the checklist for a guest room that makes your family feel at home when they stay over for the holidays, built for a house where little kids are up at 6am. tap each item as you go and your progress saves on your phone.
the quick answer
- ask your guests 3 questions a week out and clean only the 3 rooms they use
- a hotel bed: fresh white sheets, 2 pillows per guest and an extra blanket
- sleep fixes for a house with kids: a sound machine, earplugs, blackout curtains and a hall night light
- 2 towels per guest, a toiletry basket and a hair dryer in the guest bathroom
- an empty drawer, 6 hangers and a luggage rack so they can unpack
- a water carafe, a snack basket and a house info card with the wifi on the nightstand
6 hosting tips that make it so much easier
the tips that make hosting in a house with little kids feel good for everyone, including you.
the house info card
every question your guests would text you at 7am, answered on one card. fill it in, then text it to them before they get here or print it for the nightstand. it saves on your phone for next year.
get the full systems i build for our house
my newsletter, the mental load, is where i share the whole system behind every page like this one, so the holidays, dinner and the family calendar stop living on you.
guest room faq
what should i put in a guest room for holiday guests?
start with a comfortable bed with fresh sheets and 2 pillows per guest, 2 towels per guest, a toiletry basket, a sound machine, earplugs, blackout curtains, a night light, an empty drawer with hangers, a water carafe and a card with the wifi password.
how many towels do i need per guest?
put out 2 bath towels and 1 washcloth per guest. for stays longer than 3 nights, keep a second set of sheets in the closet so you can swap without doing laundry mid-visit.
how do i keep my kids from waking up our guests?
run a sound machine on white noise in the guest room, leave foam earplugs on the nightstand, put guests in the room farthest from the kids if you can, and tell them what time the kids usually wake up so they can plan for it.
how do i make a guest room feel like a hotel on a budget?
use white bedding, roll the towels, add a water carafe and a glass, leave a small snack basket, spray the pillows with linen spray and write a 1-sentence welcome note with their name.
what if i don’t have a guest room?
test the air mattress for 24 hours the week before, give guests a curtain or folding screen for privacy, a bin to stash their bedding in the morning and a cleared shelf in the bathroom. tap “no guest room” at the top and the checklist adds those items.
how far ahead should i prepare the guest room?
start 1 week out so anything you order arrives in time, set up the room 1 to 2 days before, and do the 15-minute reset the morning they arrive. add your arrival date at the top and the checklist tells you what to do today.
