This holiday, many households will be packed with visiting friends and family. If your home is one of them, follow these tips to make your loved ones feel right at home.
- Make room: Even if you don’t have a designated guest room, be sure to give your guests some room of their own. Clearing out a little space in a spare closet or a drawer in the bathroom can go a long way toward making guests feel at home.
- Give the grand tour: Show your guests around the house as soon as they arrive, and don’t hold back the details. Guests will appreciate knowing the quirks of your house ahead of time so they aren’t left fumbling around on their own later.
- Have bedding handy: Before your guests arrive, dig out your spare bedding and keep it somewhere accessible. That’ll give your sheets and blankets a chance to fluff up and air out, and when it comes time to make down beds, you won’t have to make a big show of pulling out extra linens.
- Give reverse hostess gifts: Even though you’re the hostess, having a small gift waiting for your guests is a nice way to welcome them to your home. Think of things they might need during their stay, like travel-size toiletries, travel candles, goodies, or a new book or magazine.
- Cozy up their space: Houseguests often end up staying in rooms that aren’t always used for sleeping, so think about whether their sleeping quarters need anything extra to be comfy and cozy. Add extra blankets or feather beds, space heaters, or hang temporary curtains if necessary.
How do you make out-of-town guests feel at home?
No matter how much formal "entertaining" space a house has, guests seem to gravitate toward a certain room in every home. And it's rarely where the host expects! In some homes, guests lounge in the kitchen to keep the cook company; in others, friends and family linger around the dining room table long after the meal is finished. Which room has the most gravitational pull in your home?
The kids are coming! Childproofing is something lots of parents do, but should the same be expected of others? Many moms and dads choose to put locks on their oven knobs, cushions around the coffee table, and plug lids in unused electrical sockets. If a person decides to host a family for dinner, a party, or overnight, should he or she take safety precautions before the wee guests walk or crawl through the door, too? Simple things like putting breakables up high or closing the doors to off-limit rooms give parents more of an opportunity to relax and cut down on potential safety hazards. What's your opinion?
For my family's Thanksgiving, we always rent a couple dining tables and a dozen chairs, move our everyday dining table to the garage, and use our formal dining table as a buffet. When the party's over, my family members crash on every spare bed, couch, or inflatable mattress in the house.
This Thursday, friends and family will gather to socialize, give thanks, and stuff themselves silly. Whether you're hosting or putting in a guest appearance, there's always a lot of preparation and work that goes into every Thanksgiving gathering.
