How to prepare your house for the holidays 🎅

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Special Holiday Edition 2022

Note from Sami

Welcome to the Forbes Home newsletter, where we’ll chat about renovation and design, costs, top  brands for materials and so much more. I’m Sami Allen, the managing editor, and I can’t wait to share tips to help you create a home you love.

In this issue, we’re getting into the holiday spirit by digging out our planners and writing checklists for December. With so much to do in what feels like a blink of an eye, planning your holiday decorating and December to-dos can be overwhelming. We created a holiday prep schedule to help take the load off your shoulders.

Follow our foolproof timeline and your holidays will be seamlessly merry. 

See you soon,

Sami

Sami Allen

Managing Editor, Forbes Home

Check Off These Holiday Prep Tasks

1. Get a Christmas tree. (End of November to early December)

Take the artificial fir down from the attic or get a live tree. If your tree is alive, be sure to test it before you buy it. The needles should be fresh, green and supple and shouldn’t fall off the tree when touched or they can be flammable.

Pro tip: To prevent a house fire, make sure your Christmas tree is three feet away from heat sources such as radiators, space heaters, fireplaces and heating vents.

2. Put up holiday lights. (End of November to early December)

You can put up holiday lights anytime after Thanksgiving (though, if you like to get into the spirit before Thanksgiving, go for it!). You can DIY it, or you can hire a professional holiday lights installer who can help tick another big item off your Christmas to-do list—and avoid a potential fall off a ladder or a slip in the ice and snow.

3. Stock up on gift-wrapping supplies. (End of November to early December)

Avoid making a last-minute dash to the store for wrapping paper or name tags this year. Here’s everything you’ll need to perfectly wrap your pile of gifts:

• Holiday wrapping paper
• Empty gift boxes
• Paper cutter and folder
• Transparent tape
• Name tags
• Bows
• Ribbon
• Jute string or twine
• Extra scissors

4. Prepare the guest bedroom. (Early to mid-December)

The holidays are also a time for hosting. If you plan to have guests this holiday season, you’ll need to figure out the following: 

• Decide who will be sleeping where.
• Clean out some dresser drawers and make room in closets for guests.
• Declutter and straighten up the room.
• Change old sheets and pillowcases for new ones.
• Launder window treatments.
• Buy or borrow a couple of air mattresses and pull-out cots for kids.

Check out our full holiday prep schedule to learn about all the December tasks we suggest you tackle before hosting friends and family for the holidays. 

Traveling This Holiday Season?

Americans are looking forward to beaches, sunny skies and European culture, based on travel insurance data for upcoming holiday-season trips.

As potential problems with flight cancellations, delays, wintry weather and—yes, still—Covid loom on the horizon, consider buying  travel insurance to help if the unexpected casts a dark cloud over your holiday trip.

Other Ways To Make The Holidays Merry

Our Favorite Holiday Decor Trends

This year, we’re loving the focus on eco-friendly decor, which you can use again and again.  Consider reusable wrapping paper and printing holiday cards on environmentally conscious materials (or simply send them online!).

Set Up Your Smart Home Devices for Holiday Fun

Whether you decide to buy smart lights you can control from your phone or connect multiple smart devices in your home so you can play holiday music in every room, there are a multitude of ways to make your smart tech work for you this year.

What’s The Average Cost to Hire Holiday Light Professionals?

You can always DIY your lights, but for those of us who are way less handy than others, hiring a professional light installer may be the way to go this year. The average cost to hire an installer is around $420 but can range anywhere from $100 to over $1,200 depending on the size of the house, how many decorations you have and the installer rates.

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