7 Ways to Stress Less and Host Better
Do you like to host? We love to have people over, to make food, and have people gather around our table. Life is busy and this doesn’t happen as much as we would like but we are happy when we have a houseful. Hosting can be stressful. Especially for an introvert like me. I value hospitality and I want my guests to feel comfortable in my home. I want it to be a place where they feel comfortable and not like they are imposing. Over the years I have found 7 tips for better hosting that I go to regularly for better hosting!
My mother once found a 1950s edition book on the art of hosting and entertaining by Betty Crocker. In it the author talks about how her nephew attended a college in her town, so she opened her home to him and his friends so that he would feel that he had a place to call home as his parents did not live nearby. Anytime he wanted to have friends over, she would painstakingly labor and prepare beforehand. One such night she overhears her nephew, oblivious to the amount of work going on behind the scenes, comment to one of his friends, “You guys can come over anytime—my aunt always has stuff ready at a moment’s notice!” His aunt, hearing this laughed: she didn’t have it ready at a moment’s notice! It took a bunch of work to pull it off, but her guests were blissfully unaware! This is the number one rule for hosting: your guests must never feel like an imposition. In this day and age we are much more casual and expectations are arguably lower than they were in the 1950s, but this is still the experience we want to create for our guests. We want our guests to feel welcome so they will come again!
I have collected several tips that help make hosting less stressful for me. I hope these tips help things to flow better the next time you have people over and make you more excited to open your home, and spend more time with the people you love.
1. Plan for Early
I hate rushing around at the last minute trying to tie up loose ends before my guests arrive so I always plan to have everything ready one-half hour before anyone is supposed to arrive. Sometimes people come really early; sometimes I run late, but if I plan to have everything set a half hour before people arrive then I should have extra time. lf they are arriving while I am still pouring chips and salsa into bowls, it doesn’t look like I’m late—it looks like I was just waiting for them to arrive!
2. Clear Out the Coat Closet
We have a tiny coat closet in our entry. I love the placement of it—it is right at the end of the runner by my front door, which gives people enough room to get through the door and take off their shoes, but not so far that they have to wonder where in the world to put their things. However, as I stated, it is a tiny coat closet. Especially in winter it is very difficult to squeeze in many extra coats, so we take our coats out ahead of time and put in extra hangers. This way there is plenty of room for people to hang their things. Otherwise, their coats and hats may get slung over the back of the couch or loveseat and will inevitably need to be moved later so people can sit down.
3. Does it Smell?
Our house had a funky odor when we moved in, that sticky, sweet, dusty smell that just seems to hang in some homes. We have since ripped up the old carpeting, washed and painted the walls and now the smell is gone. However, since then, I have become super conscious about how my house smells. Plus, we have pets. Every house has its own scent and that’s not a bad thing—just make sure it’s the scent you want your house to have! An hour or two before your guests are due to arrive, start an oil diffuser, or light a few candles (keep an eye on the candles!) so that your house is filled with the scent you want before your guests arrive. (You can do this even when you don’t have guests coming over.)
4. Is It Livable?
Is your house arranged to accommodate the number of people you are having over? You may need to grab an extra chair or two for the dinner table and doing so before people arrive is much easier. If seating in the living room is tight, maybe stash nearby a few pillows. Make sure your house isn’t just cute but guest friendly too!
5. Cue Your Guests
The shoe question: do we leave them on or take them off, that is the question. I personally find it rude to ask people to take off their shoes. I feel rude if I don’t take off my shoes before going into someone’s house. If I don’t take off my shoes, I feel bad if I should track in any dirt, and some people don’t want outside germs to get tracked all over the inside house, especially if they have little ones. If I take off my shoes, my feet get cold, or the hem of my pants might drag on the floor (short people problems!), and well—I hope your floor is clean because you just asked me to walk around in my socks or bare feet!
It’s impossible to cure the shoe situation, it is a rather complex one for me as you just read! One thing you can do is cue your guests on what you would have them do. If you are okay with them wearing shoes, greet them wearing shoes—not slippers! If you want them to take their shoes off, don’t wear shoes while greeting them.
Cueing your guests works in other areas too. Turn lights on where you want guests to linger. Shut doors or keep lights off in a room where you don’t want them. If you have a hallway that leads to a bathroom, turn on the hall light so it looks more inviting for them.
6. Do What You Can Ahead
If you are cooking for lots of people, prepare as much as you can so it’s all ready before your guests arrive. If people are bringing prepared dishes, set out hot plates or make space for them to set their dishes. If they are bringing chips or something that will need to be put into a bowl, have some in mind and at easy reach so you aren’t trying to climb to the top cabinet to get it while everyone is arriving.
7. Go Simple
If the thought of preparing a lot of side dishes with synchronized baking times makes you a little crazy—choose a simple dish! Just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it won’t be delicious! My fall back is soup, salad, and garlic bread. I have several different and delicious out-of-the-ordinary soup recipes. We like salad so I always have lots of different toppings on hand to make the salad a little special. It’s easy, it’s good, and I don’t stress! Plus this can feed a lot of people, if necessary!
I hope this helps to give you some ideas on how to simplify things the next time you host, and hopefully will encourage you to open your home and host more! Remember the most important thing is that you are spending time and making memories with the ones you love!
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