Making Your Home More Merry

As the holidays approach, it’s easy to become so focused on the details that you forget to spend enough time with your loved ones. While keeping the house decorated, cleaned, and organized is important, it’s also crucial that you take time to fully enjoy these moments – and cultivate a more positive atmosphere in your home.

Our cleaning experts at Merry Maids® are committed to helping you have an enjoyable holiday season, by taking the cleaning chores off your hands. We believe that spreading Yuletide cheer starts with delegating household tasks and freeing up your time for the little things. After all, we can make your house clean – but only you can make it sparkle, inside and out.

3 Tips for Spreading Holiday Cheer

Let’s face it: When you’re rushing around trying to perfect everything for the holidays, it can be hard to maintain a positive attitude, much less encourage everyone else in your life to do the same. For some people, it can also be hard to keep spirits high as the days get shorter and colder. With these three handy tips, however, you may be able to spread positivity and keep the good cheer flowing long after December ends.

Tip #1: Create a gratitude chain.

When it comes to boosting your mood, there’s no better cure than giving thanks. In one recent study, researchers found that those who wrote down sources of gratitude on a daily basis were much happier than those who wrote about sources of aggravation. Take advantage of this positive effect – and add some holiday sparkle and flair to your home – by creating a fun DIY gratitude chain.

Just cut out several dozen bright red, green, and white strips of construction paper, placing them into a decorated basket. Each day, you and your family members will write down something you’re grateful for, taping up each new strip to form a chain link. Pretty soon, you’ll have a garland fit for hanging on a Christmas tree – and you’ll all feel a lot more connected and positive, too!

Tip #2: Give something back to the community each week.

The holidays are hard on many people, which means there are countless opportunities to give back to your community throughout the holiday season. Aside from the obvious benefits of helping others, performing a weekly act of service with your loved ones can also strengthen bonds, and increase your own sense of purpose. From sending your neighbors a holiday basket to serving at a soup kitchen, regular acts of service will make you feel more merry and bright.

A few community service ideas for your family or friends:

• Offering to shovel snow from a neighbor’s driveway
• Donating blood together
• Starting a canned food or toy drive in your community
• Sponsoring a local family in need

Tip #3: Make time to create something beautiful.

Embracing your creative side is a fantastic way to honor the spirit of the holidays. You don’t always have to plan for a big project, either: Just coming together to bake a favorite recipe or hang up decorations can often be enough to spark positive energy.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Participating in a virtual holiday cookie bake-off and decorating contest
• Filming a short (and silly) holiday movie together
• Writing letters to grandparents or other extended relatives
• Creating a family time capsule ornament for next year’s tree
• Hosting a virtual family talent show
• Staging “elf on the shelf” pictures together

Inviting More Happiness into Your Home

Happiness in the home can seem elusive, but by focusing your attention on the intangible aspects of the holidays, you’ll find yourself enjoying a more positive outlook all season long. When planning for holiday merriment with your friends and family, it can also help to delegate out the cleaning chores.

Trusted for more than 40 years by families across America, we can offer the perfect clean without distracting from moments that matter. Fully bonded and insured, our cleaning experts will plan around your busy schedule and leave you with a home that sparkles from top-to-bottom. We also offer seasonal cleaning services that will make your life easier after any parties, projects, or outings.

Call us today at (888) 490-4227 to get started with a free estimate before the holidays!