PROPERTYSPARK ARTICLE

How to Prepare for House Guests

Deep Clean

Deep cleaning before your guests arrive is likely one of the first things you thought about doing and may be the cause of some of your stress. Despite the dread, it’s really not as hard as you think. You declutter and either get rid of some things you don’t need or simply store some things away for a while.

From here, you start by cleaning the tallest surfaces before making your way to the lowest ones. This means you dust the top of your tallest bookshelf first before slowly making your way down the shelves and onto adjacent furniture.

The last thing you’ll do is clean the floor, whether that be with a vacuum, a mop, a broom or a combination of all three. You should also look over your walls and windows. These often get overlooked, and while this fact isn’t a major problem for walls, it can leave the windows and window sill looking disgusting.

If you only have time to deep clean a single room, focus on the room your guest will be staying in. This includes cleaning the closet as well because they’ll need somewhere to store their items, and it feels better to hang up your shirts in a closet than to unfold them from a suitcase. If a closet isn’t available, then at least provide a nightstand and dresser.

Provide Proper Bedding

Once you’ve finished dusting and vacuuming it’s time to consider the bedding. It’s best to do this only after you dust because the mattress or freshly-cleaned sheets will catch any newly-airborne dust otherwise, which is just unpleasant. How you wash your sheets will vary based on bulk, material and amount of stains.

Typically, cotton is washed in hot water while most other sheet types will be suitably clean after a warm or cold water wash. Also, wash sheets and comforters separate to not only prevent the sheets from becoming tangled around the thick blanket but also to ensure that the load isn’t overly large and gets properly clean.

You can just provide one set of sheets and a single comforter to your guest, but you may want to consider the climate before doing this. That comforter may be just fine for spring and fall, but what about summer or winter? Those scorching summer days can be excruciatingly hot and humid and while the temperatures do tend to cool off at night it can still be uncomfortable to sleep under a thick comforter all night long.

Few things are as comfortable as not having enough warmth while trying to sleep in winter. You can avoid all of these issues by providing your guests with multiple blankets or even sheets somewhere in the room and encouraging them to use whichever ones suit their nightly needs.

Stock Up

It can be pretty easy to forget to stock up on the essentials during guest preparation, especially if you’re on a time crunch.The best thing to do is to walk through each room of the house with a list and write down any disposable items you need to keep more of.

Examples of this include paper towels, tissues and toilet paper. You’ll also want to keep more food on hand, from fresh fruit and veggies to butter. Depending on how well-stocked your kitchen is, you may even want to consider grabbing a few extra eating or cooking utensils or even a new pan or two.

If your guest will be staying long enough to wash their clothing, then inspect the laundry room as well to make sure you have enough laundry detergent and stain remover.

Examine the Bathroom

There are two rooms in your home that will need special inspection on this occasion: the guest’s bedroom and the bathroom they’ll be using. Inspect it closely and make sure to include and even prioritize it during your stock-up.

Consider the counter space: is there enough room for an extra person to use it for doing their makeup, showering or even just brushing their teeth? Look into the closet and make sure there are enough hand towels, washrags and full-sized towels available. Also, look at the shower shelves or toiletries baskets and make sure there is not only enough space for your guest to keep their items but also consider providing some yourself.

If you do decide to provide some soaps, make sure your guest doesn’t have allergies before doing so or they may be sneezy, itchy and generally uncomfortable for their entire stay.

Prepare a Welcome Basket

If you have the time and want to show your guest how excited you are to host them then prepare a welcome basket. They can hold essential items alongside more unnecessary but fun things. This is a great place to provide a toothbrush and toothpaste for example.

You could collect the menus from local restaurants and place them in here alongside some snacks you think they’ll like, and you could even include small presents for special occasions, such as the holidays. With all of this in mind just make sure that the guest can use everything you put into the basket, even if they choose not to.

For example, maybe don’t include some perishable foods like cheese or strong-smelling soaps or perfumes. Even if you know the guest will like them, the smell could easily spread and stick to not just other items in the basket but also to things in the room. This may go over especially poorly if the smell sticks to their clothing and causes them discomfort.

Focus instead on providing small essentials and luxuries instead and you’ll find your guests to be very appreciative of your gifts.