How to Prepare Your Home for Holiday Entertaining

The holidays will be here sooner than you think, which means it’s time to start thinking about buying gifts, seeing family, and decorating your home with Christmas lights and all your other Christmas decorations. If you’re planning on hosting any holiday parties, you should also consider what you need to do to properly prepare your home. While you might have several Christmas party ideas in mind, there’s a lot more that goes into holiday entertaining.

To make sure your event is a success, there are a few steps you should take in preparation. Besides shopping around our amazing selection of pro-grade Christmas lights and decorations for your indoor and outdoor Christmas displays, here are a few ways to get started.

Plan Ahead

The holidays are one of the busiest times of year, which means it can become even more stressful if you procrastinate. To make sure your event goes smoothly, it’s best to plan ahead and complete tasks gradually, rather than waiting until the last minute. Being proactive can prevent additional stress from hosting your holiday party and will make organizing your event much less hectic.

Once you choose a date for your event, think about the logistics and decide if there will be a theme, plan out any games or activities, and figure out if anyone needs to spend the night. To keep yourself organized, set deadlines for certain tasks for your party like creating a guest list, sending out invites, buying ingredients or supplies, and decorating your home with an amazing Christmas display.

Think about how many people will be attending and make sure you have enough seating space. Consider stocking up on cups, plates, utensils, napkins, and other essentials. If you’re hosting a dinner party, decide what dishes you want to cook ahead of time so you can purchase the proper ingredients and plan your menu. You can also create a checklist for these duties to keep you on track and to ensure everything is completed in a timely manner.

Clean Your Home

This may seem obvious, but cleaning is a vital part of getting your home ready for holiday entertaining. No one wants to see clutter or trash while celebrating, so it’s important to tidy up your space before you welcome guests.

You don’t need to clean your entire house, but definitely give some attention to the rooms where guests will be frequently. This might include your kitchen, living room, bathroom, and any other common areas. When cleaning, try to remove any clutter to create an open space where guests can move around freely. Push your couch and chairs up against the walls for extra space for mingling and dancing. If you’re having a larger party, you may want to store away extra items and valuables to protect them and create an even larger area for guests. Along with removing clutter, you should also vacuum and dust your furniture and other surfaces to make sure your home is clean and organized.

Decorate Your Space for the Holidays

Decorating your home is one of the best parts about hosting holiday parties. Having the right decorations can completely transform your space and can get people in a festive mood!
Depending on your personal style and design aesthetic, there are many Christmas party decorations you can choose from. Using some garland, putting up a Christmas tree, hanging ornaments, and using other holiday-themed items can give your home a festive touch. If you’re having a theme, you can plan your decorations around that or you can choose a holiday color scheme like silver and gold, red and green, or blue and white.

The addition of Christmas party lights can also make your home stand out and wow your guests. For instance, the Twinkly Home product line offers a ton of amazing decoration opportunities to enhance holiday parties and elevate your indoor/outdoor home space. These RGB lights are customizable and controllable with an app on your smartphone, so you can create an unlimited amount of dazzling lighting effects.

Twinkly lights can help you create custom party color lighting for whatever theme you have and turn your Christmas tree into a party centerpiece. These Twinkly Home lights also have a music dongle that lets you sync your lights to your choice of music, which will be sure to impress your guests and get the party in full swing.

Along with physical decorations and music, you can also set the mood in your home with a holiday scent. Light a few candles or put some cookies in the oven to create a welcoming smell to invite your guests in. Candles can also give your home more warmth and can create a cozy atmosphere which will be sure to make guests feel comfortable. Don’t forget about the outside of your home either. You can give your guests a dazzling first impression before they even step foot into your home with an outdoor Christmas lights display and other decorations.

Make Home Improvements

Last but not least, you should make necessary repairs and consider making a few upgrades to your home before welcoming guests. If you’ve put off certain home improvement projects, now is the perfect time to complete them so your guests can see your home in its best condition.

Especially if you have friends or family staying in your home, you’ll want to make them feel comfortable and make a good impression. An air mattress or the couch may have been doable when you were younger, but especially if your parents and in-laws are visiting, you’ll want to offer them better amenities.

If your house is short on space, you might want to consider making an addition onto your home or at least renovating your basement or attic into a spare bedroom. If you’re truly invested in giving your guests a five-star experience, adding in a separate bathroom is a great way to make them feel more at home. Especially if you plan on hosting people often or even if you’re thinking about having kids, this space can be a wise long-term investment.

While these updates may seem pricey, remember that they can increase the resale value of your home and make your space the perfect place for entertaining. Since holiday spending can be overwhelming, don’t worry about dipping into your gifting budget to pay for these renovations.

If you own your home, you can actually take advantage of your home’s equity to fund these upgrades. This financing option is particularly helpful because you can deduct the interest when used for home improvements, and use the money for any purpose, meaning it can also be used to purchase presents, decorations, or any other holiday expenses.

Ready to Start Your Christmas Party Plan?

The holiday season is an exciting time of year, especially when you can make your Christmas party ideas come to life. Although planning may be stressful, there are ways to make the process more manageable. As long as you properly prepare your home and add festive decorations, your party will be a success.

While you’re getting your home ready for the holidays, the experts at Christmas Designers are hard at work to help you create the Christmas display of your dreams. For more tips and Christmas decorating suggestions, stop by our YouTube channel. We’re always adding new and creative ideas for making this the brightest holiday season yet. You can also reach out to us at info@christmasdesigners.com with any questions.