Keep Your Emerald Coast House Show-Ready During the Holidays

Keeping your home “show-ready” with a busy family can be stressful under the best of circumstances. But having your house on the market during the winter holidays can be especially daunting. Drips of melting snow or muddy paw prints can leave you ready to pull out your hair … or pull your house off the market.

Don’t give up just yet! Try these tips to keep your home in top shape.

  • Set a boot tray near the family entrance to catch wet boots and shoes.
  • Keep a stack of old towels in a basket near the door to quickly wipe up mud and muck.
  • Keep a squeegee in the shower to swipe down those walls after every shower.
  • Clean the kitchen as you go. Give the counters and cooking surface a quick swipe as you’re cooking and clean dishes after every meal. Consider using disposable plates and bowls to make breakfast cleanup quicker.
  • Give yourself less to worry about. Pack and store items that you don’t use regularly. Put away extra decorative items and collectibles so that there is less to dust.
  • Celebrate, but simplify the holiday decorations. Store gifts with a family member or friend until the holiday to minimize risk of theft.
  • Keep lidded containers handy to gather your kids’ toys, games and electronics. Help them get in the habit of gathers up their own things at the end of the day. Stack the containers in a closet, the laundry room or inside the door to the garage before you leave the house for the day.
  • Vacuuming the sofa before a short-notice showing may be unrealistic in a busy household, so cover sofas with a throw or blanket. That way, gathering up spills, pet hair and other debris is as easy as grabbing the blanket and throwing it in the washer before you walk out of the house.

Most importantly, have a plan. When your home is on the market, you will have less stress with simple adjustments to your daily routine. And who knows—maybe the new habits will carry over to your next home.

Ask for help. Let us help you decide which things are important deal breakers and which can slide.