Hosting For The Holidays
Tips for making guests feel at home in your home
If you’re hosting this holiday season, channel your inner Nancy Meyers or Martha Stewart by creating a cozy, warm, inviting space. Your home can become their home, at least for the holidays.
From the privacy of the guest room to shared living spaces, there are ways to curate comfort for both you and your guests. Preparation is key for keeping calm and being a good host.
In advance of their stay, be sure to thoroughly clean your home, shop for necessities, and invest in a few items that elevate the guest experience.
A Welcoming Guest Room
Being at ease in a sleeping space is optimal. Be sure bedding is freshly laundered with additional linens available. With high-thread-count sheets, a downy comforter, a luxe mattress topper, and cloudlike pillows, guests will think they’ve checked into a five-star accommodation.
Be sure closets and drawers are cleared so guests can utilize them. If those are not available, provide a luggage rack or small bench.
Guests may want to retreat to their room during the stay, making it ideal to have a lamp for reading and a chair to curl up in. Provide reading materials such as local magazines and travel guides, a daily newspaper, classic novels, or your own favorite reads.
Gaby Brown, director of marketing and Tallahassee apparel stylist at Hearth & Soul, recommends the Here is Tallahassee book. Sold exclusively at Hearth & Soul, this bicentennial tribute to our capital city showcases its unique beauty, charm, and character.
“This is a great gift to commemorate your guests’ visit to Tallahassee and a keepsake for them to enjoy,” says Brown.
Ensure there are means to both let in and keep out light by investing in quality curtains or window coverings. Brighten the space with small, sentimental touches like artwork, candles, or flowers.
“Adding a fresh vase of flowers to your guest room will make a guest feel special,” says Lauren Teal, owner of My Favorite Things. “Our beautiful bud vases from Vietri come in a variety of colors and sizes.”
Photo courtesy of My Favorite Things
A Pampering Powder Room
Your guest bath can become a spa-like experience with the right additions.
Start with plenty of plush towels including bath sheets, standard towels, hand towels, and washcloths.
Supplying shampoo, conditioner, body wash, hand soap, and lotion are often expected. Splurging for scented or pretty packaging will impress. Brown recommends the Antica Farmacista Prosecco scent, which features bubble bath, hand and body wash, and moisturizer.
Be sure your guests know where to find essentials such as toilet paper, Q-Tips, cotton balls, feminine products, and more.
Tastes of Home
People will wake at varying times or hunger may hit late at night, making it nice to have food and drinks readily available.
Consider a snack station in your kitchen with bagged snacks or easily prepped foods. Have a section of the fridge be open to all with quick-grab foods and beverages. Have water always at hand in a carafe in the bedroom or in bottles.
Go the extra mile by having a custom coffee station in the morning with pastries and an evening happy hour with cocktails and light bites.
Hearth & Soul helps customers curate provision boxes or surprise boxes that can be filled with guest’s favorite treats.
“These specialty boxes can be put together around any theme or category of interest,” says Brown. “Some of our favorites include our Martini Lovers, Charcuterie Lovers, and Barbecue Provision boxes.”
Photo courtesy of My Favorite Things
Little Luxuries
“Incorporating little cozy yet luxurious touches will make your guests feel like they are experiencing hotel-like treatment in the comfort of your home,” says Brown.
Brown and Teal both recommend access to throw blankets whether in the bedroom, on chairs, or on couches to curl up with during a movie. The fluffier and puffier the better.
“Scent is very important and can be tied to special memories,” says Teal. “Candles and diffusers in warm and cozy holiday scents can make your home a place that guests associate with comfort and hospitality.”
Teal advises spiced cider or pumpkin spice for fall and Fraser fir for winter.
With these thoughtful touches, you will be able to create a relaxing and rejuvenating oasis in your own home.
Photo courtesy of Revell Media
Picture-Perfect City
Produced by multimedia creators Erich Martin, Serena Moyle, and Jay Revell, Here is Tallahassee is a collection of 200 photos published in 2024 in honor of Tallahassee’s 200th birthday. The photographs by Martin explore Tallahassee’s hidden nooks and are enhanced by essays and captions by Moyle and Revell. This book is sold only at Hearth & Soul’s Tallahassee location or web shop. It would be a perfect coffee-table book, gift, or addition to a guest room’s bedside table. (hearthandsoul.com)
