HOW TO FRESHEN UP YOUR HOME WHEN COMPANY’S COMING

 

Do you panic at the thought of having company or overnight guest? Don’t fret I have a few very helpful ideas to freshen up your home and not go crazy trying to do it! You CAN be a serene hostess with just a little work and a good attitude! Let’s welcome the people we love with open arms and a guest ready home! Here are some great tips for how to freshen up your home when company’s coming

 

Now let’s get those rooms ready for company!

Tidy Up

When you are ready to entertain guests for the evening or the weekend, this is not the time to purge and declutter your entire home. Throw all of the trash away and be sure to put things away that should be put away. This article for cleaning up messy spaces in your home will be really helpful. Just dive in and clean the shared areas of your home, your guest room, and bathrooms. This is not about perfection, friends.

Here’s a very helpful post for some speed cleaning HOW TO CLEAN YOUR HOME IN 30 MINUTES A DAY.

If you need to get all the clutter out by putting it in laundry baskets and hiding them in the basement, garage or a closet! Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do, right?

For some reason, if my kitchen is clean I feel so much better. So I always start there.

Launder Guest Bedding and Towels

If you don’t entertain overnight guests often, be sure to give your bedding and towels a quick spin in the washer. The smell of freshly laundered sheets and pillowcases is so welcoming. The same goes for any towels that you’ll be leaving out for your guests. 

I make up my guest beds sans sheets so when I have company I can put on newly laundered sheets. And white towels are a must here at StoneGable! I put towels in each guest room.

If your guest is a room already you already use maybe a stack of towels in the bathroom will work for you. Just remember clean and fresh!

Adding Fresh Flowers

I look for any excuse to add a bouquet of fresh flowers to my home and company coming is always a great time to splurge a little. An arrangement as you enter your home is always nice and a fresh display on your kitchen table is just lovely.

A few blooms tucked into small spaces are so nice. Adding flowers to a vignette on your coffee table, on the guest bedroom bedside table or even in the bathroom is such a thoughtful touch. 

Preparing a Breakfast Station

Having a breakfast station set the night before will be so nice when you wake up the next morning. A buffet set with coffee fixings, fresh fruit and something sweet will please any guests from the early bird to the late riser. You will also enjoy being able to relax and catch up with your company when you aren’t stationed in front of the stove all morning. 

I love a breakfast station. I buy great pastries and other goodies to put out for my guests. Hard boiled eggs and fabulous bagels with cream cheese and other fixings is another crowd pleaser!

To see an easy make ahead strawberry shortcake click HERE.

Creature Comforts

There are a few things that you can do to add a little touch of thoughtfulness for your guests. Most would appreciate knowing your wi-fi password and the name of your router. I nice handwritten card with this information on it would be great to place on the bedside table. 

Leave an extra pillow or two in the closet for those folks who enjoy a little more cushion while they sleep. A few recent magazines or your favorite travel books would be a nice touch in a basket beside the bed or on top of the nightstand.

 

I also make sure to have travel-sized shampoos, conditioners and extra razors and toothbrushes on the counter in the bathroom. My hope is that my guests will have everything that they need while they stay in my home. 

Me

Yes, you read that correctly, the best thing that you can do when company is coming is to prepare ahead of time so that when your guests arrive, you can enjoy your time together.

I try to prep as many meals as I can, have a loose itinerary for fun and have all of my personal stuff accomplished before they even get to my home. While guests are here at StoneGable, I want to be present, engaged and ready to relax… together! 

 

 

This is a great post for you to keep in your arsenal for after your guests go home…

How to Clean Your Home When Overnight Guests Leave

HOW TO CLEAN YOUR HOUSE AFTER COMPANY LEAVES- 10 BEST AND DOABLE TIPS FOR A CLEAN HOME!

 

You might want to follow me on Pinterest and see all the great things I’m finding to pin HERE!

 

 

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17 Comments

  1. Good morning! This post came at a perfect time because I’m up early to get ready for week end family guests. I love the breakfast bar idea and will move the coffee pot out of the kitchen to another area and set up breakfast food. We are at the height of allergy season so I make sure to have plenty of Kleenex in the guest areas! Have a wonderful Easter!.

  2. I want to come & stay at Stone Gable!! You make everything so lovely & inviting!! Thank you so much for sharing these great tips!! I think a lot like you… do what you gotta do!!

  3. Theresa at Winterberry Lane says:

    Thanks for all the wonderful tips this morning. I like to have my home inviting for guest and the breakfast station sounds like something I can do this weekend for my company that is coming. Have a Blessed Easter to you and your family.

  4. JC at the uncommon pearl says:

    Great extensive list! Your guest room door sign is too cute. I love spoiling guests too and have done ” turn down service ” on their bedding with a note and chocolate mint the first evening they stay. It’s so fun. I really like your make ahead breakfast bar idea and 30 minute quick cleaning routine. Both are time savers! Thank you!

  5. These are wonderful tips, Yvonne! I wish I would follow them…I get all hung up on having EVERYTHING perfect, and then I just shutdown. I read your post on the “Perfectly Imperfect Home” and even shared it with friends. Maybe I need to read it again, because you are so right!!! Would you believe my angelic mother and grandmother served guests breakfast in bed???!!! My spend the night guests during high school and college talked about that luxury for years!

    1. Bunny concentrate on having a good time yourself and your friends will too!

  6. Wonderful tips! We don’t have guests that often, but when we do, I want them to feel welcome and comfortable. I love the tips you’ve shared.

  7. Great tips from a great hostess. I used your “breakfast station” idea for my household, guests over Thanksgiving weekend. It worked great — I had baked a couple of quick breads, prepared some hard boiled eggs, fresh fruit, yogurt, assorted juices (2-3 is plenty) and coffee, along with tableware, glasses & mugs. It worked great, and kept people from having to retrieve things from the kitchen, while I was busy. I did something else = I purchased inexpensive “to go” coffee cups, and labeled with each of my kids names; (my cousin has a cricut cutter, so this worked out fun) this is theirs to use in our home when visiting, and cuts down on gathering/washing twenty cups, glasses every day, (as that is what happened over vacation last summer).

  8. My best hostess tip is to spend a couple of nights in your guestroom to find out what you need to make your company really comfortable. I discovered the reading light was not in the right place, needed better pillows and a box of tissues by the bed was essential. If I had not stayed in the room I never would have known these things. Always want our guests to return.

  9. Always lovely……………your taste is excellent.

  10. Greetings!
    Love your article about entertaining guests. Loved the laundry basket on wheels and the tray on the bed with magazine holders on the sides. So you know where to find those treasures? Once again you hit a home run!

  11. Beautiful…!! I just realized I’ve been sitting here for over an hour! The vignette article was wonderful too.. I have two in my family room which are getting a re-vamp as soon as I can draw myself away from the computer screen… and, the guest room, lovely!!

  12. I love what you say about actually giving your guest you! True hospitality is making someone comfortable yet enjoying them at the same time. The last two nights I’ve been reading your newsletters and end up spending a much longer time on just enjoying this blog!

  13. Yvonne…why don’t you consider running a bed and breakfast or an Airbnb? I think people would love to come and stay at your house! I certainly would! It’s beautiful.

  14. Harriet Bicksler says:

    We are on the same page when it comes to playing hostess! I have always done what you suggest – but I also add one more thing that is always a nice surprise. I include a framed picture of the guest by their bedside. I think it is a nice surprise and makes them feel at home!