Home For The Holidays – Creating A Welcoming Home

This holiday season many of us will have the pleasure of hosting out of town friends and family in our homes.  We want them to feel truly welcome!When someone comes to visit there a few things that you can do to ensure their comfort and sense of being welcome in your home.  Jackie is the queen of hospitality, so I have been fortunate enough to experience what is on this list as a guest in her home on many occasions.  I love visiting my chum 🙂

This will not be completely new info to most of you, but maybe you can pick up an idea or two.  Or simply use this as a check list when you are getting your guest room ready for company. This is a short list of some things you can do to make those who come to stay feel very welcomed and pampered.

1. Clear out the bedroom where your guests will be staying so they feel they have room to move.  This just means removing any clutter or unnecessary items so the room has space for your guests’ luggage and  room to relax.  Even if you have to just box up items that your guests don’t need during their stay like extra items on a dresser or desk, and making room in the closet, it will be a good way to give your company room in “their room” at your house.

2. Snip some flowers from your garden.  If you don’t have any blooms right now pick up an inexpensive bunch of blossoms at the market and place them in a simple vase on the bedside table or dresser.

3. Put a small pitcher of ice water and some glasses in the room.  Just a small touch that makes folks feel more comfortable.

4. Leave a little tray with some cookies and /or nuts.  Basically you are giving your guests something to munch on if they happen to feel a little peckish.

5. Make sure the bathroom is well stocked.  By this we mean, be sure there are plenty of fresh towels, a new unwrapped bar of soap, and extra rolls of toilet paper where they can be easily seen.

6. Put out fresh bottles of shampoo and conditioner and a hair dryer if possible.  The shampoo and conditioner don’t have to be expensive brands.  You can pick up some decent bottles at the 99 cent store in fact.  And if you have company more than once a year investing in a compact blow dryer is really a nice touch.  Jackie happens to even have an extra set of hot rollers in her guest room…along with everything else mentioned here.

7. Be sure to have a clock by the bedside table and a nightlight.  I use my cell phone as an alarm clock when I travel and the flashlight feature on my phone if need to get up in the night and it is dark.  But not everyone has that feature so having a clock by the bed and a small inexpensive nightlight in the room is a good idea.

8. Iron the top sheet and pillowcases before you make up the bed.  This is a great idea because nothing feels better after a long day than clean crisp sheets.  If you don’t do this on your own bed you might want to try it.  Some dry cleaners will iron your sheet and pillowcases for as little as $5.  This is money well spent.

9. Have a full length or at least a good sized mirror in the room.  If you don’t already have one in the room, you can get a very inexpensive full length mirror to hang on the back of a closet door for around $20 at Walmart or probably from most large hardware stores.

10.  Leave a little handwritten “Welcome” note.  This is the perfect way to let your guests know how happy you are they have come to visit and how welcome they are in your home.  And if you happen to have WiFi you can include your password so your guests can easily access your internet services during their stay.

Especially during this holiday season when we are all in search of the perfect gift to give, it is good to remember that hospitality is a rather precious gift that everyone can afford to give to those who come to visit, and one that is always appreciated by those who receive it.  Both you and your company will be blessed with more love, more joy and abundant living 🙂