How I Clean Up After a Busy Holiday Weekend
If you're staring at a messy house after a holiday weekend, you're not alone. These simple tips will help you tackle the chaos one step at a time.
Steffani Baty
7/7/20263 min read
As the sun rose and golden light slowly filled our house on the Monday after the Fourth of July, I was filled with an entirely different feeling: anxiety. The house was a mess. The living room was scattered with pillows tossed across the floor and blankets piled high like the remains of a fort that had spectacularly exploded. Empty juice boxes, cups, snack wrappers, and half-finished bowls covered the coffee table where pretty décor had once lived. Crumbs decorated the floor, dishes towered in the sink, and don't even get me started on the mountain of laundry spilling out of the laundry room.
I stood there, tea in hand, completely overwhelmed.
Part of me wanted to shut the bedroom door and pretend none of it existed. But even our bedroom had fallen victim to the holiday chaos. Everywhere I looked, there was another reminder that life had been lived fully over the last few days. And honestly I wouldn't have traded those memories for anything.
Holidays are magical. They're filled with backyard barbecues, fireworks, sticky popsicle fingers, late bedtimes, family gatherings, and children staying up late due to the excitement of the day. During those moments, the laundry waits. The dishes pile up. The blankets stay in the living room because someone might build another fort tomorrow. Life takes priority over perfectly folded towels.
But eventually the celebrations come to an end, everyone heads home, and Monday morning arrives. Suddenly you're standing in the middle of what feels like complete chaos wondering… "Where do I even begin?” That was exactly how I felt this Fourth of July.
So instead of letting the mess win, I came up with a simple plan that helped me move from overwhelmed to accomplished. If you're staring at your own post-holiday disaster, I hope these tips help you too.
1. Start With One Small Win
When everything feels messy, don't try to clean everything at once. Pick one thing. Maybe it's making the bed. Maybe it's loading the dishwasher. Maybe it's simply throwing away all the trash.
Completing one small task creates momentum. Suddenly the room feels just a little lighter, and your brain starts believing, "Okay... I can do this.” Small victories matter.
2. Throw Away the Trash First
This has become one of my favorite cleaning tricks. Grab a garbage bag and walk through the house collecting every snack wrapper, empty cup, paper plate, napkin, and random piece of trash you can find.
It's amazing how much cleaner a home feels in just ten minutes. Without all the visual clutter, the rest of the mess suddenly doesn't seem nearly as intimidating.
3. Make Three Simple Piles
Instead of trying to organize everything immediately, sort the chaos into three categories:
Trash
Laundry
Things that belong somewhere else
That's it.
You don't have to put everything away right away. Simply sorting the mess makes it feel far more manageable.
4. Turn Cleaning Into Something Cozy
Cleaning doesn't have to feel like punishment.
Open the windows and let fresh air drift through the house. Turn on your favorite playlist, light a candle, or pour yourself an iced coffee or tea. Sometimes creating a peaceful atmosphere completely changes your mindset.
Before long, the cleaning starts to feel less like a chore and more like resetting your home after a weekend well lived.
5. Don't Try to Finish Everything Today
This one is probably the hardest for me. I often feel like I have to finish every single chore before I can finally relax. But that's simply not realistic. It's okay if the laundry takes another day and it's okay if you vacuum tomorrow.
Your home didn't become messy in one hour, and it doesn't have to become spotless in one hour either. Give yourself permission to make progress instead of chasing perfection. This is exactly what I have been doing after our holiday. I broke up our tasks between multiple days and it has given me some time to enjoy other activities.
Remember What the Mess Represents
As I folded blankets and picked up toys, I caught myself smiling. The mess wasn't proof that I had failed to keep up. It was proof that our home had been lived in and sometimes that's a beautiful thing.
So if you're standing in your own post-holiday mess feeling overwhelmed, know you're not alone. Take a deep breath then start with one small thing. Before you know it, your home will feel peaceful again and you'll still have all the beautiful memories that made the mess worth cleaning up.