Hosting overnight guests can be both a joy and a lot of work–often both at once! I always find it difficult to keep track of all the things I want and need to do before the anticipated arrival. This is especially true around the holidays, when so many Here are five things I always do before we have overnight guests.

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Consider your guest’s point of view

Go out to the front of your house and start cleaning from the outside in. What is the first thing they will see? Start from there and work your way in, ending with the little details: fresh flowers, a nice candle and matches, and a stack of good books and magazines to work through.

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Steam-clean your rugs and furniture

Perhaps this is because I’m the mother of a preschooler, but I’m perpetually astonished by the power of the steam cleaner. I love mine* because I can use it for both furniture and our rugs. It’s also portable, so easy to use, and makes a huge and immediate difference.

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Iron your sheets

Ironed sheets are, to me, the height of luxury. Take a few extra minutes to iron (or steam) the sheets for your guest room bed. They’ll be glad you did! The bedding we have and love is shared here–they are so nice and it’s even nicer that they’re affordable enough for guest room linen!

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Add a vase of flowers to the bedroom

In the pre-World War II novels I love to read, fresh flowers in the guest bedroom are inevitably mentioned. It’s such a lovely touch that has seemed to fall out of practice, but it’s one that’s certainly worth bringing back!

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Make room for clothes

Your guest room may double as an office, or be used for overflow storage for your belongings. However, it’s so nice to make room for your guest’s belongings. A luggage rack is a great addition to a room–as you can fold it, it takes up limited space, and can be used to hold a tray when not in use for its original purpose. If you have a closet available, make sure that you have plenty of nice hangers for your guest. We have and use these*.