# Cleaning and Hospitality For Company



## ezybrizy (Aug 5, 2014)

Hi everyone! I'm a newbie to the boards with a newbie question .

Its about getting your home ready for company. In about 2 1/2 weeks we will have visitors coming to stay with us that will be in town attending a bible educational program for a week. My home isn't a tornado disaster, thank goodness, because I've been developing my organizational/cleaning skills, but I'm still not proficient in cleaning. So I ask you guys, when company is over for a couple of nights what are the things to really focus on, like clean towels, sheets, etc? Also, what are some nice gestures and things I can have handy to make them feel welcomed?


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

If they are sleeping in a bedroom, start in the corners and dust, sweep, scrub. Ditto with the living room, bathroom, and kitchen. You might want to start now.

You are right about clean sheets and towels. A vase of fresh flowers on the dining room table is very welcoming, as is a bud vase with a single flower or more if they are small.

Ask what kind of soap they use. They will probably say anything is fine, but you might want to pick up a bar of Dove just in case. If they are coffee drinkers, the smell of fresh brewed coffee will welcoming. Ask if they have any dietary requirements so you know if you can serve cookies, cake, bread, etc.

Have breakfast food on hand, like eggs, butter, milk, and a cold cereal. Nothing like getting up in the morning in a strange place with sour milk, nearly empty box of cereal, and 4 ounces of orange juice. Ask me how I know this.


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## ezybrizy (Aug 5, 2014)

Lol Maura, that must have been an vey interesting experience . I never thought about the corners!!! Thank you for saving me! I am going to get all that stuff done and I also plan to repaint the guest bed because we got the frame secondhand and I think it will look much better with a coat of chalk or milk paint, but I'm leaning towards chalk. 


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## Taylor R. (Apr 3, 2013)

A girl after my own heart. I love restoring furniture and chalk and milk paint are both fairly easy, not so time consuming ways to do that. Plus, no worry about paint fumes with those types of paint since they'll be using said bed shortly.

Keeping some easy snacks out in the open is a nice gesture. Then they don't feel the need to ask for food outside of regular meal-times if they get hungry. Coffee is nice, like Maura said, and tea, too. Make sure you have plenty of ice, also.


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## Jokarva (Jan 17, 2010)

I keep snacks and a bottle of water in the guest rooms, don't want anyone going hungry in the middle of the night  . We also keep a floor fan in the room since so many people like white noise when they sleep, helps if the room gets stuffy too. The biggest thing I try to do for guests (besides cleaning) is give them somewhere to put 'stuff'....hooks in the guest bathroom for towels, chair in the room for luggage and clothes, clear space in room and bathroom for toiletries, phone charger, etc. 

We spent several nights years ago in a room without one square inch of clear space, the bathroom had nowhere to hang your towel and the toilet lid had a cover with a doll that popped up when you closed the lid....that taught me a lot about user friendly guest rooms.


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## ezybrizy (Aug 5, 2014)

@ Taylor R.: Yes, I love the fact that milk and chalk paint are low to no VOCs! I doubt I'm going to be getting the real paints however , my budget for decorating the bathroom, the guest bedroom, and painting the bed is $60 so I'm going to make a chalk paint finish by using a recipe I found that was highly rated. It's just regular paint + plaster of paris, some people use unsanded grout, and a coat of minwax. I'm going to visit the discount paint aisle to see if I can find a color I like that is extremely discounted and the plaster is about 7 bucks. I would love to try a designer paint if I could afford it  

@ Jakarva: Our bathroom is pretty conducive to storage and I have two separate towel hangers. There is plenty of clear space, no clutter, but I wish I had more space in general for them! But we definitely have no strange toilet tops lol, so hopefully they will find the bathroom suitable. 
The room itself is small but I plan on hanging shelves so that things can be place vertically instead of everything having to fit on the end table or dresser. Which so also make the room feel bigger.

I'll let you guys know how things go as I begin to make headway!


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## Taylor R. (Apr 3, 2013)

I use the unsanded grout recipe as I've got asthma that is majorly aggravated by the plaster of paris. If ever I am redoing a piece that will be heavily used (so far it's been more accent pieces), I'll spring for the expensive stuff  Until then, I'm DIY all the way. Just a tip for you, you can often get FREE paint and wax at your local recycling center.


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## Mid Tn Mama (May 11, 2002)

Wait, What????? You can make your own chalk paint or milk paint. Do tell....

Back to the original poster. I always start with the front porch and work my way to the guest bedroom.


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