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Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,260
Registered: ‎03-19-2010

Re: When You walk into someone's home for the first time....

We have friends over as couples and also give 2 big parties a year.

Don't worry about how your house is decorated,  the placement of your furniture, the color of your walls, etc.  That's all about YOU and not them. 

I would watch the clutter.  If you have stacks of magazines and mail all over, maybe one neat pile, or put them away temporarily. 

Smell....  open a window and air out your home. Many people are not aware that a home can smell stale.

Clean....  dust,  vacuum and make sure your guest bathroom (wherever it is) is clean.

You can always think about what else you could be doing.  Don't. 

If this is not a dinner party,  you can serve coffee and some good cookies,  or a cheese platter and offer a drinks. Whichever is appropriate,  just relax ...  before you blink,  time will have passed, they will be gone, and you will take a deep sigh of relief.

I'm sure they appreciate being invited.

Honored Contributor
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Registered: ‎03-10-2013

Re: When You walk into someone's home for the first time....

I notice smell simply because I have to breathe. I like a clean bathroom, tidy space but not immaculate. 

 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,640
Registered: ‎05-30-2010

Re: When You walk into someone's home for the first time....

Smell is important but not a fake air or chemical spray smell. Clean is what I notice first off. Clean floors, sparkling windows, kitchen, bathroom. Cleanliness is next to godliness.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 41,253
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: When You walk into someone's home for the first time....


@Desertdi wrote:

I would just dust and vacuum a little, and not make any major changes.   It's YOUR HOME.....not theirs.


 

 

i agree.....but i do try to make sure that the bathrooms are spotless and have plenty of toilet paper and that my kitchen is very clean. we always seem to gather in the kitchen initially until i try to encourage everyone to move to another room.

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"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." - Albert Einstein
Honored Contributor
Posts: 23,835
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: When You walk into someone's home for the first time....


@jannabelle1 wrote:

I don't think most people are judgemental, and hopefully yur guests won't be either. I'd just do the basic cleaning. I'd also remove magazines and newspapers that sometimes accumulate and can make a place look cluttered. ...maybe put out a few new scented diffusers. And relax....try to enjoy your company for a few hours! Sometimes what we anticipate turns out to be the exact opposite!

 

 

@jannabelle1 Ahhh positive thinking! Good idea! Are those plug in scent diffusers best? Never have used them.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,640
Registered: ‎05-30-2010

Re: When You walk into someone's home for the first time....

No plug in air freshners! Clean, fresh air. Have a house that gets access to fresh air. Not a house that never gets any fresh air & smells like an old peoples house which implies: stuffy & stale air. Air freshners only cover up 'bad' stuff, bathroom, bad cooking, dirty house. etc. Not good. 

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Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: When You walk into someone's home for the first time....


@elruth wrote:

The only thing I notice is the bathroom. It should be clean with fresh hand towels and liquid soap or a new bar of soap. I would stay away from using diffusers or spray scents in the house as some people are highly allergic to those sprays and could end up having sneezing fits or a headache. Don't overthink this too much. Pick up clutter ( newspapers, magazines etc ) and be sure kitchen counters aren't filled with papers etc. You'll be good to go. 


@elruth  you are right about things that scent the air.  I personally do not  use them in my home for the reason they bother me.  But, I know everyone's home has a "smell" that we are use to and do not notice. Dogs,  kitchen smells etc that other people can smell.  I will think if something to freshen the air that is not too strong . Thanks!

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Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: When You walk into someone's home for the first time....

@ahoymate@OKPrincess@sunshine45@nyc1@qualitygal And everyone who posted

thankyou! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🤗🤗🤗

Honored Contributor
Posts: 15,521
Registered: ‎09-01-2010

Re: When You walk into someone's home for the first time....

This is exactly the small stuff I refuse to sweat about.   I clean my kitchen and bathrooms daily anyway, so I would dust my furniture, swiffer my wood floors, plug in the tart warmer and wait for them to show up.   

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Posts: 30,916
Registered: ‎05-10-2010

Re: When You walk into someone's home for the first time....

When I first read this it made me stop and think.  Before I met a new friend about 18 months ago, she lives across the courtyard from us; I had not visited someone in their home for the first time in a long, long time.  Several years.  I suppose we don't make new friends as much as we get older.  Then I saw that OP hadn't had any visitors in 25 years and that really stopped me.  But, whether it's frequent visitors or rare visitors, we always feel the same way and there's always some anxiety.  We want the house to be clean and tidy; we want it smell fresh, we want our guests to feel comfortable.  I like to have light refreshments if it's not a lunch or dinner.  I think cleaning is easy but if you live with a lot of clutter; that will be harder.