We won’t lie, preparing your home before you jet off is considerably less enticing than planning your trip and packing your bag. But cleaning and organising your space before you travel is essential and can mean that you end up enjoying your break even more. After all, there’s nothing nicer than a few days/weeks away from the norm and then returning to a perfectly clean home. To help you to accomplish this, EZ Living Furniture has compiled a checklist of things you need to do before you leave for your adventure. So, let's jet into it.....
Put Lights On A Timer
Some tasks are essential for the safety of your home, and this is one of them. Investing in smart plugs is a surefire way to ensure that your house/apartment appears to be lived in while you’re away. From your phone’s smart plug app, you can schedule porch lights, table lamps, and floor lamps to switch on automatically at a set time each day, or switch them on and off at random at a time that’s convenient for you. This is one item on the checklist that shouldn’t be forgotten.
Invest In New Air Fresheners/Diffusers
Before you jet off, you’ll want to be certain that when you return, there won’t be a stagnant smell in your home. After all, you could be away for some time and in that time, doors and windows will likely remain unopened, thus preventing any fresh air from circulating throughout your home. To prevent this, we suggest investing in some new air fresheners and diffusers. Place a few throughout your home, paying particular attention to the most lived-in rooms such as the bedroom, living room, and kitchen.
Adjust Your Thermostat
To ensure you are not wasting energy while you’re away, you will need to adjust your thermostat. By lowering the temperature or adjusting the timer of when your heat switches on and off, not only can you significantly reduce your electricity bill, but also the amount of electricity usage, ensuring you are not wasting energy.
Pause Regular Deliveries & Subscriptions
Something that people forget to do before leaving for their holidays is to pause regular subscriptions and deliveries. By not doing so, packages can start piling up at your front door while you’re away. Take a few minutes to pause all your subscriptions and avoid making any online orders in advance of your trip to prevent anything from being delivered.
Arrange For Your Plants To Be Watered
When our minds are placed firmly on those few nights away, the last thing you’ll probably think to do is water your plants before you leave, but it’s essential, especially if you want to keep your plants alive during that time. You can, of course, invest in self-watering mechanisms to keep your plants looking their best, but if you’d rather have someone check in on your house and tend to your plants while you’re away, you’ll have to organise this with them in advance. So, it’s important to organise those visits with them in advance to make sure they’re available before you begin to plan your journey.
Call On Family & Friends
Speaking of family and friends, if you are having someone call in while you’re away to water your plants, you might as well ask them to open/close curtains too! Having curtains opened/closed at different times of the day gives the appearance of someone being in your home. This is why it is such a good idea to have someone over to check up on the place.
Don’t Forget Your Fur Babies
If you happen to have pets, you will need to organise for someone to visit every day for feeding, play, and socialisation. You could hire someone to do this or ask a family member or friend. Alternatively, you could place your pet in a daycare that specialises in caring for your type of animal. Of course, this does require a lot more planning, as you will need to book space for your furry friend to ensure they definitely have a place to stay while you’re away.
Take Out The Bins
Taking out the bins before you leave is so important; if you don’t, expect to arrive back to a horrible smell lingering around your home.
Load The Dishwasher & Run It
Similar to the previous task, loading the dishwasher and running it before you leave will prevent any smells from persisting throughout your home. Old food can go bad very quickly, and when not washed prior to leaving, you can end up returning to a home that has a putrid smell in the air.
Clean Out The Fridge
Again, this is more about having a clear out and assessing what you have that will expire before you leave and during the time you are away. Plan to use these ingredients in meals, or alternatively, you could give these groceries to family, friends, or neighbours to prevent any food waste. Go one step further and remove all remaining items from the fridge to allow for a deep clean of the fridge. Remove all shelving and wash in warm soapy water, and follow this up with cleaning the inside too!
Freeze Meals For Your Return
We know the last thing you’ll probably want to do before you jet away is cook, but meal planning before you leave can save you a lot of hassle when you return. Think about it, you’ve just landed back, you have a suitcase waiting to be unpacked, you’re full of rich food, and the last thing you want to do is cook a big meal, but you’re still hungry and need to eat. To save you the effort of chopping ingredients and waiting for everything to cook, why not have something you can simply defrost and eat straight away? Trust us when we say that meal prepping in advance can be a lifesaver when you return from a trip away.
Change Your Bed Linen
There’s no nicer feeling than returning from a trip away to crisp, fresh bed linen. So, before you leave, set aside some time to wash and redress your bed with fresh bed linen. If you’d like to go one step further and invest in a whole new set for your return, might we suggest checking out our new range in collaboration with Foxford? Our recent partnership with the popular Mayo-based textile brand has us telling everyone who’ll listen about the beautiful designs on offer.
Check out our new FOXFORD by EZ Living Furniture bed linen range here!
Rotate Your Mattress
Did you know that you’re supposed to rotate your mattress regularly? Well, we did! Being experts in the field, we often tell people to invest in a new mattress to rotate theirs once a month for the first 6 months, and then once a quarter thereafter. This is an important task that many seem to forget, but can be the making or breaking of your new mattress. Rotating your mattress regularly means the fillings will evenly distribute throughout the casing, allowing for a more supportive night’s sleep.
Pack Your Last Few Bits
Even after you’ve packed your main suitcase, there’s often a list of things you must leave to pack last. Things like chargers, toothbrushes, and skincare will need to be added to your backpack or handbag before you leave. We often leave these bits and more out because they are usually needed until the very last minute.
Secure Your Home
Last but not least, secure your home. Remember to check all locks to ensure they are working properly. A window left ajar might not seem like something to worry about while you’re away, but it can be that small gap that leaves quite literally an opening for an intruder.
Now that you have your pre-holiday checklist completed, it’s time to relax. Your holiday has now officially started – Enjoy!
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