Around the holiday season and the New Year, not to mention all the rest of the coming year, house guests are frequent. It might be your parents, your in-laws, siblings, or friends, but at some point you will probably have people staying with you. In those cases, you want to make them feel as welcome and comfortable as possible, so here are 8 tips for making house guests feel at home.
Making sure the bed in your guest room is comfortable is a huge part of making a guest feel at home. You may not be able to recreate the comforts and luxuries of a hotel room, but you can still create a wonderful, welcoming space. Basically, the rule of thumb is to make sure you create a room you would like to sleep in as well. So, no lumpy fold out couches or uncomfortable futons. That's not to say these objects aren't okay to use, just make sure they're comfortable!
Part of creating a lovely guest room and bed involves making sure you have nice linens. Basically, don't simply take those old linens you don't want to use anymore yourself. You know, the ones with holes or stains, the ones that are too hot or too itchy, or the ones that don't really fit the bed. Spring for good linens. They don't have to be top of the line to be nice and comfortable.
When you have guests, it's easy for everyone to feel slightly uncomfortable, even crowded. You may feel like you have to be entertaining all the time and your guest might feel like they are being a burden. Making sure that your guest has a place to relax and the time to use it is important. This may mean something as simple as making sure there's a comfortable chair in the guest room.
I don't know about you, but I tend to use my guest room as a sort of overflow room. All the things that won't go anywhere else end up in there. A lot of people do that, and that's cool – but clear it up when you have guests coming. You wouldn't want to stay in a room inundated in clutter, and neither do they!
Making sure your guests have privacy is enormously important. In line with giving them a space where they can relax, you also want to make sure they have the privacy they need. You don't need to be in one another's hair all the time, and it is important for everyone to have quiet time.
Now, while you don't have to entertain your guest all the time, you can provide some fun stuff to do. You might recommend local places your guest might enjoy, either by his- or herself or with you, or you might lend your guest your favorite book or movie. You always want to make sure guests are having a good time without hovering over them.
You can make a guests feel at home by including certain things in their room that they might not think about bringing themselves. For instance, providing robes and slippers in the guest room can be a really nice gesture. It also provides guests with something to put on when they are already in their pajamas!
Finally, you want to make sure the guest room smells nice. If the room is often shut up and left unused, then it might start smelling musty. Candles, incense, a plug-in: anything like this will help create a warm, inviting room that both smells and looks lovely.
The key in creating a good guest space, again, involves creating a room that you wouldn't mind staying in yourself. It doesn't have to be over-the-top or anything, just comfortable. How do you make guests feel welcome in your home?
Top Photo Credit: Melissa Lund