ready

This is a great place to ask “what should I have ready in preparation for overnight guests?”.

After you clean your bathrooms, prep them for guests by making it easy for them to find whatever they may need. Anticipate their needs by stocking the bathroom with extra toiletries they may have forgotten at home such as:

toothbrushes
toothpaste
lotions
shampoo
conditioner
body wash or bars of soap
feminine products

Next, bring toilet paper, clean towels, and extra toiletries out into the open on shelves or in open baskets around the bathroom so guests can find them easily.

Finally, make sure the soap dispenser is full and each toilet has a toilet wand and a plunger (to avoid embarrassing moments)

Clean the Guest Rooms (clean house for guests)

As you prepare your home for having overnight visitors, here are some guest room ideas to help you get ready.

Wash your bed linens and put fresh sheets on the bed. Fluff the pillows. Add a few magazines or books to the bedroom as well as an alarm clock, facial tissues, and a reading lamp. Consider adding a fan or white noise machine to help your guests sleep better in an unfamiliar environment. Also, mop the floor to avoid any smells.

These small amenities will help your guests feel more comfortable and enjoy their stay.

Don’t forget to Add a Festive Touch

It’s better to decorate earlier than later when you’re expecting guests around the holidays. If you wait too long, you’ll feel stressed about trying to get everything done, or run out of time, or both and end up barely being able to get the tree up (forget about that winter village or anything other decorations this year).

Just know you will be busier than you probably think juggling other things as you get closer to the holidays; it’s better to get started early with your decorating efforts than it is to wait.

Childproof your home when possible

If you have guests coming with babies or toddlers, make child-safety preparations in advance. As someone who has traveled with small children, it’s stressful to stay in an unfamiliar place and have to watch your energetic kids extra carefully because there are dangers or breakable objects within reach.

As a host, make your guests’ stay as comfortable and relaxing as possible by covering exposed electrical outlets, moving lamps and vases away from table edges, temporarily putting breakable objects out of reach, and blocking stairways to prevent dangerous falls.

Clean House Tips for Guests During The Holidays

Once you have done all the hard work of cleaning and prepping for your holiday guests, then all you have to do is maintain your home through the holidays. But you are still living in your home after all; I don’t want to leave your wondering how to clean your house for guests right before they arrive.

Before your visitors get to the house, take a quick walkthrough of all the areas where guests will be in your home and tidy it up.

A light dusting and vacuuming, a quick wipe-down of the bathrooms, and wrapping up with double-checking your guest bedrooms should be enough. Stuff any clutter into grocery totes and toss them in a closet until your guests leave.

Finally: deodorize. Have you ever walked into someone’s house and been overpowered by the smell? Prevent that experience for your guests by neutralizing smells in your home while you are doing your final preparations.

In addition to the house cleaning tips above, light a fresh-smelling candle (citrus scents work wonders) in the entryway while you clean then blow it out when you are done.