The holidays are prime time for house guests, but I’ve never been one to host people over the night. When we were growing up, there was always someone else in the family who lived nearby and had much more space for our family members from other countries to stay.

I recently moved into a one bedroom apartment with my partner. It’s a small space so I didn’t expect to end up hosting more than one, but two guests for a two-night stay, this year—especially when the apartment is nowhere near fully furnished.

Although two nights may seem like a short stay, my apartment is very small and I’ve never had this dilemma before, so I immediately started working on the best ways to make my guests (and, frankly, myself) comfortable while they visited – here what did i do

Complete deep cleaning

Other people’s mess is always grosser than your own, so I did a full deep clean of every nook and cranny. It helped to imagine that they would show up wearing white gloves and inspect for dust (they weren’t), so I really got to grips with everything that needed to be cleaned.

My partner and I split the cleaning evenly, with him focusing on our living room-kitchen-dining room combo, while I focused most of my attention on our bathroom, entryway, and finally our bedroom.

Splitting the job in half made the task much easier, and I was grateful that I didn’t have to worry about my guests noticing crumbs on the kitchen counter or a stain on our baseboard.

All of this cleaning also happened a week before my partner and I went on vacation, so we also put the laundry away while we were at it. I paid particular attention to workout clothes – I was determined to keep our guests away from sweaty smells.

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Refilling our snacks

I’m used to a household of two (and a kitten), so we usually stock up on just the right amount of snacks to last us until our next shopping trip. We’d let our snacks run out more than usual because, with the holidays just around the corner, we didn’t want anything to run out while we were away.

A quick trip to the grocery store solved this problem, and I stocked up on all the snacks in the apartment (and got some extras, if the guests wanted) so I wouldn’t have to look for anything or go to the grocery store.

Preparation of additional toiletries

When I put the apartment in order, I kept asking myself “what would I like to be a guest?” Making sure the bathroom was equipped with everything they needed (and felt comfortable using) was very important – because who wants an awkward bathroom situation?

Before they arrived, I made sure my bathroom was stocked with spare body and hand towels, a brand new air freshener, a fresh pack of toiletries, and a body wash that was safe for shared use.

I even cleaned and prepared the nail clippers just in case—you really never know what someone might need!

Setting up an excellent space for rest

Privacy is my main concern whenever I travel, so I wanted my guests to feel like they had their own space while staying with us.

Unfortunately, that meant sacrificing my living room (it’s a one bedroom apartment, and I didn’t give up my room). I prepared a queen size air mattress for them with all the sheets and blankets they will need to stay warm during our New York winter. I kept my time in the living room very short and away from their personal belongings so they wouldn’t feel like I was invading their (very limited) space during their two night stay.

I wanted to make sure my guests felt like I had thought of everything to make them comfortable. Aside from having to share my Wifi password, I was able to minimize many questions about pet torture with snacks, toiletries, and privacy issues. The stay was short and my guests felt taken care of and, in the end, that’s all that really mattered.