Strategically Preparing For Holiday Houseguests

Whether it is family or friends that are visiting, it is important to make them feel at home and not like they are in your way. There are challenges and rewards to hosting a guest during what is the most strenuous time of the year. However, with a few early preparations, you can create an enjoyable guest experience as well as enjoy the holidays.

First of all, if you are not feeling ok, then before beginning any type of preparation, take care of yourself. You could be suffering from a back ache or migraine headaches that, if left unchecked, could wreak havoc on the entire holiday season. Holiday entertaining is serious business. One year, my back went out due to a stressful time at work, and it was no small picnic to get everything done in time.

The next thing to do is to thoroughly clean your house, especially the areas that get frequent traffic, such as the kitchen, bathroom, and living room; and of course, the guest bedroom. If the intended guest bedroom is in somewhat disarray and disrepair and cannot be remedied in time, then consider offering your bedroom to the guest while you stay in the other room. Sometimes simply decluttering a space makes a huge difference. It is about the guest feeling welcome, after all. It is also about keeping you sane. You do not want to spend a lot of time renovating a guest room that will not be used for another year.

While you are cleaning the house (and hopefully delegating some of the chores), get someone in your family to start hanging decorations on the exterior of the house. Although the outside patio will be too cold to hang out on, it might be a good idea to get any clutter out of the way in case your guest wants to indulge in a cigarette on the back porch. Creating an inviting guest experience is about not overlooking any details, however minor. Plus, with a porch (especially a covered one), you can store wine, beer and other items that are needed during the holidays. Food storage solutions are also a key factor.

At this time in the planning and preparation stages, draw up a list of non-perishable grocery and other entertaining supplies you will need and note some recipes you want to make. You will also be shopping for Thanksgiving at this time as well. There are many good sales during these holidays. Peruse the online store circulars and make your list detailed enough to show where else you can find a particular item should the item be out of stock in your usual store. Another alternative is to jot down a substitute for that item.

Once you have the necessary grocery items, start decorating as soon as you can. The day or the weekend after Thanksgiving would be optimal. Enlist the aid of family members. Do not go overboard if it makes you feel overwhelmed. A few smart holiday touches here and there, along with the Christmas tree, will make the statement. Take the opportunity to inexpensively put some understated holiday trimmings in the bathroom and guest’s bedroom. Little soaps and candles with holiday scents of cinnamon, clove and evergreen are classic accents. Placing a poinsettia plant or other winter flower in the guest’s bedroom will further add to the element of your holiday retreat for your guest.

Aside from a few other things to cross off on the list, the majority of the work is done. And hopefully, you have completed it by the first week in December!

Article by Stefanie Enza

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 4th, 2010 at 8:05 pm and is filed under Christmas, General Info, Inspiration, Seasonal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.