How To Prepare For Unexpected House Guests

There isn’t much worse than being caught off guard for visitors or overnight guests! You can easily make your home house guest friendly and ready at the drop of a dime! Simply by keeping a few things ready and handy, you can make sure that both your guests and yourself have a fun (stress free) time!

• A Go-To Recipe
  
  It’s important to have a recipe that is your go-to recipe! One that you know how to make and how to make well! When company is coming over for dinner should not be the time to experiment in the kitchen! (Unless going out for dinner is an option!)For me, my go to recipe is lasagna. And as an added bonus, we usually have the ingredients to make it!
• A Nice Bottle Of Wine
  
  Keeping a bottle of wine kept back for when you are entertaining is always a good idea!

• A Clean Space
  
  This is easier said than done, huh? But by generally straightening up throughout the day and before you go to bed you can keep your house tidy.If guests are stopping by unexpectedly, don’t worry! They expect things like the kids to have their Lego’s out or your laundry basket sitting on the dining room table. There is a difference between lived in and dirty!

  Even if your house is ‘lived in’ you want to make sure that your guest has a clean space for spending the night. No one wants to feel like a burden. It’s embarrassing for the host and the person who is staying if you have to go clean out a room for them. Keep the guest room reserved for guests. Keep clean sheets, a few extra pillows and an extra blanket ready for them.

• Create a Guest Basket
  
  We’ve all been there before. You start to unpack to realize you forgot your hair brush, blow dryer, toothbrush, deodorant, or headache medicine.By creating a basket filled with items like this will mean a lot to your guests! You can use sample size items (a great use for those freebies that come in the mail!) or purchase full size products. As an added bonus: when you are packing for your child or yourself you know that you have extras!

  Some ideas of items to include are:
  
  – Shampoo/Conditioner
  
  – Body Wash
  
  – Soap
  
  – Razor
  
  – Shaving Cream
  
  – Q-Tips
  
  – Face Wash
  
  – Lotion
  
  – Toothbrush
  
  – Toothpaste
  
  – Blow Dryer/Hair Straightener
  
  – Deodorant
  
  – Tylenol/Aspirin
  
  – Chapstick

• Wifi Ready
  
  By writing down your Wifi password you can help your guest from even having to ask! Plus, you help yourself from having to rattle off that long password!Consider keeping a copy of the password to keep in your guest basket!
• A Quick Cleaning Plan
  
  You just got the phone call! Your mother-in-law and sister-in-law are in the neighborhood and going to stop by. You’ve got about 10 minutes!What are you going to do? Load the dishes in the dishwasher? Maybe run the Swiffer quickly? Chose a quick chore that can be done in just a minute or two. The rest of the time should be spent quickly picking up and decluttering. Most people will notice clutter but won’t notice that you didn’t just wash your windows. Do a quick glance as if you were the guest. And remember – we are our own worst critics! Things that are driving you crazy are things that others may not even notice!

Guests coming over? No problem! You are ready! By having a few things ready ahead of time (and a plan!) you can be ready for guests in minutes. How do you prepare for house guests?