2012 Houseworks Holiday Plan

Join our amazing community
Share what you know, learn something new!
register

LetItSnow

Retire Member
Aug 13, 2010
32
0
6
Ok, forgive me, I'm sure this is a stupid question, but what's the difference between this and the HGP? My computer is being horribly slow today and nothing loads when I click the links to try and figure it out myself! All I know is that I want in on at least one of these plans!
 

aggy

Santa's Elves
Oct 11, 2007
3,733
24
38
Baltimore, Maryland
Don't know what I did but I just lost everything I typed. :(

LetItSnow I'll do my best to explain. Everyone, if there's something I forgot to mention or mentioned something incorrectly, please feel free to jump in with your comments. :)

The HGP focuses on cleaning room by room. Each week we work on cleaning one room. There's a list of rooms however, you can change the plan to fit your needs. Some weeks you may not have a room (like I don't have a garage or an attic) then you can take those free weeks to maybe work on a room you didn't get finished from a previous week (or work on a craft you're giving to someone as a gift). The plan also has to-do lists to help you plan for the upcoming holidays like getting a start on purchasing your non-perishable food items for those tasty desserts and meals you'll be preparing.

The HHP focuses on cleaning areas in your home, with the help of CEO's book, instead of room by room. Areas like storage in the kitchen or closets or setting up a work station for all of those gifts you'll be wrapping. Making sure you have enough place settings for the family Thanksgiving dinner. Things like that.

I hope this helps a little. :)

This plan will be perfect for me as I have spent months doing major cleaning and decluttering in my apartment. I want to try and keep it as clutter free as possible for the holidays. I'm getting all excited just thinking about it.
 

LetItSnow

Retire Member
Aug 13, 2010
32
0
6
That makes a lot more sense now. Thank you for explaining!
 

ejagno

MHH Member
Premiere Member
Aug 31, 2010
1,616
319
83
SW Louisiana
I love both plans because they each offer something different but much needed. It is for this reason that I follow both but on a different time frame. I begin HWHP this week for the deep cleaning and decluttering as well as major fixups or redecorating that needs to be done. It ends just as HGP begins which allows me to follow-up with more of a focus on holiday plans, touch up each room one more time, changing over clothing and linens for the seasons and decorating for the holidays.

The key is to find what works for you, your home, your time and your circumstances. There is no wrong way as long as we all reach our goals of having a wonderful stress free holiday.
 

Saquilla

Retire Member
May 15, 2010
598
0
16
Perth, Australia
I love both plans because they each offer something different but much needed. It is for this reason that I follow both but on a different time frame. I begin HWHP this week for the deep cleaning and decluttering as well as major fixups or redecorating that needs to be done. It ends just as HGP begins which allows me to follow-up with more of a focus on holiday plans, touch up each room one more time, changing over clothing and linens for the seasons and decorating for the holidays.

The key is to find what works for you, your home, your time and your circumstances. There is no wrong way as long as we all reach our goals of having a wonderful stress free holiday.

Ejagno, I love this idea! I combine both and tend to think of the HGP as the home cleaning plan, and the HHP as the home organising plan. I use the HGP for christmas prep though.
 

MinnieCo

Well-Known Member
Premiere Member
Apr 10, 2008
3,677
1,342
113
54
I'm in. I enjoy the HGP
 

missjane

Well-Known Member
Premiere Member
Oct 13, 2007
8,824
6,254
113
Louisiana
I'm in, and I think I will it enjoy it more than ever now that I worked diligently to gain control before having a guest stay in the house this summer!
 

AnnieClaus

Well-Known Member
Premiere Member
Nov 6, 2007
9,706
5,862
113
55
Southern Arizona
LetitSnow- Part of the HGP plan is to also make and freeze meals so when you're busy during the holidays, you have stuff to pull out and re-heat. Casserols and such. Also gift buying, baking ingredients, working on homemade gifts, etc. Also helps with prep on more than just Christmas- it includes Halloween and Thanksgiving too. It concentrates on more than just cleaning. Hope this helps! :)

Some people do both plans!

Annie
 
Last edited:

Saquilla

Retire Member
May 15, 2010
598
0
16
Perth, Australia
I'm in, and I think I will it enjoy it more than ever now that I worked diligently to gain control before having a guest stay in the house this summer!

LOL! I've been tempted to invite people to stay just so I'll have the motivation to keep on track!
 

missjane

Well-Known Member
Premiere Member
Oct 13, 2007
8,824
6,254
113
Louisiana
Sarah, it was a lot of work, but well worth it! I still have a few nooks and crannies to clean and will tackle those next week since I will have the DGSs tomorrow, then DD15 has a friend coming to spend the night on Thursday and Friday.
 

ejagno

MHH Member
Premiere Member
Aug 31, 2010
1,616
319
83
SW Louisiana
Sarah, we just got our home back to ourselves as well. One of our employees and long time friends has been staying with us since the first of June when a fire broke out in his apartment complex. His apartment wasn't burned or damaged but the utility meters were removed from the whole complex until the repair work was done and passed inspection. I knew it would be a lengthy stay so I moved my guest bedroom to another part of the house that use to be a little apartment with it's own bathroom. I was using it as my craft room. My current guest bedroom was generally just used by the grandkids or an occassional overnight guest and was located next to my bedroom. However, with a long term guest I really wanted some privacy so I switched those two rooms. Everything happens for a reason and we are so pleased with the way this new guest suite turned out that we've decided to leave it set up as a private guest suite for good. Who was I kidding, the grandbabies always ended up in our room anyway. LOL

Now the new craft room, next to my bedroom is still a total wreck as everything just got tossed in there during the move. I need shelving, bookcases, more lighting and a good weekend alone to get everything back in order.

AnnieClaus, the various preps you listed are the reasons why I combine the two plans. This way I get the best of both. LOL

MinnieCo, Just pick a room and dedicate yourself to it for one week only and move on to the next. We can do this! Thanks for joining me.
 

missjane

Well-Known Member
Premiere Member
Oct 13, 2007
8,824
6,254
113
Louisiana
Working one room at a time was exactly how I did our house. And it was a series of steps that involved lots of sorting. First was going through and deciding what could be thrown away completely, while at the same time making "piles" of like things together. The second time around was deciding what was to keep and what was to be put into the rummage sale, passed on to someone, or taken to GW. The final sort was deciding what to do with what we wanted to keep and making a certain decision about whether we really wanted it or not. All the while, we cleaned, wiping window seals, baseboards, sweeping, mopping, rearranging furniture, dusting. My DDs had to sleep together several nights when we worked in each of their rooms, but it was worth it to them when it was all finished.
 

ejagno

MHH Member
Premiere Member
Aug 31, 2010
1,616
319
83
SW Louisiana
MissJane; Great minds think alike. That's exactly what I'm doing. I work from ceiling to floor. I had a good friend who always said, "If you keep the corners clean the center will take care of itself." Not true in my house. I've got to work the whole room. LOL
 

aggy

Santa's Elves
Oct 11, 2007
3,733
24
38
Baltimore, Maryland
Annie thanks for the reminder about freezer meals. I did it last year and it was great for those nights I didn't have time or energy to cook. Will definitely be doing that again this year.
 

happy2bme

Well-Known Member
Premiere Member
Oct 18, 2007
8,512
745
113
My Happy Place
I will be following the HHP this year, as I do every year.

It wouldn't be Christmas without it!!
 

festivefun

Retire Member
Feb 25, 2008
746
18
18
45
Glasgow, Scotland
Thanks Aggy, I printed off my HHP calenders on Ruddy Day in July. I really want to keep to it. Having a mini break down as feel our house hasn't improved any from when we moved in 2 years ago (hopefully I[m wrong).

I have the tiniest of freezers so unfortunately freezer planning isn't possible for me on the scale I would like to do it. But I do try and freeze the odd bits and bobs as I know it makes a difference at that busy time of year. Maybe, just maybe OH and I can afford a new freezer by November. That would make such a difference to our home life.