Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors

Holiday

Reducing Holiday Stress: 6 Ways to Prepare Your Home For the Holiday Rush

October 2, 2023

The first week of October for our family is basically like the gunshot that signals the start of a marathon. Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, school activities, family visiting, traveling to visit family, kids out of school, work deadlines. The holiday season, with all its festive charm, often brings a less welcome companion – stress. So how can we reduce holiday stress so that we actually enjoy our holidays?

Shop the cottage dining room

For us, this starts at home. With strategic home preparations, holiday stress doesn't have to define the season, and you can make your home consistently calm and a joy to be in. Here are some of the ways we prepare our home to reduce holiday stress.

1. Set Up a Holiday Command Center:

A designated spot in your home for holiday planning can be a life-saver when things get really busy. This festive hub, complete with school calendars, shopping lists, holiday cards, addresses, stamps, and a running list of people you'd like to buy gifts for so you can jot down ideas easily--centralizes tasks, making it easier to manage responsibilities and reduce holiday stress. (Our kitchen desk is our command center!)

Our Kitchen Sources

2. Stock Up for Stress-Free Holidays:

Avoid last-minute scrambles by keeping essential holiday and home supplies at hand. Think: wrapping materials, batteries, key ingredients for your festive meals or an impromptu snack, household goods you don't want to be caught without (never create a situation where a guest needs to ask for toilet paper), being prepared is a proactive step to reduce holiday stress. I love to keep little gifts wrapped that I can have on hand for those that stop by with a gift in hand.

3. Quiet Spaces: Your Stress Relief Corners:

Carving out peaceful pockets in your home provides an immediate escape from the festive frenzy. For us, this is our bedroom, but whether it be a reading nook or meditation corner, somewhere to escape is vital to rejuvenate and destress. Keep this space clear of mail, gift messes, and you may even want to skip seasonal decor in here.

Primary Bedroom Nook

Primary Bedroom Sources

4. Entertainment Preparedness Minimizes Stress:

Having options ready for both planned and impromptu gatherings is a fun way to prepare for the holidays. There's nothing better than friends stopping by and you being able to invite them in and spend unplanned time together, serving up tasty treats on the fly, ensuring everyone feels welcome. That's what the holidays really are. While we keep our games stored upstairs in the playroom, we keep a few fun group games (<<linked our favs!) in a cabinet in the dining room to pull out. We love to stock up our s'mores basket this time of year, but seasonal treats from Trader Joe's go very far, as well!

Wallpaper | Chest | Lamp (similar) | Vase (similar) | Rug | Mirror

5. Tech-Free Zones: Enhance Connection, Reduce Stress:

Frequent tech interruptions can heighten stress. Designating times in your home as "screen-free" encourages genuine interactions, helping reduce holiday stress by focusing on meaningful connections. We go screen free as soon as the dinner bell rings!

6. Ready Your Guest Spaces to Reduce Holiday Stress:

Preparing for your guests ahead of time means less last-minute hustle. From ensuring comfort with fresh linens to small touches like Wi-Fi details, snacks and toiletries. Anticipate the needs of your guests to ensure a stress-free stay. (See more of our tips for prepping for guests here!)

Shop the guest house

Guest essentials

While the holiday season is inevitably bustling, it can also be what we all want it to be - a time for focusing on fun, family, belief, and connection. By adapting and preparing your home, you can actively reduce holiday stress, ensuring you and your loved ones truly enjoy the entire holiday season.

— Hide Comments
+ ShowComments
What do you think?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. I love this! I needed to hear each one of the steps. I’m prepping my command zone and I think that’s going to help me out tremendously! My brain is so fried during the holidays now that I’m the adult creating all the magic for my family to enjoy I find I often leave myself out, like joining in and making a gingerbread house (I usually only buy them for the kids and I help/clean up but don’t do any of the fun, I’m changing that this year too.) also liked the tip of keeping all the gift craziness out of the master bedroom, and possibly not having any Christmas decor in there. I’ve gone crazy filling each room in the past and this year I’m focusing on making the house feel like Christmas more with smells, music, lights and a lot less of the little decorations everywhere. Thanks again!

What We're

Loving

Right Now

What We're

Loving

Right Now

Looking for our favorite things? A place to shop our home room by room, or just catch up on what Julia's wearing / loving right now? Browse the CLJ shop
Shop All

Love Stories

Love Where You Live

In an industry that often feels designed to make you discontent, we want this to be place you come for inspiration, ideas, and encouragement to make the space you're already in feel like home.
Read All Posts
let's break this thing up

BROWSE BY CATEGORY

01

Portfolio

Befores, afters, mood boards, plans, failures, wins. We’ve done a lot of projects, and they’re all here.
read more
02

Projects

We have a long-standing relationship with DIY, and love rolling our sleeves up and making it happen.
read more
03

Design

Even when you don’t want to rip down a wall, you can make that space in your home better. Right now.
read more
hello world!

looking for inspiration?

Beautifully wrapped traditional presents stacked in a doorway
Gift Guides!

Holiday Gift Guides for Everyone in Your Life {2024}

Remember the thrill of unwrapping a gift that felt just right? Let's bring that magic back this holiday season!! Our curated gift guides for 2024 are filled with thoughtful picks that will make your loved ones feel special. That's what it's all about, after all! Whether you're shopping for your main guy, your clutch coworker, […]
Chris Cooks Candied Ham Skewers
Chris Cooks

Candied Ham Skewers - Your New Favorite Holiday Appetizer

As a home cook, this is my favorite time of year: the time leading up to Thanksgiving and Christmas. But this year, I want to focus on low-effort, high-impact dishes. Something that can serve a crowd but is not too hard to make. And these spicy candied ham bites are just the ticket. Shop The […]
Lifestyle

Your Fall Home Maintenance Checklist

This post is sponsored by Neighborly, Your Hub for Home Services The beginning of the year we're always thinking "spring cleaning." But in fall, I like to cover our bases on home maintenance before we have guests or face colder weather. I usually like to split the tasks between things we tackle ourselves and things we […]
The Marcum family dressed as characters from the classic edition of Clue: The Game.
Entertaining

Our Halloween Family Costumes 2024: I'll Give You One Clue

It was Professor Plum, with the knife, in the Conservatory. Happy Halloween from Clue characters: 1986 edition! Shop Costume Inspiration Over the years, we've dressed as everything from dolls and monsters to Peter Pan, E.T. characters, and The Wizard of Oz. But in the last several years, one of our kids has usually chosen our costumes. If you look back, you […]
Learn With Us
Want to do what we do? Get the tools, mentorship, and training to be a Good Influencer professionally.
Learn More
Looking for Something?

SEARCH THE BLOG

We've been doing this since 2009 and we've posted a whopping 24145+ blog posts and counting. You might need a little help searching, huh?

Can We Send You Our Love Letter?

Another way for us to stay in touch! Joining our weekly newsletter gives you access to exclusive content, never-before-seen photos, your questions answered, and our favorite DIYs. Sign up below!

hello world!
Follow Along on Instagram
Welcome to our online community where we've posted home, DIY, style, renovations, and family since '09. Renovating our #cljmoderncottage in Idaho and headed for new adventures in Raleigh, NC. #cljfam #cljtransformations
© 2024 Chris Loves Julia, LLC
PRIVACY POLICYTERMS & CONDITIONSAFFILIATE DISCLAIMERSITE CREDITCOMMUNITY GUIDELINES