If you want to host guests in your house or apartment, you should make it feel cozier and more inviting. A warm, inviting home will instantly form a good first impression with guests who visit for the first time, and fill your repeat guests with good feelings as they enter your domain once again. Additionally, the right setup can make people feel “at home,” making them more likely to relax and open up to you.
The question is, how can you make your home more inviting?
Keep Things Clean and Decluttered
One of the most important things you can do is keep your home clean and decluttered. Long before your guests arrive, you should go through your home and declutter each room (even the ones your guests won’t be visiting). If you have extra items that you never use on a regular basis, donate them or throw them away. If you have miscellaneous items piling up on your furniture, find a better spot to put them. Clutter is unsightly, and can make people less comfortable.
Additionally, you should clean the home thoroughly before hosting guests of any sort. Spend some time deep cleaning the floors, wiping dust off the furniture, and giving a good clean to sensitive areas like the kitchen and bathroom. A clean house is always more inviting than a dirty one.
Find the Right Artwork for Your Walls
Next, find the right artwork for your walls. This may seem like a small touch, but it can have a big impact on what people feel when they’re spending time with you. Artwork sets the tone for a room, and gives your guests something to look at and talk about. If you have something well-made, with an interesting subject and a beautiful execution, you can instantly make any room of your house cozier. If there’s nothing on the wall, or if the art is too challenging or obnoxious, it may ruin your vibe. Order a canvas print of a subject you find fascinating, or even a personal photograph, and hang it on the wall.
Invest in Comfortable Furniture
If you have the money for it, consider investing in the most comfortable furniture you can afford. If people feel comfortable whenever they sit on your couch or on one of your chairs, they’ll feel a sense of belonging in your home. If they have to constantly shift their body weight to avoid discomfort, or worse, if they don’t have an option to sit, they may not feel very welcomed.
Arrange the Furniture to Be Open and Inviting
Speaking of furniture, try to arrange it so that your room is more open and inviting. Your guests will feel more comfortable and more welcomed if there’s plenty of room to walk around. There should be a clear flow from the point of entry to every other room of your house, without the cramped sense of clutter that comes with rooms packed with furniture.
Keep a Pleasant Scent Rolling
Your deep cleaning should have gotten rid of any lingering odors, but it’s still worthwhile to introduce a pleasant scent in the area. Depending on your preferences, you could burn a favorite candle, light a stick of incense, or just plug in an air freshener. Almost anything you do will help.
Set the Right Temperature
Guests will feel much more comfortable at an appropriate temperature—and what’s comfortable for them may differ from what’s comfortable for you. The standard definition of comfortable room temperature is 68 to 72 degrees F, but this may vary by season. Watch your guests’ body language, and adjust the temperature as needed.
Establish Ambiance With Good Lighting and Music
Create a more welcoming, pleasant atmosphere with the right lighting and music. Depending on the type of event you’re hosting, bright white light or low-level multi-colored lights could be preferable. And you’ll definitely want to spend time finding the right playlist for the mood you want to establish.
The Role of the Host
It’s also worth noting that you, the host, also plays a role in whether your guests feel welcomed. Even the best setup can be ruined by a host who’s overly aggressive or cold and distant, and even a shoddy setup can be overcome by a host who’s warm and friendly. Make sure when your guests arrive that you greet them in a friendly, open way, and do whatever you can to make them feel more comfortable with offers of food, drink, and other amenities.
With these strategies, you can make any home or apartment more inviting to others. All that’s left is to invite over some of your old friends—and maybe some new ones—and let them enjoy your home with you.
