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There is no time of year when I love my house–or enjoy being at home–more than during the last few months of the year.  There is just something magical about those Dussehra, Diwali, Christmas festive decorations.  I love turning on some mellow Hindustani classical  music and cuddling up on the couch with a cup of garam chai and a good book, or watching one of my favorite holiday classics.  In fact, it might the only time during the whole year when I truly just chill.

But you know what totally ruins my Holiday spirit?

A messy house.

And while during the rest of the year, my regular cleaning routine usually works just fine, when it’s the holiday season,  I just don’t have an extra hour a day to devote to cleaning.  Thus, in the interest of maintaining my sanity, I have found a way to cheat & get it done in half the time.

Holiday Cleaning: Free checklist for a Guest-Ready Home

My Tips:

• Cleaning is much easier when you have less clutter, so the key to the plan is finding a quick and easy place to stash all the stuff.  If you don’t have time to do a major de-cluttering session, I usually find a big box that I store in an out-of-the-way place such as the spare bedroom.
• I also prefer cleaning in the order the guests will most probably be arriving in. Like the front porch first, then the Living room, then Dining/ Kitchen and the guest bathroom before the other bathrooms.
• Enlist your family members in the cleaning task. Your spouse can help with the dusting while your little one can help carry small stuff around.

And, just because I’m nice like that, I thought it would be fun to put together a cute printable checklist that you can hang on your fridge or bulletin board as a reminder.  Consider it an early Diwali gift!

It might seem like so many things to do before the holiday season is upon us, but following this simple cleaning checklist now will make it easy to get your home ready and clean for Dussehra & Diwali.