How Do You Reset Your Home After Holiday Guests Leave?

Once the holidays are over and the last guest heads home, your house might look a little different than it did before everyone arrived. There are sheets to wash, extra chairs to put away, leftovers to deal with and plenty of things that somehow migrated from their usual spots. 

Resetting your home doesn’t have to mean deep cleaning every room in one day. Start with the spaces your guests used most, put your everyday setup back together and tackle the rest as you have time. 

Where Should You Start Cleaning After Holiday Guests Leave?

Start with the areas that will make the biggest difference in getting your home back to normal. 

Collect dishes and glasses, throw away trash and recycling and return anything that was moved while you were hosting. From there, focus on the kitchen, bathrooms and whichever room guests used for sleeping. 

You don’t need to scrub the baseboards because your cousins stayed for three nights. Handle the obvious mess first and save the deeper cleaning for later. 

How Do You Reset a Temporary Guest Room?

If your living room, office or another shared space became a makeshift guest room, start by turning it back into the space you normally use. 

Strip the bedding, deflate the air mattress or fold up the sleeper sofa and collect any extra pillows and blankets. Return furniture to its usual spot and put away anything you moved to make room for your guests. 

Before storing an air mattress, make sure it’s clean and completely dry. Fold guest bedding and blankets together so everything is easy to find the next time someone stays over. 

What Should You Wash After Holiday Guests Leave?

Prioritize the linens your guests actually used rather than creating an unnecessary mountain of laundry. 

That will typically include: 

• Sheets and pillowcases 
• Bath and hand towels 
• Washcloths 
• Kitchen towels 
• Tablecloths and cloth napkins 
• Frequently used throw blankets 

Check care labels before washing less-frequently cleaned items like decorative blankets or specialty table linens. 

Once everything is clean and dry, consider storing guest bedding together instead of mixing it into your everyday linens. That can make preparing for your next overnight visitor much easier. 

How Do You Reset Your Kitchen After Holiday Hosting?

Start by getting your counters, sink and refrigerator back under control. 

Put away serving dishes and appliances you brought out for holiday meals, wash table linens and return extra chairs or folding tables to their usual places. Go through the refrigerator and decide what can realistically be eaten, frozen or discarded according to food-safety guidance. 

This is also a good time to take inventory of your hosting supplies. If you discovered you own 25 wine glasses but somehow only three usable forks, make a note for the next gathering rather than trying to remember a year from now. 

What Should You Do with Extra Holiday Decorations?

If the holiday itself is over, you can start packing decorations as part of your home reset. If you’re not ready to take everything down yet, focus on decorations that were specifically added for entertaining. 

As you pack, separate anything broken or no longer wanted instead of automatically putting it back into a bin for another year. Wrap fragile decorations, label containers clearly and group similar items together. 

Seasonal decorations don’t need to take up your everyday living space once the holidays are over. If you have a larger collection, a storage unit can provide additional room for holiday décor, extra entertaining supplies and other seasonal items. 

Public Storage offers a range of unit sizes, including climate-controlled storage at many locations for belongings that may benefit from a more consistent environment. 

How Do You Deal with Everything You Moved Before Guests Arrived?

Remember all the stuff you shoved into a closet because people were coming over? Now is the time to deal with it. 

Instead of immediately putting everything back where it was, use the reset as an opportunity to decide whether those items still need to be there. Sort them into things you use regularly, things that belong elsewhere and things you’re ready to donate or get rid of. 

If you temporarily moved larger furniture or seasonal belongings into a storage unit to make room for guests, bring back the things you use regularly. Items you only need occasionally can stay out of the way until you need them again. 

How Can You Make Hosting Easier Next Time?

Before you completely move on from the holidays, make a quick note of what worked and what didn’t. 

Maybe you needed more towels. Maybe the air mattress was a lost cause. Maybe putting a folding table in the living room worked surprisingly well. Or maybe you realized you own far more holiday serving pieces than you actually use. 

Keep guest linens, spare toiletries and other hosting essentials together so you don’t have to hunt for them next time. Labeling seasonal bins can also make it easier to pull out exactly what you need without opening every container you own. 

Get Your Space Back to Normal

The post-holiday reset is less about making your home spotless and more about making it feel like your home again. 

Wash what was used, put temporary sleeping spaces away, return furniture to its usual place and deal with the clutter that accumulated while everyone was together. You can save the deep cleaning and bigger organization projects for another day. 

As you put everything away, pay attention to what you actually used. Keeping guest linens, holiday décor and entertaining supplies organized now can make hosting much easier the next time friends or family come to stay. 

And if getting your home back to normal has you realizing just how much space your seasonal belongings take up, Public Storage can help you make room between celebrations. With a range of storage unit sizes and month-to-month rentals, you can store holiday décor, extra entertaining supplies and other seasonal items until you’re ready to bring them out again.