People toasting with drinks

How to Prepare Your Home When Hosting an Event

Article courtesy of Suzie Wilson of Happier Home

Hosting an event at your home is a wonderful way to spend time with friends and family. Whether it’s a surprise birthday party or a New Year’s Eve celebration, it’s an opportunity to connect. Even a simple dinner party can solidify your bonds with those you love. Research has shown that breaking bread with others enhances feelings of interpersonal closeness. Before you welcome guests into your space, however, you need to prepare it accordingly. Read on to learn what you can do to create the perfect party atmosphere.

Get your space sparkling

You don’t want to invite your nearest and dearest into a messy home. Take the time to clear away clutter. If you have valuables you are worried about getting damaged, such as a vase or piece of artwork, it’s best to put these in a room that you know won’t be used by party guests. Once your home is organized, give it a deep clean by vacuuming, dusting, and mopping. If you’re crunched for time, you can find a maid service near you to do the job.

Even if everybody is on their best behavior, accidents are bound to happen when many people are packed into a space. A stray elbow can send a glass of wine flying, for instance. Prepare for such emergencies by keeping an emergency cleaning kit on hand. Apartment Therapy suggests including the following in your arsenal: microfiber cloth, counter-top cleaner, a small handheld broom, laundry stain stick, and soda water and salt for removing stains. Also include masking tape, which you can use to pick up invisible shards of broken glass.

Rent a temporary storage unit

If you are planning to invite over a lot of people, you can create more space by placing larger items into storage. Want to bring a dance floor into the living room? Put that bulky couch and recliner away for the night. Worried that your grandmother’s antique table is going to suffer from scratches or spills? You can tuck it away safely. Both your guests’ enjoyment and your peace of mind will be assured.

Keep in mind that prices of temporary storage units may vary, especially depending on the time of year, so be sure to shop around and examine different possibilities before settling on one. In Tampa, Extra Space Storage on Laurel St. is currently offering a 5’x5’ self-storage unit for $14 a month.

Get creative with decorations

Once you have made room in your home and gotten it clean, you can get to the fun part: setting the mood with great decorations! There is no need to spend big bucks on décor. Budget retailers like Target offer diverse selections of party supplies, such as light strings (which you can buy for less than $10). Choose a color scheme and select accessories to match. You can even coordinate plates and napkins accordingly.

The Spruce Crafts’ guide to decorating for a party offers a one-of-a-kind inspiration: You can decorate one wall so it can be used as a photography backdrop, or craft your very own tiny vase bouquets. With a bit of creativity and effort, you can organize a beautiful interior without spending a lot of money.

By hosting a successful event, you are not only treating your friends and family to a great time, you are also doing something to improve your own quality of life and overall well-being. Spending time with loved ones has been shown to reduce stress and boost self-esteem. Keep the above guidelines in mind when preparing for guests, and your social event should go off without a hitch. Then all you have to do is sit back and enjoy the party.

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