Having house guests can be a fun, exciting time. It is always special to be able to catch up with family and friends that you do not get to see in person often. But there can also be some stress in the lead up with the preparation of the house and the room they will stay in.

There are a number of lists available on the internet of what you should do to prepare the room, including this list from Real Simple. All the lists I could find tended to follow the same theme – make the guests feel pampered and make the room like a 5 star hotel. Some of the ideas are really practical and will make the guests feel more comfortable such as providing an extra blanket, spare key, water and cups and maybe some fresh flowers. However other ideas just seem a bit excessive. One example is leaving out 2 pillows for them. Well I have 5 visitors next week and I do not have 10 spare pillows! I am already borrowing a pillow from my mother just so they can have 1 each. Leave a baskets of mini toiletries for the guests – again I do not have this immediately available and do not feel like I should have go out and purchase them. Fluffy slippers by the bed – who has a spare pair of slippers that they don’t mind someone else’s feet being in as not all slippers can be washed. Many sites also suggest providing a luggage stand.

I can see how these would be nice suggestions if you have a dedicated guest room that you utilize frequently, however we are simply making up a spare room that is otherwise used for storage and it can be years in between having guests. I am trying to focus on the fact that I have the chance to spend time with very special friends from Germany, who we haven’t seen for 3 years. As our spare room is not used much, I have put a lot of effort into cleaning it out and getting rid of all the cobwebs. I truly hope that my friends do not judge me for the room only being 2 or 3 stars! We do not have the room to store so many pillows and blankets and a storage rack in between times.

People need to be realistic in their expectations of what a host should provide for free. Is it really so important to have fluffy slippers? We should be focusing on the time we have with our special friends and family, enjoy chats, laughs and stories together and create memories to last long after the visit is over.

About the Author

Sally is a home organisation and budgeting expert with a passion for helping families take the stress out of everyday tasks by creating simple, efficient and cost-effective processes. Her strategies can result in more time and energy being available to spend time doing what you love. Sally is a quiet budgeting queen, home organisation specialist, wife, mother, animal-loving mathematician and so much more.