The lights are going up on Grafton Street, the first mulled wine of the season has been spotted, and somewhere in the city a group chat has just decided that this year, the Christmas drinks are at yours.
Congratulations. Also, condolences. Because hosting in Dublin comes with its own set of challenges: flats where the living room is also the dining room and occasionally the spare bedroom, mates flying home from Sydney and Toronto who will absolutely end up on your couch, and an oven you haven’t looked inside since the last time anyone used it for more than a frozen pizza.
The good news? With a bit of a countdown, the gaff can go from grand to genuinely gorgeous before the first guest arrives.
Six weeks out: clear the decks
That’s roughly now. Before a single bauble goes up, deal with the stuff. The bike in the hall, the pile of post on the counter, the clothes horse that has become a permanent piece of furniture.
This is also the time to book anything you’ll need help with. December is busy for everyone in this city, from restaurants to taxis to cleaners in Dublin, and the good slots go early.
Four weeks out: the deep clean
This is the big one, and the bit most of us skip. Decorating a dusty flat is like wearing a new jumper over a three-day-old t-shirt. You’ll know.
The jobs that matter most before hosting:
- The oven. If anything more ambitious than a frozen pizza is going in there this December, it needs a proper clean first. Nobody wants the smoke alarm joining the party.
- The fridge. Clear it out and clean it now, because you’re going to need every inch of space for cheese, ham and the seventeen bottles of prosecco people will inevitably bring.
- The bathroom. Guests always use the bathroom, and guests always notice limescale. Descale the shower, scrub the grout, and treat the extractor fan to a wipe for the first time in living memory.
- The couch. If someone’s sleeping on it, it deserves a steam clean.
- The windows. Fairy lights look twice as good through clean glass.
If that list fills you with dread, this is where the professionals earn their money. Granny’s Cleaning, who work across Dublin, do exactly this kind of top-to-bottom clean, and they bring the products and the machines, steam cleaner included. Their cleaners are Garda vetted and insured; they work 24/7, and you only pay once the job’s done and you’ve checked it. At the time of writing, a one-off deep clean is €31 an hour with products included.
Two weeks out: deck the halls
Now the fun part. Tree, lights, the wreath you got at the Christmas market and are slightly too proud of.
A few host tips for small Dublin spaces:
- Light low. Lamps and fairy lights do more for a room than the big overhead bulb ever will.
- Clear a surface. Every party needs somewhere to put drinks down. Make it obvious where.
- Sort the coat situation. A bed works. A pile on the floor by the door does not.
- Think about scent. A clean flat with one good candle beats a messy flat with five.
The week of: the quick refresh
If you did the deep clean, this week is easy. Hoover, wipe down the kitchen and bathroom, change the towels, stock the loo roll. Done.
Then pour yourself something and admire the place. You’ve earned it.
The morning after
And now, the bit nobody puts on Instagram. The glitter in the carpet, the mysterious sticky patch by the fridge, the half-eaten cheeseboard, and a small mountain of glasses.
The smartest hosts book the post-party clean before the party, so the morning after is spent recovering rather than scrubbing. Granny’s offer same-day cleans when they’re free, and if anything isn’t right, they’ll come back and sort it at no extra cost. Their 400-plus reviews suggest they’ve seen worse than your kitchen on Stephen’s Day.
And breathe
Hosting at Christmas should be about the people around the table, the stories from the ones home from abroad, and the debate about whether it’s too early for the Quality Street. It shouldn’t be about the oven.
Get the hard work out of the way early, or hand it over to Granny’s Cleaning, and you might actually get to enjoy your own party. Then do it all again for Nollaig na mBan.
