A.G. Blog: Christmas Preparations

I thought it would be a good idea to start a series of articles to share with you some of the experience I’ve gained throughout the years of running a cleaning company and doing the cleaning job myself. I hope this will become your place of regular visits on the way to finding trusted knowledge, and maybe you can even share your own experiences and tips for running a household?

In this post, I would like to focus on one of the issues that used to be very problematic to me even a few years ago – Christmas preparations!
Some people might think ‘What’s the big deal, I don’t have any problems with Christmas!’. Well, lucky you! Unfortunately to me, I had had to struggle with this for many years, and I know that for some of my friends, Christmas is still a very stressful period. All the cooking, cleaning, shopping, gift wrapping, writting out Christmas cards, maybe attending a few carol rehearsals at your local church. I think we can all agree that there’s just a huge amount of things we have to deal with during a very short period of time and a few hints about how to approach the pre-christmas challenge can benefit even the most organised house wife out there!

First of all (what I have always been told by my mum), it’s a good idea to go through old books, clothes, children’s toys etc. This way you can free a lot of room in your house, which you may then use for all the beautiful presents Santa brings you this Christmas. Besides, it’s a great way to achieve clarity during the actual cleaning, as well as to support your local charity!

Another tip is to just get organised! Many of us, because of an extensive list of things to do, tend to get lost, trying to sort out everything at once. Trust me, you cannot possibly cook a decent Christmas dinner with bits of your last week’s pudding slowly turning into a science project in the corner of your worktop. And (even more awkward, I believe) by all means, do not wrap up your presents on a messy table. I once ended up wrapping a wax depilation leaflet, that came with the post that morning, together with an electric razor that I bought for a friend. True, we did have a lot of laugh about it later on, but for that moment, I just wanted to curl up and die.

What’s the good solution to prepare for Christmas then? First, treat your house with a proper deep cleaning! You can either do this yourself, or (if you want the quality of cleaning to reach the highest standard) you can employ a cleaning company to do this. If you’re not that keen to get the cleaning done professionaly and choose to save a few quid, roll up your sleeves and just do all the job on your own. Remember to plan it carefully, though. Think of how you’re going to approach the cleaning. Are you doing this room by room? Left to right? Top to bottom? I tend to go for the one-room-at-a-time solution and start with reaching out for the darkest corners in the deepest depths behind every piece of furniture out there and giving them a good wipe. I want to make my house not only look like, but also feel like it’s new and ready for my guests to arrive!

After your place has been cleaned, it’s time to bring this unique Christmas shine into your home. Tidy up, take all your decorations out, wash the table cloths. It’s also a good idea to polish your wooden furniture, which can also add the extra spark to the interior. I tend to use a polishing mix that has been recommended to me by a friend – it’s fairly simple and you can do this at home by mixing two parts of olive oil to one part of lemon juice and pouring it into a spray bottle. It’s cheaper than buying a branded product, you only make as much as you need at the time, and it can add a delicate aroma to a freshly cleaned and decorated room – a good finishing touch.

I wonder what your Christmas preparations look like!

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All the best,
Andrzej Goluch

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