Preparing your Home for Overnight Guests

Photo by Suzy Collins

Whether you are hosting friends over the weekend of family for a longer visit to your home, we’ve put together some tips to help you prepare your home for overnight guests. Caution: resist the urge to feel like you need to renovate/redecorate your entire home just for folks to sleep over. As always, our approach is to encourage you to use what you have and to be thoughtful & practical in the way you prepare & use your home.

Week or Few Days Before Guests Arrival

  • Wash bedsheets & towels

  • Communicate expressing your anticipation of their arrival and share details about parking

  • Make sure any remotes, gadgets, or lights are working properly

Day Before Guests Arrival

  • Make bed

  • Clean bathroom & re-stock supplies: toilet paper, towels, toiletries.

  • Check to make sure trash cans are empty

  • Print or write a note with WiFi details

  • Plug in charger on nightstand

  • Additional touches that go a long way: sound machine, candle & matches, local sweet treat, lavender sleep spray, extra blankets & pillows

Day of Arrival

  • Write handwritten welcome note

  • Add fresh flowers to the nightstand

  • Supply a water bottle per guest

Hosting overnight guests soon?
Keep everything in one place with our complimentary Overnight Guest Guide—a simple checklist of guest room essentials, bathroom basics, practical comforts, and thoughtful touches.


OTHER ESSENTIALS TO CONSIDER:

Intentional care and preparation can make overnight guests feel welcome and at ease. If you find hosting overwhelming, take a deep breath & remember your guests also live in a house and no one expects perfection. The gift of being hospitable is no small thing.

Happy hosting!

If you are interested in having our organizers help declutter and prepare a space of your home for guests, we’d be happy to help.