Getting Your Home Ready For Holiday Visitors

Getting Your Home Ready for Holiday Visitors

Chances are you’re going to spend some, or all, of the holiday season with family. To ensure that your holiday visits will go as smoothly as possible, take the preparatory steps to get your home ready for holiday guests.

Sleep Accommodations – If you’re having overnight guests, they all will need a place to sleep. Before your guests arrive, determine the number of beds you need for everyone. If you don’t have enough beds or pull out couches in your home, consider purchasing air mattresses or roll-away cots to provide the extra beds for your guests. Next, ensure that you have enough clean sheets and bedding for everyone to be warm and cozy. Lastly, if you have more than one family staying with you over the holidays, try to give each family a private space of their own. If your house lacks the number of spare rooms to do this, give priority to guest with small children or babies.

Guest Bathrooms – A busy house means limited bathroom access. Though you can’t magically add more bathrooms to your home, you can prep to ensure that things go smoothly when extra people arrive. Perform a thorough cleaning of all the bathrooms in your home before guests arrive. Clear your children’s toys from the tub, remove all extra bottles, and keep bathrooms stocked with toiletries and clean towels for the entirety of your guests’ stay.

Plan Your Meals — Holiday guests means extra mouths to feed, so it’s best to plan ahead to make sure your house guests have plenty to eat while staying with you. First, make a detailed list of each meal you plan to cook while your guests are with you, and all necessary ingredients. Remember to include enough snack foods and treats to keep holiday visitors satisfied between meals. Buy food for the holidays gradually over three or four shopping trips so that you don’t get overwhelmed by the extra cost. This will also give you enough time to go back for forgotten ingredients. Remember to keep it simple – find easy to prepare, slow cooker recipes that feed large groups of people. Try to get all the prepping and chopping of ingredients done prior to their arrival. This will give you more time to spend with your loved ones.

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