There’s no doubt about it: hosting can be incredibly stressful. Having a well-stocked fridge and a tidy house is the ideal scenario for when friends or family come to stay, but there isn’t always enough time to give your home the attention it needs, however much you want to make a good impression.
The good news is, you don’t need to spend hours beautifying your rooms or reinventing your color scheme to make visitors feel welcome. With a bit of time and a few handy hacks, you’ll be opening your door with a smile in no time. Here’s how to get your home guest-ready in five simple steps.
Clear Your Entryway
The entrance to your home is the first thing your visitors will see, so try to make this space as inviting as possible. Confine coats, bags, and shoes to cupboards and give the floor a vacuum. Placing a jug of fresh flowers on a side table will provide your entryway with an instant lift, while adding a “welcome” mat will help your guests feel at home right away.
Round Up the Clutter
Embarrassed by the mess in your home? Luckily, there is a simple clutter solution for when guests come over. Invest in some cheap boxes or baskets, and keep one in each room. Before your visitors arrive, clear the countertops and surfaces in each room and put anything that doesn’t belong there into a container. Ideally, you’d put each item back where it belongs, but when you’re short on time, sweeping stray belongings into a box or basket and stowing it away in a cupboard is a great way to make your home look tidier – even if you know it’s not!
Freshen Up
What with cooking smells, pets, mucky boots, and sports equipment, it’s easy for odors to build up in your home without you realizing. Make your space smell instantly fresher by lighting a scented candle, burning incense, or using a room spray. You may also want to do a quick whip around for anything that could be causing foul smells, so clean the fridge of old food, store stinky shoes in the shed, and take out the trash.
Blitz the Bedroom and Bathroom
If you’re going only going to focus on one area of the house, focus on your guests’ bedrooms and bathrooms. Make sure there are fresh sheets on the beds and the rooms are clean and clear of a mess, moving clutter to other rooms if needs be. You should also provide fresh towels and stock up on toilet rolls and soap for the bathroom.
Banish Fleas and Ticks
The last thing you want is for your visitors to leave with fleas or ticks on their clothing, so make sure you check your pets before people arrive. Better still, use an all-in-one treatment like Pet-Lock that will kill any existing pests living on your dog or cat and prevent more from hatching. If you treat the problem early, you can rest assured that you and your guests will remain itch-free.
It’s always best to keep it simple when people come to stay. If you’re continuously running around cooking restaurant-worthy meals and plumping up pillows, you won’t be able to relish the time with your loved ones. Rather than spending hours prepping your house for visitors, follow these five tips and you’ll enjoy simple, stress-free hosting while still wowing your guests.