Getting your Home Ready for Guests

So we have finally settled into our new place and we are finally receiving guests. My in-laws came to visit us this week and I couldn’t contain my excitement. So much so that I may have gone overboard in the preparations. On the other hand, it gave me a good blog post to write about some tips your home ready for guests. In the blogging realm I have seen some posts on this topic, but most of the content I found was over on YouTube. It was also older or from furniture brands. I decided what best way to maximize my time, and content, than to give you some inspiration for getting your own home ready for guests.

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Getting your guest room basics

While there is a lot you can do for a guest room, you really only need the basics to have guests over. Everything outside of these things are just extras that make your guests feel more at home. If like us you are on a budget and not in your forever home, breaking the bank for a guest room is hard. So for the second time now we have managed to “build” our guest room with affordable essentials and some splurging on some of those extras. Now let us get into the basics you will need for getting your home ready for guests!

Bed

This is really the most essential thing you need. Your guests, albeit they could sleep in a couch or pullout sofa, will certainly appreciate having a bed. When we did our first guest room in El Paso nice things were still affordable. With inflation and the current state of the world this time around it was a completely different story. I wont take credit for these finds. It all goes to my amazing husband, as I was in the midst of board prep when we bought these. Last time we got the bed from Wayfair/Overstock. This time we found a decently priced bed frame and mattress on Amazon. I will say the bed looks very nice for the price, and the mattress is decently comfortable. We went with a full size as it was much more affordable than a queen.

I got the sheets also from Amazon, and the duvet insert we had from our previous guest room. To style it up I got new pillows at Homegoods, and a new light duvet insert as well. I finished it up with some decorative pillows and voila, you have a perfectly comfortable guest bed!

Dresser or shelf

This is a somewhat essential piece. We don’t have a full dresser yet, but we did get this shelf to have some extra storage, and a surface that we can use for decor or guest items. Ideally we would have a dresser where they can unpack and store their belongings, but this will do for now. When you do have a dresser for your guests it is nice to try and keep it as empty as minimal as possible so as to no overwhelm them. In my mind, I would like guests to feel like this is their home away from home, and also a serene space. As for additional surface, we have a small desk I used for studying and it serves as an additional surface guests can use. It is not ideal but for now it will do.

Alongside a dresser or shelf you want to give them plenty of hangers for their clothing. That way they can unpack and relax without struggling to find their items in a suitcase. We have very minimal closet space in this apartment. For that reason I am glad the guest room has the largest one. Unfortunately, we’ve been forced to use it as additional storage space thus limiting the free space for guests. So while my in-laws are here we have arranged everything to maximize the space they have.

Night Stand

This one is a “nice to have” item. Having a place alongside your bed to charge your phone and put essential items is always nice. As such a night stand is the perfect solution. It also gives you some additional surface area to put a lamp and some decorations. I found the most amazing, and petite, side table at Homegoods. It is a very beautiful round wooden table with a polished surface but it is not coated. I love that it is not shiny, and that you can see the different layers of the trunk wood. As with most things at Homegood it was a great price point, and it matched the aesthetic of the room perfectly. Another debate I had was to get 1 or 2, decided to just get 1 to keep it simple/minimal, and decided to get a tall lamp for the opposite side.

Lamp

Continuing on the train of thought of lamps, we ended up finding an amazing mid century modern lamp at a furniture consignment store. I love everything about it! At first I was skeptical about mixing the black farmhouse/industrial metal from the desk and side table with the brass, but I love the result. I decided to go with a tall floor lamp instead of a table lamp because I felt like the room needed more variety in the sight-lines. Once we got the lamp in, the room finally felt like it was complete. It was a feeling of going full circle.

Guest Bathroom Essentials

Towels

Towels might be one of my favorite household items to shop for. As you will see in an upcoming post I went all out with our towels. After a LOT of research, I decided to go with the Boll & Branch Plush towel set for our master bathroom. I fell in love with them and I wanted something similar but lighter for the guest bathroom. Finally I went with the Boll & Branch Spa towel set in the light pewter color. These towels are beautifully made and they are not as heavy as the Plush set. They do however still have the same soft and luxurious feel. However this post is NOT a review of these so let us move on. You can get beautiful and luxe towels almost anywhere. Best places I have found are Homegoods, Target, Macy’s, and Amazon (I have linked a few options for you).

After I got bit by the hostess bug I decided to go the extra mile and learn how to fold/roll towels like they do in the hotels. The goal was to make the presentation look nice and tidy yet luxurious. I had a lot of fun looking up how to do different things and seeing which one I liked best. Ultimately, I decided to leave the bath towels on the rack in a cool presentation, and, roll the hand and face towels. I love the completed look. This was ultimately the inspiration for this post. Don’t they say getting the home ready for guests is all about the linen and towels?

Hooks and additional racks

In our apartment the bathrooms are small and only have one towel rack. As such having additional hooks or racks is never a bad idea. I really like over the door hooks because they don’t require installation or cause damage in a rental. Another benefit of having additional hooks is it allows your guests to have extra space to hang their towels. That, and you could also use them to elevate your hosting game by adding robes! Another good use for extra hooks or racks is giving your guests a place to hand their coats, bags, or even hats. I really feel it is these little things that make a HUGE difference in your hosting game.

toiletries

This might be the extra in me, but I feel like having basic toiletries is a MUST when getting your home ready for guests. You don’t have to go over like I do sometimes. But having shampoo/conditioner, shower gel, and toothpaste is a good starting point. This time around I went above and beyond. I got everything I could think a guest could need and fulfilled my dream of making cute baskets. in the end I incorporated the nicely rolled towels as part of the look. For the wire baskets I found the big one at target and it is very good quality. Then the smaller one I found at Homegoods and I felt like they were a good pair.

Extras for an at home guest experience

This final section I will add a few things I found on social media are super cute ideas to make your guests feel you love and warmth. These are certainly things you can forgo but I feel they elevate the experience and make your guests feel like they are in a hotel. Of course, this is in addition to the hotel towel folds/rolls. So if you want to give your guests the ultimate luxurious hosting experience, read on to see these last few ideas for getting your home ready for guests!

Snacks tray/Water

I have seen this idea on many youtube videos/shorts for people elevating their own bedrooms to have a luxurious experience. When looking for some inspiration I found some people do this too for their guests. I thought it was a great idea to give them some snacks in case they get hungry overnight or if they want to take them to our outings! In this case it worked out even better than I expected. A few years ago I had gifted the husband a mini fridge which now resides in our guest room shelf! So instead of beers and sodas I filled it with mini water bottles and left a few extra ones on the side.

For the snacks, I got a variety so they have grab and go options to snack on. My father in law loves the Cape Cod potato chips so I hunted down the snack bags. I also got the skinny popcorns because they are overall healthy snacks, and then cheez-it since me and the husband love them. And finally some granola bars since those are also always nice for On-The-Go!All in all you get yourself an organizing bin and I think I almost nailed The Home Edit organizing.

Hair Towels

This one is a fun one. A few years ago my sister-in-law actually got me into using microfiber hair wraps. I have used them ever since. Thus, I thought what better idea than to have a pair of some hair wraps available for her when she comes and for future guests. I found this nice set of white ones at Target, which means easy to clean and maintain. While we are in the hair topic, I also got shower caps in case they want to use them. I know use them regularly, yet I always forget to bring mine when I travel.

Wi-Fi Pasword

Finally I think my favorite new find is having a small frame with your Wi-Fi and Password for your guests. I saw this throughout many youtube videos about getting your home ready for guests. So I decided to get a cute frame from Homegoods and designed a template on Canva. Then I got it printed in a nice cardboard like paper and set it up. I love how it turned out and now you can access it as a template HERE.

So there you have it, some essentials to for getting your home ready for guests! I love that this is just a few little basic things that can be personalized for you and for your guests. If you want to see a room tour check out my YouTube or Instagram for some video footage soon!

Thank you so much for stopping by and I would love to know what unique things you do to make your guests feel at home. Let me know in the comments below!

XOXO

Jani <3