Not being able to spend time with our loved ones over the past year has been a hard thing to deal with over the past year. Now with restrictions easing, we can open up our home again to friends and family and catch up on lost time.
A lot of us have been guilty of neglecting parts of our home because we haven’t hosted. To lend a helping hand, the Case Farm has listed their top tips for getting your home ready for your eagerly awaiting visitors.
Hinch Your Hallway
The hallway is going to be the first part of the house that your guest is going to see. It can shape their overall experience of staying or spending time with you. To make sure you make a great impression, spend a bit of time organising the hallway by:
- Sweeping and mopping the doorway.
- Making sure there is space for your guest to take off their shoes and leave their bag at the door.
- If you keep your shoes in the hallway, just make sure they are looking neat and are out of the way, so your guest doesn’t trip over them.
Prepare the Guest Room
Whether your guests are staying for one night or a week, you want to make sure that they are comfortable and have a great time staying with you. It’s where they have some downtime and relax while they stay with you. Here is an easy-to-follow checklist to make sure you have their room ready to go.
- Many of us have turned our guest rooms into our work from home stations over the past year. If you can, move your laptop and work stuff out of the room to help your guest feel relaxed, and prevent them from feeling like they are intruding in your space.
- Freshen up the room: it doesn’t take much to make a room look and feel better. Put some fresh bedding on the bed, give the room a good dust and hoover and open up the windows to get some fresh air into the room.
- Give your guest some space in the drawer and wardrobe space. You don’t need to empty all your drawers but make sure your guests have enough room for their things during their stay.
- Make sure you leave out some fresh towels for your visitors, it will save them asking for them when they need them.
- Make sure the room has easily accessible plug sockets, or if the room doesn’t, leave an extension cable out and in view.
- Having a bedside light in your guest room allows your guest to relax in the evening with a book or while they do a nighttime social media scroll.
Blitz the Bathroom
Regardless of if your guest is staying overnight or just coming round in the evening, they will use your bathroom. Now more than ever it is important to make sure that it’s clean and inviting to your guests. To prepare, you should:
- Deep clean the bathroom. This may seem fairly obvious, but a clean bathroom is the best way to make a good first impression. Spend a little longer than you normally would, just to make sure that you haven’t missed anything.
- Fresh towels are a must for your guests, especially if your guests are sharing a bathroom with you or other guests.
- To make your bathroom look a bit fancier, treat yourself and your guests to a luxurious hand soap and hand cream.
- Adding a reed diffuser or scented candle to the bathroom can always be a nice touch that your guests appreciate.
Ready the Kitchen
Food brings people together. If your guests are coming over for dinner or spending a few nights in your home, they will spend some time in your kitchen. To make sure they feel comfortable in that space, some top tips are:
- Stock up on the food: add some nice treats for guests to graze on, when going to get your weekly food shop. Treat them to their favourite bottle of wine or chocolates to make them feel really appreciated while staying with you.
- Double-check if your guests have any dietary restrictions. You may know that they are gluten-free or allergic to nuts but so many people have tried new diets and food trends over the past year, so it’s best to ask just to be sure.
- Make sure your guests know where things are in the kitchen. Nothing is worse than rummaging through people’s cupboards when trying to find a mug for your morning coffee.
- Clean out your fridge before a guest comes over – it’s a must. Chances are they are definitely going to be going in there – they might need some milk for their coffee or want help with the cooking. Giving your shelves a good scrub will allow you to make sure that there is nothing in the fridge that has gone off.
Set Up the Garden
The nights are getting brighter and warmer. There is a good chance that over the next few months you’ll have some guests in the garden for a BBQ or cocktail night. Spending a few hours preparing your garden will make all the difference and will really impress your visitors.
- Pulling out the weeds and giving your grass a quick mow over can make all the difference when it comes to sprucing up your garden.
- Take out all your garden furniture and your BBQ (if you’re planning to use it), in advance to make sure that everything is in working order and to give yourself a chance to clean it, which will be one less thing to do on the day.
- UK weather is unpredictable all year round, so it’s best to prepare for all eventualities. Make sure you have a shady area for those extra hot days and stock up on some blankets for the cooler evenings as well.
The most important thing about preparing for your guests is to have fun! Getting the prep work done in advance will allow you to spend all your time with your guests once they arrive.