Housekeeping and maid services have their pros and cons for the luxury home owner. You are letting what is essentially a stranger in your home near all your valuables. But with the right precautions, this can be a great alternative if you have a busy active lifestyle and often don’t get to the regular cleaning duties of the home.
Referrals: If you are concerned about the safety of your home and belongings, find reputable housekeeping services that have references for you to contact. Ask your neighbors, colleagues or family whom they would recommend. Similarly to a doctor, keep researching until you are comfortable with the information you gather.
Interview: Most reputable cleaning services will come out and walk through your home for a free consultation and estimate of services. Before this ask questions on the phone. They should include: *What type of products do they use? Do they change cleaning cloths between homes? *Are they licensed and bonded in case of damage or theft to your home. *How long have they been in business? *What referrals do they have for you to call? This can save you a lot of headache in the long run if you have particular requests. If possible, find those that are green and eco-friendly as possible.
Individual vs Service? : The pros for hiring an individual is the personalized attention to detail they will offer. Individuals may offer more services such as folding clothes, and making up beds, beyond the usual cleaning. The cons of hiring an individual include, if they become ill; there isn’t a back-up team to take their place. Insurance and bonding amounts may not be as high for an individual. Therefore if you had an incident in your home, they may not be covered.
The pros of hiring a service is they have a team of service people, so the likelihood of a cancellation is minimal. A team of people working on your home at once may make them more thorough and expeditious. The cons could include, the personalized attention may be reduced, and the time period they spend at each individual home may be less.
Do a walk-through with them: Once you’ve decided to have the housekeeping service/or individual come to your home, remember these tips as you walk through your home: Before they arrive, keep your home in the “usual” state it would be in before a cleaning job would have normally been done. Many people make the mistake of cleaning up the home before the walk through. This is defeating the purpose because the service will quote you a price based on the amount of work, square footage of home, and how long you need them to stay. The staff will be hired based off of this meeting, and the time estimate will be drastically different than what you really need.
Family: Ask questions that will settle your concerns and don’t be afraid to be honest and candid. Your home, family and belongings should feel safe when allowing someone into your home. If you later find yourself despising to clean, and spend more time cleaning than enjoying a quality lifestyle, then a housekeeping service may be for you. While if you enjoy cleaning, and can’t stand the idea of people in your home as they clean just do it for yourself.
Your children’s room is a great way to express some fun creative freedom with your interior design expressions. A child’s room does not have to conform to the “normal” standards of adult living. You can have fun with the colors and themes with your child’s room and dazzle the imagination.