Fresh pine, hot apples, and sugar cookies are the smells of the holiday season. During this time, plenty of guests will come into your home for celebrations, meaning you want the interior to smell inviting to all those individuals. What should you do to make your home a nice and cozy environment for holiday gatherings? You will want to incorporate these holiday cleaning tips to create a more inviting home.
#1 - Clean Your Interior
Appliances are well-known sources of odors in the home. When the weather turns colder, you will want to flip on the furnace, which can lead to unpleasant smells. Take time to clean the filters around your home. Allergens, mold, and deterioration in a room can make it hard for someone to breathe. Keep all appliances clean and investigate any strange smells to ensure you have a fresh-smelling home for the holidays.
You might be moving furniture throughout the room when decorating for the holidays. With the rearranging, that is the ideal time to break out the vacuum to clean the carpet and rugs. Winter cleaning means vacuuming up those dust bunnies. You might not realize it, but excessive dust can make any room smell old and musty. Plus, dust and dander are not good for your lungs and could contribute to allergies. If you want a foolproof way to make your home more inviting for the holiday, make sure to do a deep cleaning before anyone arrives for the celebrations.
#2 - Use Fresh Greenery
The holidays mean it is time to break out the decorations. Garland, wreaths, and Christmas trees will add a fresh and clean scent to your interior spaces. These scents can bring a little holiday joy and a touch of elegance to your room. Remember to go easy with scent. Some smells can be overwhelming for visitors, especially if they are sensitive to heavy perfumes or fragrances.
Even when it is not the holidays, you may want to keep plants around the home. Live plants just make the air seem fresher. You can bring some lovely scents into your home with flowers and plants. These natural elements will add a little fresh oxygen to any room, making the space more refreshing, clean, and inviting. However, make sure to take care of them since dead plants can add unwanted odors to your home. When you add plants to your indoor spaces, it will also boost your mental well-being.
#3 - Take Out the Trash
You are bound to build up trash with all the cooking in the kitchen. You never want to let the garbage sit too long in your home. Trash can be a significant source of unpleasant smells in your house. If you want the indoors to smell inviting, take out the garbage and wash the bin. These steps are essential, especially if you have a space for compost or organic materials. Also, deep-clean those drains with baking soda so that no foul smells remain in your kitchen and bathrooms.
#4 - Create Holiday Season Home Scents
If you want a great way to bring pleasant scents into your home, consider making pomander balls with the kids. These balls are citrus fruits that have been pierced with whole cloves. Typically, these crafts use oranges. Sweet citrus and spicy cloves are a natural way to refresh your indoor spaces. To make a pomander ball, you will want to:
- Carve a design in a grapefruit or orange
- Poke a row of holes into the skin of the fruit
- Push the cloves into the holes
These beautiful pomanders can be placed in a bowl as a centerpiece in your home. For those who don't want to make a pomander ball, consider boiling a pot of various fruits and spices. Simmering a pot of water on the stove will fill your home with autumn smells. A slow cooker can also be used to create the same fragrant scents. You can use the following:
- Apple peels
- Orange slices
- Cranberries
- Nutmeg
- Cloves
- Cinnamon sticks
- Anise
Don't forget about baking some treats. Sugar cookies, gingerbread men, and apple pie will put a smile on your guests' faces. Those smells are the quintessential holiday scents, and they will make your home more inviting for the season.
#5 - Use Natural Elements
Find other ways to introduce natural smells into your rooms. Consider using essential oil during the holiday season. Unlike air fresheners and candles, a few drops of essential oils can create a pleasant smell in your home. For the holiday season, you might want to add a touch of pine. Also, essential oils are safe to use throughout your home without any safety concerns. Plus, they will provide a continuously inviting aroma throughout the holidays.
Over the years, many people turned to bowls of homemade potpourri to add a natural scent to their homes. However, having bowls of potpourri can make your home look cluttered and outdated. Instead, think about using cloth sachets. You can easily create a serene-smelling sachet for your home. Take a small linen bag and add your favorite fragrant elements, such as allspice berries, star anise, cinnamon, and whole cloves. Add these sachets to your living room and kitchen areas.
#6 - Keep the Bathroom Nice and Tidy
Like other spots in the home, you always want to make sure the bathroom is clean for your holiday visitors. Take time to clean the room from top to bottom. A little work can go a long way to make your bathroom look sparkling and smell fresh. Bathrooms also contain a few drains, meaning you will want to clean them as well. These spaces can start to smell if you don't keep up with the cleaning duties. Often, bathrooms can smell like mildew because there could be a leak near the toilet or sink. You will want to clean up any spills, wipe the cabinets and sinks, and mop the floors. Along with that, place some holiday-scented soaps to add a little seasonal freshness to those areas.
Get Help from Clean and Simple Cleaning
The holidays can be hectic with cooking, shopping, decorating, and entertaining. If you have too much to do during the holidays, call an experienced cleaning company. These professionals will ensure your home is ready for holiday hosting. During the holidays, you want to spend time with family and friends. If you don't have the time to complete those deep cleaning jobs, contact Clean and Simple Cleaning for a bit of holiday help. We will ensure that your indoor spaces will continue to smell fresh and clean for the season. Call us today at 425-673-4733 to request a quote and schedule an appointment.
