Week 2 Focus:
Living Areas
For week 2 we're choosing living areas as our main cleaning and organizing focus for the week. Living areas are the places where your family sits to watch television. They are the places where guests sit when you entertain. Your living areas are frequently one of the most used portions of your home.To really get the most out of your living areas this holiday season, you'll need to ruthlessly declutter. Get rid of anything that you do not need or want to make room for items that will be needed and wanted.
Week 2 Tasks:
Cleaning:
Maintain cleanliness with a 15 Minute Cleanup for each room in your home.
Do intense cleaning in each living area of your home with an intense living area cleanup.
Organizing:
If you didn't already do this in Week 1,use the 4 Container Clutter Method to make a sweep through each individual room in your home. When you’ve finished with one room, empty the containers and put them in the trash, at your local charity, in storage, or sell them before moving on to the next room.
Pay special attention to organizing your living areas to get ready for the holiday season. Make it easy on yourself to entertain in these rooms by removing clutter now.
Create a Christmas card list either on paper or on your computer. Include a copy in your Holiday Organizing Notebook.
Decorating:
Continue sketching your decoration plans in your holiday organizing notebook.
Pack away Halloween decorations, if necessary, by the end of the week.
Start decorating for Thanksgiving or making Thanksgiving decoration plans.
Cooking:
Continue making a list in your holiday organizing notebook of new dishes and old favorites for the holiday meals.
Purchase the lastest issues of magazines or books for recipe ideas.
Decide where Thanksgiving is being hosted and what each person will be responsible for.
Scheduling:
Continue to sketch out your holiday plans including travel.
Make travel arrangements as quickly as possible to get the best deals.
If you haven't already, schedule any Thanksgiving help from cleaning services or meal services now.
Don't forget to schedule hair appointments, and your family photo session.
Buying:
Create a budget and vow to stick to it.
Create a list of family clothing items that will need to be purchased over the holiday season including special outfits that may be needed.
Add to a list of presents that need to be purchased. Try to purchase 1/7 of the gifts on your list this week. Go ahead and wrap them or hide them well.
Add to a list of decorating supplies that need to be purchased. Buy any on sale items off of your list.
Add to a list of servingware and guest items that need to be purchased. Begin purchasing needed items for Thanskgiving.
Include all of your lists in your holiday organizing notebook so that you can add to them or modify them as needed.
Week 2 Resources:
15 Minute Living Area Cleanup
Intense Living Area Cleanup
All 15 Minute Cleanups
Holiday Planning Notebook
Tips For a Holiday Budget
