The retailers won’t let us forget it: The holidays will soon be here! That means parties and family visits. Is your house ready?
Start on getting the house ready now, and the run-up to your gatherings will be less chaotic, allowing you to focus on the finer points.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be offering you tips to get various parts of your Southern Maryland home ready for the holidays. Today, let’s start with the one room most (if not all!) of your guests will use: The bathroom.
Pretend You Are Selling Your Home
Approach your pre-holiday bathroom makeover as if you were prepping it for a steady parade of potential homebuyers. Start with a deep clean, top-to-bottom – literally. Start at the ceiling and work your way down.
- Before you start, remove everything from the counters and shelves. Take down the shower curtain and remove throw rugs.
- Next, use the vacuum or a duster to get the accumulated “fuzz” out of the ceiling fan grate. Then, check the walls (especially where they join the ceiling) for cobwebs.
- The light fixtures come next. If you have the Hollywood-type strip vanity lighting, your bulbs may be dusty, so remove each one, dust them, and replace them.
- If you have windows in your bathroom, tackle those next. Clean the glass and then clean out the tracks. Vinegar and water, an old toothbrush, and a rag work well for this task.
- Mirrors come next. There are lots of ways to do this – from using ammonia and water to vinegar and water or commercial window cleaners.
- Vinegar and water also works well on counter tops and shelves.
- Next, clean the sink and shower/tub. We asked several of our friends and clients to tell us about their favorite products for these tasks: A mixture of Dawn dishwashing soap and vinegar; Ajax cleanser; Tide laundry detergent. The last one we were a bit skeptical about until we tried it ourselves. Used like a scouring powder, it truly does get off the toughest bathtub grime better than anything else we’ve tried.
- Toss the shower curtain, window curtains, and rugs in the washer
- Wash the floors
If you have shower doors, clean those with a mixture of warm distilled vinegar and a few drops of Dawn dishwashing liquid. Don’t use this on stone, though. Instead, try a paste of baking soda and the dish soap and use a non-scratching sponge.
De-Clutter
Once the room is clean, it’s time to bring back all the items you took out of the room. Unless something is decorative, hide it away in the cupboards and drawers.
Throw out anything you don’t use – including those empty shampoo bottles that tend to collect in the bathroom.
Get ideas on what to leave on the counters and what to hide from online sites such as Pinterest, HGTV, and Better Homes & Gardens.
Bring Back the Linens …
… But before you do, check to see if your rugs, towels, mats, and curtains are frayed, faded, or torn. Toss out those that are. Replace them with new items that go with the rest of the bathroom’s décor. In fact, beautiful towels can double as accessories if you fold them in clever ways. Check out these amazing towel display ideas on Pinterest.
Extras
Wall treatments can improve the look of a bathroom instantly. Again, Pinterest can serve as inspiration. Houzz.com offers 260 photos of bathroom artwork, and more inspiration can be found at Apartment Therapy and Brit.co.
Mechanicsville MD Homes for Sale and Real Estate Services in Southern Maryland. You now have a search engine to help you with your Southern Maryland home search! And I’m ready to provide you with a custom home valuation if you’re considering selling your home. Let’s connect to discuss how I can help you. Contact Kimberly Bean at 301-440-1309
