We’re heading into one of the most wonderful, and stressful, times of the year so what better time to start thinking about turning your house into a welcoming home for friends, family and any overnight guests arriving over the festive period.
We’ve put together some hints and tips to help you prepare for the big day.
Everyone loves fairy lights on the tree but they can also be used to great effect across your mantelpiece or stair banisters to create a subtle festive glow.
If you have the space, a small group of trees can look amazing – and with smaller or slim artificial trees it needn’t take up a huge amount of space and can still look very striking. Or could you have a tree in the hall to welcome guests, as well as a main tree elsewhere?
If a big tree simply won’t fit, two miniature potted trees positioned either side of a fire place would create a lovely focal point.
And if you are looking for real trees of course Ollie's Christmas trees at The Tweseldown pub are one of Fleet's favourites and a huge hit every year.
Real or LED candles can be used to set the mood and create a wonderful ambience or scent around your home. Flameless, battery-operated candles are best if you have small children, lively pets or tipsy guests!
Traditional colours such as red, gold and silver could be replaced with more modern tones or a riot of colour depending on your style. You could even pick a theme – Victorian, monotone, natural or metallic perhaps – and run that through your table setting as well as tree decorations.
The team at Sugarplum Boutique & Home in Fleet have a wonderful selection of gorgeous decorations and homeware to add some festive sparkle, as well as a huge range of gifts to choose from to suit every budget. They also have a Wishlist so if you spot anything you’d love, let them know and your nearest and dearest can choose something from your list to surprise you on Christmas Day.
Preparing the guest room
If you have guests coming to stay, it’s worth investing some time creating a welcoming guest room from that underutilised ‘spare room’ or home office space. Pop in and clear the clutter, open windows and check radiators are working. Create a place for them to put their case or overnight bag and clear some space in the wardrobe – or install clever ‘over-the-door hooks’ or invest in a hanging rail to provide temporary hanging space for clothes. If there’s a guest en suite, pop in a few mini toiletries and fluffy towels to make them feel at home – and make sure there’s a supply of spare loo rolls.
If there’s no separate bathroom for guest to use, place rolled or folded towels on their bed so there’s no confusion about which towels to use.
Kitchen declutter
Declutter kitchen work surfaces to give yourself as much working space as possible, and free up valuable fridge and cupboard space by throwing out any out-of-date jars, packets and tins.
Make sure you have enough plates and cutlery for extra guests, and you have a roasting tin big enough for the turkey. It may sound obvious but these are the sort of things that are easily overlooked until the day!
Finally, if you’ve not had your boiler regularly maintained now is the time to get your central heating serviced to ensure it’s in good working order before the guests arrive. Give bestof FleetandFarnborough recommended Hot Water Plumbing and Heating a call and get another thing ticked of the Christmas ‘todo’ list.
