How to Prepare Your Home for Holiday Guests
Whether you’re going camping, to a holiday house or jumping on the next plane to a tropical retreat, the holiday seasons are a wonderful opportunity to catch up with friends and family for a few days. However, if you have invited those friends and family to come stay with you there are few things to consider preparing your home for guests. We cover everything you need to make your home as welcoming and comfortable as possible, so they too feel at home.
1. Set the Tone
First impressions are lasting impressions. Nothing sets the tone more for your home than fragrance. What can easily be overlooked, a fragrance can create emotional responses and just like our clothing and home décor, scents emitted reflect our mood and what you want to represent.
So having a fragrance as you enter the door will instantly set the tone for your guests. With so many scent profiles to choose from a woody note resembling warm yet dry is recommended for your foyer or entrance. These woody scents are commonly found in reed diffusers and are great for high traffic areas as the air movement will help circulate the scent and throw the fragrance. Bonus points: a reed diffuser can also be left unattended and could be a safer option for children and pets.
2. Create a Dreamland Retreat
You don’t have to look like a 5-star hotel; however, you can create the feeling of one. Nothing says luxury like a comfy mattress, fresh bed linen and fluffy pillows. Take into consideration what you store should be suitable for most skin types and recommended for all seasons. To be prepared all year round have a spare set of fresh cotton sheets, a cotton quilt, and a spare set of pillows. Medium loft pillows are most common and suitable for most sleep profiles.
A side table with a lamp will allow your guests a spot to place their valuables and provide low lighting if someone chooses to read before sleeping. Plus, no-one likes turning off the lights and trying to find their way back to a bed in a room they haven’t stayed in before. Don’t forget to highlight where guests can recharge their phones.
It would also be helpful to create a bit of space in the wardrobe and/or create space for your guests’ bags. Let’s face it, this can be one of the most annoying things about staying away and eliminating the chance of playing minefield with a travel case sounds good OH&S.
3. Best of the Best Bathroom
Not everyone has a spare bathroom so consider this when you have guests. Create some space in the shower caddy or have a spare one just for when people are coming to stay. Do you have some spare mini toiletries from a previous holiday? Put these out for guests so they don’t feel put out from using your toiletries and save them bringing their own. Keep a spare toothbrush handy just in case someone forgets theirs.
Having a spare set of fluffy bath towels including face washers not only looks aesthetically pleasing but feels so much more luxurious. If you don’t have a spare bathroom, consider over the door hooks as an easy temporary towel hanging option.
4. Around the Home
You don’t need to do a massive spring clean before guests arrive but at least make sure your common areas are clean. Give your floors a quick vacuum and mop - let’s face it they’re just going to get dirty again anyway. But your bathroom, toilets and kitchen should be clean and hygienic. You don’t want anyone catching any nasties while staying with you.
Tidy up your lounge space clearing any clutter – do you really need the last 5 issues of Women’s Weekly sitting around? If your guests are staying in a spare room/office space then make sure your desk is clear and computers are turned off.
Keeping important numbers on the fridge will really help your guests in case of an emergency. Along with any household instructions. For example, if there is a trick to using the tv, the passwords to Wi-Fi and Netflix, or how to operate a new alarm.
Keep the fridge and cupboards stocked with breakfast essentials and afternoon or late-night snacks.
This one isn’t a necessity; however, it may make your guests feel more comfortable to come and go as they please, is to provide them with a spare key.
And finally, don’t forget about your furry friends. A freshly groomed pet is a snuggly pet.
Preparing for guests to stay can be pretty easy once you have some essentials stored away like spare linen, pillows, a quilt and bath towels. Then all you need is a clean and putting beds together. Starting from scratch though can take a little bit of extra effort so allow yourself plenty of time to get through your shopping list. Luckily, we can also help you with that in a one-stop shop. We hope that after reading this, you are better prepared to have guests stay with you during the holiday season - Christmas, Easter, Spring vacay, you name it - for any length of time.
