Holidays & Seasonal

How to Easily Accomplish Home Fall Cleaning

There’s nothing better than a sparkling clean kitchen, a spit spot bathroom, and walking around the house with your socks on and they don’t turn black.

I can’t tell you how great I feel after doing a good deep clean!

Now that it’s Fall, I always do a Fall Cleaning that consists of deep cleaning my house to get ready for the holiday season.

Want to know the easy steps that I do to get my house fresh, clean, and prepared for the holiday season?? Great! I’d love to share my home cleaning list with you to help you easily and efficiently clean.

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The KEY to accomplishing the Fall home cleaning quickly and efficiently is to find great tips for cleaning and to clean your home one room at a time!

I have my own version of Fall Cleaning that helps me get ready for the holiday season, having guests over, and cleaning the areas of my house that I know I will be using for the holiday season.

Be sure to read my article “What is Fall Cleaning?” to learn all of the awesome benefits of Fal Cleaning. Fall Cleaning your home will make your holidays stress free because you prep your home for the holidays early enough that when the holidays come you have more time to spend with family and friends!

Not only do I tell you how to easily clean your home to prepare for the holidays, but I also include my Fall Cleaning Master Checklist so you can track how much you have done and make sure you checked everything off that you needed to get done!

Let’s get your home ready for the holidays by going through each room of your house with the best tip and tricks to easily complete your home cleaning!

How to Accomplish the Fall Home Cleaning

Let’s go through each room of the house and get right to the awesome tips and tricks of cleaning!

Kitchen

One of the most important rooms in my house during the holidays is my kitchen.

Why? Because I’m ALWAYS baking, cooking, and preparing meals constantly!

Since I use my kitchen so much during the holidays, I always make sure it’s nice and clean before the holiday season begins. That’s why one of the first things I do for Fall Cleaning is to start in my kitchen. Here’s a list of things I do in my kitchen for Fall home cleaning:

Get out my holiday baking and dishware:

This where I rotate my pots/pans and baking dishes and get out all of my utensils for holiday cooking and baking. There a ton of things I use for the holidays that I don’t even touch during the year so I usually store those pans and dishes in the back of my cabinet. During the Fall home cleaning is when I get everything out!

Deep clean the oven and stove top:

Ovens can get pretty dirty! I use this time to deep clean my oven and my stove top. I take all of the parts off of the stove and the rack out of the oven and clean them with baking soda and Dawn soap. Then I put my oven on “self-clean” and let it work its magic for the next 4 hours. Don’t forget to clean between the cracks of your stove and counter and the broiler drawer!

Go through my pantry cabinet to get rid of old or expired food:

I’m super guilty of hoarding food in my cabinet that it passed its expiration date. Sometimes I’m just so busy that I forget to go through it! I use my Fall home cleaning to go through all of my kitchen cabinets and even rearrange my plates/cups. I also throw out any cups or plates that are chipped or broken.

Go through my refrigerator and throw out old and expired food/ deep clean the refrigerator:

Just like my cabinets, I also go through my refrigerator to get rid of any expired sauces, jars, or juices. I also use this time to take everything out of the refrigerator and wipe down all of the drawers, shelves and door shelves. You’d be surprised how dirty your refrigerator can get!

Deep clean the freezer

Just like the refrigerator, I deep clean my freezer and toss anything that is old or freezer burned. There are things that I have in there that I completely forget about!

Make sure all of my mixing bowls and utensils are accessible

Just like when I take out my baking dishes, I also make sure that my mixing bowls and utensils are accessible. I always use a bunch of different measuring cups that I hardly use during the year except for the holiday season. So I find them, clean them, and organize my utensil drawers.

Clean my kitchen aid/mixer

I’m pretty good at cleaning my kitchen aid/mixer on a regular basis but I use this Fall cleaning to take some of the parts off and do a deep clean before I start using it for all of my baking.

Clean the exhaust fan over the stove

I DO NOT like cleaning the exhaust fan and grease screen over my stove. I don’t know if I’m the only one but I’m not a fan of caked-on grease! I usually have my husband take down the little grease screen and then I soak it in Dawn soap and baking soda for a couple of hours. It comes out super clean and shiny!

Clean underneath the kitchen sink

I also find time to clean underneath my kitchen sink and go through any cleaning products that I don’t use anymore or that are empty. I also store my kitchen towels under my kitchen sink so I have them accessible when I need to dry my hands or have to clean up a spill quickly.

Dust everything on my kitchen counter

I also use this time to take everything off of my kitchen counter and disinfect my counters and dust everything. Like coffee makers, knife blocks, dish racks, etc.

Dust the cabinet doors and clean the cabinet knobs

When I go through my kitchen cabinets I also clean down the actual cabinet doors and knobs. I can’t believe how much “gook” can get accumulated on the cabinets and knobs. It takes 5 seconds to wipes down the doors and knobs!

Clean the trash can and disinfect all garbage cans

I usually clean my trash can weekly but when I Fall Clean I disinfect the whole can and add some air freshener to the bottom of the can.

Make sure I have enough kitchen items in stock (garbage bags, napkins, paper towels, disinfectant wipes, etc.)

During the holiday seasons, I go through A LOT of trash bags, disinfectant wipes, soap, and napkins! So I make sure to buy these items in bulk before the season starts so I not only have the items on hand but I also save money by buying the items in a large quantity!

Bathroom

Another area that I really focus on in Fall Cleaning is the bathroom. Since I always have a lot of family and friends over for the holidays my bathroom gets A LOT of visits.

I like to have my bathroom deep cleaned before the busy holiday season begins so I can focus on other things that need to get done.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t clean my bathroom just once but I do my super deep clean once before the holidays and then once after. This way, I know my bathroom is clean if I have unexpected guests arrive. Here’s a list of things I do in my bathroom for my Fall home cleaning:

Deep clean my toilet bowl and the base of the toilet

I like to clean my toilet on a regular basis but I use my Fall home cleaning to remove everything from my bathroom floor and sweep and mop around my toilet base. It’s also important to clean the inside rim of your toilet and even take off the toilet seat to clean the hinges. You can even use this time to replace your toilet seat altogether!

Dust the cabinets and clean the cabinet knobs

I don’t have many cabinets in my bathroom but with the few that I do have, I like to clean the doors and knobs. I have one mirror cabinet above my bathroom sink that I clean with glass cleaner to make nice and shiny.

Replace the shower curtain liner

I’m a little compulsive about how clean I like my bathtub/shower so I like to replace my shower curtain liner about once or twice a month. I use my Fall home cleaning time to replace the shower curtain and shower curtain liner. If you don’t have a shower curtain because you have a shower door, then be sure to clean the hinges where the door slides.

Deep clean the bathroom tub and the faucet

I like to deep clean my tub once a month, especially because my daughter is old enough now to take baths without the baby bathtub. I like to use a bathroom scrub for my tub and then I rub a lemon on my tub faucet and sink faucet to make it nice and clean and shiny.

Go through my towels in the linen closet and replace old and “holey” towels

My linen closet isn’t in my bathroom but I usually clean the linen closet when I clean the bathroom because it’s “bathroom” related. I go through all of my towels and get rid of the ones that have holes or are bleached/damaged. A really cool way to recycle your old towels is to cut them up and use as wash clothes or wash rags around the house!

Deep clean the sink and bathroom vanity

Like I mentioned before, I like to take all of the items off of the bathroom sink and deep clean the corners of the vanity area. I also like to replace toothbrushes too.

Go through the medicine cabinet and throw away any old items

I have my medicine cabinet high in my bathroom because it’s the only safe place that my toddler cannot reach! I regularly go through my medicine cabinet to throw out any expired items, make a list of things to restock on (like band-aids, antibiotic cream, or Tylenol).

Restock bathroom items (such as cotton balls, Qtips, toilet paper, tissues, etc.)

When I go through my bathroom medicine cabinet I also like to make a list of things that I know I am going to need for the holiday season. I always get a lot of guests and overnight visitors (mainly family and friends)!

So I like to make sure I have enough cotton balls, q-tips, tissues, face wipes, shampoo, soap, toothpaste etc. I also like to have extra guest towels and brand new toothbrushes in case I have some family members who decided to unexpectantly stay over.

Throw away any old bathroom items (old razors, empty lotions bottler, etc.)

I also like to go through any old items or empty bottles and declutter. If there is a shampoo that hardly gets used and there’s only an ounce left, I’ll get rid out it. Or if I have to replace the razor or the soap, now is the time that I’d do that as well.

Living Room

I love focusing on my living room every season because I usually rearrange my living room and change my living room décor for each season.

Since I’m home all day with my daughter, I like to change things up a bit so I don’t go stir crazy at home! During the holidays I also like to rearrange my living room so I can use the space wisely, making the most space for extra family and friends to visit and fit comfortably.

Sometimes I put away extra toys or will move something to my bedroom to make more space in my living room for my eventual Christmas tree too! Use Fall home cleaning to get ready for the holidays early enough that you don’t have to worry about it when the holidays creep up on you.

Here’s the list of everything I do in my living room for my fall home cleaning:

Deep clean my couch
Move all the furniture out of its place to vacuum, sweep, and mop behind furniture and chairs
Dust and clean all furniture (side tables, lamps, entertainment systems, shelves, etc.)
Dust all picture frames and clean out all drawers
Remove old toys (if your children have toys/ toy storage in the living room)
Dust and clean windowsills
Change curtains
Dust window blinds and window shades

Bedrooms

I like to deep clean my bedroom and the kids’ rooms during my Fall Home Cleaning because it helps me have things ready in case I have family or friends that want to stay overnight for the holidays. Having my rooms all ready and cleaned eliminated one more thing I have to do when I am busy.

I don’t have any guest rooms so when my family stays over my house we usually use air mattresses on the floor in our living room and bedrooms so I like to have all the bedrooms in my house neat and tidy! Here’s what I do in all of the bedrooms in my house for Fall home cleaning:

Go through all of the closets and clear out the clutter
Switch clothes over from Summer clothes to Fall/Winter clothes
Deep clean the floors and remove all furniture to sweep, vacuum, or mop in all corners and behind all furniture
Clean under all beds to remove clutter and garbage
Clean down all furniture
Change light bulbs
Change curtains
Clean window sills
Clean window shades and window blinds
Clean or replace all filters (air condition filers, heat filters, fan filters, etc.)

Garage/Attic:

I live in New York City so I didn’t always have an attic and I still don’t have a garage but during Fall Cleaning I like to go through and clean these areas too.

I have some attic space that we use for storage that I like to store my seasonal decorations. So, during Fall home cleaning, I like to go through those areas and make sure that it’s clear and accessible so I can easily get to my Fall/Thanksgiving decorations and Christmas decorations.

Fall Home Cleaning Master Checklist

Now that we talked about all of the areas of your house that you can clean during your Fall home cleaning, I created a master checklist for you to print out and use to make your home cleaning stress free and easy!

The master checklist has everything in this post plus more so you can easily remember what you need to clean and get ready before the busy holiday season. Trust me, it’ll make your Fall Cleaning seem like a breeze!

The Home Cleaning Master Checklist will help you track everything that you need to get done plus is a place for you to check off everything that you have already done. Don’t let Fall cleaning stress you out or overwhelm you. Let me help! Download my FREE Fall Home Cleaning Master Checklist now!

Well, that’s it for Fall home cleaning! I’m a stay at home mom with a toddler so I know how crazy your house can be on a regular basis. It’s so hard to keep your home tidy but by doing a Fall home cleaning you can get all of your deep holiday cleaning out of the way!

Believe me, my house is not tidy and orderly all the time. My daughter makes sure that there’s constantly toys all over the place and she loves to take all of the living room pillows and make forts all over my house.

I don’t mind this kind of mess because I know it’s the kind of mess that my daughter makes on a daily basis. But I do love to know that even though my house may be messy with toys, it’s clean, uncluttered, and disinfected.

So, I hope I was able to help you accomplish the dreaded seasonal home cleaning! Don’t forget to download my Fall Home Cleaning Checklist to make your seasonal cleaning easy and stress-free!

Remember, don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to do all of your cleanings at once. Space out your cleaning and try to do one room a week, trust me- it’ll help you keep your sanity!

Check out my post “What is Fall Cleaning? 10 Reasons Why I Fall Clean!”

Here’s Why You Need to Fall Clean: 10 Awesome Reasons!

Seasonal & Holidays

Inside: Learn why you should do a Fall Cleaning to declutter, reorganize and get your house ready for the holidays! (Plus get a FREE cleaning goals worksheet!)

We all know about Spring Cleaning…. but have hopped on the Fall Cleaning train??

Total honesty– I’m not sure if Fall Cleaning an actual “thing”, but over the past few years I’ve been hearing some buzz about it which has me stoked excited because I’ve been Fall Cleaning for the past 6 years!

I noticed that even though Spring Cleaning is great, it’s not really during the season that I need it to be.

What I really need is to get cleaned and organized before the holidays and winter sets in. So say hello to Fall Cleaning and goodbye to holiday stress!

What is Fall Cleaning?

Fall Cleaning is a way to declutter, reorganize, and deep clean your house before the winter months set in!

Let’s face it, with Winter comes a blanket of slumber.

I almost never want to do anything around this time of year because I’m always so busy with the holidays. and when the holidays are done, all I want to do is recuperate!

My goal for Fall Cleaning is to get ready for holiday visits, clear the clutter that comes along with storing Christmas gifts, and deep clean certain areas of my house that I know are going to be heavily utilized (like the kitchen for family meals and the bathroom for frequent visits)!

Fall Cleaning gives me the ability to focus on my house before all of the craziness of the holidays begin!

I wanted to share with you in-depth the reasons why I Fall Clean (and why you should do a Fall Cleaning too!)

Let’s dive into Fall Cleaning!

10 Reasons Why I do a Fall Cleaning

The main goal of Fall Cleaning is to get ready for the Holidays!

1. Make my house clean and inviting so my family feels at home and welcome

One of the main reasons I do a Fall Cleaning is to prepare my house for holiday guests and visitors.

Whether I’m hosting a family dinner, a cookie party, a church gathering, or if the in-laws are staying with me for a couple of nights- I always want to make sure my house is guest-ready!

Doing one major sweep of my house is so helpful because it reduces the need to have to get your house ready before each time someone comes over (which usually is a lot around this time of year!).

During this time, I assess each room in the house and see what needs to be changed, what needs to be cleaned, check to see if there are any furniture damages and that everything is still in working order.

Then I use my trusty Cleaning Goals Worksheet to record everything that I need to do around the house according to each room.

If you’re anything like me and are a stay at home mom with a toddler on the loose, then odds are there are going to be a couple of things that need replacing.

But you don’t want to switch up your whole house solely because you have guests over and ruin your children’s play areas.

You simply want to address the things in your house that have needed some attention for quite a while now but that you just haven’t got around to doing. That is why I love Fall Cleaning!

2. Deep clean my kitchen to prepare for Thanksgiving and holiday baking

I don’t know about you but my kitchen sure gets utilized during the holiday season! There are baking dishes and travel containers that aren’t used at any other time of the year except holiday season.

I use Fall Cleaning to not only go through my kitchen cabinets but also take out any kitchen dishes that I use only around this time of year. Maybe there’s a cookie decorating box that you store all year long but only take out for Christmas cookies. Or maybe there’s a crockpot that you hardly use but only use to make delicious hot cocoa.

I also use this time to deep clean my stove, my oven, the cabinet under my kitchen sink, and the refrigerator.

3. Clean/reorganize my bathroom to prepare for holiday guests

Another room in my house that is going to get A LOT of use during the holiday season is the bathroom.

I use Fall Cleaning to:

clean the tub,
maybe re-grout if I have to,
clean out the medicine cabinet,
stock up on bathroom toiletries that I know my guests will use

I make a list of everything I need to buy to get ready for the season, such as an extra shower gel if I know I’m going to have a lot of overnight guests. Or stock up on toilet paper and get a new toilet brush.

I also take this time to redecorate my bathroom for the season.

I love to change the bathroom décor based on the seasons! I change the shower curtain, towel color schemes, and hand soap.

In the Summer I have a cute Finding Nemo shower curtain that looks like the ocean, use blue and yellow hand towels, and a lemon scent. But in the Fall, I put up my striped shower curtain and change all of my hand towels and floor mats to burgundy and burnt yellow.

BONUS: Grab your Free Fall Cleaning Checklist to help you so you can plan, track, and accomplish all of the things that you want to get done around the house! CLICK HERE TO GET IT FREE!

4. Declutter so I can store gifts that I am giving

To prevent the much dreaded “holiday overwhelm”, I like to start making my Christmas list in October.

This gives me enough time to think about the perfect gift for each person and also helps me keep an eye open for sales. I used to do all of my Christmas shopping in December but one year I started wayyy in advanced and it really helped me reduce the “Christmas shopping overwhelm”.

So now, every time I see something that would make a great gift, I buy it and store it away so when Christmas gets closer I can wrap it and put it under the tree. In order to do this, I have to clean out some closets and extra storage places so I can hide gifts!

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5. Make way for new gifts that I will receive

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I receive really amazing Christmas gifts and then realize that I have nowhere to put it or store it!

Last year when I did my Fall Cleaning, I made a mental note to declutter things that I haven’t used that year and either store it or donate it so I can make room for anything new that I will be receiving.

If your anything like me, after the holidays I have a huge bag or box of new items that I received from Christmas that I don’t know where to put! So, during the cleaning time, I declutter to make room for the awesome and thoughtful gifts that my family and friends will give me.

6. Get cleaning out of the way so I can enjoy the holidays with my family

Another reason I love Fall Cleaning is that it gets all of the cleanings out of the way so I can spend more time with my family and doing things that need to get done. If I deep clean my bathroom, rearrange some items in the room and declutter the kitchen then that’s 3 fewer things that I have to do when the holidays draw closer. The holidays come SO fast and you’ll be happy that you got cleaning out of the way!

7. Get ready guest rooms and rooms in the house that people will be sleeping when they visit

I live in New York City so let’s just say that my apartment isn’t the largest home. But around the holidays my family and friends don’t care about how small my house is…all they just want to all be together and have fun.

Because I don’t have any guest rooms, my family usually camps out in the living room or we’ll put air mattress out everywhere. So during Fall Cleaning, I make sure that I have my air mattress accessible, all the sheets in the linen closet are accessible and fresh/clean, and that I have my extra pillows ready.

At my mom’s house, she actually does have a guest room so during Fall Cleaning I help get the room ready by either changing the curtains or switching out the comforters.

8. Get fall/winter decorations ready when it’s time to decorate the house

Fall Cleaning also consists of getting switching out my Spring/Summer decorations for Fall/Winter ones.

I love to change the candle scents, the living room curtains, the table decorations, and the overall “ambiance” of my house. I don’t get all Christmassy in October, but I do bring my Christmas decorations to the front of my closet so I can have them easily accessible. That way, when it’s actually time to decorate my house I’ll be all ready!

9. Switch Summer clothes to winter clothes

One of the most important things I do during Fall Cleaning is actually clean out my closets and my daughter’s closet.

Once the weather starts changing, it’s time to put away the bathing suits and sundresses and get out some leggings and boots. (Unless you live somewhere in a tropical climate and it’s hot all year round!).

I also use this time to go through my closet and donate anything that either doesn’t fit me anymore or that I haven’t worn in a year. I also do the same for my husband’s closet and daughter’s.

10. Figure out where my Christmas tree is going!

Last but not least, I use Fall Cleaning to figure out how I am going to rearrange my living room to fit my Christmas tree!

When I’m decluttering and rearranging some things in the house I make a mental note to find the perfect spot for the tree this year! Every year my family goes to pick fresh trees so that way I know how tall or wide the tree can be.

Free Fall Cleaning Goals Worksheet

Don’t forget to download the free Fall Cleaning Goals Worksheet!

The worksheet helps you:

create the perfect cleaning to-do list & cleaning calendar
track your goals
keep track of what you want to get done in each room of the house

I’ve used this worksheet for 2 years now and it has helped me SO much! It’s also really great to have a place where everything is written down so your spouse and family can see it too and can help you with your Fall Cleaning.

Trust me, you’ll love the Fall Cleaning Goals Worksheet!

And that’s it! My 10 reasons to Fall Clean!

Remember, when I do my Fall Cleaning it’s usually is done throughout a 4-week span. That’s why I start in the Fall, usually the beginning of October, so I can make sure to give myself enough time to get everything done!

Don’t stress yourself out with everything that has to be done or everything that you want to get done. Maybe your Fall Cleaning looks like something that can be done in one Saturday.

It’s up to you!

Are you ready to hop aboard the Fall Cleaning train?? See you there!

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