As the weather begins to get colder, we begin to draw closer to the time of year of house guests. With fall fests, Thanksgiving feasts, Christmas celebrations, and New Year’s parties, now is the time to start getting the house ready for company. This goes beyond setting out a nice bouquet and vacuuming the rugs just before your guests walk through the door. Knowing how to create a guest-ready home is about making sure that you have everything you need before the plans are even made.
Create a Bigger Space
When it comes to family gatherings, things can quickly become crowded, stuffy, and uncomfortable, even when there aren’t too many people. This may be because of a smaller house, but it may also be because of a room’s layout. Having too many furniture pieces in a space or arranging them in a way that makes it hard to navigate can make a room feel smaller than it really is. If you know that you are going to be hosting a few events in the near future, take the time to rethink your room’s setup.
Bathrooms
Because bathrooms are one of the more difficult spaces to remodel, we often don’t think about how they are decorated as much as we do other spaces in the house. But when company comes, this will be one of the spaces they are most likely to see. Of course, it’s important to change the towels and mop the floors, but it’s also worth it to take a weekend to spruce up your bathroom’s décor to really make your guests feel comfortable.
Get the Fine China Out
Many of us have fine china tucked away somewhere that we’ve inherited from a parent or grandparent. Oftentimes, it spends the year tucked away in a box somewhere, only to come out when company does. Because it spends so long tucked away, it’s a good idea to make sure you know where it is in advance. In the hectic hours before guests show up at your door, the last thing you need is to turn the house upside down looking for the plates. And if you don’t have good plates, now is the time to invest in some.
Freshen Linens
If guests are going to be spending the night, it’s a good idea to take inventory of the linens in the house. Have the sheets and comforters in the guest bedroom been switched from breathable summer fabrics to cozy winter ones? Are the “good towels” still good? Is your old tablecloth still up to the task? It’s easy to get used to the condition of our linens when we use them every day, but it’s good to stop and look through them as an outsider.
As much as all this prep work is about your future guests, it’s about you as the host too. By creating a guest-ready home, you are ensuring less work for you in the future. That way, when company comes, you can really enjoy them.