Having guests stay over, whilst always exciting, can often involve a lot of preparation and a big ‘to-do’ list. Filling the fridge, cleaning the house, washing the bedding, or maybe baking your favourite cake to impress. No matter the guest, the main goal is to create an inviting environment that will make your guests feel at home. Whether it be your easy going best friends, or your slightly more difficult parents-in-law, let’s cover how to prepare your home for overnight guests, Silver Mushroom style.
Curating A Dreamy Guest Bedroom
As we all know, a good sleep is the key to a stress-free weekend – it’s arguably the key to everything! Creating a cosy sanctuary for your guests to retreat to is the way to achieve this. And whilst cosy is of course an essential, it goes hand in hand with functionality.
Perfecting Your Bedspread
The perfect bedspread means something different to everyone. Some people prefer a minimal spread with one pillow and a small throw, whilst others love to wrap themselves up in a double duvet and a pile of pillows. Try to give your guests options to peel away or add on to their preference. The Oakwood Cream Knitted Throw offers a luxurious blend of warmth and style, and its gorgeous neutral colour means that it will fit anywhere in the house. So, once your evening with your overnight guests has been a roaring success, you can move the throw to the living room where it’ll be the perfect partner to snuggle with in front of the fire.
Whether your guests are going to keep them on the bed or not, a bedspread is not complete without cushions. The square and rectangle House Doctor Off White Cushions pair wonderfully with patterned pillows, and will effortlessly complement any room style. Layering different styles and sizes will enhance the draw of the bed, and tempt your guests to make themselves comfortable.
Nightstand Essentials
Let’s move onto functionality; a snuggly bed means nothing without the ease of well considered accessories. To ensure that you’ve ticked off all the necessities, think about your personal bedside essentials. Enter the all-important nightstand.
If you’re anything like me, you can most likely make your way around your room in pitch black, driven purely by muscle memory. That doesn’t mean your guests can too. It may well be their first time visiting, and you don’t want them having to switch on the ‘big light’ in the middle of the night so they can sneak out to the bathroom. Nothing spoils a warm, tranquil environment like harsh lighting – particularly in the middle of the night.
The Silver Mushroom Toba Small Lamp Base is a charming option to fill your guest room with a soothing glow, and allow your guests to move around the room without any bumps.
Keeping your things organised when staying overnight can be a little difficult, so providing a space for your guests to keep their jewellery, keys or other ‘pocket fillers’ is a helpful touch. The Silver Mushroom White Ceramic Artichoke Dish is an elegant storage solution that will ideally lower the chances of you posting left behind personal items.
Other touches such as leaving out some charging wires, tissues or eye masks on the nightstand will give your guests that extra feeling of being right at home. I personally take my slippers everywhere with me, but for those who don’t, if you have spare ones, it’s nice to leave some by the bed too! Particularly in the festive season, if you have some heavy evenings, it wouldn’t hurt to leave out some paracetamol and a water bottle too. It’s the little final touches that people appreciate the most.
Signature Scents
Nothing beats walking into a room, and being drawn in by a delicious scent. Scents have the power of giving that ‘extra-clean’ feeling, and immediately relaxing your guests. Smells often link to memories, and people. Has anyone ever said, ‘this smells like your home’, or ‘that smell always reminds me of you’? Well, let’s make sure their memory of you is associated with a soothing scent, and a stress-free ambiance. The festive Warm and Cosy Soy Candle will treat your guests to notes of pine, orange and cinnamon. Pairing the candle with some matches also allows your guests to blow out and relight the candle as they feel.
For a more subtle scent outside of the bedroom, the Alang Alang Reed Diffuser makes a wonderful addition to your hallways, making sure that guests are welcomed with a refreshing smell the second they arrive at your house.
Organising Your Bathroom
Now that we’ve covered the cosy space, it’s time to move on to an organised bathroom. Stocking up on bathroom essentials, ensuring that they’re at easy access and making it clear to guests that they’re all there for the using is important. Guests can often worry that they can’t use certain things if you haven’t explicitly said. Organising a small selection of toiletries on a storage tray, such as the Silver Mushroom Metal Reeded Tray is a great way to overcome this. Make sure that your soap dispensers are topped up, there’s some toothpaste easily accessible, and last but most definitely not least – extra toilet roll!
Each guest should have a clean towel or two ready and out for them, perhaps even rolled on the bed. This ensures that they can hop in the shower whenever they feel, rather than fussing about finding what they need. Particularly after a long travel day – it’ll be exactly what they need!
Stocking Up Your Kitchen
Asking your guests in advance for any specific ‘morning requests’ will help your mornings run smoothly. I always try to fill my kitchen with the essential provisions, such as milk, tea, coffee and bread. But, not realising that someone takes vegan milk in their morning brew is sure to put a damper on all your efforts! Guests often don’t like to make a fuss, so trying to have everything to their tastes and dietary requirements will make them feel more at ease.
If you don’t often have guests around, or you’ve recently moved into a new house, you may not have all the mugs, glassware, or dinnerware available. Or, you may simply want to invest in some ‘special occasion’ dinnerware, for when you have guests over. The Broste Copenhagen Breakfast Sets make for a charming breakfast setting. When evening comes, your mugs may just be swapped out for champagne glasses. Especially saved champagne deserves to be served in worthy glasses. The Broste Copenhagen Smoke Champagne Glasses come in a set of four, and are elegantly unique. They’re both a wonderful option for having guests over, and a staple in your kitchen for everyday use.