April 8, 2013
10 Steps to Prep Your Home for a Vacation
When most of us begin planning a vacation, we purchase airplane tickets, create fun and interesting itineraries, book hotel rooms, and begin sorting through clothing and personal care items in an effort to pack everything needed for our getaway. We’re so concerned about the actual trip, we fail to think about preparing our home for our departure.
For some, this might not be bothersome. For others, leaving the house a disaster before a trip can detract from truly enjoying the vacation, –and it’s no wonder! It’s hard to have a good time while picturing all the work waiting at home.
Whether you are heading out of town for a few days or a few weeks, knowing your home is just as ready for the trip as you are will allow you to focus on what really matters.
Here are just a few tips for ensuring your home is prepared before you leave:
Preparing for the Departure
- While you might be tempted to have a friend or neighbor come over several times a day to care for a pet while you are away, this isn’t always the best idea for a worry-free vacation. Your pet might become bored without you in the home, and this boredom could result in chewed or soiled furniture, baseboards, or worse. Leave the pet at a boarding facility or hire a pet sitter who will actually stay with the pet.
- Always remove food from the fridge that will expire during the vacation. No one wants to be welcomed home to unpleasant spoiled food smells.
- Wash and put away all of the laundry before leaving. This includes the 15 outfits lying on the bed you decided not to pack for the trip.
- Invest in hiring a professional to come to your Ottawa home to spray for insects before leaving. The last thing anyone wants to come home to is a house full of ants (or worse.)
- Unplug any appliances and devices that don’t need to be on. This will not only help to prevent the chance of an electrical fire from a faulty device, but also reduce the amount of energy these appliances use when the house is empty.
- Ask a friend or family member to stop by to water plants in the home or invest in self-watering stakes. There’s nothing more depressing than coming home from a fun vacation to a house full of wilting plants.
- Call the post office and have any mail temporarily placed on hold. This will not only ensure the mailbox isn’t overflowing with bills, catalogues, and junk mail, but also help the security of the home.
- While a vacation is most often relaxing, you will no doubt be exhausted by the time you arrive home. Prepare for that first night home now. Change the sheets so it is easy to climb into bed for a re-energizing sleep.
- If it is necessary to eat a meal, like breakfast, before leaving for the trip, make sure to make it as easy as possible. Purchase plates, cups, and utensils that can be thrown away and food that doesn’t need to be cooked. This way you don’t come home to dirty dishes in the sink.
- Hire an Ottawa home cleaning service, like Greenapple House Cleaning, to come in at least once while you are away. Our professional staff will ensure the home is clean from top to bottom, so you don’t come to home to a layer of dust and unpleasant aromas. Greenapple House Cleaning will make your return from a relaxing vacation easy and stress-free. And, with our Ottawa home cleaning service on the job, you won’t have to worry about any preparation steps you might have forgotten in your hurry to get out the door.
With these preparation tips and a little help from Greenapple House Cleaning, you can truly enjoy your next vacation.
