The week before Thanksgiving has a way of sneaking up on all of us. The turkey is ordered, the pies are spoken for, and the house still looks like any other Tuesday. When family is on the way, it helps a lot to walk through the house with a plan instead of trying to fix everything at once.
So here is my list. This is how I get a house ready for people I love, one room at a time, without turning it into a whole production. You do not need every product in here. Pick the rooms your guests will actually spend time in and start there.
The front door and entryway
This is the first thing anybody smells, and it sets the tone before they even get their coat off. Clear the shoes and the mail pile, wipe the door handle and the light switch, and give the space one small scent so it feels like somebody was expecting them.
I like a candle on a side table here, lit about an hour before people show up so the room has time to fill without anyone walking into a wall of fragrance. For Thanksgiving I reach for Grandma's Kitchen. It opens with banana, lemon peel and walnut, settles into sugar and nutmeg, and finishes on tonka bean, butter and vanilla. It smells like someone has been baking all morning, even if the oven has not been turned on yet.
The kitchen
The kitchen is going to smell like dinner, and that is the whole point. I do not try to compete with the turkey. What I do is make sure the counters are clean before the cooking starts, because once it starts there is no time.
The night before, I wipe everything down with Mom's Apple Pie All Purpose Cleaner. It is a plant-based cleaning formula that dries fast and does not leave streaks, and it works on countertops, appliances, sealed floors, finished wood and finished tile. Skip it on unsealed stone or unfinished wood. The apple, brown sugar and cinnamon notes hang around just long enough to make the kitchen feel ready, then step aside for the real food.
One more thing for the kitchen. Put the candles somewhere else. A flame on a crowded counter next to pot holders and paper towels is not a risk worth taking on the busiest cooking day of the year.
The guest bathroom
This is the room people judge quietly, so it is worth ten minutes. Fresh hand towel, empty trash, a roll of toilet paper where people can see it, and a good soap at the sink.
From November on, the soap I would set by the guest sink is Ginger, Spice, and Everything Nice Foaming Hand Soap. Lemon and orange up top, ginger and sugar in the middle, and vanilla, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and allspice underneath. It is sulfate-free with glycerin and nourishing oils, so hands do not come out feeling tight after the fifth wash of the day. If you want the whole room to smell like it, the matching wax melt in a warmer on a shelf does the job with no flame to keep an eye on.
The guest room
If somebody is staying over, this is where you get to make them feel taken care of. Wash the sheets, fold an extra blanket at the foot of the bed, and leave a glass and a little water bottle on the nightstand.
Right before they arrive, mist the pillows and the blanket with Laundry Daze Room and Linen Spray. Lemon, ozone, linen, green florals and a light musk. It smells like sheets that just came out of a warm dryer, which is about the nicest thing you can hand someone after a long drive. Spray from about arm's length and let it dry for a few minutes before anyone lies down.
The living room
This is where everybody ends up after dinner, full and happy and not moving for a while. I keep this room simple. Pick up the clutter, fluff the couch, and choose one scent that fits the mood.
After the meal, I like to swap over to Mom's Apple Pie. Almond and orange, apple and brown sugar, then butter, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and pie crust. It carries the dessert table into the rest of the house. Our candles are a coconut soy blend with a cotton wick, and each 9 ounce jar burns for 45 to 50 hours, so one jar will get you through Thanksgiving and well into December.
A few candle habits for a full house. Trim the wick to about a quarter inch before you light it. Keep it away from curtains, little hands, tails and anywhere a coat might get tossed. And never leave it burning in an empty room while everyone is out on the porch.
Keep it to one or two scents
The mistake I see most is too many scents fighting each other. A cookie candle in the entry, a pine spray in the bathroom and a citrus melt in the living room can make a house feel confusing instead of cozy. Pick one or two that go together, like Grandma's Kitchen and Mom's Apple Pie, and let them carry the whole house.
If you want to see what else fits the season, the warm and spicy scents are a good place to start. And if you would rather smell everything in person before you pick, come see me at the shop at the Morrow Arts Center. I will help you put together a little Thanksgiving lineup.
Whatever your house looks like on Thanksgiving, the people walking in are coming for you, not for a spotless baseboard. Do what you can, light something that smells like home, and enjoy them.
Nathan
