Quick Steps to Prepare Your Home for Guests

October 27, 2021
Published by Pacific Lifestyle Homes

The holidays are fast approaching and that means you’re likely to start having more people over to your Vancouver WA homes for dinner, drinks, and holiday meals. If you’re lucky, they’re just staying for the celebration, which means you don’t have to worry about cleaning the whole house, as well as preparing all the food and drink. This means you can quickly prepare your home for guests without adding much work to your to-do list.

There are three main areas to focus on for a quick, simple preparation: living room, kitchen, and bathroom. As a general rule, these are the only areas most guests will see, and as long as they look relatively clean and organized, no one will think otherwise.

Start wherever you want, but make sure each area won’t get messed up again before guests arrive, so keep that in mind, especially if you have young kids. For now, let’s start with the living room, as that’s where guests will likely spend a fair amount of time. The most important thing is to get rid of clutter. Toss or recycle anything that is past its prime, and then grab a box, large basket, or even garbage bags and start tossing in everything else you want to keep but don’t want people to see. Ideally, put them away if they have a designated spot. However, in a rush, just gather it together and put it in another room. Stuff it in your closet, where guests are unlikely to see it, even if they want a tour of your new place. Once the guests are gone, you can go through all of the clutter and find a home for it all.

One of the benefits of having a powder room on the first floor is that you don’t have to deal with guests using your main bathroom. However, if you don’t have a powder room, but do have a full bathroom that is used by other family members, it’s important to take a few extra steps. Whether it’s a half bath or a full bathroom, clean it completely, the way you normally would. For a half bath, just make sure there are a few sets of fresh hand towels, and enough toilet paper and soap. Maybe add some colorful candles or dried flowers for a little seasonal decoration. However, if it’s a bathroom in regular use, take out the stuff you don’t want people to see. If you have a shower curtain, close it to hide any array of bottles or try to arrange them neatly if you just have a glass shower stall. Most things can go into the bathroom cabinets; just try to make the front part look neat in case anyone snoops. For personal items, such as medicines, go ahead and put them in a drawer in your bedroom or somewhere else you won’t lose them but where people won’t look.

Finally, give the kitchen a good clean before you start any cooking so that there are fewer smudges and fingerprints to clean up afterward and store away larger items from the counter to give yourself as much free counter space as possible. This will come in handy as you’re plating up and it also makes your kitchen look cleaner and more organized. The main key to the kitchen is to have an area out of your immediate way where guests can get drinks and snacks and generally stay out of your way as you do any last minute food preparation. If you have an island, set up one side of it as a bar area with snacks. Alternatively, set up a table with drinks and snacks in the living room to keep people gravitating in that direction until you’re ready to serve.

If you’re hosting a dinner, have your dining table already prepared before guests arrive so that it makes a nice impression.

A quick wipe-down and scrub, paired with decluttering, go a long way in making your home look clean and ready for guests. It’s just for one night, so don’t worry about stuffing items in closets to get them out of the way. Light a few nice-smelling candles, or at least make a simple but decorative arrangement suitable for the season and your Vancouver WA homes will be ready to welcome any guests.

Categorized in: Design Studio, Design Tips, Floorplan Info, Maintenance Tips, Market Tips, New Home Tips

This post was written by Pacific Lifestyle Homes