How to Konmari Your Home For The Holidays

The holidays are a time for family, friends and togetherness. It should bring joy, but sometimes the hectic nature of the season can make entertaining more stressful than it should be. That's why we’ve channelled our inner Marie Kondo to help you get your home ready for the holidays.

Step one for the whole home is to grab your toxin-free Everything Wash: an organic, oil-rich Castile soap to create an all-natural, multi-purpose cleaner to help you get the place tidy. Simply mix ¼ cup of Castile soap with one litre of warm water in a spray bottle.

Kitchen

The kitchen can be incredibly busy during the holidays. Sometimes we find ourselves cooking for guests, baking holiday treats and chatting with friends and family who flit in and out. So start by giving the hub of your home a deep clean and decluttering, the natural way.

• De-gunk your stove without harsh, conventional oven cleaners. Just sprinkle baking soda all over the inside of your oven, spray with vinegar and let the natural cleaning power eat away at your oven grease for 20 minutes. Then wipe clean.

• Use your all-purpose Everything Wash spray to wipe your fridge, then compost anything that might have hung around too long in the crisper. Gotta make room for food prep and leftovers.

• Run a vinegar rinse through your dishwasher so dishes come out spotless and you don’t have to re-wash anything.

• Declutter your countertops by putting away anything that you won’t need for the next few weeks, so you have plenty of room for things like cookie decorating.

• Keep a bottle of our Kitchen Hand Wash at the sink for turkey time. This hand wash is deeply cleansing thanks to Lactic Acid. Packed with organic coconut and olive oils, this wash also won’t dry out your skin during a time when you’ll be doing a LOT of hand washing. Not to mention is smells amazing, thanks to invigorating rosemary and eucalyptus oils. If you already have a pump bottle, you can refill it with our 1L Refill to cut down on excess plastic waste.

Bathroom

It’s a room that everyone is sure to use, so put your mind at ease before your guests arrive with an all-natural deep clean.

• Get rid of any dust bunnies in the corners and top up the TP.
• Test the sink and tub to make sure they’re draining well. A kettle of boiled water can work wonders to keep drains going down smooth. But if you want to bring in the big guns, after the boiling water pour in equal parts vinegar and baking soda, wait five minutes and then flush with boiling water again.
• Feeling crafty? Whip up some DIY fizzy toilet bombs to keep everything smelling fresh, naturally. This recipe uses only four safe, natural ingredients: hydrogen peroxide, citric acid, baking soda and essential oil.

Living Room

Most of us end up rearranging our living room to accommodate holiday decorations. That makes it the perfect time to get in a good clean.

• Clear off coffee tables and end tables so there's plenty of room for drinks and snacks.

• Make sure there's space for people to sit. If you keep extra chairs in storage, pull them out and keep them close at hand.

• If you have friends visiting with kids, do a little bit of childproofing and move any breakables out of reach.

• Get your essential oil diffuser ready with your favourite holiday scents (like Organic Sweet Orange Oil, that promotes positivity) so your home always smells festive and oh-so-lovely.

• Forget those chemical fabric fresheners. Give your couch a revamp with ½ cup of water, ¼ cup rubbing alcohol and about 10 drops of essential oil in a spray bottle. Give it a shake and spray odours away.

Guest Bedroom

If you have guests staying with you, prepping the spare bedroom now is one less thing you’ll have to do before they arrive.

• Clean all the linens and spray them with a lavender mist to keep the room smelling delightful. You can leave the bottle on the bedside dresser for your guest to use if they need a little refresher.

• Put some travel-sized toiletries on the dresser. This doesn’t have to be costly. A nice touch is cutting off a fresh square of one of our all-natural soap bars for your guest to give them a little luxury hotel experience. Rocky also has a whole host of travel-sized goodies if you want to go all out with a Body Butter or Shower Gel.

• Once you have your guest room ready to go, you might want to consider keeping the door to the room closed to keep pets and little ones from making a mess.

Entryway

With a house full of visitors comes a closet full of jackets and a shoe rack full of shoes. And yet the entryway is the first impression guests will have when they enter your home. 

• Set the mood with soft lighting from a beautiful hand-poured candle. Coconut wax candles are a great value because they burn slower and release no phthalates into the air.

• Clear out your hall closet and make sure there are hangers and space for extra winter jackets.

• Clear out shoes you're not currently using so there's space for guest footwear. And be sure you lay a rug down for people to wipe their feet.

Getting ready for the holidays doesn’t have to be a huge chore if you start early and do a little bit at a time. Have your family help out, put on some great tunes and you’ll be surprised at how little time it takes. Comment with your tips and tricks for a holiday-ready home!