- 16 Nov, 2022
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The holidays are supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, but sometimes, they're just stressful. Your to-do list feels longer than Santa's naughty-and-nice list. There are gifts to buy, family traditions to continue, get-togethers to host, elaborate meals to plan, and so on.
Do yourself a favor and check home improvements off your to-do list early on — before the seasonal craziness begins. Use these tips from Louisville Handyman & Remodeling on home improvement for the holidays to get started!
How Do I Prepare My House for the Holidays?
It's tempting to squeeze in a home renovation DIY or try remodeling for holiday entertainment. However, it's a little too late in the season to make significant home changes.
Save those ideas for next year, and follow through on these simple — yet crucial — home maintenance items instead.
Maintain Your Dishwasher & Garbage Disposal
Between babka baking, gingerbread making, and decadent dinner cooking, dirty dishes are a constant during the holidays. Your dishwasher and garbage disposal work overtime to keep up — and it'd be a huge hassle if they were to break down. Ensure your kitchen can handle your holiday messes by cleaning out your dishwasher and garbage disposal, so they're in tip-top shape for the season.
Check Your Appliances
While you're at it, you should also tend to the rest of your kitchen appliances. Clean out your refrigerator and freezer, and check that they're at an acceptable temperature to make your ingredients and leftovers last longer. It's also a good idea to rinse the filter in your hood vent, wipe out the oven, and see if your stovetop burners are functioning at full capacity.
Clean Vents & Replace HVAC Filter
Your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system keeps the winter chill at bay during the holidays. Promote a healthy airflow by swapping out your HVAC filter and wiping away the dust and grime that accumulates on your vents during the year.
Tend to the Floors
Snow-covered boots can wreak havoc on your floors. Improve stamina by treating your wood floors, sealing stone surfaces, and getting your carpets professionally cleaned.
Perfect Your Plumbing
Having lots of guests puts your plumbing to the test. Ensure your company has a pleasant bathroom experience by checking in with the toilet, faucet, and shower in your guest bathroom. Tweak water pressure for optimal shower comfort and sink function, and consider replacing your showerhead or faucet if necessary. Then, take the tank lid off your toilet and flush it to see if the flapper and the fill valve are working optimally. You should also place a plunger nearby, just in case.
Touch Up or Repaint
Repainting is a relatively easy and inexpensive way to refresh the look of your home. Try a new shade in your guest bathroom, bedroom, or entertainment areas to wow your company. If you're happy with your color palette, it's still a good idea to grab a bucket of paint and touch up any scratches or areas where the paint has worn off.
Organize Storage
With presents to hide, coats to hang, and loads of ingredients to store, optimizing your storage for the holidays can make a huge difference. Get rid of old clutter and develop new storage systems to fit your needs this holiday season.
How Can I Decorate My House for the Holidays?
You might not have to time remodel before the festivities, but with the right decor, you can create an entirely different vibe: a new home for the holidays.
Spruce up your home with these happy, holiday-haven decor ideas!
8. Space Out Decor Evenly
It's easy to focus all your decor on the living room, but you should spread the holiday cheer throughout your home. Try to balance by spacing your decorations in every room. Start with a few pieces in the entryway, then continue the theme through every room, eventually leading to more highly decorated areas — like a holiday bread-crumb trail!
9. Create Decor Wall Designs
Fill out that empty wall with extra cheer. Put up stockings, holiday wall hangings, paper snowflakes, and other decors in a gallery-wall format to create a visual centerpiece. You can even make a last-minute Christmas tree by hanging lights, tinsel, fake pine bows, etc., in a tree shape and decorating with small ornaments, snowflakes, and candy canes.
10. Invite Winter Inside
You may want to escape the cold, but nodding to the winter landscape outside can make your holiday decor way more festive. Emulate a cozy winter forest inside by decorating it with wood logs, fake branches, trees, furs, pine cones, holly, and other naturalistic elements.
11. Light Your Space Lovingly
Sunlight is scarce during the winter. Bring more light into your life by creating the perfect mood lighting for holiday entertaining. Invest in more lighting or rearrange your lamps to leave no corner of your home unlit. You can also decorate with cheerful holiday lights and turn on electric candles throughout the house (or opt for real candles).
12. Choose a Color Theme
As you choose a color palette for your decor, try incorporating the colors of the holidays you celebrate. Use green and red for Christmas, white, silver, and blue for Hanukkah, and so on. Or base your palette around the winter landscape using white, brown, and green. Keep your colors in mind as you decide which decor to use this year.
13. Incorporate Cozy Textures
A holiday home should feel like a hug. Cozy decorations can help you achieve this effect. Place blankets throughout your home, so you always have a place to snuggle, add rugs to your hardwood floors, and try faux fur coverings to add a soft texture to your decor.
14. Update Your Fireplace
What's more festive than a cheerful fireplace? Impress Santa with your updated fireplace facade. It might sound like a lot of work, but if you hire a handyman in Louisville, they can replace your basic mantle with a stunning custom alternative in no time!
Handyman Services and Remodeling for Your Lousiville Home
All these home maintenances and decor ideas might feel like they're just adding to your do-to list. However, with the right handyman, they don't have to. Let us handle your holiday preparations and see how our handyman specialists can make your house more of a home this season. We'll ensure your house is in tip-top shape for your guests — and all you have to do is pick up the phone.
Visit our services to learn more.
