Warm and inviting doesn't have to cost a lot...

Unloved Spare Room to Guest Room!

While tidying my spare room for up-coming guests, I got to thinking about how little it takes to make a modest space more warm and inviting.  Nothing like a little elbow grease and a fresh bunch of flowers to do the trick. Cripes...did I sound like my great grandmother there for a moment? Not that we're living through the Great Depression...I haven't succumbed to dripping sandwiches just yet...but there is some truth to it. You don't have to spend a lot, or anything at all, to show family and friends that you've made an effort.

When I have friends over, it's always a good excuse to get in a spring clean, if I have time, on a room that sometimes gets a little forgotten.  Otherwise a rapid fire, tidy up session will usually do the job.  This only involves a quick dust of the surfaces and window sills, a fluff of the pillows and a general tidying away of the laundry that somehow seems to migrate there without too much effort from me.  

I have a laundry at the back of my garage, like many small flats.  However as I don’t have internal access to said garage, it can be a right pain in the proverbial to get to it.  And as such, my ironing board lives in the spare room, along with the iron…and the washing basket, usually full of clean items that need folding and putting away.

As for my suitcases, which I usually unpack straight away, these sometimes (nearly always) end up in that room, waiting for me to get the energy to unload the last bits and pieces and put the suitcases away.  I’m great at getting the clothing and the majority of my toiletries out…but as for the rest of the stuff…a stray pair of shoes, power cords, gloves and scarves, the shower cap and body lotion I nicked (hey…it comes with the price of the hotel room), those items just seem to linger on and on until…behold!  It’s time for my next trip away, and I’m chucking those items back into the bag.  So is this a sign of laziness…or me being really, really organized?  Don’t answer that!

And don’t get me started on the wardrobe (where non-seasonable/too tight/never been worn/should part with it because it’s old and shabby or out of date…but love it for some stupid reason...clothing hangs).  If my guests need some closet space, well, that does take a bit of effort to compact the items in there to one end…but I can usually manage to clear a few inches.  At least I can shut the wardrobe doors and virtuously pretend it is a clutter free zone, not Monica’s hall cupboard from Friends.  

So while my spare-room may occasionally look a little messy, it doesn’t take too much work to get it back to a functioning space when friends or family come to stay.

Some fresh flowers and a water bottle is all it takes to add that extra special touch

Now comes the question of guest towels.  I made the bold statement a few blogs ago about treating ourselves, and using the guest towels.  I guess I told a bit of a fib…because try as I may, I just can’t. You see, I hate buying new towels, and truly, some of mine are pretty sad looking.  But I’m okay with sad – because well, it is just for me, and no matter what detergent I use (and I don’t use bleach in my washing machine) over time they all end up looking like something from the peroxide family has got at ‘em.  So those guest towels have remained guest towels only – and I’m going to live with that. Because it’s one less thing to think about if people are coming to stay, and in this crazy, busy world, sometimes it’s nice having to think about one less thing.

Guest vs Everyday (really need to throw out and replace) Towels

That being said, one thing I am always prepared for is the unexpected guest.  As soon as one guest leaves, the bed is remade up in fresh sheets.  Nothing like having to deal with that at midnight, when someone might have imbibed a little too much, and shouldn’t drive home.  I can easily shove the unfolded towels away, but putting on fresh sheets when I too (as hard as it may be to believe) have imbibed a little, is just…well… too much to bear thinking about.

Putting it all together

However, what I have come to learn is that this might not be the case with all folks.  (Not the imbibing…but the clean sheet thing!)

I was driving into work the other morning, and a discussion (heated argument) erupted on the radio station I was tuned into about clean sheet protocol.  Should this even be up for debate, I pondered?  Seriously, do people not replace a set of sheets after one guest has left? Well…that would be only one or two callers with this point of view, surely.  What?  Okay! Hmmm…apparently not.

I have heard the argument before – that it’s only for one night, and what’s the issue.  The way I look at it, would I wear someone else’s unwashed clothes if they had only worn them for one day?  Let me think about that for a minuscule amount of time…and the answer would be a resounding “NO”.  I am curious about what other people think about this one…because if I’m staying at your place for the night, and you have the rather laissez-faire attitude toward sheet protocol – let me know.  I’m more than happy to bring my own sleeping bag, otherwise I will be having bad thoughts about what may lie beneath the duvet!  (I was going to list all sorts of unmentionables here…but suddenly I felt a little queasy!)  

Am I being fair...or a bit of a prig and a 'pain in the bottom'? Am I the norm...or some whiny house-guest who may never get another invite again? And have I just got myself banned from other people's guest rooms for the rest of my life?

I would love to hear your opinions on the clean sheet debate.