December is a busy month with the holidays, and one of the highlights of the holidays for me is having visitors in my home that I might not have the opportunity to see as much as I like. When I do have these visitors in my home I like to make them feel as welcome as possible. After all many have traveled long distances to see me and my family, and I want there stay with me to be as comfortable as possible. Here are a few steps I follow and you can follow to in preparing your home for holiday guests.

photo credit: stockicide

1. Create a welcome space for your guests.

Make sure that where ever you have them sleeping they have what they need to be comfortable. Consider laying out a variety of pillows and blankets to suit your guests needs. Make sure their room has proper lighting, and create a place for them to put their suitcase, clothes, etc.

2. Make your bathroom user friendly.

It’s always a nice idea to lay out everything that your guest might need, so that they don’t have to go rummaging around looking for whatever it is that they might need in your bathroom. Items you might want to lay out include extra towels, toilet paper, soaps, shampoos, lotions, and a hair dryer.

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3. Create a welcome basket.

Having a welcome basket ready and filled with maps of your town, areas of interest in your town, bottles of water, emergence numbers, etc. is a nice thing to do for your guests when they arrive. Also think about other items they might need for their stay. Are they computer savvy and arriving with their laptops? Include the code to get on your home wireless network. Are they big readers? Include a reading light and some great magazines or books for them to enjoy during their stay. Think carefully about who your guests are and tailor their baskets to their individual needs.

4. Make your kitchen visitor friendly.

Before your guests arrive find out if they have any special food allergies or dietary requests and shop accordingly. Another great idea is having baskets or containers of snacks such as fruit, crackers, or cookies so that your guest can help themselves if they happen to get hungry between meals. Also think about creating an area for drinks so that guests can help themselves to bottled water, pop, coffee making sure that you provide all of the utensils your guests might need.

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5. Prepare for the ages of your guests.

Depending upon the ages of your guests you might consider preparing for various safety issues in your home. For example if you have young guests you may want to lock away medicines, cleaning supplies, matches, etc. If you have older guests you may want to find solutions for slick tubs, tricky steps in your home, etc.

These are just a few of the steps I like to follow when I am getting reading to have holiday guests in my home. What special things that you do to prepare for your guests?