“This post is sponsored by Stanley Steamer. they graciously cleaned my disgusting carpets so I could write about my experience with them. All opinions are my own.”
The hustle and bustle of the holidays leaves our houses TORN APART! Am I right? Who has time to clean in December? If you do, you need to share your secrets with me. We are wrapping gifts so there is stuff all over my bedroom floor. We are baking Christmas goodies so my kitchen is always a disaster. There are Christmas decorations being pulled off the shelves and played with all the time. It’s a mess most of December.
But we have company coming to stay with us and the family parties are at my house so I am thinking ahead of time to get the house looking it’s best before everyone arrives. Here are the top 5 tips I’ve found
1. Make sure your bathrooms are supplied with products for guests.
I know that it seems like a small thing, but if you think about it, no one wants to use a bar of soap in the shower that the whole family is using. So be sure to supply your bathroom with the things a guest needs and that it’s just for them. You can buy cute little travel size shampoos, conditioners, body washes, toothpaste, toothbrush etc. You know that sometimes people forget things when they travel.
Be sure there are fresh towels for them to use. We love to use Downy Unstoppables (affiliate link) in our laundry to keep our towels smelling fresh for as long as possible.
2. Clean your Carpets!
Here’s a few fun facts that will gross you out. The stomach flu virus can live on your uncleaned carpets for a month or more. Each year, several pounds of soil can accumulate in and under a carpet. And a person can shed up to 1.5 million skin flakes in an hour. All of that skin falls onto your carpet for dust mites to eat. Gross huh! No wonder it’s recommended to have your carpets professionally cleaned every 12-18 months. Well, guess how long it had been since I cleaned our carpets? Two and a half years. I’m never letting that much time pass again. That’s disgusting.
Because the carpet in your house can hold onto smells and dirt, it’s important to get them cleaned before guests come. You and your guests will feel more comfortable with clean floors in your house.
I have the WORST carpet for a family in my house. I like that it’s a short pile carpet, but it’s cream colored. CREAM COLORED people. Any little thing that drops on the floor is noticeable. I am constantly vacuuming and spot cleaning. I have everyone remove their shoes as they come in, but I have little kids and teenagers breaking the rules and eating in these rooms when I’m not looking. So my carpets had become pretty bad looking. You can see from these pictures how bad they were. After time, you don’t even realize it’s getting bad in the corners under the desk!
Before pictures:
I had been contemplating ripping the carpets out of the house and seeing what was under them. We live in an old house so it could be hard wood. But I don’t have the energy to do that this time of year. So we decided to have someone come and clean our carpets professionally.
We looked at a few different companies but ended up choose Stanley Steemer for a few very important reasons. One, their carpet cleaning is certified asthma and allergy friendly to remove an average of 94% of common household allergens.
The carpets dry within 24 hours so your house can be back to normal the next day. You don’t have to move the big furniture. They do that for you and move it back with little foam pieces under the legs of the furniture to protect the carpet and the furniture.
Stanley Steemer cares about the corners in your house. You would never think about that, but their hoses have to turn around corners and they protect those corners with heavy plastic buffers.
I also chose to have them deodorize my carpets at an additional cost. Since we do live in an old house and I’m not sure how old the carpet really is, it was important to me for them to deodorize the carpet. They don’t just mask the smell, they remove it. You can choose to just clean the carpets or you can add deodorize and you can add protect. We chose it all! These cream colored carpets are going to look good for a long time, dang it!!
You can see that they got my carpets really clean. They had their work cut out for them because of the color of the carpet, but I pleased with the results.
After pictures:
This was the worst area of my carpet. If there was any food on the ground in the kitchen, people would track it out onto the carpet and this is the main walkway from the front door to the kitchen and the great room so it was pretty dirty, even though we didn’t allow shoes in the house. I tried to spot clean it but could never get it all the way clean. They got every little stain out! Hurray!
Stanley Steemer cleans more than just carpets. You can get your furniture cleaned including leather furniture. They also clean tile and grout, air ducts, hardwood, natural stone, area rugs and even your car, truck or boat. Check out their website to see if they are right for you.
3. Spruce up your entryway inside and out.
Your entryway is the first thing guests see when they walk into your house. De-clutter the entryway to make sure there is enough room for guests coats and boots and that there is a place to drop their things. Have a candle or plug in in the entry way so they smell something good as soon as they walk in. Have a wreath or other beautiful decoration on your door and front porch to make them feel welcome.
Here is a beautiful entryway designed by my friend Toni at Design Dazzle.
Here is her entryway from a few years ago too. Isn’t she amazing?
Does your entryway need to look perfect like this, NO. (I just love her designs so much I wanted to share) But there are a few things you can do to make guests feel welcome as soon as they walk into your house.
4. Stock your pantry and fridge with things your guests like.
I think it’s always a good idea to ask your guests what their favorite foods and drinks are before they come so you can have those on hand when they arrive. Maybe a fun little gift basket with their favorite things in it waiting on their bed when they arrive. How much would you love that if you were a guest? I would for sure!
5. Keep things simple.
Have your family help you clean the house. Don’t feel like you have to do everything yourself. Keep the meals simple. Use the slowcooker for a lot of meals, make pancakes for breakfast and eat out so you are not in the kitchen the whole time. Use paper plates as often as possible so you aren’t doing dishes the whole Christmas break. Try to get all the sheets and laundry done before the guests come so you can spend as much time with them as possible.
The most important thing to remember is to just enjoy your guests when they are here. Don’t concern yourself about keeping everything perfect while they are here. You did all that work before they came.
What are some things you do to get ready for holiday guests in your home. Leave me a comment and I’ll add it to this list.
I am also hosting a Christmas dinner this time for friends and family. With everything going around, I just wish everyone to have the best of their times while being at my placed. Till now, I have added a few art décor items to my living rooms and have decided on what recipes should I serve. You post will definitely put things in right perspective for me. Else I would have forgot few things for sure.