Home Tips: How to Accommodate Your Friends at Home

by: Mizpah Mijares

Be it a surprise or a scheduled visit, everyone should be ready to take care of our guests.

Your home represents yourself. Welcoming people to your home is like welcoming them to your life. This explains why we never let strangers come in and out of our house.

What to do:

1. Maximize the time.

In my personal statistics, the average number of days our friend could be paying us a visit is 2-3 days. Oftentimes, this happens only when there's a long weekend. This means, time is everything especially when you have not seen each other in years, and when telephones, and emails are never enough to keep each other updated. If your friend is visiting alone, and you are also staying solo in the apartment, what more could be more exciting than sharing the bed to your "Best Friend Forever" ( BFF ) and spend the night catching up with each other. I'm pretty sure this ain't gonna work to the boys, though ( giggle ).

2. Setting a home-away-from-home

When somebody dear to us visits, the number one problem we face is getting ready with the guest room. If he / she is coming with someone, be kind to exert a little effort of making the guest room maybe not as cozy like a hotel room, but at least healthy. If you have been using that extra room as storage for years, don't forget to spray a mosquito - repellent as final step to your clean-up, at least 2 days before your guests arrive. The window curtains might also be holding a lot of the room's history, and should also be replaced. Do I also have to mention that the sheets and linens have to be clean, too?

3. Be a Girlscout.

If you have been observing yourself when you go backpacking, even a Travel Bug could also forget few items to carry. Here are the few things you get ready with and place in the Guest Room one day before they knock your door:

• Pair of home slippers - this is one item travelers / visitors often fail to bring
• Alarm clock - set the time with your watch so scheduling of bringing them out the next day wouldn't be a problem
• Universal phone charger - there's nothing more comforting to your guests than keeping them in touch with their loved ones while being away. These days, draining off your battery is like draining your holiday fun, too.
• Jewelry Hanger / box / organizer - just like how much you treasured your friendship, your best friend must have felt the same way to her rocks, either. How sweet of you letting her keep all her precious jewels in place, and easy to remember, when packing back up

4. Do your homework.

As a host, you are in - charge of everything. If your friends travel all the way from across the continent, cultural information could be one of the top agenda of your visitors. Here are the things you have to know:

• Souvenir shops - Besides taking pictures, one of the things ( maybe not the first ) , that comes to mind to your guests is shopping for souvenirs. Finding cheap finds could eat up a lot of time, so it's always recommended you check this thing for them as soon as they've confirmed about their coming.
• Local dining - You might be a person who can really throw out a perfect meal to your guests, but it would also be good to let them experience the famous delicacies and food from your area by bringing them to a famous food court or food specialty shop. By saying this, you have at least tried that shop and made your personal assessment about the food serving so there won't be surprises and embarrassment.
  

5. Be there.

So you are expecting some guests, and you are still in the office burning your eyebrows for those reports? If you can afford to apply for a leave days before they arrive, you have to do so, unless you have somebody with you to take care of your guests while you are still at work.