Preparing for Guests To Stay in Your Home

Preparing for guests doesn't have to be overwhelming! Assemble a guest basket with the essentials they'll need, have extra bedding on hand, and learn my quick tip for tidying up the house FAST.

You might also like our printable holiday planner pages!

Preparing for Guests During the Holidays

The last thing I want to be doing the week before Christmas is cleaning and organizing. We would much rather be spending our time together as a family. This year my mom is flying out for Christmas so the days leading up to Christmas will be full of cookie baking, family dinners, gift exchanges and visiting. I've been busy preparing the house and thought it'd be fun to share what I've learned over the years on hosting guests.

Create a Hotel Type Experience At Home For Guests

The nice part about hotel living is that they provide many of the essentials that you need. If you're chilly, ask for an extra blanket, if you are hungry you can head down to the lobby for complimentary cookies or sundry items to purchase. If you forget something all you have to do is call down to the front desk! My daughter left her toothbrush at home last week when we were out of town and she was provided a new one with several sample packages of toothpaste at no additional charge.

Prepare for Guests By ASsembling a Bakset of Essentials:

I like having a basket with essentials like this to keep in the guest room. I got this idea from my sister who has the most cozy and inviting guest room in her home. The dresser always has a basket of items that we might need.

Hygiene Products: Tooth brush, toothpaste, panty liners, ibuprofen, shampoo, conditioner, q-tips, cotton balls, hand sanitizer, and nail clippers.

Snack Items: trail mix, bottled water, small packages of cookies or crackers, hot cocoa packets or coffee k-cups. If you're feeling extra, maybe consider including a hot water dispenser/coffee pot in the guest room.

Electronic Items: phone charger, wi-fi password, note pad, pen.

Do you have guests staying with you for Christmas? Here is a helpful graphic from Bed Bath & Beyond to make sure you have everything ready. 

Anything you are lacking in?

Creative Guest Rooms

Let's talk guest rooms. Do you have a dedicated guest room? We don't. At our last house we had a home office that'd we turn into a guest room. In this home, every bedroom if full so we have guests stay in our RV that is parked in the back yard, and it's kind of amazing.

They have their own private space, access to a sink and toilet (they generally shower inside the house), heating and AC, a mini refrigerator and electricity. A little home away from home. This isn't an option for everyone, so get creative and find a place where your guests will have a bit of privacy.

How To Quickly Tidy The House Before Guests

Begin with a clean sweep. Begin with high traffic areas like the living room, entry room and stairs.

Look for things to quickly fix along the way like dings and scuffs on the walls and baseboards.

Then turn your attention to the guest bathroom. Besides the toilet, tub, sink and counter tops, wipe down less obvious spots like the floor, baseboards, shower grout and medicine cabinet shelves.

My one tip for keeping up with the business of every day life and holidays is power cleaning. If you don't to be spending time cleaning when your friends and family are visiting, do a quick power clean in the evening and don't worry about what happens during the day. You will still keep on top of things and be able to spent time enjoying the holidays. You can read my post all about power cleaning here.

Preparing for guests doesn't have to be overwhelming. I've found that preparing once, and keeping these guest items on hand for all guests makes it easy the next time they come! Just restock the basket as needed and keep guest bedding separate from your family's bedding so that it's always washed and ready to go!

This post has been sponsored by Bed Bath and Beyond.