entertaining

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I just love hostessing overnight guests.  I always have.  It must be because my Mother was a fabulous hostess, and also because it let's me have fun with two of my favorite passions - decorating and cooking.  

I can remember as a little girl how my Mother would be overjoyed to prepare our home for visiting family and friends.  She was in Heaven.  And I'm just like that.  Preparing a welcoming, cozy, and inviting guest room is one of my favorite things to do and besides,  it let's your guests know how much they mean to you.

There are so many fun, inexpensive and unique ways to create and stage a room that will have your guests feel at home and spoiled.   

Bedrooms are meant to be our sanctuaries, and your guests should experience that same feeling when they're staying at your home. 

Nothing says "Welcome" like a wonderful wicker basket, an antique wooden milk crate, or a decorative footlocker filled with the "essentials" - fresh washcloths, towels, soaps, lotions (locally made, whenever possible), shampoo, conditioner, razors, shaving cream, slippers and bathrobes, or anything else you might know that your guests would appreciate.  Somewhere in the center of the guests room, if possible, or even at the foot of the bed, if there's a bench or trunk, are all places that I leave our welcome baskets for our guests.  And I always leave a "welcome card/note" so they know the basket was made just for them!    

I like to stage different areas with different pieces and accessories, all for different reasons.  A carafe of water with orange peels by the bedside table, along with a telephone, and a pretty note pad and pen are a nice start. I also decorate our guest rooms with a working clock - I love hunting for antique, shabby chic, farmhouse, vintage, mid-century modern and other unique clocks, and enjoy using them as both beautiful accessories and functioning pieces in every room.  In one of our larger guest rooms we have a sitting area with a couch and ottoman.  When I have guests staying overnight in that room, I'll put the note pad and pen on the table in front of the couch, but I still leave the telephone and carafe of water with drinking glasses on the bedside table.  I also designed a framed picture that shares our internet passcode for our guests to use.   

Filling a sweet little box with postcards of local images - sights, parks, vineyards, etc., along with local magazines or publications  is a favorite thing to share with our guests because they always tell us how much they appreciated them, and also because I have tons of fun collecting them!

Filling your guest room, or any room for that matter, with plants is an organic and easy way to brighten the space.  If you don't have any indoor plants to use, due to the Season, or for any other reason, you can simply clip/prune live greenery from your yard - even a cluster of branches of various shapes and heights will create a beautiful and welcoming statement.   

So you can see where this sweet idea doesn't cost an arm and a leg, YET can make your guests feel like they're at a 5***** hotel!

****************** The lost art of knners...********************8888

I just love hostessing overnight guests.  I always have.  It must be because my Mother was a fabulous hostess, and also because it let's me have fun with two of my favorite passions - decorating and cooking.  

I can remember as a little girl how my Mother would be overjoyed to prepare our home for visiting family and friends.  She was in Heaven.  And I'm just like that.  Preparing a welcoming, cozy, and inviting guest room is one of my favorite things to do and besides,  it let's your guests know how much they mean to you.

There are so many fun, inexpensive and unique ways to create and stage a room that will have your guests feel at home and spoiled.   

Bedrooms are meant to be our sanctuaries, and your guests should experience that same feeling when they're staying at your home.