10 Tips For Cleaning Your Home After Holiday Overnight Guests
Get your home back in shape after holiday guests with these 10 easy and practical cleaning tips. From quick resets to laundry ideas, these stress-free strategies will help refresh your space without feeling overwhelmed.
Most of us have more overnight guests than usual during the holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s, and some of our homes can feel more like a hotel during this time. While we love the moments spent with family and friends, if you’re like me, by the time guests head out, you’re usually too exhausted to even think about tidying up.
I’ve gathered 10 practical, easy-to-follow tips to help you survive the aftermath of having way too much fun and restore order to your home without feeling overwhelmed. These steps will save you time, effort, and maybe even your sanity! However, you probably already know all these tips, so this is a gentle reminder.
Here’s how I get our home cleaned and put away for the next round of guests!
Develop A Strategy
It’s not surprising that after a holiday weekend, our homes can look like a small storm blew through, particularly if you had little ones or multiple families visiting. I spoke to some friends, who shared that the aftermath of holiday guests usually means extra laundry, a messy kitchen, and rooms in disarray. However, having a doable and repeatable clean-up strategy is the key to managing the clean-up process without feeling stressed.
Cleaning up after guests isn’t glamorous, especially when tired, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming either. Here’s how I tackle post-guest cleaning and get my house back to feeling like home again. I hope this helps.
Say Yes When Guests Ask To Help
When guests ask if they can help, say yes! It might feel awkward because they’re your guests, but people genuinely want to be helpful. Let them strip their beds, carry towels to the laundry room, or assist with setting the table or cleaning up after a meal. Accepting small tasks from them can save you a lot of energy and time later. It’s a win-win for everyone—you get some much-needed help, and they get to contribute.
Do This As Soon As Guests Leave
As soon as your guests leave, make it a point to do a quick “reset” of your home. I always feel more organized when I immediately put the guest spaces back in order, even if it’s late at night. Spend 10-15 minutes doing simple tasks like fluffing pillows, straightening up the living areas, and gathering dirty towels or linens. It’s amazing how much better you’ll feel when your home looks organized, even if you leave the deeper cleaning for later.
Start With Simple Straightening
Begin by straightening up the common areas—no deep cleaning yet! Grab a trash bag and a laundry basket to help you out. The trash bag is for wrappers, napkins, emptying the waste baskets, or small garbage, and the laundry basket is for items that belong in other rooms. Just getting rid of clutter can make the room feel instantly cleaner. We have lots of young kids visit, so I need a laundry basket to pick up toys that my grandkids missed putting away. Can you relate?
Strip The Beds And Gather The Towels
Get those sheets and towels into the wash as soon as possible. I like to start this task almost right away because, by the time I’ve finished the rest of the cleaning, the laundry is usually done and ready to be folded. Plus, fresh sheets are always a welcome sight when prepping for your next round of guests.
Clean The Rooms That Need It The Most First
Once you’re ready to start cleaning, focus on the rooms that were used the most. For me, that’s always the kitchen. A messy kitchen makes the whole house feel disorganized! Begin by loading the dishwasher, wiping down countertops, and clearing any leftover food. Then, move on to other areas like the living room or dining room. Cleaning one room at a time is much less overwhelming than cleaning the whole house in bits and pieces.
Pay Extra Attention To The Bathrooms
Guest bathrooms can take a bit of a beating during holiday stays, so they deserve extra attention. I head to the powder room first and thoroughly clean it. I then clean the upstairs bathrooms, replacing towels and replenishing toiletries. A fresh-smelling, clean bathroom is a small luxury after a hectic weekend.
Don’t Forget The Go Outside
If you’ve had guests bringing furry friends, don’t forget about the yard! We’re dog lovers in our home, and it’s not unusual to have a couple of pups around during family gatherings. My husband, Bobby, takes charge of “poop patrol,” making sure the yard is clean and presentable after our canine visitors head home.
Check The Refrigerator-Plan For Leftovers
Holidays usually mean a lot of food, which also means leftovers! Take a few minutes to go through your fridge. Use up leftovers for easy lunches or dinners in the coming days, and toss out anything that won’t be eaten. Cleaning out the fridge not only gives you a head start on meal planning but also frees up space for your next gathering.
You might like the recipe for Not-Just-For-Christmas Breakfast Casserole. Overnight guests love it!
Count Your Blessings
Once the cleaning is done, take a moment to reflect on the joy of having friends and family in your home. Yes, there is often a mess to clean, but it’s a small price to pay for the wonderful memories and connections made.
StoneGable and the TangleWood House hold decades of laughter, celebrations, and love, and each little mess is a reminder of the blessings we’ve experienced.
Now, it’s your turn! Share your best clean-up tips in the comments—I’d love to hear how you keep your home running smoothly after overnight guests leave!
Happy Holidays!
Wow, Yvonne! You are superwoman! It takes me several hours to clean three bathrooms. My showers are quite large and they are tiled almost to the sealings. I’m not complaining, I love to clean my home!
Great tips Yvonee! Thanks for sharing. I hope that you have a great Saturday and a wonderful weekend!!!
Such great tips! Always enjoy hearing how you get it all done.. Truly a beautiful home, would love to know how you keep those gorgeous floors in shape with all the company and three doggies. Your blog is an everyday red for me.
Hi Margaret, These floors have held up so well! The ones in the kitchen are the oldest and certainly look more worn than the ones in the front of our home that are only 4 years old.
Your flooring looks like the same type of wood I have. What cleaning products do you use to clean them, other than dusting? I LOVE your home!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
I loved this post- such an inspiration to just get it done!
Enjoy your day!
Great tips Yvonne! I agree with starting in the kitchen. It does make me feel like I accomplished the biggest task at hand and allows me to keep up with the laundry too since it is right off my kitchen. Thanks for sharing!
Yvonne, thank you for a great post. Sometimes the cleanup and “put away” is overwhelming, especially when you work full-time outside the home. The throw away, put away, and then clean makes so much sense. And please do post your 10-minute bathroom clean. You’ve inspired me to get moving.
Perfect. I think just picking up and straightening things make a house look clean again and peaceful.
Yvonne, this is so timely! I just had two families (relatives) stay with us for a week and my introvert, tidy self was pushed to the limit. Your tips are so practical and do-able! It helps me most to give myself a week to truly get everything back like it was, including my personal challenge – creatively using up all the leftovers!
Blessings to you, Yvonne. Happy birthday and thanks for being the cheerleader for a community of like-minded women!
I always love cleaning tips! I usually have a house full around the holidays. My most challenging time of the year is after Thanksgiving is over and Christmas season starts. I have my family here for Thanksgiving and I’m still decorated for Fall, and have turkeys around. All of that has to be put away and clean my house after company before I can start my Christmas decorating. One smart thing I did was I have started taking an extra day off work (the Monday after Thanksgiving) to give me an extra day to get things done so I am not so stressed out. It should be a fun thing when people come visit, and not stressful. Love the tips, and the advice to get your rest as well!
Please share your bathroom cleaning tips! I feel like it takes me 30-60min and who has time for that?!
Would love some tips on cleaning bathrooms quickly, seems to take me forever 🙁
Yvonne – I couldn’t agree with you more! Whenever I clean my kitchen it feels like the entire house is clean! (Oh! And bathroom mirrors.)
Great tips. Thanks for sharing
Great ideas! I like saying yes! Let them strip the bed, etc, if they offer!!
I, too cherish the memories made with great friends and family. Great tips for clean up afterwards. I, also, strip the bed immediately after they leave. Waiting for you to share your bathroom cleaning tips?.
We tackle the kitchen first also. You must be organized (to some degree) or will be overwhelmed which just adds to an already exhausted You! We have lots of company, it’s extra work, and we are no spring chickens but we are so Blessed! Great post Yvonne.
Wow…!! Great concept for cleaning tips, thanks for sharing the wonderful article. I love to clean my home; this article is very useful for me because you explain numbers of idea and tips.
Thank you so much for you “get ready for guests” & “clean up after”……..Living on the west coast, but “being from” the east coast, means a great weather destination all year round for our families and “old friends” (we’ve lived here 49 years). There are years that we have company for weeks at a time and I am always looking for ways to be more guest-friendly. Your advice hits home on every bullet. I’ve incorporated all of your ideas over time. We just said goodbye to my widowed sister who was here for 6 weeks. Now we are expecting some friends (a couple) in their 27′ trailer & huge truck from the east coast. They would like to stay in our guestroom & park their rigs on the street for 10 days. Unfortunately for me, I cannot control their timing and I am hosting a large wedding shower for our neighbor girl in the middle of that 10 days. Planning, planning, planning to have everything done before company comes and not go crazy the couple days surrounding the shower. Your ideas today and a few prayers for calm and patience may just be my saving grace. You rock! Happy Easter to you and yours.
Wow Lana! YOU are the consummate hostess!As long as YOU love it… YOU GO GIRL!
wow!!!!!!!!!! great advice…….i like your all suggestion! keep it up…… i want to mention that i read your blog post every day ….. great suggestion ever……………
Thanks
YOU ARE SO SWEET, Kristine! Thank you for being a part of our StoneGable family!
Your article is quite helpful! I have so many questions, and you have answered many. Thank you! Such a nice and superb article, we have been looking for this information about a simple house cleaning routine Indeed a great post about it!!
Thank you very much for sharing such useful advice. I will always try to follow these important tricks in the future.
Truly a beautiful home, would love to know how you keep those gorgeous floors in shape with all the company and three doggies. Your blog is an everyday red for me.
My laundry “room” is really just a pass-thru to the garage with the only flat space being the tops of the machines. I’ve always been one of those, ‘I’ll deal with it when I can’ rather than being forced to because it’s literally in my face until I do. However, I’m going to take your advice and let them bring down the linens from now on. I do it at their homes, time to start letting them help me. Also, as soon as guests leave I head to their bathroom and at least get the shower cleaned. It’s SO much easier and faster when it’s wet.
Such a great post, Yvonne! We love having company. When they leave, you always have such precious memories of the good times spent together. I always appreciate when they bring the sheets, towels, etc. to our laundry room. We also appreciate their help in the kitchen as there is always something they can do for you. The first thing I do when our guests leave is to put the linen into the washer. Next, thing is to put our kitchen and dining room in order. Then, the guest bathroom gets a cleaning. My hubby is a great help as he looks after the vacuuming in the guest bedroom and the rest of our home. It’s always a lot of work to have guests come for a visit but we always feel so blessed through having them. Thanks, again, Yvonne for always bringing us so many wonderful suggestions. By the way, Yvonne, I still use your dish pan clean-up procedure for the dishes at Christmas! This is just the greatest way to get things done. I appreciate you — and all you do for us — in making our life easier.
I always say . . . “There is no greater feeling than to have all five bedrooms upstairs getting used and messy” because that means all the kids and grandkids are here, and then I also always say, “There is no greater feeling than to have all five bedrooms upstairs all neat and tidy again and ready for the next batch of visitors!” I love both feelings! Thankfully the kids/grands have gotten really good at tidying up after themselves before they leave, and my husband always pitches in with the general cleanup as well. After everyone is gone, we tend to focus on getting all the main living areas tidied up and vacuumed/mopped right away because it just brings a sense of calm back to our home. But then I actually prefer that the kids/guests leave the bedding and towels upstairs so that I can then take my own sweet time to work my way through each of the rooms and get them all put back together at my own pace. It’s always such a sweet time for me to continue to think about all the fun we had together and to pray over them as I am working in their rooms, and then when all is said and done, I just love the calmness . . . and long for the next time again! Thanks for sharing! Your blog has inspired me for many years!
Hi Jacki, I know those feelings well. Thanks for being a long-time reader.
Love these tips but the best one is to ‘Count your Blessings’. Such a good thing to remember during all the busyness of the holidays!
Merry Christmas, b!