Prepping Your Space for the Holidays

 

It’s time to start decorating for the holidays! Photo by StockSnap

Now that Thanksgiving is over, the holiday season is now in full swing! It’s time to start doing holiday activities such as decorating, spending time with friends and family, drinking hot coco, etc. But before you do all of those fun things, you should prep your space first. This may seem unnecessary since you are probably a young adult who is not hosting the family Christmas feast at your place (or in your room), but there are many reasons to get your area ready for the season. Here are some ways you can prep your space for the holidays.

 

The very first thing you should do is dust everything in your space, and I mean everything. Now is the time to do this because dusting is the last thing you want to think about when you have a busy schedule during the holidays. Once you dust, your space will be ready to decorate. Make sure not to miss areas like your baseboards and light switches, because even if you don’t notice them, your guests will. You also don’t want your guests breathing in dust, which contains human skin and even arsenic!

The next thing you want to check off your list is to clean your bathroom. Whether you have your own or you’re sharing one, you want to have your bathroom ready because your guests will be using it. Cleaning a bathroom can take a long time, and that’s why you want to get it done now. Make sure you clean any soap scum in your shower and to deep clean your toilet because you want your bathroom to be sparkling clean for your friends and family. Also, stock up your bathroom with extra toilet paper rolls and clean towels ahead of time.

If you haven’t decluttered your space after reading my previous post (tsk tsk), then you can start now by decluttering your clothes. This might seem irrelevant in the subject of prepping your space for the holidays, but it’s actually the perfect time to do this. The holiday season brings about many parties and events to attend, and you don’t want to waste precious time by standing in front of your closet thinking about what to wear. Make your life easier this holiday season by getting rid of clothes that are just getting in your way. Also, it is the season of giving, so donating your unwanted clothes to someone in need is a great way of getting into the holiday spirit.

Finally, you should vacuum and/or clean your tile after you’ve done all of these things. This should always be the final thing of any cleaning routine because any stuff you’ve cleaned off of any surface will end up on the floor. Even though you should already vacuum often, now’s the time to get into those corners and deep clean your floors. If you do have tile, definitely do it now because it takes a long time and you don’t want to worry about it later.

Quick Tip: How to Get Wax Out of Carpet

 

Candles should have plates underneath them to avoid wax spills. Photo by Alltagstouristin.

 

As the weather gets cooler, you have probably already started lighting your scented candles. As I stated in a previous post, candles are a staple during the colder months because they create a warm and cozy ambiance. Although I am a huge advocate for candles, they can come with problems. Of course, anything that involves an open flame is bound to be potentially dangerous, but there is another issue with them that I unfortunately experienced. I had accidentally knocked my candle over and it fell on my mom’s carpet, thus spilling wax on it. Fortunately, nothing caught fire, but my mom’s carpet was ruined. However, later on I learned a clever trick from Clean My Space on how to remove wax from carpet! Here’s how to do it.

Once you’ve realized the horrible mistake you’ve made, let the wax harden. You don’t want to try to rub it out with a rag because it will just push the wax deeper into the carpet. Once it’s dried, scrap up as much wax as possible with a knife or a scraper. Make sure to throw away the wax flakes or vacuum them. Then, grab your iron and turn it on. You’ll want to be careful with this because your carpet might not react well to heat, so test the iron on a small, inconspicuous area before continuing.

Once you’ve done this, you can proceed with paper towels. In fact, you might want to bring the whole roll with you. Double up two sheets and place them on top of the wax. Then place the iron over the paper towels. Move it from side to side to warm up the area. The wax should melt while the paper towels absorb it. You will probably have to do this a few times before you get all of the wax out. If you don’t have an iron, or your carpet didn’t pass the iron test, you can use a blow dryer instead. Once you’re done, you’ll probably be more careful about your candles next time. Here’s a tip to prevent wax spillage.

College Student Declutter Tips

 

A clean, declutter bedroom. Photo by Pexels.

Many students hate to clean for different reasons, but the most common one is that it takes too much time and effort. Surely, most of us want our space to look as pristine as the homes shown on HGTV, but the reality is that there’s simply not enough time to execute such perfection in our spaces. We spend hours cleaning our homes only for it to look messy again within a few days. This is especially an issue for students with small spaces. We don’t have a lot of room to begin with, so how does our space get so messy so fast?

The answer is simple. The problem is not your busy schedule or that you’re necessarily a messy person. The problem is that you, along with many students, have too much stuff. No, I’m not calling you a hoarder. In fact, this is a ubiquitous problem across the United States. This issue is coined as the “middle-class abundance” in a documentary by the same name. Even if you’re a broke college student, you can experience this phenomenon; and trust me, this is not the way you want to ‘adult’ your space. Do not fret, this problem can easily be alleviated by decluttering your space.

Listen up, paper is no friend to your space. Most adults have to carry files of their taxes and of other boring things. Don’t let paper clutter ruin your space while you’re young. You’ll have plenty of time for that later. That syllabus from a class you took last year does not need to exist in your place any longer. Go through all of your papers and keep a recycling trash next to you while you do so. Papers will accumulate again if you’re not careful, so make sure you take steps to stop paper clutter in your space.

Gifts are often difficult to get rid of for most people. If it holds sentimental value, it will probably sit on a shelf for years, collecting dust. You are probably filled with guilt at the thought of getting rid of it. Who needs that negative energy in their lives? Someone once gave me this advice to help me get rid of unwanted gifts: A gift has served its purpose when it has been given. Give it to someone who does need it or donate it.

The same can be said about free stuff, such as things you won from a club’s raffle or a t-shirt you got at orientation. You’ve probably accumulated a lot of free junk during your college career, but now is the time to get rid of it. You’re never going to use that whistle, and you have too many pajama shirts already. Okay, if you really want that t-shirt, you can recycle it; but do yourself a favor and toss it out. You’ll thank yourself later when it takes you less time to clean and in turn have more time to do student things.