With the holidays just a few months away, it’s time to start preparing your home for the winter season. While you might be thinking of how you want to decorate for the holidays, you should first take care of making your home as safe as possible — especially if you plan to have holiday gatherings or are expecting family or friends to stay with you.
Here are a few home security and safety considerations to take care of before your favorite entertaining season is in full swing.
Ensure Your Yard Is Well Lit
With guests coming in and out of your home during this busy season, it is all the more important to keep pathways well lit to prevent injury. This is easy to do during the holiday season thanks to the popularity of holiday light displays, which illuminate your yard. It’s also helpful to set up pathway lighting between your street or driveway up to your home’s entrance.
If you live in an area prone to snow and harsh winter weather conditions, be sure to also keep walkways clear of snow and ice, and to have plenty of rock salt on hand to maintain safe walking surfaces.
Keep a Watchful Eye
Lots of holiday entertaining also means attending others’ holiday parties, making for a busy social calendar in December. Since you’ll be home less, and there will be plenty of holiday presents stashed inside, now is a great time to install a security camera system around the perimeter of your home. Make sure cameras are covering all of the common entry points like the front door, back door, garage and first-floor windows. There’s no need to hide them, keep all security cameras in plain sight; often, just seeing that a property is protected is enough to send burglars moving on to find an easier target.
Do Not Keep Gifts in Plain Sight
While it’s undeniably festive to keep wrapped presents under the Christmas tree, it’s best to keep gifts safely stored elsewhere when you are entertaining. While you may find all of your guests to be trustworthy, you just never know who they may bring or if uninvited guests may show up when you are hosting large gatherings.
Even if your gift aren’t stolen from under the tree, accidents happen, especially at parties where alcohol is being served. Someone could spill a drink or accidentally break a gift. Instead, keep the real gifts put away and wrap up empty boxes to place under the tree to achieve the same festive look.
Have Emergency Power Available
If winter brings a deluge of rain and snow where you live, it is prudent to invest in an emergency power source, like a gas-powered generator. The last thing you want when you have house guests is for the power to go out and then heat to go out with it. A generator can help provide a bridge until the power comes back on so that you don’t have to be without the essential creature comforts you need to stay safe inside while you ride out the storm.
Make the most of your time with family and friends this holiday season by taking your home security and safety seriously, and mitigating any risk in advance. By installing landscape lighting, adding a security camera system, keeping gifts hidden out of sight and having a backup power source in case of an emergency, you can help keep you home secure and your guests safe this holiday season.
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