How to Prepare for a Home Party

Throwing a home party is more fun and more cost effective than hosting a dinner at a restaurant. The only drawback is you'll have to prepare the venue yourself. Fortunately, cleaning and sprucing up your home for a party is easy when you have a system. Start with the bedroom and work your way through the living and dining rooms--and by the time you reach the kitchen--your whole house will be all set for entertaining.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Duster
• Broom
• Vacuum cleaner
• Toilet bowl cleaner and brush
• Disinfectant wipes
• Party paraphernalia
• Trash bin with liner

1. Fix the bed with your best beddings because you'll never know when some of your guests will find their way into your bedroom. Put stray clothes and accessories away. If there's no time to put them in their proper places, just toss them out of sight.

2. Do a quick tidy-up of the master bathroom. Put away the toothbrushes and tongue scrapers. Scrub the toilet bowl and clean the seat with disinfectant wipes.

3. Proceed to the guest bedroom and bath--and freshen up everything--sheets, hand towels, liquid soap and toilet paper. Vacuum or replace the floor mats.

4. Move to the living areas and pick up non-party-related clutter, then sweep or vacuum the floors and area rugs.

5. Dust off the most noticeable areas, especially around décor pieces featured by accent lighting.

6. Designate several areas all over the house for party snacks and finger food. This will let guests enjoy hors d'oeuvres without having to precariously move them from one place to another. Leave a stack of napkins next to the finger foods.

7. Place a lined garbage bin next to the kitchen sink for easy tossing of leftover food and disposables.

Tips & Warnings

• Move priceless accessories and collectibles away from vulnerable locations like the coffee table where they could easily get knocked down.
• Designate a play area in the family room where young guests can party safely. Put a roll of paper towels nearby for quick pick-up of spills and food fights.
• Use sturdy disposable plates and bowls for easy cleanups.
• Put coasters, table runners or placemats on all wood and glass surfaces.
• Lay soak-up mats next to the soda cooler to prevent damage to floors and make cleanups a lot easier.

Resources

• Food and Wine: Entertaining & Home
• FoodNetwork.com: Entertaining

[RubyBayan]

on 3/6/2008 Excellent tips, Allana. Thanks!

[AllanaBaroni]

on 3/5/2008 In order to make sure the party decorating and activities is easy as pie take advantage of what you already have around the house. Use old vases that you've received as presents to fill with limes, oranges and lemons. If you don't have enough of one set of glasses and are nervous about everything not matching, let it go! Mix and match glasses and plates to add character and color to the table. If you have access to a variety of chairs sometimes its even fun to mix up the seating options at the table. Remember, as the host people are there for you, so use what you have, relax and be social...the rest will take care of itself.