Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Some Tips For Making Your Holiday Guests Feel Welcome

Thinking about having friends and family over for the holidays? If you are, make sure your home is welcoming. Everyone wants to feel at home no matter where they go. Here are a few tips on how to make your home comfortable and welcoming to your holiday guest:

1. Take the walk to your front as your guest would. Is the sidewalk cleared? Is the light on outside?

2. Make room for your guest's coats. Whether it is on the coat rack or in a spare bedroom, make sure you have room to place your guests coats and that are easy to get to when your guest is ready to leave.

3. Is there enough room for everyone to sit? Situations can become uncomfortable if you have guests standing to eat or even just to make small talk.

4. Don't have your home completely spotless. A quick clean over the entire house will be just fine. Clean your countertops, sweep the floor, run the vacuum and have a towel hanging in the bathroom and a full roll of toilet paper and you should be good to go.

5. Set the mood for your gathering. Have candles burning with a subtle scent, you don't want anything too overpowering. And of course, make sure that lit candles stay out of the traffic and up high enough that the little ones aren't tempted. Dim your lights; if you don't have a dimmer shut the lights off and just have your holiday lights on to light the room. (Make sure there are enough that people can still see, though!)

6. Be a gracious host and thank everyone one for showing up to your lovely home. There's nothing like a host who goes out of their way to thank each person.

7. Have FUN and make the best of the gathering!!