This post is sponsored by Babbleboxx.com. All these holiday ready ideas and thoughts are my own.

There is an endless enjoyable stream of company to host, guests to serve and family to create memories with during the holidays. Most of these memories get made at home, so we tend to put a lot of effort into getting our homes holiday ready!

There’s cleaning to do, rooms to spruce up and ambiance to make. Here are six must-dos for your holiday ready hit list this year.

1. Take a break from cleaning

Got your attention, right? While you might not be able to take a break from ALL the cleaning, there’s a handy little machine that can take a good chunk of it off your hands and leave you more time to ENJOY the holidays! ECOVACS has the best robot vacuum, the DEEBOT 900, that will SWEEP AND VACUUM YOUR FLOORS. Sweeping is the bane of my existence, and I never knew quite how much I needed one of these DEEBOT robot vacuums in my life. My kitchen floor is always clean, there are no crumbs in the dining room and for the first time since I left my mother’s house, underneath my sofa is fully vacuumed. AMAZING.

I fully admit I’m a pretty terrible housekeeper. I try, but it’s just a lot to keep up with especially living with really messy children and working and playing taxi service. We’re busy, and the kids are dirty! The DEEBOT has been a brilliant addition to our house here recently, and is going to be so so handy around the holidays. The kids are enamored with the robot — they really want the robot to be able to move around everywhere he needs to go to vacuum so they pick their stuff up off the floor. Downstairs at least. That in itself was worth the price of purchase.

DEEBOT for perpetually clean holiday floors

The second thing that is completely amazing about the ECOVACS is the fact that my floors are always swept and vacuumed with little input from me. ECOVACS has a really cool app that you install on your phone to give it directions. You can set it to automatically clean, clean certain areas, or only run certain times of day.

DEEBOT will spend the first week or so mapping out your house as it runs around. After it has a full map made, you can specify the zones you want it to clean, and if you have any areas you don’t want it to ever go in, you can tell it that, too. I have a shag rug in my front room that is a little too thick for its wheels to make it through so I tell it not to go there with a swipe of my phone.

To keep DEEBOT running, you just need to make sure he gets himself home to charge every once in awhile and lift his lid to empty the dust bin every day or two.

got a smart home? DEEBOT is smart, too.

If you have one of those fancy Google Home or Amazon smart home systems, all you have to do is say “DEEBOT, start cleaning,” and DEEBOT will clean your floors. That’s something straight out of the Jetson’s, isn’t it?? Maybe soon ECOVACS will make a robot that will fetch coffee and make my world complete. “DEEBOT, caffeine, now!” But seriously, smart home integration is pretty fabulous.

deebot will lend an ear

Probably not what the makers of DEEBOT intended, but in the hilarity that is my life, DEEBOT and I have become BFFs. We named him Bob, and as he’s cleaning I like to talk to him. He’s a pretty good listener, and I return his friendship by getting him out of tight jams (from corners he’s not supposed to be in) and bring him home when he’s lost in the house. (Sounds a bit like a human friend or two I’ve had.) Bob is now sporting some antlers for the holidays just because…his owner is a weirdo and finds it funny.

cyber monday offers – $100 off!

On Cyber Monday, there are going to be some screaming deals on the DEEBOT 900. It is going to be a whopping $100 off at particpating retailers. Visit ECOVACS’ website to find where you can purchase. This baby is definitely number one on the holiday hit list!!

2. make the house smell like holiday baking

Get into a baking mood and whip up a batch of something delicious to get that wonderful holiday baked good smell in your house. It’s such a welcoming smell, especially during the holidays! Time your baking so whatever’s in the oven comes out right before the guests arrive for maximum impact. Here are a few of my holiday favorites:

Did you laugh about that a little bit?

You’re probably too busy (like we all are) to bake all the time. Here’s a much better alternative. A good quality candle!

There’s a great company in Maryland called Chesapeake Bay Candle that makes some pretty impressive candles. They’re a clean burning soy wax blend candle, and are all designed and poured in the USA.

Since I thoroughly enjoy that holiday baked good smell in my house, the pumpkin latte candle was PURE HEAVEN. The cinnamon leaf and benzoin essential oils in the candle help give the aroma of praline, pecans and pumpkins and the smell takes you immediately to that warm comfy place in your head where everything is right in the world and where there is probably also pie.

The Heritage Collection by Chesapeake Bay Candle also has tempting candles in flavors like chestnut and acorn, and beach bonfire. Can’t wait to try them out! I’ll also be picking up a few of these as gifts, the candles are such good quality my friends and family will love receiving them.

Visit Amazon here to find the Pumpkin Latte Small Jar Candle in these photos!

3. make the guest bedroom extra nice

In our family, when we find ourselves in a new bed to sleep in, there is absolutely a rating scale for the quality of the bed. A rating of one is where you carefully lay on top of all the blankets and pray nothing bites you overnight, and ten is oh-my-goodness-that-looks-so-inviting-I-just-want-to-run-and-jump-face-first-onto-it.

Since our guest bedroom is currently under construction, I made some extra nice additions to the master bedroom when I got this sheet set. The sheets on the bed got upgraded to the Brooklinen Luxe Hardcore Sheet Bundle. My daughter patiently waited beside the bed until I finished making it to let me know her rating. And after sleeping on these sheets, I can tell you they are indeed a perfect ten and more than worthy of any 5 star hotel and your guest bedroom. I promise they’ll make you want to take a flying leap onto the bed, too!

luxe for less than you think

The Brooklinen Luxe Hardcore Sheet Bundle came with a mix-and-match core sheet set, duvet cover and 4 pillow cases total. There are lots of color options on their site that will all match well together, but I’m really a fan of white when it comes to bedding. I do think it’s nice to have choices, though!

luxe for even less than that with this $20 off $50 discount

If you like buttery soft sheets, these 480 thread-count sateen sheets are next-level luxury. For a comparable set at other bedding brands, you’d pay up to $895. So you can make your guest room extra nice this holiday season, Brooklinen is extending a $20 of $50 purchase through their website. That’s right, not only are their sheets luxurious and affordable, but you can also go buy them in your pajamas. Use the discount code frogprince20 to get the discount!

other details to nice up the guest room

Gorgeous sheets are a great start, and a few little holiday touches in the guest room go a long way. A statue or tree with a pop of color on the side table will make it festive. Other easy things to add to the guest room: a Christmas pillow and a vase full of ornaments. You don’t have to go super crazy with decorations, it’s just nice to bring the holidays to every room in a small way.

4. Set the holiday mood with good lighting

Lighting is a wholly underappreciated part of home decor. The right sort of lighting can create a comfortable, cozy mood or one that makes you want to party! My favorite house we’ve ever lived in had a brilliant lighting design with lots of recessed lights that you could switch on and off depending on the kind of mood you wanted to set. The lights made such an impact to the feel of that house!

We haven’t had that kind of lighting design since because, well, putting them all in can be hugely expensive. But there are lights out there now that do just as good a job of creating mood without cutting drywall or running wires. The Sengled Element Color Plus 2pk kit can add a pop of color or warm-to-cool lighting in any living space with just a few wireless lighting bulbs. They are perfect for setting the holiday mood!

The Element Color Plus 2pk starter kit comes with two smart light bulbs and a hub to run them and any other color LED bulb you add on–you can buy tons! Every lightbulb is wirelessly synced to the hub and you can program them to do just what you want from your phone on the Sengled Home app. If you have a smart home system like Amazon Echo, Google Home, SmartThings, etc. the Sengled bulbs will sync with your system so you can turn lights on and off with voice commands.

Want it romantic in the room? Turn the lights pink. Want is warm and cozy? There’s a great yellow color cast. Feeling cool for movie night? Choose blue! From the Sengled Home app, you can schedule lights to turn on and off (like when you head out on vacation) and adjust your preferred lighting room by room with a swipe of your finger.

Amazing lighting and mood choices inexpensively!

party in a light bulb: solo color plus

This color LED bulb was so unique, I admit it has been a topic of conversation with more than a few people since I’ve had it to play with. The Solo Color Plus is a color LED bulb AND a speaker all in one. My kids (and I) were fascinated.

We plugged it in and a dance party ensued. The Sengled Pulse app controls this smart light bulb and after you connect it through your bluetooth, it will play music for you. You can set it to pulse and change color to the music, too, which makes it all kinds of fun in having impromptu dance parties in your living room.

Just like the Element Color set, the Solo Color Plus can be used with your Amazon Echo, and is a great alternative for speakers on the Echo Dot. Yell out, “Alexa, it’s time to party!” and your Solo Color Plus will bring it on. It’s a crazy little piece of technology that is great at home, but will also make a pretty awesome gift. Every holiday ready home needs a holiday dance party!

screaming sengled deals!

Sengled is going to be running two really great you-can’t-pass-them-up deals on the Element Color Plus and the Solo Color Plus sets:

Black Friday

Here’s what to look for on November 23rd:

• Buy Echo device, get Element Classic 2 pk A19 for $10 (at 12:01am PT). This offer will run until 12/31.
• Get 25%-30% off Sengled Element products on Amazon

Cyber Monday Deal of the Day

Check out the Cyber Monday Sengled deal of the day. You can score 35% off for 24 hours on select Element products, like the Echo Dot v2/v3, and Echo v2 bundle with Element Classic 2 pack kits.

5. put the good crystal on the bottom shelf

Life is too short to save the good crystal for some random dinner you’ll eat in the formal dining room five years from now. Use it now and enjoy it!! But, ya know, use it carefully and take good care of it so it sticks around. During the holidays, it’s a great idea to move that crystal and other good china pieces to lower shelves in your cupboard so you can easily get them in and out.

Since these fine dishes are going to go in a high-use area, you’ll want to put down some non-adhesive liner so the glasses and such stay put. The Duck Brand makes a product called the Smooth Top® Easy Liner® Shelf Liner that’s easy to cut and reposition in the cabinet. So if you’d rather have those glasses back on the top shelf after the holidays, you can move the shelf liner along with the glasses. The liner has a smooth surface that make clean-ups a breeze and are machine washable if the mess gets that far.

The Easy Liner Shelf Liner is perfect for all sorts of places: kitchen cabinets, pantries, shelves, drawers, under the sink, bathroom and medicine cabinets, linen closets, desk drawers and more. For about $5 or $6 you can make a couple of shelves for your crystal a little safer for the glasses. For more information and additional organization ideas, visit the Duck Brand website.

6. Add some good quality greenery

Easy care is definitely the way to go during the holidays. While you have to love the smell of all that fresh pine, it’s hard to love sap and dried up pine needles. So when you find some greenery to spruce up the house that looks as good as the real thing, you have to jump on it! This checks all the boxes. It’s got realistic PE branches, a light dusting of “snow” for a frosty look, and comes in a galvanized bucket so it will be totally on-trend with the rustic Christmas decor so popular this year.

The (say that three times fast!!) is very flexible. You can use it naked just like it comes, or decorate it with ribbons or bulbs. It’ll fit in anywhere and perfect for making your home holiday ready.

has tens of thousands of options for decorating during the holidays–and you can get everything year round. Movie studios and national magazine shop there for their styling needs and you can, too! After the Christmas season, they’ll cover all the holidays the rest of the year for you as well.

Make the happiest of holidays!

Pick up one or all of these great ideas for cozying up and making the holidays bright! There are cookies to bake, company to have and memories to make to last a lifetime.

Author Bio

Article Info

Paula Biggs

Owner at Frog Prince Paperie

Paula Biggs is a party planner, DIY crafter, and owner of Frog Prince Paperie, where you can find hundreds of party, craft and lifestyle ideas.

Title:

Six Genius Ideas to Get your Home Holiday Ready

Authors:

Paula Biggs

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Mentions:

christmas trees, guest room decor, holiday prep, holiday ready, robot vacuum, smart LED bulbs

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Last Updated:

November 17, 2018

Carrie in N C

Tuesday 20th of November 2018

So glad I read this one! I now know what to put on my list (I need a Bob!) And I have a great idea for my grandparents. Thanks, Paula!

Can't say enough great things about BOB! Be sure to check out the sale that ECOVACS is having on their robots this week for a deal on that gift!