With Chinese New Year being right round the corner, follow this list and give your home a final once-over before ushering in the festive season with your friends and family.
Living room
Image credit: This Peaceful Home
As this is the room where your guests will gather and most likely stay throughout the entire time they’re visiting, you should aim to keep this space as spacious and as clutter-free as possible. From magazines to charging cables, remotes to photographs, clear out any noticeable items that clutter up your line of sight. If you have a two-tiered coffee table, hide your periodicals on the lower shelf and leave the upper tier for your snacks and beverages. As for your CNY decorations – or family photographs for that matter – utilise vertical space and hang them up instead of having them occupy space on the shelves or tables. It’s impossible to appreciate decor when there are too many of them, so only hang up the bare necessities.
Kitchen
Image credit: The Spruce
With guests milling about, avoid mishaps involving miscellaneous utensils or kitchen equipment by storing unused items inside cabinets out of reach. If you’re hosting meals, lay out disposable tableware on an area of your countertop clearly visible to all your guests, and set up trash bags so that used utensils won’t get left lying around. Lastly, don’t forget your refrigerator! Be it keeping drinks cold for your guests or storing leftovers, it’s inevitable that your fridge will get stocked up over the festive period. As such, clear out your fridge and create more storage space as best you can – we don’t mean purging whatever’s in your fridge, but this is a good time to go through and throw out spices and condiments that may have gone past their expiry date.
Bedroom
Image credit: Zoella
While it’s unlikely that any of your guests will find themselves within your private sleeping quarters, it doesn’t hurt to make sure that they adhere to the same clutter-free design of the rest of your home. Not only will it maintain visual consistency, the clutter-free look will also give you ease of mind when walking from space to space. Surfaces such as a dresser top may be difficult to be kept clear for long periods of time, but instead of simply laying out all your accessories, adorn the space with either a jewellery box or a three-shaped jewellery stand that are not only aesthetically pleasing, but neat and tidy as well. For items that you’re unable to find a home for, you can store them under your bed – but be wary that this is just a temporary arrangement, and that you should look for a permanent place to store these items when time permits.
Bathroom
Image credit: Life of Pykes
You wouldn’t want your guests snooping through your medicine cabinets during their trips to the bathroom, so keep essentials like a hand towel, toilet paper and a bar of soap on the vanity top, and the rest hidden in the cabinets. Additionally, if the bathroom is where you keep your dirty laundry before it goes to the wash, then you should make it a point to do the laundry before the festivities roll around. For items you’re unable to complete washing, put them in a plastic bag and keep them out of sight.
