Handy Hints and Tips: Making Your Home More Inviting
By Arlene Bascom
With winter fast approaching, we can all expect to spend more time indoors. Add a string of holidays into the mix, and you’re likely to have some family and friends over during the coming cold weather months, as well. Do yourself and your guests a favor by cozying up your home and creating an inviting ambience. Here are some tips to help make your home more inviting:
1. Pay attention only to details that matter. Guests will notice personal photographs tastefully displayed and fresh flowers more than they will notice a perfectly clean home. Accept that no home is perfect—and no one expects it to be. Our goal is to create a peaceful atmosphere, with comfortable clutter-free places to sit and chat. After checking for basics like making sure the temperature is comfortable, the toilets are clean, and the sink is empty, just choose a few other tips for making your home cozy and welcoming for guests but leave perfection at bay.
2. Open up your home. To prepare for the holidays, the first thing you should attack is obvious clutter! We all have clutter we hide, sometimes out of sight, but many times it is right in the open. Consider giving away or selling on Craigslist “unnecessary” clutter, or organizing it so that it’s stored properly in cupboards or closets. A tidy home has a calming effect on occupants as well as guests
3. Add scents of coziness and warmth. A wonderful way to prepare your house for guests is to make your home smell great. The easiest way is to simply put an apple and a cinnamon stick in a pan of water and boil them together for 10 or 15 minutes. Smells have a way of evoking vivid memories. Make your home smell cozy and welcoming by using a variety of fragrant aromas to create good memories. Whether you use a room spray, the apples and cinnamon, or a scented wax warmer, special aromas will bring back happy memories or help you make some new ones!
4. Supply simple food and drinks. Nothing says, “You are welcome in my home” quite like something yummy to eat or drink. For hundreds of years, mankind has had fellowship over food, and the tradition should never stop. It never hurts to be prepared ahead of time with something tasty for your guests. This month is a particularly good time to stock your freezer with easy-to-freeze food to bring out when you have guests. Trouble-free foods such as salsa to serve with chips or a tasty cheese log to go along with some crackers are perfect to have on hand. Simple refreshment served to your family or friends shows you appreciate their presence.
5. Let it shine. Burning candles creates ambience no matter the time of year or time of day and makes your home inviting. Natural light can also have a tremendous impact on a living space. When you’re entertaining during the day, try letting in as much natural light as possible. Natural light can energize guests, just as candlelight soothes them. A well-lit home gives everyone a lift!
6. Let your home reflect who you are. Trying to make your home what you think someone else expects or likes will make your home—and everyone in it—feel uncomfortable. It is far better to have some of your reading materials, sewing, or art supplies (anything you really like and constantly use) in evidence when someone comes over, rather than keeping up with the latest trends that don’t reflect your tastes. Keep your home practical, keep it real, keep it you.
The home you share doesn’t need to be perfect. “Perfect” homes aren’t relaxing, and they often make people feel uncomfortable. A simple welcome from you and a few simple additions is all that is necessary.
Present your home favorably and greet your family and guests warmly, knowing they are there to enjoy your company, not to inspect your home. They just want a relaxing visit; a little advance preparation can make that possible for you as well as your guests.