Hosting Guests for the Holidays | How to Prepare Your Home

Welcoming holiday guests

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One of the best things about the holidays is spending time with friends and family. It can even be more exciting if you are welcoming them to your home; however, hosting guests comes with its fair share of stress and anxiety. How do you know they are comfortable? Is everything in the right place? The good thing is, with proper preparations, you can be sure your home is ready for company. 

Hosting guests during the holidays does not have to be stressful. Here are a few things you can do to get your home ready:  

Start preparing early 

When it comes to preparing for your guests, it is advisable to start your preparations early; otherwise, you might find yourself scrambling at the last minute or leaving other things unattended. For your early preparations, you can try to do your gift shopping and organize your home early on, and leave activities like tidying up the guest rooms and deep cleaning to the final days before your guests’ arrival. 

You can also make some meals and treats in advance to avoid being so busy when others are out there enjoying themselves. Indeed, early preparations help to get everything in order before arrival day. 

Declutter

If you have items lying around the house, this is the perfect time to put them where they belong, sell them, or in the spirit of giving this holiday season, donate them. Besides making the house look tidy, decluttering helps you to focus your cleaning and organization of items around the house. Plus, if you intend to put decorations up, you won’t have a lot of things in your way. 

In your decluttering, focus more on guest rooms and public areas, including the kitchen, dining room, living room, and foyer. You can store all the necessary items in the basement or out-of-the-way closets and sort them out later when the guests leave.

Focus on the front entrance

As the first place your guests see, your entryway should be clean and free of clutter. A few things to do to create a good first impression may include: 

•   Place a rug at the entrance to protect floors from getting dirty
•   Remove all the clutter like shoes and other items in the entryway
•   Add hooks on the walls for guests to hang coats and hats
•   Add a storage bench for guests to remove shoes and boots

If you live in cold climates, be sure your driveway and walkway are clear of snow and ice. You can also set up a ‘drying station’ for guests to place their wet clothes and shoes.

Update the guest rooms 

Going the extra mile to make your guests feel at home can help create a good holiday atmosphere. Beyond the usual cleaning, make sure there are enough sleeping spaces for all the guests. Also, provide enough clean and fresh bedding, and don’t forget to provide a space to unpack and place their clothes.   

Having a light next to the beds and an easy way for them to plug in devices is also a necessary consideration. More importantly, make sure the bathroom is clean, and your guests can access the necessary bathroom supplies at their convenience.

Add night lights

Installing night lights around your home ensures your guests can move around without any trouble. You can put motion-activated sensors in the hallways, bedrooms, and bathrooms to ensure safe passage at night. Even better, having a light next to the beds allows them to read and check their phones as well as navigate the room safely.

Make subtle décor shifts

The holidays are a time for a little switch in the outlook of your home, and what better way to change things a bit than to add some simple décor items? Changing the blankets and covers to a warmer set, adding a coat of paint on the walls, and rearranging furniture to create a different vibe, are some of the ways you can change the feel of your home. Depending on what your preferences are, you can have as much fun as you want with your décor shifts. 

Indeed, there are so many things you can do to prepare your home for holiday guests. These tips can help you better prepare yourself and your home for hosting guests this holiday season.    

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