You guys! Thanksgiving is next week. Which basically means Christmas is tomorrow. When you have guests coming, preparing your home can feel overwhelming. Suddenly the dingy baseboards that you've happily ignored make you hang your head in shame. I was chatting with my girlfriends about how they clean their home for guests and one quipped- "it depends. Is my mother-in-law coming?" #truth. One way to make it more manageable is to add just a couple of tasks to your weekly routine. Start this week or next and you're finished by Christmas! Side note: I share this as someone who struggles with housekeeping. I don't have it all together friends! But having a plan in place gives me peace and motivation to tackle my to-do list! I'm sharing my 4 week plan, a simple cleaning hack, a free printable cleaning checklist, and place setting inspiration (because that's just fun).


Today I tackled our everyday eating space- baseboards, light switch covers, and our table with all its glorious grooves. Whoever designed our table clearly did not have 3 kiddos. If I fail to use a table cloth at dinner, the seams get full of gooey crumbs. A typical dish cloth is too thick to get into the grooves so I use Viva Towels for a simple cleaning hack. This will work for any furniture that has a hard to clean seam or groove. Just wrap a butter knife in a Viva Towel and run it through the seam. Voila! And you guys- don't judge. This mess is after just one a couple of meals!
You can also see how much a difference it made wiping up other messes with Viva Towels. I like to use Viva Vantage for  tasks like baseboards because of its scrubby texture and toughness. For others, like polishing the fridge, Viva Towels are perfect because they are soft and smooth. All are strong and durable like cloth. It's also a good value since it's made for more than spills so one or two towels go a long way plus you can rinse and reuse them.
After I cleaned the dining room, I wanted to give you a little inspiration for the holidays because while cleaning is riveting, it's not quite as fun as planning your tablescape! I set up a simple place setting with a rustic farmhouse feel (including a touch of glam because that's how I roll). The most fun part was adding a sprig of rosemary and chalk board place tags. It required no DIY and very little expense.

I haven't started my Christmas shopping yet (yikes!) but at least my home will be ready! How do you prepare for guests? I'd love to hear your tips and tricks!




I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.