Company might be coming to stay for an evening or entire week, but one thing is for sure, you want your space to look its best and feel extra cozy. Here's a few ideas on making their stay special by doing a bit more than basic cleaning and making sure there's enough towels. Some might say above and beyond, we say going all out to make someone's holiday a little more special!
1. Make A Soundtrack: There's certain songs throughout everyone's holiday season that really ring home with them. Maybe it's something from your past, or a radio hit that seems to never leave the air waves. Whatever your favorites are, make a mix for your guests to enjoy as well. Burn a CD or even pick up an inexpensive jump drive (which are loss leaders at many electronics stores these days) to download your favorite tunes to! Your guests can listen to it as they fall asleep at night, on their drive home or while they're out and about around town!
2. Create A Midnight Snack Shelf In Your Pantry: When we have friends and family over to stay, we're always telling people to dig through the pantry or refrigerator to find snacks or meals that we aren't eating together as a group. Though some aren't shy about it, others might be. Try making one shelf in your fridge easily accessible with things for quick salads or sandwiches and likewise, clear a shelf in your pantry with easy to grab snack items such as granola, dried fruit, cookies or crackers.
3. Create A Tourist Pack: Sometimes our company will be heading out on their own to explore your city while you're away or at work. Make them feel at home by giving them maps, lists of attractions, bus/train routes or even a preloaded pass for the easiest mass transit near you. You could also pre-program your GPS device to have landmarks loaded in for easy access.
4. Supply A Dirty Clothes Bag: When we're away from home, unless you remembered to bring a dirty clothes bag with you, there's a strategic balance between hanging up clothes that can be worn again to make new outfits and keeping ones that are a wee bit fragrant out of your suitcase. Do your guests a favor and make (or buy) them an inexpensive dirty clothes bag. They can be super simple to make (just sew up two sides of a length of fabric and add Velcro if you're not handy enough to add a rope or ribbon to hold it closed) and a huge blessing for company. When they're ready to return home, they can take it with them and have it for the next time they travel.
5. Earth, Water, Fire: In the room where your guests will be staying, take a few extra seconds to see that they have some essentials in their space. Even if you forget to put them in your own bedroom, a plant, a carafe of water and a candle can go a long way to making any space feel more comfortable and a little like home for an out of town traveler.
6. Towel Origami: For the most part, you won't find many of us using our spare time to fold our towels into swans or small woodland creatures on a day to day basis. But pulling out all the stops when company comes to town can make your space extra memorable. It might be a little silly, but they'll know you really took the time to think about putting some joy into their season.
7. Give Them A Tips Sheet: Although some spaces are pretty straight forward, others can be a bit tricky when it comes to things like finding light switches or knowing which channels on TV are what. To save them from sifting through 300+ channels of cable, give them a cheat sheet like you have in a hotel to your favorite 10 and give them a quick map of important light switches or how to make the tv or alarm clock work in their room. These things might come naturally to you, but to a guest, all bets are off!
Images: PB Teen, Crate and Barrel and Flickr members Bart van der Borst, Allen Gatham, thisvintagechica, p_kirn, mediatejack, purpcheese all licensed for use by Creative Commons
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I love the idea of the tourist pack. I would also add personalized instructions and tips. I know people who have never used a city transportation system, and would have no idea how to use a subway map. Also, cities can be quite intimidating to those less traveled so I would give gentle advice on how to not out yourself as a tourist. :)
Please remove imnjjioi's post and block this user.
What's the thing holding all the tea packets in the first picture?
I don't drink brewed coffee since my partner doesn't like coffee -- I just have a favorite flavored instant for breakfast. But guests almost always have a more serious coffee craving than us. So I set up the Keurig (a gift) with an assortment of pods, some cups, aseptically packaged creamers that don't require refrigeration, and sugar on the counter. (normally it's all in a cupboard.)
We try to make sure we have cold drinks our guest/s like in the fridge. (We drink Diet Coke, but not everyone does.)
I lay in a supply of breakfast treats -- pastries, scones, or something of the sort. If guests get up early, which people seem to do away from home, not wanting to bother your hosts means self sufficiency in the morning, and I try to expedite that.
Our "laundry room" (closet) is adjacent to the guest room, and we let guests know they can feel free to run a load if they want.
After that, all the guests we have had so far are there to share time with us, so we go out together, fix food or eat out together, etc. and not much more is required.
If you can afford to- make sure your place is nice and toasty! I get so uncomfortable at other people's homes when they have the heat turned down to save money. If that's not an option... blankets, lots of blankets!
In the winter months, I put together a "cold weather pack" for guests: pocket tissues, cough drops and a cheap (unused) lip balm. Along with a subway map, I know my friends are ready to take on the city.
StudioStarter - That is a big one and if the host/hostess can't stand to hurt the heat on a few more degrees, then maybe they should have asked the guests to stay at a hotel where they can control how warm/cold they are.
My sister, brother in law and their 3 kids are staying with us and our 3 kids. Our house is going from 5-10 for a week. Don't forget about the different diets and clean pillows, blankets and sheets for all of them.
Make them a spare key so you don't have to sit around all day for them to get back to let them in.
relax yourself and have fun. I wouldn't beable to get through them coming twice a year (for 2 weeks in the summer) with out a ton of patience.
Ditto on the spare key - make several in case you have a large family who may split up to do different things.
Set up a guest account on the computer with a welcome message and a fun holiday background. You won't have to worry about anyone discovering your unmentionables folder if you create separate accounts.
Provide lots of blankets and maybe even a pair of new socks.
Put an over-the-door rack in their bedroom so they don't have to hang their towels in the bathroom or leave them on the floor where they might get mixed up.
Along with the channel guide, definitely provide directions on how to use the TV and keep it in a binder or notebook on the coffee table. I have a home theatre system that consists of a PC and a receiver and a few gaming consoles ... and I admit it can be a pain to figure out how to turn it on.
Have a fan or some sort of white noise-maker available. My bf has trouble sleeping without some kind of whirring in the background, so I made a point to have one available for guests. It's also usable all year round!
Put a dish of wrapped candy next to the bed. And peppermints can be a lifesaver for those who forgot toothbrushes :)
@angie-marie: isn't it easier to have spare toothbrushes? (i pick up regular toothbrushes & 'pre-loaded' (i.e., wisp) on sale & always have at least one for forgetful guests.