Every year the holidays sneak up on me a little more. Instead of enjoying them, I end up running around last minute doing a bunch of tiny things that would have been so easy to do months ago. Like right now. So this year I wrote a holiday home prep checklist and I’m doing a couple of items each week, so that by Thanksgiving I can actually sit back, cook, host my family, and enjoy the day instead of being worn out before it even starts.
None of these are big projects. Most take ten minutes or less. They’re the kind of small, slightly annoying things that turn into a scramble when guests are pulling into the driveway. Pick two this week, two next week, and see how different the house feels by November.
How to Use This Holiday Home Prep Checklist
Thanksgiving is about eight weeks away, which is plenty of time if you spread this out. I’m tackling two tasks a week, starting with the ones that annoy me most. If you only have time for a few, skip to the sections you need and come back for the rest.
Touch Up the Walls and Entry
The first things guests see are the walls and the front door area. Two quick fixes make a surprising difference.
1. Touch Up Paint Nicks With Paint Pens
Every house has them: the scuff behind the door, the nick where a vacuum bumped the wall, the mystery mark at about toddler height. A paint pen fixes all of it in about a minute without dragging out a full can, roller, and drop cloth.
Just fill your pen up with your paint (stir it first) and paint over the mark just like you would paint nail polish. Rinse the tip of the paint pen off when done, put the cap on, and store in a drawer for future touch-ups. Because I use so many different sheens of the same color I like to keep my pens labeled. This little label maker has been great!
Paint Pens make for easy last minute touch-ups. Keep colors for your most high traffic rooms in a kitchen drawer for no stress touch-ups!
2. Put Fresh Rug Grippers Under Your Rugs
If you have a rug that slides, or an indoor/outdoor rug that creeps across the floor, this is your sign. Old grippers dry out and lose their grip over time, and a moving rug is a real tripping hazard, especially with extra people in your house.
Flip each rug over, peel off whatever is left of the old gripper, and put in fresh ones. Start with your entryway and any rug near the kitchen, since those get the most foot traffic once guests arrive. These are my favorite rug grippers to keep on hand.
After trying a few different brands I’ve found these ones works best
Get the Kitchen Ready Before Hosting Season
Your kitchen works the hardest from Thanksgiving through New Year’s. A little attention now keeps everything running smoothly when you’re cooking for a crowd.
3. Sharpen Your Knives
There is nothing worse than a dull knife, and frankly, it’s more dangerous than a sharp one. A dull blade slips, and that’s how fingers get cut. Try slicing a tomato and you’ll know right away if it’s time.
I use a Tumbler knife sharpener because it’s really easy to use, even if you’ve never sharpened a knife in your life. Two minutes and your chef’s knife is ready for all the chopping a holiday meal requires.
This knife sharpening kit delivers professional results and is so simple to use.
4. Condition Your Cutting Boards
This one gets overlooked all the time. Wood boards dry out and get brittle, and then they crack, stain, and hold onto odors. A little food-safe mineral oil goes a long way toward keeping them looking new.
Pour some on, rub it in with a soft cloth, and let it soak in overnight. In the morning, wipe off the extra. Do this before the holidays and your boards will look great on the counter or as a serving piece. This one bottle will last you for years!
Same cutting board before and after using this mineral oil
5. Run a Dishwasher Cleaning Tab
Your dishwasher is about to run more than it has all year, so it’s worth giving it a reset. I use cleaning tabs that you drop in and run, with or without dishes. It clears out the buildup you can’t see, and the inside looks sparkly new.
It takes about thirty seconds of effort. Toss one in, start the cycle, and forget about it.
Hard water build up on the dishwasher before and after using the cleaning tabs
Prep Your Guest Spaces
Guests notice the small stuff in the spaces they use most: the bathroom, the bedside, the spots where you’d never think to look until you have company.
6. Add Night Lights to the Guest Bathroom
Nobody wants to stumble around a bathroom they don’t know in the dark, and nobody wants to flip on a blinding overhead light at 2 a.m. A night light is the small, thoughtful touch your guests will appreciate without ever mentioning it.
A cute night light will go a long ways for your guests
Plug one into the guest bath and the hallway leading to it, and you’re done. Or, if you have a GFCI outlet these ones are pretty swanky. The lights automatically turn on when the room is dark and adjust as the room brightens!
This GFCI outlet cover has LED nightlights that automatically adjust on/off depending on the room darkness. They were easy to install and feel so fancy!
7. Stock the Tissue Boxes
Tissues disappear the moment cold season hits, and running out in the middle of a family gathering is easy to avoid. I keep a box in the guest room, the living room, and the bathroom.
I also love dressing them up. I found leather tissue box holders for under $10 on Amazon, and they make a basic cardboard box look like it belongs in the room. I love them so much I have them in 3 different colors!
Keep tissue boxes stocked in both guest spaces as well as high traffic areas like TV rooms, kitchens and powder rooms. I like dressing mine up with these leather covers.
8. Restock the Guest Bath Essentials
Go through the guest bathroom like you’re a guest. Is there hand soap? Fresh hand towels? Extra toilet paper where someone can actually find it? A few minutes now means you won’t be digging through the linen closet while everyone waits for dinner.
This is also a good place to treat yourself to something nicer than usual. Good hand towels are a small upgrade that makes the space feel considered.
Hand Towel | Peonies | Vase | Crystal Slab | Wallpaper | Toilet | Walnut Toilet Seat
9. Stock Extra Light Bulbs
There’s a special kind of annoying in discovering a burnt-out bulb in the dining room an hour before guests arrive, with no spare in the house. Walk through the main rooms now, replace anything dim or dead, and keep a few spares of each size in one spot.
If you want to get really fancy, you can buy lightbulbs that you can program. I recently installed two sets of Philips Hue lightbulbs in bedroom and the living room. I programed the lamps to come on at sunset and turn off at 10:30pm. It feels so welcoming seeing them gently turn on automatically as it starts to get darker earlier. You can control them from an app, change colors, brightness and more!
The Safety Stuff That’s Easy to Forget
These aren’t the pretty tasks, but they’re the ones that matter most with a full house.
10. Test Your Smoke and CO Detectors
Hold the test button on every smoke and carbon monoxide detector, and replace the batteries if you hear a weak chirp or nothing at all. Check the date on the back too, since detectors don’t last forever and most need replacing after about ten years.
It takes five minutes, and you won’t have to think about it again until next year.
11. Swap the HVAC Filter
A fresh return vent filter helps your system run better and keeps the air cleaner, which matters when the house is full and the windows are shut. Check the size printed on the side of your old one, swap it, and write the date on the new one. You should be doing this every 3 months (just in case you didn’t know). I always buy a 3 or 5 pack just so I have extras on hand when it comes time to swap.
12. Test Your Holiday Lights
Pull out the bins now and plug everything in before you’re standing on a ladder in the cold. Finding out a strand is dead while you’re halfway through decorating is exactly the kind of last-minute stress this whole list is meant to avoid. Toss the ones that don’t work and order replacements early.
Stress-Free Holiday Prep: My Week-by-Week Plan
Here’s how I’m spreading it out. The first couple of weeks go to the things that bug me most, like the paint nicks, the knives, and the rugs. The middle weeks cover the kitchen and guest spaces. The last two weeks are for the safety checks and lights, so they’re done well before decorating starts and long before Thanksgiving week.
If you fall behind, that’s okay. Even getting five or six done is five or six fewer things to think about in November.
Holiday Prep FAQ
When should I start preparing my house for the holidays?
Right now is ideal. Starting in early October gives you about eight weeks before Thanksgiving, which means you only need to do a couple of tasks a week.
What should I do first?
Start with whatever you’ll notice most or whatever could cause a problem, like loose rugs or dull knives. Safety items go near the top of the list.
Do I need to do all 12?
No. Pick the ones that make sense for your home and skip the rest.
The holidays will be here before we know it! Prep now so you can enjoy the moments that count.
Before the Holidays Sneak Up on You
Here’s what I’ve learned: the holidays feel stressful because of the tiny things we put off, not because of the big ones. A dead bulb, a sliding rug, a dull knife. None of them are hard. They just pile up at the worst possible time.
So do two this week. Sharpen the knives, fix the nick behind the door, and run the dishwasher tab while you’re at it. Come Thanksgiving, you’ll be the one with a clean kitchen, a calm house, and the time to actually enjoy the people in it.
Related Posts:
How To Clean & Protect Leather Furniture
How To Style Pumpkins on a Porch Staircase
