How many times have you heard that sentence and panic began to set in?

This weekend we are hosting my best friend’s family for our yearly Independence Day tradition.  This year is a little different as my family is packing our house up to move; so although I knew they were coming I still feel completely unprepared. Is there a way to be hospitable while your house is crazy with boxes and everything else? What about if your house is torn up due to construction? Of course you can, it just takes some extra planning. The best case scenario is your guest room and one full or half bath is intact. If you don’t have a guest room or your guest room is not in tact or bathrooms torn up, you can still make it work.

Those of you who follow my YouTube channel Toodles on the Go, know that I always talk about keeping it real. If you have kids and you actually live in your home, your home might not be museum quality and that is okay. She knows we are in the middle of getting our house ready to put on the market. Two years ago we were redoing the bathrooms in the house and her family stayed for a night knowing there was one working bathroom and it was the 1/2 bath. Keeping the dialog open and honest with your guests takes the pressure off of everyone.

If you have a guest room, make sure it is clean and ready. My grandma Beulah always said to have clean sheets on the beds and clean toilets because you never know when someone needs to rest their head or tush. Clean sheets are important so make sure you always have a set of clean sheets in the linen closet. I have kids who like to use the guest bedroom so I am always having to make sure I change the sheets the day that our guests come into town. If you don’t have a guest room, decide on where the guests will be sleeping and set it up as guest friendly as you can. Another thing that I learned from Grandma is the importance of fresh sheets. Sometimes sheets can smell a little musty, especially if they have been in the linen closet for any period of time. Grandma used old perfume to freshen sheets in all of the rooms when she was making beds. She said it helped to freshen the sheets and was nice touch when guests would go to bed. The news and Social Media has been all a buzz lately of the dangers of synthetic fragrance found in perfumes and dryer sheets. I now use linen sprays made with essential oils. My favorite linen spray is made with distilled water, witch hazel, and Lavender oil, see recipe below. I like Lavender oil due to the relaxing properties Lavender is famous for. You can also use oils like Geranium, Orange, Roman or German Chamomile, Marjoram, or Patchouli. All of these oils will create a relaxing atmosphere for your guests.

The other place that should be clean for your guests is a bathroom. If the bathroom is attached to the guest room, this makes the job that much easier. If not or it is torn up like ours was two years ago when we had our friends come in for a night, there is still hope. The main thing that guests will need is a toilet and a sink. When both of our bathrooms were torn up a couple of years ago, we made sure that the 1/2 bath was still in working order. Washing your face in the 1/2 bath sink is kind of crazy but when both full baths are out of commission, you do what you have to. The best way to make sure your bathrooms are guest ready is daily poo inspections. This will help you with the maintaining a clean toilet. Weekly cleaning is a must and daily poo checks will help to prevent embarrassment if one of your children leaves evidence of their presence in the toilet.

Now that the you know the toilet is clean, it is time for general housekeeping. A clean hand towel or paper guest towels are a must. I like to do a personal and fun touch to my guest towels. I like towels that are monogrammed with an “R” or have dragonflies on them. Pick things out that represent you. Have enough hand soap in the bathroom. If you make your own or have refillable soap, top it off. My favorite soap for guests to use is the Lavender Foaming Hand Soap from Young Living, it smells amazing and leaves hands feeling very soft. If you like candles in the bathroom, the best ones are Himalayan Salt candles. The salt candles will not give off fragrance, just a nice warm glow. If you would like fragrance in your bathroom, drop some essential oils to the paper tube of the toilet paper. I like to have a “Fresh Toilet” essential oil spray available for guests to use if they would like to remove evidence, if you know what I mean. Bathroom spray is very easy to make, instead of using just one oil, you can use a combination of oils. I like to use the Purification blend from Young Living for my spray. If you don’t have a “Fresh Bathroom” spray, you can leave a small bottle of Eucalyptus essential oil with instructions to place a drop or two in the water before using the toilet. When your guest flushes, it will remove any sign they were there and leave the bathroom smelling very nice.

These tips will help you not to panic should you hear someone say they are coming into town on a whim. I hope this information helps you and your guests. Did you learn anything new? What is it that you are going to implement in your household? Keep the conversation going by commenting here or online on Facebook or Twitter. I wish all of you a safe and happy Independence Day. Let’s never forget why the Founding Fathers declared our nation’s independence July 4, 1776.

Linen Spray Recipe:

• 2oz blue or amber glass spray bottle
• 1 T. Witch Hazel or Vodka
• 20 drops of your favorite essential oil*
• Distilled water

Add witch hazel and essential oil to your glass spray bottle. Fill to the top with distilled water. You can use a combination of oils or a blend such as Young Living’s Purification blend for your “Fresh Bathroom” spray. Print out a simple label marking it as “Fresh Bathroom” spray so your guests will know what it is for. Eucalyptus, Lemongrass, and Peppermint are all good bathroom sprays.

If you would like more hospitality focused information, please visit my YouTube channel Toodles on the Go.