Public Spaces Week

By Cynthia Ewer
Editor, Organized Christmas
Author, Houseworks: How to Live Clean, Green and Organized at Home

It's Halloween week! Along with the trick-or-treaters comes a new pace to the season. Thanksgiving is on the horizon, so we turn our attention to the public space in our home: the living room or great room.

In holiday prep, we'll celebrate Halloween, then tuck its decorations away, replacing them with Thanksgiving themes. We'll complete Christmas cards and buy holiday stamps, and start saving mailing boxes so that we can recycle them to send gifts.

Finally, we'll prepare for Time Change Sunday with a household safety check.

This Week's Focus: Living Room or Public Space

Reading Assignments from Houseworks:

Surfaces and Systems: Maintain Walls, Floors, Furniture and Fixtures - pages 157-171
The living room is the home's fancy handkerchief. Learn to care for specialty surfaces, furniture and floors.
Be Prepared with a Family Disaster Plan - page 180
A safety plan saves lives: review your family's emergency preparedness..

Inspiration from the Web:

This Week's Houseworks Checklist

Declutter, clean and organize the living room or public space. With the holidays hard upon us, your household's living room or public space will be on display. Prepare for family events and drop-in visitors!
Remove all clutter from the living room using the STOP clutter method, then deep-clean the room. Move furniture pieces and vacuum beneath them, polish fine woods, and clean or vacuum draperies, window coverings or blinds.

Once the living room is clean and free from clutter, take a minimalist's eye to the room 's decorations. Will your holiday decor shine, or will it compete with current decor items? Clear tabletops, shelves and corners for the holiday decorations to come.

This Week's Holiday Prep Checklist

Buy holiday stamps. Seasonal stamp designs are available now, buy holiday stamps early for best selection. Order online from USPS.Com to avoid standing in line.
Begin saving packaging materials. Recycling makes sense ... and cents. As catalog orders arrive, begin to stockpile mailing boxes and packaging material for re-use in December. Store them close to your wrap and mail center to speed holiday mailing chores.
Celebrate Halloween. Ready to join the neighborhood fun? Use our free printables to start a Halloween BOO tradition in your neighborhood. Spread the BOO joy!
Status Check! Review the progress of the Houseworks Holiday Plan on the first day of the month. If you're falling behind, adjust goals to a more realistic level.
Decorate for Thanksgiving. Remove Halloween decorations and replace them with Thanksgiving-themed items.
Complete Christmas cards or letters. Christmas cards should be finished and ready for mailing. ; Stamp envelopes and set them aside until it's time to mail them next month. Tip: leaving envelopes unsealed makes it easy to add a newsy post-script if the spirit moves.
Seasonal safety check. Observe Time Change Sunday with a seasonal safety checklist: change batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and flashlights. Don't forget the first aid kit; will you need to replenish any supplies?