Holiday Series: How to Prep a Bathroom

The Andrea Fonash Group of RE/MAX Action Associates
Published on October 24, 2017

Holiday Series: How to Prep a Bathroom

As retailers are so fond of reminding us, the holidays will soon be upon us. That means many West Chester families will be hosting parties and family visits. If you start getting the house ready now, the run-up to your soirees will be less chaotic and you can focus on the finer points.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be offering you tips to get various parts of the home holiday-ready and today, we start with the one room most of your guests will use: the bathroom.

Bathroom Update

Imagine You’re Selling Your West Chester Home

Approach your bathroom makeover as if you were readying it for a steady parade of potential West Chester homebuyers. This means starting with a deep clean, top-to-bottom – literally. Start at the ceiling and work your way down.

  1. Remove everything from the counters and any shelving in the bathroom. Take down the shower curtain and remove the throw rugs.
  2. Use the vacuum or a duster to get the accumulated “fuzz” out of the ceiling fan grate.
  3. Check the walls (especially where they join the ceiling) for cobwebs.
  4. Light fixtures: if you have the Hollywood-type strip vanity lighting, your bulbs may be dusty so remove each one, dust them and replace them.
  5. Windows: clean the glass and then clean out the tracks. Vinegar and water, and old toothbrush and a rag work well for this task.
  6. Mirrors: use ammonia and water, vinegar and water, or commercial window cleaners to scrub and polish. Vinegar and water also works well on counter tops and shelves.
  7. Clean the sink and shower/tub. We asked several of our friends and clients to tell us about their favorite products for these tasks:
    • Dawn dishwashing soap and vinegar
    • Ajax cleanser
    • Tide laundry detergent — We were skeptical about this one until we tried it ourselves. Used like a scouring powder, it really does get off the toughest bathtub grime better than anything else we’ve tried.
  8. Toss the shower curtain, window curtains and rugs in the washer
  9. Scrub the floors!

If you have shower doors, clean those with a mixture of warm distilled vinegar and a few drops of Dawn dishwashing liquid. Don’t use this on stone, though. Instead, try a paste of baking soda and the dish soap and use a non-scratching sponge for stone/tile.

Declutter

Now it’s time to bring back all the items you removed from the shelves and countertops. Unless something is decorative, hide it away in the cupboards and drawers.

Throw out anything you don’t use and those empty shampoo bottles that tend to collect in the bathroom.

Get ideas on what to leave on the counters and what to hide from online sites such as Pinterest, HGTV and Better Homes & Gardens.

Bring Back The Linens

But, check them first and get rid of rugs, towels, mats and curtains that are frayed, faded or torn.

Replace them with new items that coordinate with the rest of the bathroom’s décor.

In fact, beautiful towels can double as attractive accessories if folded in clever ways. Check out these amazing towel display ideas on Pinterest.

Extras

Wall treatments can improve the look of a bathroom instantly. Again, Pinterest can serve as inspiration. Houzz.com offers 260 photos of bathroom artwork and more inspiration can be found at Apartment Therapy and Brit.co.