As the world starts to return to something resembling normality, you can see some of your dearest friends again. After all this time apart, it makes sense to invite them over for dinner. This idea sounded good when you put it forward, it looked great when the accepted, and now it seems less appealing than first thought.
Why? Because you have to get your home ready for dinner guests. This is a hard enough task already, let alone when you’re used to being ‘home alone’. Your home could be a mess, so you have to get everything to impress your guests when they arrive. Or, at the very least, save you from embarrassment.
It’s time to get the vacuum cleaner out and get to work! Here’s a short guide to help you prepare your home for dinner guests:
Start with the clutter
The first step is to get rid of all the clutter in your home. Again, most people are guilty of amassing some clutter throughout their lives. However, seeing as most of us have been stuck at home for months, the clutter has increased at the same rate as our boredom! As a result, it’s time to survey every room in your house and pinpoint all the things that you don’t actually need. It will shock you how much junk is lying about – you could have boxes or packaging leftover from things you got at Christmas…Christmas!!
Don’t worry, you can’t undo your hoarding, but you can deal with it now. For things that serve no purpose, throw them away. Check if they can be recycled first, just to minimize waste, or donate them to a charity shop. If you want to keep the items, try and find a storage place for them. If there’s no time to do this, you can always opt for the last-ditch idea of dumping the clutter in one of your bedrooms. Guests are unlikely to go in there, so it’s out of the way and gives the illusion that you’ve got your act together! Plus, you can sort through it afterward and then decide where it can go.
Get your duster out
The reason you start with decluttering is so you have more space to tidy. Now, you can begin dusting all the surfaces in your house – or at least the ones people are likely to see. You can use all manner of dusting devices to do this – I like the feather duster as you can get to lots of hard to reach places. Or, even better, use an attachment for your vacuum cleaner than lets you dust surfaces and walls. This can make the whole process much faster and far less stressful than it would be.
If you’re wondering why dusting comes next, it’s pretty simple. Sometimes, you can dust surfaces and the particles end up on the floor. So, if you vacuumed beforehand, the floor is now full of dust yet again. Granted, the vacuum attachment can put a stop to this, but I still prefer vacuuming the floor after. As such, there’s no prize for guessing what your next step is!
Vacuum the floor
Yep, it’s time to tackle one of the worst tasks. Some people hate vacuuming, others prefer it to dusting, but nobody really likes it. Regardless, you have to thoroughly vacuum your floors to suck up all the dirt, dust, and hair that’s lingering on there. It’s insane how much cleaner and nicer your home looks after vacuuming it! In fact, after these three steps, your home will already look far better than it used to. Now, you’re feeling confident that you can get everything in order before your dinner guests arrive.
Vacuum all the floors in your home, even tiles or hardwood. This will help you with the next step as you look to clean your home and have it looking brand new. You’re over halfway there, so just two more steps to go.
Clean the floor
If your house is dominated by carpet, you’re in luck. Carpet doesn’t need to be cleaned unless there are some obvious stains. Usually, a good vacuum cleaning session will breathe new life into this flooring. However, for hard flooring types – tiles, laminate, vinyl, hardwood, etc. – things are different. Stains happen really easily, and these floorings can get very dirty.
Consequently, you have to mop them and give them a good clean. You don’t have to use a mop, some flooring wipes will work just as well. Make sure the surfaces are left shiny and clean, giving your home a new look. Also, you should wipe down other surfaces in your home while you’re at it. This includes kitchen surfaces, tables, your entire bathroom, and so on. Needless to say, this is a horrible task that nobody enjoys. The good news is that it’s also the final cleaning task on your agenda!
Prepare the dining table
At this stage, let’s review what you’ve done. You dealt with the clutter, which also tidied up your house at the same time. Then, you went on a cleaning spree and left your house in perfect condition. Now, you can relax for a bit until your guests are about an hour or so away. Your last task is a simple one: prepare the dining table.
Start by deciding if you want to lay a tablecloth down or a runner. Either option works, it mainly depends on if your table looks nicer covered or not. A lot of wood tables look gorgeous when paired with things like burlap table runners as you show off the natural look of the table. When you’ve arrived at your decision, you have to lay down some placemats. Now, these mats have to match your table, which is why the previous decision is so important. Lay down the cutlery alongside the placemats, and put some glassware on the table as well. If you want to go the extra mile, light a candle in the middle of the table when your guests arrive.
And there you have it; your home is ready for dinner guests. Don’t forget to plan your cooking arrangements while you’re dealing with all of this as well! Imagine spending all that time getting your home ready for guests only to realize you have nothing on the menu. Anyway, these steps will help you present your home in a positive light and impress your friends when they come over for dinner.