We are a family that loves to play board games. For those who don’t know, aside from the board games that we usually know like Monopoly or Pictionary, there are a plethora of tabletop games that you can play with different themes and from different game makers and publishers.
My husband has been collecting board games since 2015, and at home, we have close to 100 games piled up on an already-wobbly shelf.
With this many board games, we have regular game nights at our home. I always wondered why preparing for house guests was a thing to the previous generation. I now know that being ready for house guests, my friend, is a skill!
When we first started accepting house guests, everything was in disarray. We sometimes didn’t have enough glasses for them. We didn’t have enough food, so we had to scramble to buy. Super daming FAIL! (A lot of things went wrong!).
But I think, after four years, I have developed a system! Yup, a system that works like a charm.
Let me share with you the top three things that you need to do when preparing for house guests (and these are three things that you can do right when you just have a one-hour window from the time you come home to when guests arrive).
Fix The Bathroom
You’ll notice that because of traffic in Metro Manila, the first thing that guests would ask is “may I use your bathroom?” Of course, with the limited time given, you can’t afford to scrub the entire bathroom clean. So these are the hacks that I personally do.
Wipe Surfaces — make sure that you wipe off any visible surfaces, from mirrors to the countertop to the walls of the bathroom. If you can’t go through the entire bathroom, just look for spots where water has left a mark and dried out. You can use a glass cleaner and a surface cleaner.
Sweep floors and take out the trash — make sure that the floor has been swept. I personally love having a bathroom mat. When we are expecting guests, we change the mat into a clean one. Also, be sure to take out the trash. You want to rid the room of anything that smells funky.
Replenish toiletries — make sure that you have enough toilet paper in the bathroom. I always leave two rolls.
Prepare the toilet — first, clean your toilet properly with your trusty cleaner. And then, keep your clean and fresh for longer by using Mr. Muscle Fresh Discs. The gel disc helps fight stains that harbor germs with every flush. It also leaves a protective shield that helps keep limescale away! I also love how fragrant it is. Mr. Muscle Fresh Discs make my bathroom smell (and feel) as if I clean and scrub more regularly than I actually do. Hehe!
It’s super easy to use, and you won’t even need to touch the toilet with your hands (unlike when you put the usual deodorizing rim blocks). All you need to do is load, stamp, and flush!
Here is a video on how to use Mr. Muscle Fresh Discs!
Prepare a Food & Drinks Station
Usually, the main dining area and sala are the parts of the house where guests stay and talk to each other. In our case, the dinner table is even reserved for playing.
What I’ve noticed is that a lot of our friends stay up until the wee hours of the morning. Hours after dinner, most of them get hungry or thirsty. I set up a designated food & drinks station, which I refill every time we expect to have house guests. We have chips, biscuits, cookies, and nuts.
For the drinks station, you will always want to have tea and coffee. These are two things that friends usually ask for.
Also, one of the problems that we had before (especially when you have five or more people in the house) was that glasses tend to get mixed up. You end up drinking from your friend’s glass or vice versa. Sometimes, either one will just suggest that you both get new glasses.
Prepare Music
People underestimate the value of playing music. Good music keeps everyone in a good mood. When we have guests, we make it a point that we have music that matches what we’re doing. We have Spotify and a speaker ready all the time.
When we play, we even have matching sounds for whatever theme we’re playing — a sci-fi playlist for when games have space themes, scary music when we’re playing a horror-themed game, etc.
These are the three things to consider prepping for when you are expecting house guests. If you have other tips, feel free to comment and share your thoughts with me!
Enjoy!
