Be Ready for Overnight Guests

When I was single, I would occasionally stay all night with my friend April and her husband. This was usually after we’d spent a day at the lake and they didn’t want me to have to drive home. April was such a great host and I always hoped that when I had a house, I too could host people as well as she did. We don’t have a lot of overnight guests and what we do have are family but I still try to do my best to offer good accommodations when I know someone is coming. A few of my tips:

Make sure there are clean sheets on the bed. It should go without saying but I’m saying it anyway. If you change sheets after each guest (good for you) but your guest bed has been made up for a while unoccupied, turn the covers down and give the linens a spray of Febreze. The only thing worse than not changing the sheets is having your guests think you didn’t change the sheets!

Make sure the guest room has some basic touches like a box of tissues, a small trash can, and a clock. Sit in the room and ask yourself what you would need if you were staying in this room for the night. I love to read and I realized not too long ago that the overhead lighting was not very eye friendly if someone wanted to read before bed. I put in a small bedside table with a lamp.

Have some books and magazines of general interest in the room.

Tell your guests where extra pillows and blankets are.

Remember, that your guests will not be holed up in the guest room the entire time. Make sure the bathroom is clean, has some gender neutral soaps and shampoo, toilet paper, cotton balls and swabs, feminine products, etc. I try to keep a spare toothbrush and sample sized tube of toothpaste in the guest bathroom at all times.
Know what your guests like to eat and have some of it on hand. If they are coffee drinkers, make sure you have coffee available. A homemade treat is usually appreciated and can last a couple of days. Have a cereal on hand that’s not a kid’s cereal but not totally twigs and sticks either (think Cheerios, Raisin Bran, Corn Flakes).

Try not to stress out! Enjoy your guests and don’t sweat every detail. Most of the time the things we worry about most are the things no one else even notices.