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Today I want to talk about holiday house cleaning tips, specifically my Christmas cleaning checklist.
There’s so much to do around the holidays and often times, despite our best intentions, cleaning gets put on the back burner and we don’t leave enough time to get our homes clean so we leave a great impression.
But if you’re planning on the company over Thanksgiving and the Christmas holidays, it’s best to start thinking about what sort of game plan you’ll dive into so that you won’t be embarrassed when you open the door to guests.
So I thought I’d share my strategy with you on how we get our home ready for the holidays by sharing my Christmas Cleaning Checklist with you all!
The best part about this Christmas cleaning checklist is you can use it a variety of ways.
- You can use it just as it’s written and clean a room each day.
- You can combine days and clean several rooms in a day.
- You can clean the whole house top to bottom in one swoop.
- You can move rooms around to accommodate your specific cleaning needs and company requirements.
The Christmas cleaning checklist has you working backward, cleaning those areas that will be used by guests only first.
Here’s my seven-day Christmas cleaning checklist and strategy. Use this anytime during the holiday season whether you’re cleaning for Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Years!
As I said before, feel free to move days around to accommodate what will work best for your family.
And, make sure you get the help you need by setting out the expectation early that your family will help in preparing your home for the holidays.
You can find our Christmas Cleaning Checklist in our Resource Library. If you don’t have the password, simply sign up below and we’ll send you the password immediately. The checklist is part of our Holiday Planner – full of super useful resources to make your holiday less stressful and more joyful.
Table of Contents
CHRISTMAS CLEANING CHECKLIST
DAY 1 – Clean Guest Bedrooms & Guest Baths
- Vacuum/sweep and dust rooms thoroughly
- Empty Trash
- Scrub shower/tub, toilet, sinks, countertops
- Wash windows and mirrors
- Polish faucets, etc.
- Wash and change linens, rugs, and towels
- Replace burnt out light bulbs
- Replace old shower curtain liner
- Put out new soap, lotions, etc.
- Add a few holiday décor items
Once clean, close door and don’t allow family into or to use these rooms. This is super important or you’ll have to go back and clean it again – and who wants that?
If you don’t have a bedroom(s) or bathroom(s) that guests will use exclusively, clean those rooms closer to when guests arrive to ensure they are super clean.
DAY 2 – Clean Bedrooms
- Pick up clutter, toys, books, and clothes
- Empty Trash
- Vacuum and dust thoroughly
- Wash and change linens
- Straighten drawers, bookshelves, and closets
- Diffuse essential oils to freshen rooms
DAY 3 – Clean Upstairs Bathrooms (the ones your family uses -not guests bathrooms)
- Vacuum/sweep and dust thoroughly
- Empty Trash
- Scrub shower/tub, toilet, sinks, countertops
- Wash windows and mirrors
- Polish faucets, etc.
- Wash and change towels and rugs
- Replace burnt light bulbs
- Replace old shower curtain liner
- Put out new soap, lotions, etc.
- Add a few holiday décor items
If you and your guests will be sharing bathrooms, move this down a few days so that the bathrooms are fresh and clean when guests arrive.
DAY 4 – Clean Dining Room
- Pick up clutter, toys, magazines, mail, etc.
- Vacuum and dust rooms thoroughly
- Vacuum drapes, upholstered furniture and under furniture
- Wash/dust blinds and baseboards and polish tables
- Wash windows and mirrors
Ask family members to stay out of this room and to not use it as a dumping ground for clutter.
DAY 5 – Clean Kitchen
- Declutter counters and cupboards
- Vacuum/sweep and dust thoroughly (TIP – Vacuum inside drawers and cupboards)
- Wash windows and mirrors
- Wash counters, appliances and cabinets
- Clean refrigerator inside and out
- Empty trash and recycling
- Wash and clean oven – including stove top and oven door
- Wash/wipe down tables and chair
- Wash floor
DAY 6 – Clean Living Room
- Pick up clutter, toys, magazines, mail, etc.
- Vacuum and dust rooms thoroughly
- Vacuum sofas, cushions, drapes – under furniture and cushions
- Wash/dust blinds and baseboards and polish tables
- Wash windows and mirror
- Wash floors (if applicable)
Because this rooms gets the most use in most homes, you’ll more than likely need to do a little sprucing up before guests arrive. Use our Quick Cleaning Checklist for this purpose!
DAY 7 – Clean Entryway and High Traffic Spots
- Pick up clutter, shoes, coats, backpacks, etc.
- Straighten closets and make room for guests’ coats
- Vacuum/sweep and dust thoroughly
- Wash down the front door, walls, and baseboards
- Wash windows and mirrors
- Sweep porch
- Wash floors
The beauty of this checklist is you can move days around if you want to get certain areas done sooner. But keep in mind that the most used rooms in the house should be cleaned as close to the holiday as possible to make the best impression on your guests. If you can close off a room from the family, better still.
Just do what you have to do to get it done and not messed up before the company arrives.
Of course, you can just pick one-day closest to the holiday and clean the whole house in one sitting. Whatever works best for you is always what you should do.
This checklist is part of the Holiday Planner so feel free to grab it from the Resource Library and print out the checklist. We even have a last minute clean up checklist too you might like.
What cleaning tasks do you add to your holiday cleaning schedule?
