Homes Extra: Be Our Guest

Welcoming guests into your home is a special part of the festive season. Sara Whatley makes sure you are well prepared to be the ultimate Christmas host 

As thoughts turn towards celebrating the upcoming festivities with friends and family it’s time to have a good look around and see if your house is Christmas ready. Take action now, then when December descends, and your calendar is suddenly filled with festive appointments you can rest assured that your home is all set to welcome your guests and make their stay as easy and luxurious as possible. 

The focal point of any good Christmas is food, so making sure you can comfortably seat the hoards is a must. Is your table big enough? Do you have enough chairs to seat everybody? 

You might want to consider options like investing in an extendable table, sourcing trestle tables to make one long table or perhaps, adding a small extra table to sit alongside and be the children’s table. Some may think this is a bit excluding, but in my experience, children love having their own space and have so much fun eating together. 

Other practicalities to consider when hosting large parties is whether or not you have got enough crockery, cutlery and glasses? Rental schemes are widely available, or see if  you can borrow some from a friend or neighbour. Even if your table wear is mismatched you can still tie it all together with matching serviettes, crackers, a festive table runner and some twinkling candles.

Let’s head upstairs and turn our thoughts to sleeping – a happy guest is a well-slept guest. If you are fortunate enough to have a guest bedroom, then hopefully it will already have a lovely comfortable bed in it. Apparently, a queen is the optimum size to accommodate guests, but it all depends on the space you have – size down to a double or up to a king. 

For the ultimate in flexible sleeping arrangements you might want to consider a pull-out bed. Available in either single or larger formats, pull-out beds have a handy bed tucked under the main bed. These pull out, either to the side, or sometimes they pop up to turn a single into a double.  If there are small children regularly staying these sorts of bed are ideal. 

Depending on where you are in your life and what sort of guests you expect, it might be a nice touch, and very much appreciated, to have a travel cot on hand. They are the sort of thing that usually don’t get a lot of regular use so it can be a good idea to share one as a larger family, or a group of friends. 

It goes without saying that lots of comfortable pillows, duvets, blankets and throws all make a guest room extra homely and comfortable. Extra sets of bathroom linen will be well appreciated by your guests, and if you want to go for all out luxury, provide waffle gowns and open toe terry towelling slippers. 

Send a welcoming and ‘make yourself at home’ message to your guests by providing them with some clothes storage. This need only be a small hanging space and a couple of draws, but it makes all the difference to be able to unpack and really feel like you’re settled for a while. 

Now we get onto the small lovely touches, which are not essentials but nonetheless make guests feel like they are home from home. A luggage rack saves awkward bending down, and also saves bed sheets from dirty luggage stains. A desk, if you have room, gives your guest somewhere to put their laptop for a little work or play, and if you position a mirror over it then it can also be used as a vanity. Some dressing tables even have flip-up mirrors so you can easily toggle between vanity desk and workspace. 

A comfortable chair in the guest bedroom provides a welcome quiet space for guests to relax in, and good lighting options make all the difference when trying to read in bed or apply precision makeup. Perhaps a little trinket dish for jewellery, coins and keys; a hairdryer tucked in a drawer; a small selection of soaps, shampoo and conditioner. All these little touches will make your guests feel so welcome and well looked after, they may never want to leave!