🎄🕎🕯️🎁 Fabulous holiday celebrations can leave your home in a state of total chaos - spills in the fridge, crumbs & smudges on your countertops, and stray tinsel, glitter, and pine needles just about everywhere... all of which can leave you feeling equally anxious and overwhelmed.
If you clean your physical environment, you can clear and calm your mental state. You don't need to spend an entire day of your holiday break deep cleaning - just get these 3 jobs done, you'll start the New Year refreshed and energized (and probably ready to tackle more)!
Bonus points if you use Swedish dishcloths in your post-holiday cleanup. You can kickstart 3 resolutions at once - getting organized, get fitting (yep, cleaning can be great exercise - lean into that elbow grease!), and living more sustainably🌱.
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1️⃣ Floor first: If you do only one thing on this list, this is it. Pick up all the boxes,wrapping paper and bags, toys, slippers, blankets and miscellaneous off the floor in your main living space and vacuum it. A clear, clutter-free floor in your main living space (pick the room where you spend the most time!) will set the tone for your entire home.
Fantastic if you can find permanent places for new gifts and / or handle returns this week, but simply getting this one job done will make a HUGE difference in your state of mind.
2️⃣ The Fridge: You have spent the last week baking, cooking, sipping and more, and you likely have ingredients and leftovers squeezed into every nook and cranny of your refrigerator.
📣I'll come right out and say it - you need to clean your fridge more often than you do (🙋🏼♀️also guilty!). Is that red sticky blob a bit of Thanksgiving cranberry sauce? What's even in the bottom drawer?!??
A full fridge clean-out can be a big job in itself, so let's break it down:
First, be proactive with leftovers(at least for 3-4 days). Fruits are great in smoothies; veggies, cheeses and meats make delicious omelets, soups or casseroles. Tired of your dishes but don't want to waste food? Host a holiday leftover potluck with neighbors!
Second, clean your refrigerator inside and out (I love this BHG guide!). At minimum, clean all the interior spaces; you can even do a single shelf or drawer at a time over the next few days. You should clean your fridge once a month - tossing out old or expired food and wiping down the interior with dish soap and hot water - to avoid it becoming a breeding ground for germs. A deeper clean of all the crevices and inner workings is recommended 2-3x a year, post-holidays is the perfect time for this.
Finally, deodorize - Baking soda absorbs and neutralizes food odors, but it is less effective when left in the box.Increase your baking soda's surface area and odor-trapping power by sprinkling some on a damp Swedish dishcloth. Place the dishcloth on a clean shelf and replenish the baking soda ~ weekly.
3️⃣ Counters & kitchen surfaces: similar to clearing your living room floor, clean & clutter-free kitchen surfaces will give you an instant mood boost, especially if the kitchen is the first room you come into in the morning and when entering your home. Your kitchen has likely been the central command center for all of your celebrations and likely is showing it.
Clear all the crumbs and smudges off your counters, clean any grease off your backsplash and cooktop. If you have the energy, wipe down your cabinet fronts, especially those near the garbage, sink and other high traffic areas.
Voilà!
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Completing these 3 jobs will probably take you an hour or two (depending on the state of your fridge, of course). You can tackle putting away all of your holiday decorations, decluttering closets and your pantry, and more fully deep cleaning in January. You'll have the energy and mental space to do it!
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