How to Host the Perfect Thanksgiving Dinner
If you have committed to hosting the next Thanksgiving dinner, it’s never too early to start planning. With enough preparation, you can snap your fingers as the day arrives, and everything will go off without a hitch. The following holiday cleaning checklists will help you organize your thoughts and streamline your to-dos before, during and after the holiday so that you can enjoy the turkey and the company.
Holiday Clean Up Before Guests Arrive
No matter how much time you have to prepare, you need to clean your house before the festivities. You may feel like that’s not necessary if your home will be filled with guests and food. But there are some areas that you can’t ignore before your visitors arrive.
Thanksgiving Prep: One Month Before
If you have this much time, consider taking care of some deep cleaning that you may have ignored throughout the year. Some weekend projects that will make your home more inviting and provide you with some ease later include:
- Paint damaged and scuffed walls or trim.
- Clean your baseboards.
- Give your bathroom a thorough cleaning.
- Clear out closets and purge old items.
- Vacuum under beds and other furniture.
- Wash the windows.
- Clean out and scrub the refrigerator and freezer.
- Organize the pantry.
- Give the outdoor landscaping one last touch-up before the winter.
This is a good time to spruce up the space with seasonal décor. If you spend some time decluttering and throwing out items that you no longer need, your Thanksgiving decorations won’t create disorder, and your house will be even tidier when you put them away after the holiday.
Thanksgiving Prep: One Week Before
You still have some time to plan, but you probably want to focus on planning the meal at this point. You have already taken care of the major cleaning. This week is a good time to:
- Vacuum and launder linens in the guest rooms.
- Clear space in the refrigerator and freezer.
- Purchase non-perishables for Thanksgiving.
- Make a plan for the dinnerware that you’ll use to ensure that you have enough.
- Wash guest towels.
- Dust light fixtures and fans.
- Stock up on food storage containers, foil and plastic wrap.
Double check that you have space in the guest room closets. If you cleared them out during the month, they should be ready to hold some of your guests’ items, and you won’t have to do a major overhaul this close to the holiday.
Thanksgiving Prep: One Day Before
Now, it’s crunch time. If you haven’t purchased your perishables or arranged for a pot-luck presentation, you should get moving. Luckily, you have done enough preparation to make Thanksgiving prep run smoothly.
Some to-dos that you can take care of today include:
- Set out bakeware and serving-ware for tomorrow.
- Set the formal dining table.
- Clear off and designate an area for holding dishes, beverages or desserts.
- Give the bathrooms a quick, but comprehensive cleaning.
- Set out extra napkins, coasters and paper towels in areas where guests will be eating.
- Sweep and vacuum the floors.
- Empty the dishwasher
How to Style the Dinner Table
Whether you’re hosting many or a few guests, you can use these tips for styling the dinner table for aesthetics and convenience. You want to impress your guests but make cleanup as easy as possible.
- Serve food in edible containers, such as bread bowls or pumpkin shells, for easy cleanup.
- Cook in containers that are attractive on the table but useful for baking and storage.
- Use eye-catching cutting boards, such as wood butcher blocks, to serve appetizers; they double as trivets to protect your table from hot foods.
- Choose your tablecloth wisely. If you have kids or messy guests, you might prefer to use a runner and placemats so that you can wipe down the table easily.
- If you don’t have a large table, you might want to serve dinner buffet-style from the kitchen counter. Prevent guests from setting clutter on the table by keeping it set throughout the day.
Post Holiday Clean Up
After Thanksgiving, you can relax and put your feet up if you prepared well. Just kidding! You’ll have some cleanup, but we have some tips for making it easy so that you can take advantage of your long weekend.
- Clean the kitchen first. Return kitchenware to its correct place and wipe down surfaces.
- Declutter and vacuum the living room. Fluff the pillows, fold the blankets, and find the remote.
- Strip guest beds and wash linens.
- Clean your rugs, carpets and floors thoroughly.
- Clean, sweep and organize your entryway.
You don’t have to spend all of your time on Thanksgiving dinner prep and cleanup when you hire a professional cleaning service to tackle some of the work. We offer regular cleanings to make your house ready for drop-in guests at any time. We also provide one-time holiday cleaning, which isperfect for before or after Thanksgiving. We even have COVID-19 disinfection services to help keep you and your guests safe.
