A basic list tasks to get your house ready before any party

Lee and I just hosted our annual New Year’s Eve party. The nice thing about parties is they strongly motivate me to clean up before our guests arrive, although we usually have a new mess of food to put away after the last guest leaves. The thing I looked forward to most about getting married was to host parties with Lee in our home.

We are the main party hosts in our small church. We annually host the 4th of July “firework potluck” and New Year’s Eve parties. This year, we started a tradition of burning our (live) Christmas tree in the fire pit. Jared always brings his cannon and shoots a blank at the stroke of midnight, as well as several practice shots throughout the night.

Before every party we host, I like to get the house looking *as good as possible* before our guests arrive. I thought about what plan I could write out, in order of importance for future parties and others to read. My list below is prioritized by importance and also what makes the biggest impact.

I learned a tough lesson on the last day of cleaning (read: the day of the party); sometimes you don’t get everything on your list done. So, I had a pile of laundry on my bedroom floor and the house floor wasn’t freshly mopped. But, I let it go and hosted our friends. And, I was okay with it because I got more important things done first and our church friends are genuine friends whom I can trust seeing the unfinished laundry in my bedroom when the pass to use the bathroom.

Give yourself a week to get ready. I got stressed and mean on the last day because I had too much to do; don’t do that. Also, for something like a big party, don’t leave it all to one person; get help.

• Clean the primary party space. For us, that was the garage, living room, kitchen.
  • Pick up clutter of the floor.
  • Clean the floors – sweep and vacuum
  • Set up, clear off and wipe tables.
  • Clear the kitchen counter for food.

• Clean bathrooms
  • Scrub the toilet. Even if it looks clean just do it
  • Change the trash; always start the party with an empty trash bin.
    • This is so guests don’t see and think about the personal products you disposed of throughout the week, not so much that they’re going to overflow it with their own products.
  • Put away prescriptions you wouldn’t want anyone snooping on. Put away any medications that imply a recent ailment (put away the hemorrhoid cream!)
  • Pick up clutter, put away towels and stuff.
  • Wipe counters and mirrors (full disclosure: I didn’t get to my counters among the other things I didn’t finish. My bathroom was pretty rough.)

This is a personal decision: don’t hide menstrual products. I put them somewhere subtle, in a basket in a corner. But, I made them accessible just in case a woman ends up needing a pad while in my bathroom and doesn’t want to ask out loud. If you need something like that while in my house, please take it!

• Rooms that lead to the bathroom
  • Read: my bedroom
  • Make the bed first. It makes the biggest impact.
  • Pick up clutter, especially laundry.
    • This didn’t get done. It was okay. At least I picked up clutter earlier this week and it was a singular pile of laundry.
      • I did make the bed. That makes a big difference!
  • Vacuum the floor. I did not get this far, but it would have been nice.

• Guest room
• It was very important to me to get the streaming/office/guest room cleaned up for three reasons
  • The room was dirty and this was a good opportunity to get done what needed to be done.
  • This party goes ’til midnight. Someone might need to sleep there.
  • I am proud of my office/streaming/gaming/cosplay space and want to show it off!
• Pick up floor clutter
• Vacuum the dirty floor
• Change the bed linens

• Pick up the back yard.
  • Mow the lawn in advance if it’s grassy season.
    • We use a lawn mowing service. We call our guy and request that he shows up the day before our parties for a fresh cut.
  • Pick up all back yard toys and throw them in the playground area. It’s a simple solution that’s easy for a five year old to help with.
  • Set up chairs around the fire pit.
  • Sweep the patio (I didn’t get this far.)