Are you ready to host holiday guests? Even if you don’t have any plans to have family or friends visit, you might want to see if your guest room (or pull-out sofa) is ready for company. You never know who might drop in, or if someone will get stranded from weather-related problems. Or someone might need to stay the night after over-imbibing at your cocktail party).
QUICK THINGS TO DO TODAY:
– Look over the three remaining weeks of the month. Need to make any doctor, dentist or vet appointments? Need a haircut, dye touchup, trim or manicure? Who has a birthday coming up? Do you have a couple of quiet nights at home booked in and solidly enforced (meaning if someone calls to invite you somewhere on that night, you firmly say no, sorry that’s my down time?)
– Anybody in your household need to schedule a haircut so they look nice for Thanksgiving? Are you taking holiday pictures? If you take them now, you avoid the crowds and rush, and you might be able to deliver them in person on Thanksgiving!
– Maintenance clean your refrigerator – choose either one shelf, one bin, or two door shelves. Remove all the food, inspect it for Best By date and freshness, toss out anything you won’t eat. Wipe down, sanitize and dry the shelves, then replace food in an organized manner.
TODAY’S PROJECT: Guest Room (Again)
Today I’m thoroughly cleaning my guest room again. I cleaned it last week, but it’s already been used. Time to freshen it up for the next set of guests!
Last week I removed all the furniture from the room, laundered the bedding so it wasn’t dusty, vacuumed, dusted baseboards and closet doors, washed the windows and sill, and wiped down the lamps. I still need to launder the dusty curtains today.
Is there room in the closet for guests to hang their clothing? Right now I need to remove some toys that need to be sorted and make their way to the toybox I store in my garage.
I’m putting a L’Occitane “Winter ForesT” candle (and nearby matches) on top of the bookcase (high enough that visiting toddlers can’t reach), and making sure there’s up-to-date bottled water in the room for guests to drink. I have two lamps, an alarm clock, and a box of Kleenex within easy reach of the bed. Just like last year, I discovered that one of my pillows is not really in fresh unstained shape, so I will throw it out and replace it with a $15 pillow during my next Costco shopping trip this week. It’s not too crucial of a purchase, though, since I keep a variety of four pillows on the bed for someone to choose between.
Have you ever slept overnight in your guest room so you know if the bed is comfy, the blankets adequate, the pillows restful, the lighting good for reading in bed, and the temperature in the room ideal?
Are you hiding clutter in your guest room that needs to be sorted, sold, given away, thrown away or stored elsewhere in your home? I recently stored my holiday dishes in a bin in my storage area in the garage, rather than under the guest bed.
Right before guests actually arrive (perhaps as soon as next weekend) I’ll spritz the room with just a tiny bit of pumpkin-scented room spray, put fresh flowers in the room, and perhaps a small box of Godiva tea cookies on the nightstand.
LOVELY LINKS FOR TODAY:
Spiced Pumpkin and Bourbon Beignets (French Revolution Blog)