DIY Home Improvement Tips for Christmas

Christmas is almost here. The time is to get everything up and running in the home to make sure nothing comes in the way of you and a fantastic Christmas celebration. Here are some of the DIY tips to make your place ready for the festivities.

With winter holidays and Christmas fast approaching you should be working overtime to make your home look all set for the festive season.   Although you can hire an interior designer or professional for this task, the best option would be to get yourself in the thick of things. With a little assistance from friends and family members and application of creativity you can also make your home look like as if it was done by an experienced professional. Here are some of the DIY tips that will help you in your endeavor:

Start early: Instead of leaving everything to last minute, as many of us like to do, one must start the preparations at least two weeks prior to Christmas. There is a lot of work that will require your attention and with distant family members and friends coming over to visit your place, the last few days before the festival would keep you extremely busy. Therefore, it is wise to start early.

Get rid of the clutter: Christmas is a time when even the most spacious of all homes can start feeling a little cramped. Having a house full of guests, visitors, and gifts can suddenly make you gasping for more space. There is no fun in living at a place where you cannot walk without bumping into furniture or a guest. Rather than offering a welcoming space, it can seem unfit for any kind of celebration.

Although it doesn’t imply that you start on major renovation spree, but you can certainly do something about it. Start with taking a look at the rented home in an objective manner and figure out the objects, piece of furniture whose absence wouldn’t make much difference. Evaluate every item on the basis of its requirement and you will be surprised at your own discovery. There will be plenty of items that can be discarded or at least removed for the time being.

Clean the place inside out: The next obvious step is to clean each nook and corner of your home. Most of us do not engage in deep cleansing exercises on the pretext of less availability of time. The fact that it is Christmas time and soon your home will be swarming with guests gives ample reason to have everything look at its best. Whether it is carpet and the upholstery or cupboards and attics, make sure to leave nothing without one round of deep cleansing.

 

The fireplace and Christmas tree are the main center of attraction

 and therefore require more attention

The fireplace: To ensure your own safety as well as of your guests give special attention to the fireplace and the surrounding area. Install a screen in front of the fireplace so as to keep the sparks from flying towards the people sitting beside it. Also keep removing the ashes regularly as they also present a fire hazard. Clean the chimney and hearth and remove any trace of old fuel. Use of dried woods is recommended instead of gasoline or any other highly inflammable liquid to start the fire. 

The Christmas tree: In addition to the fireplace, the Christmas tree will be another center of attraction in your home. There are two options in this regard. Either you can choose an artificial tree, in which case it should be fire-resistant or you can go for a live tree, the freshest of the lot on which you can lay your hands.   A good way of identifying a fresh Christmas tree is that the leaves are green needles that are hard to pull from the branches and should not break when you bend them between the fingers. The placement of the tree is also important. To be on the safer side keep it away from the fireplace and heating vents. Water it regularly to keep the tree as fresh as possible.

Saurabh Tyagi is a new media enthusiast with professional experience as a blogger. He keeps an eye on the top real estate trends across the country and pens his thoughts for leading online publications on topics related to career, technology and real estate.