You can choose to entertain in the kitchen of your tiny condo, the living room, family room or even outdoors. But what's the one room every guest at your house will probably see? Guest bathrooms and powder rooms are part of your party, whether you like it or not. A trip to the ladies' room or "little boy's room" can be a reflection on you as a host, for good or for bad.
A Bathroom for Guests
Even if you don't have a separate powder room or a bathroom specially designated for guests, if you're entertaining at home you'll have to prepare a bathroom for guests to use. Any bathroom can be turned into a guest bathroom just by giving it a good cleaning, putting away your personal hygiene items, setting out clean towels and putting out new soap.
It's been parodied in dozens of movies and TV shows, but it's true: Guests will look in your medicine cabinet, closets and drawers. Keep that in mind when stashing things you'd rather not want your guests to see.
Pretty and Practical
Guest bathrooms and powder rooms can be decorated to the extreme, where you may forget their original purpose. When setting up a guest bathroom or powder room, don't get so caught up in making it pretty that you forget to make it practical.
Those tiny hand towels with the hand-embroidered monograms, fringe and beads aren't the greatest for drying hands. Most guests will avoid using them because they're too pretty to get wet. If you must use fancy hand towels in your guest bathroom or powder room, hang a soft white hand towel near the sink for people to use.
A nice solution to the guest bathroom towel question is to have paper guest hand towels near the sink. The elongated rectangular paper guest hand towels are disposable and come in seasonal and party theme designs that can match your other party paper products. Home goods stores have attractive baskets and containers for disposable paper hand towels.
For Emergencies
Save your guests the embarrassment of coming to you during a party and alerting you to a situation in the bathroom.
Be sure your guest bathroom, powder room or any bathroom your guests will be using is stocked with extra toilet paper, tissues and a plunger.
Some Nice Touches
Getting ready for a party or entertaining friends in your home means a long list of things to do. Be sure you add to your list preparing the guest bathroom or powder room.
Some special touches can make a nice impression on your guests, even when they're freshening up:
- Save sample perfume vials and put them in a basket for women guests to dab on some cologne to freshen up or try a new scent.
- Set a bottle of room spray in the bathroom. Spray it just before your party begins and leave the container in the room for guests to use. Room sprays come in seasonal and holiday aromas and range from caramel pumpkin to black amethyst, tropical citrus to musk.
- Candles can set an elegant atmosphere, even in a bathroom. Light some scented candles in your guest bathroom or powder room right before your party begins. They'll serve as a nightlight for darkened hallways, as well.
