Calm The Holiday Chaos

Calm the Holiday Chaos- Before The Holidays

'Tis the season. It doesn't matter whether you live in Atlanta, Nashville or Honolulu, the days are getting shorter and the stress is starting to rise. It's on its way. The holiday decorations, the extra meals, the extra people, the extra clothing, the extra presents, the extra… everything. Sure, the holidays are wonderful and magical. They're also one big mess waiting to happen. So, don't wait. Get it under control before the relatives arrive. Get your home holiday organized.. before the holidays.

Make room, make room.

Before guests come and take up room you don't have, go ahead and make extra room for them. Take out the non-essential coats from the main floor coat closet and put them in bedroom closets. Add extra hangers for guests. Park a car on the street to allow driveway parking space for guests. Add that dining room table leaf and those extra chairs ahead of time. Stock up on firewood and maybe some extra glassware or napkins, if needed. Consider a front entrance bin for kids' shoes before they take over the entire floor. Buy lots of bottled water and toilet paper.

Being prepared ahead of time helps you be mentally prepared, and less stressed, when the guests arrive.

Turn your master closet into a holiday from the holidays.

There are two things that make the holidays particularly rough. The first is all the running around. Putting up decorations, preparing meals for extra people, making yet another trip to the grocery for that ingredient you don't have, changing clothes between inside and outside activities. It's exhausting. The second is the total lack of you time. You just can't seem to get a moment to yourself, especially during the day. A new custom master closet can give you a zen-like oasis of organization that can start your day off with confidence and provide a few minutes of calm between taking the cookies out of the oven and heading out to the tree lighting. You'll have room for all of your clothing and accessories and then some, all tucked away and organized neatly. You can even put out your wardrobe for the next day or the next event to be ready ahead of time. It's the best early holiday gift you'll ever get.

Give yourself the gift - of organized gifts.

The gifts are coming, the gifts are coming! Big ones, small ones, shopping bags, delivery boxes, some to be mailed, some to be wrapped, some to be hidden. Have you ever hidden something in the garage or under the bed and then forgotten about it until it's too late? Not a good feeling. This year, why not sort it all out ahead of time? The things to be mailed off right away go in one bin. The things to be wrapped later go in another. And so on. You can easily pre-label and stack storage bins that go in the attic or the garage before the holidays. Then, when the gifts start coming, you're more than ready for them.

In-law proof your kitchen.

If you had to name the most stress-filled room in the house for the holidays, it would have to be the kitchen. After all, it's the activity hub of the house. It's also the arena where holiday traditions clash and egos get bruised. So, making your kitchen easier to manage for all participants will make things go a lot smoother. Especially when you've got other cooks who are used to doing things their way in their own kitchen. How many times have you heard relatives complain that they can't find anything or have to reorganize after they put everything away in the wrong place? So, consider arranging your kitchen into easy to find zones. Then put the items you know you'll need during the holidays front and center. That way when Aunt Mary is looking for the flour, she just goes to the baking zone and it's right there, ready to go. She also knows where to put it back. One simple fix is to create a custom pantry. You'll have easy to find spaces for everything along with extra shelves to pull out items you know you'll need, like serve ware. You can even keep those bulky appliances out of the way until they're needed.

Keep the guests' laundry from wearing you out.

You probably feel like you're always doing laundry now. But when all those extra people come your laundry room will be like a factory that runs around the clock. So, before they arrive, do a full sweep of the laundry room to make sure you have plenty of detergent, softener, dryer sheets and stain remover. It's no fun having to run out for those in the middle of family time. You may also want to consider putting a laundry hamper or two in the guest rooms. Two will allow your guests to separate their darks and whites so you don't have to. If you have guests who like to do their own laundry, maybe it's time to upgrade to a custom laundry room. You'll have shelves, baskets, hooks and hangers for every kind of item and might even have room for a pull-down ironing board. This can be a real stress-saver since the alternative is to have guests borrow your ironing board and supplies to iron in their rooms. Where's the iron? Uh. Knock, knock…

Make the garage guest-friendly.

Depending on who your guests are, the garage is the next potentially challenging spot after the kitchen. From helpful grandads who want to assist with the yardwork to kids looking for sports equipment, you'll want to make sure your garage is well organized and safe. One of the best ways to do that is to organize it by zone, so that sharp and potentially dangerous tools are nowhere near the sports and play equipment and everything, from gardening to paints to automobile care, has its own area. A well-organized garage is a beautiful thing. If you really want to impress your guests, consider custom garage flooring.

While you're getting ready for the holidays, if you'd love some professional help, give Artisan Custom Closets a call. Why not schedule a free consultation today and let a custom closet designer show you how to make the holidays, and every day, less stressful.