Does your home act differently when you have company over? Here is how to get it to act nice for its owners.
Yesterday, I was doing some regular cleaning in the dining room. I dusted the dining room table and chairs, among other things, and replaced the tablecloth with a fresh, clean one. When I was done, I thought the table could use a little extra touch, so I took a few candles off of a nearby shelf and arranged them artfully in the middle of the table. I stepped back, arranged a bit more, and then I was satisfied with the outcome.
Meanwhile, my eldest son wandered in and asked why there was stuff on the table. “No one is coming over, right? It is just daddy coming home (from work).” That is when it hit me. Our house usually looks better and has more homey touches when we are expecting someone over for a visit. Our guest were defining our home. They were influencing whether or not it looked at its best.
But wait a minute, we were paying the mortgage, not to mention living here all of the time. Shouldn’t our home be an extra nice place to be all of the time?
Oh I know, who has time for all of the extras, right? But a few candles on the table, an extra bit of clutter removed or the grass mowed because we care about what we think and not what the neighbors think might be a better way to live.
So for today, I pretended that we were having very special guest over. I dug out some older apples from the crisper bin in the refrigerator and cut them up. I added them to the crockpot along with some brown sugar, cinnamon and butter. This makes the house smell amazing, and I would often do this when our old home was being shown for sale.
I picked up some clutter throughout the home, and gave the bathrooms an extra clean. I removed the basket of laundry from the hallway and basically did whatever else I might do when expecting a visitor.
Today, we will be guest in our own home!
You can read more blog posts by Mary Ann Romans here!
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