2024 - HHP - Week 5 - Guest Room

[Holiday_Mom]

Week 1 - Planning and Paperwork
Week 2 - Calendar and Creativity
Week 3 - Me & Mine
Week 4 - Close to Home
Week 5 - Guest Room
Week 6 - Wardrobe
Week 7 - Bed & Bath
Week 8 - Family Space
Week 9 - Public Space
Week 10 - Cooking Space
Week 11 - Food Storage
Week 12 - Dining Space
Week 13 - Entryway
Week 14 - Storage
Week 15 - Final Clean
Week 16 - Nearly There
Week 17 - Celebration
Week 18 - New Year’s

Prepare for holiday hospitality this week, in the House & Holidays Plan: it's Guest Room Week!

Hospitality is a core value of the Christmas holiday season; time to plan for guests!

This week in the House and Holidays Plan, we'll "think hospitality" as we prepare for house guests and focus on the guest room.
No guest room? Take aim on the multi-function area that houses sleepover guests; otherwise, it's another bonus room week!
Our holiday prep focus turns to decor, as we begin planning seasonal decorations. A decor declutter clears surfaces in time to decorate for autumn.

Finally, we'll schedule houseguests and build a little "pamper basket" to welcome them, as we begin writing Christmas cards or signing holiday letters.

This Week's Focus: Guest Room or Bonus Room​

Making ready for guests this year? Whether your home includes a designated guest room, or you bed down visitors in a multi-use area, it's time to prepare for holiday houseguests.

This week, we'll check on all the items we need to extend hospitality, and clean and organize any areas devoted to visitors. As we go, we'll consider what makes a welcoming home, and find ways to make our guests feel cherished and comfortable.

In holiday prep, we'll begin thinking about holiday decorations, make a first-of-the-month status check, and begin decorating for Autumn. Try these resources to jumpstart your holiday home:

This Week's Household Checklist​

• Declutter, clean and organize guest areas. Whether your household has a dedicated guest room or a simple fold-out sofabed, declutter, organize and clean the area you use to host guests.
• No guestroom or guest space? Take a bonus week, tackling another area of the household or catching up on earlier assignments.

This Week's Holiday Prep Checklist​

• Status Check! Review the progress of the House and Holidays Plan on the first day of the month. If you're falling behind, adjust goals to a more realistic level.
• Begin planning holiday decorating. Check magazines, library books and the Web for decor inspiration. Use a printable room-by-room decor planner to coordinate decor plans.
• Inventory holiday decorations. Make a quick inspection and determine what you have to work with. Will you need to replace or upgrade decor items this year? Make a note on the decor inventory form.
• Declutter before you decorate for autumn. Do your visual field a favor with a quick decor declutter. A clean sweep now makes holiday decorations all the more impressive!
• Decorate for autumn. Choose "generic" decor items. Nearer to Halloween, add a few Halloween items which can be removed easily after the holiday. Come November 1, swap them out for Thanksgiving decorations.
• Schedule houseguest stays. Grab calendars and check in with family about travel plans. Will you host houseguests this year?
• Make a guest room "pamper basket". Guests feel welcomed when the guestroom or guest area boasts a simple basket of toiletries and personal care supplies. Add a coffeemaker and beverage supplies for a "bed and breakfast" touch.
• Continue working on Christmas cards. Divide the Christmas card listinto five sections. Complete one section this week. Goal: to be finished writing, signing and addressing cards by November 15.

What's on your list this week?

 

[Holiday_Mom]

This week looks to be a good week for getting things done.

This Week's Household Checklist​

• Declutter, clean and organize guest areas. This room is also dh's office. I'll need to schedule this when there are no evening meetings.

This Week's Holiday Prep Checklist​

• Status Check! I am not where I thought I would be at this point. September had more meetings in the evenings, which is my HHP time, than other Septembers. My evening calendar this week appears to be open. We shall see.
• Begin planning holiday decorating. Our decorations are in the basement. We had some minor flooding and the bins got moved around. They are labeled but I want to make sure that they are grouped together.
• Inventory holiday decorations. Review last year's notes for holiday decoration replacements.
• Decorate for autumn. I began this on Friday. I will add the Halloween stuff this week.
• Schedule houseguest stays. I need to contact dd to see if she plans on staying here.
• Make a guest room "pamper basket". I need to double check on air matress, sheets, pillows, blankets, bathroom supplies and update as necessary.
• Continue working on Christmas cards. I will start addressing cards this week.

 

[happy2bme]

I'm behind in the plan due to a 6 day visit with DD. I won't see her again until Christmas, so spending every minute with her was more important than anything else.

This is a bonus week for me as I don't have a guest room, so I will do Week 4 tasks, which is deal with my second bedroom that I use for laundry and storage.

Canadian Thanksgiving is coming soon and the stores are putting all of their baking supplies on sale, I purchased a lot of stuff for my Christmas baking!

HOUSEHOLD CHECKLIST:
vacuum, mop floor, clean light fixture, wash walls, window, blind & curtain,
clean closet done
clean storage shelf done

HOLIDAY PREP CHECKLIST:
create stocking stuffer list done
seasonal spruce up exercise done
make Christmas card list donene
inventory decorations done

 

[Cindylouwho]

I'm behind in the plan due to a 6 day visit with DD. I won't see her again until Christmas, so spending every minute with her was more important than anything else.

I totally agree!!! DD time for the win!

My turn to be behind will be in a couple weeks. So I'm scurrying now! Plus the garden needs to be put to bed for the winter in the coming weeks.

House:

• Clean Faster and Smarter -- I'm using timers. I use timers when I need to move quickly.
• Get a Reality Check on the budget & spending. I'm changing my financial tracking this next month. Too many hidden costs.
• Schedule houseguest stays. - Need flight dates for DS. Our Fall houseguests can't come this year.
• Continue decluttering a Child's Room -- All good there.
• Guest Room Set up -- Guest room is storing items from the rooms we've torn apart. Needs to wait.
• Set aside a gift closet & inventory any previously-purchased gifts. -- Underway. Wrapping Station area DONE last week..
• Decor declutter. -- Fall Mantel is DONE. Halloween goes up this week.
• Chimney cleaned for season -- Not done. Late. Worrying.
• Ponder candle strategy -- Just 1 left from last year. Using Potpourri mix of Cinnamon Sticks, Cloves etc on the woodstove.
• Put office and project areas back together.

Holiday:

• Begin collecting stocking stuffers.
• Plan Halloween Box to mail to DS -- Got the Trader Joes Pumpkin Pancake Mix. Need orange lights.
• Begin planning holiday decor. Check Pinterest Board. --Planning a Thanksgiving Tree this year, so the tree is up before Thanksgiving weekend, which will buy me shopping time that weekend since we are a week short this year between Thanksgiving and Christmas. And this way DH can just watch his football game in peace.
• Inventory holiday decorations.
• Ponder Christmas Cards.
• Inventory gift wrap & mailing supplies. -- Bought more this week. Need white tissue paper after last year's shortage.
• Print address labels for Christmas cards
• Plan personal pampering sessions, and add them to December's calendar.
• Ponder the Family Gift this year.

 

[Whusky]

I'm massively behind on life so it seems, let alone the cleaning. This past month has been stupidly busy.

I took don't have a guest room (I wish I did!) so I'll be catching up on everything else. Once that's done, I'll have a think about guest-related things: making a list of drinks/snacks people like, social events, that kinda thing

 

[halimer]

making a list of drinks/snacks people like, social events, that kinda thing

Good idea!

 

[Holiday_Mom]

I'm behind in the plan due to a 6 day visit with DD. I won't see her again until Christmas

So glad you got to do that!

Canadian Thanksgiving is coming soon and the stores are putting all of their baking supplies on sale, I purchased a lot of stuff for my Christmas baking!

I noticed baking item prices are a bit higher than last year. I am hoping that the stores have good sale prices.

Clean Faster and Smarter -- I'm using timers. I use timers when I need to move quickly.

HA! There is truth there. I timed myself this year on something I was procrastinating on - 28 seconds is all it took. I spent days procrastinating on a 28 second job.
Community

Planning a Thanksgiving Tree this year, so the tree is up before Thanksgiving weekend, which will buy me shopping time that weekend since we are a week short this year between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Ack! I need to write that down so I remember. 4 weeks after Thanksgiving is the day after Christmas! That's a nice reality check now.

I'm massively behind on life so it seems, let alone the cleaning. This past month has been stupidly busy.

The great thing about starting now is we still have plenty of time to figure things out.

So all that free time in the evenings got reduced but I found other pockets of time to get some things done. Dh has been working in the evenings so I haven't had a chance to get into the room. This may be a next week project if I can't get in there by Thursday night.

 

[jampss]

Week 5 - HHP
GUEST ROOM - DD32's old room

Dust and vacuum
Organize Closet - DONE
Look over Prepper bins - DONE

 

[happy2bme]

It was a busy few days, but I'm all caught up. I didn't paint the ceiling as paint is not cheap. I put that task on the seasonal spruce up list and will watch for a sale. If it gets done, great. If not, I'm not going to worry about it.