Overnight Guests
Encourage quiet time. Organizing pro Emily Ley taught me about leaving margins, whether they’re empty space on a bookshelf or time within the hours of the day. When scheduling each day with guests, leave some margins for quiet time and let everyone know about them. This can mean a nap, reading or catching up on a favorite show on a tablet. Leave magazines, photo albums, coffee table books and novels for your guests in their rooms and on a side table in the living or family room.
Leave out snacks. Place a bowl or two of the kinds of snacks your guests like on the counter and point it out when they arrive. Ideas include fresh fruit, protein bars, pretzels and chips. For young guests: Ask parents before the visit about any allergies their children have and what kinds of snacks and milk they drink, then show them where they can find these things.
Chances are everyone will get up at different times, or you’ll be too busy prepping breakfast to worry about caffeinating a crowd all by yourself. Create an easy morning setup where your guests can grab coffee or tea themselves. If you already have a permanent coffee station, great. If not, outfit a spot on the counter with: Coffee and tea makers Mugs and teacups Bags of coffee or coffee pods Tea bags Cream and sugar Spoon and spoon rest Napkins
Adopt a “make up your own bed” policy. This one may be controversial, but I’m going to put it out there for those who feel beleaguered and have thrown that whole impossible perfect-host thing out the window. It comes from my pragmatic Aunt Sally. She owns a lake house and loves to have overnight guests, but she would rather no one come visit than start off every weekend by having to make up five beds. So she has a “here are your sheets” policy — she leaves a stack of fresh sheets atop each bed and lets her guests put them on themselves or with her help. By the way, my Aunt Sally is an excellent hostess, and I’d gladly make up five beds for the privilege of staying at her lake house and enjoying her cooking and company.
Q