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Preparing Your Guest Bathroom for Weekend Visitors

When getting the house ready for weekend guests, we often clean the house and change the bed sheets. However, sometimes we overlook the guest bathroom. So in this post, I’m sharing all of my tips on Preparing Your Guest Bathroom for Weekend Visitors! 

Preparing Your Guest Bathroom for Weekend Visitors

First and foremost, you have to clean the bathroom. Even if you do nothing else, at the very least, please make sure the shower, sink, toilet, and floor are all clean, especially if the guest is sharing your bathroom.

Next, make sure the guest bathroom is stocked with toilet paper in a prominent spot so your guest doesn’t have to go looking for more toilet paper or ask you for some if they run out.

Preparing Your Guest Bathroom for Weekend Visitors // Salty Canary

Since our guest bathroom is teeny tiny, there is no room on the wall for a mounted toilet paper holder. We had to get one of those freestanding ones, which I wasn’t very happy about at the time, but because it holds extra toilet paper rolls in the base, I’m all about it!

How do you keep your bathroom stocked with toilet paper, toiletries, and supplies? Again, because this little pink guest bathroom is teeny tiny, it has a pedestal sink with no storage underneath it, so I keep everything on these shelves I had installed in a little corner next to the shower. I try to keep it pretty by storing everything in baskets, jars, and (my favorite trick) hidden behind towers of toilet paper. 

If you have the budget, try to stock your guest bathroom with soft toilet paper. Look, it’s toilet paper, I get it. You wipe your butt on it, but it doesn’t have to be rough sandpaper. You can try to make it into a more luxurious experience. 
Preparing Your Guest Bathroom for Weekend Visitors // Salty Canary

I also make sure there are freshly laundered towels and bathmats hanging on the hooks, ready to use, as well as extra towels stocked on my bathroom shelves in case extras are needed. And the bottom “floor” shelf is where I keep a basket to use as a hamper for any soiled towels or sheets (for when my guests don’t listen to me and strip the bed). 

Speaking of freshly laundered towels, I also stock the bathroom with makeup remover wipes. While this seems like a nice gesture for my guests, it’s purely selfish because I don’t want my pretty towels ruined with lipstick or mascara! While my family uses regular old white towels, I keep the guest room stocked with the prettier “good” towels!

And you know all those little hotel toiletries that you don’t use but always take with you when you leave? And the toothbrush that you get from the dentist? And all those travel sized facial tissue packs you buy for when you go on vacation but don’t always use? Yeah, save all of those and put them into a basket for guests in case they have forgotten something.

When my friend Lauren came down for my baby shower, she was only here for 36 hours and she forgot her toothbrush! Rather than wasting precious time together with going to buy a new one, I just told her to grab one out of the basket!

Here’s a short list of oft-forgotten toiletries to stock up on:

  • toothbrush
  • toothpaste
  • floss
  • mouthwash
  • shower cap
  • loofah
  • razor
  • chapstick
  • lotion
  • feminine products
  • first aid kit
  • allergy meds (especially if you have pets)

I also stock my shower with shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. This isn’t totally just for guests because if we ever have to use the guest bathroom shower for any reason, then we don’t want to have to move all the bottles from one bathroom to another. It’s easier to just have it stocked and ready.

I also like that I can tell any guests who might be flying in that they don’t have to pack shampoo or conditioner in case they want to only pack a carry-on bag or don’t want to risk toiletries leaking in their luggage.

And last, but certainly not least, I also like to make sure the guest bathroom is stocked with something a bit luxurious such as a face mask, nice hand lotion, chapstick, or a nice bar of soap. Flowers are always a lovely touch if you have room for them on the sink. Since I don’t have the room on our sink, I make sure to stock a nice beauty item on the mirror’s shelf. Ideas can include:

  • bath salts
  • sugar scrub
  • bubble bath
  • face mask
  • high end lotion
  • chapstick
  • decorative bar of soap
  • loofahs
  • robe and slippers

When you’re showing your guest the bathroom, make sure to point out these items to your guest and tell them to help themselves. Otherwise the guest might think they’re off limits like those fancy shell soaps that your grandmother would put on the sink in her bathroom but you weren’t allowed to use.

I also double check to make sure there’s a trash can (because sometimes it gets misplaced on trash day), a hair dyer, and an air freshener in the guest bathroom. I also check the shower valves, make sure the hot water is working, check the light bulbs, make sure the toilet flushes, etc.

If the guests were sharing our bathroom, I would make sure any medications were put away. And if, in the future, our kiddos use the guest bathroom, then I would move the kids into our bathroom while guests are visiting so they aren’t sharing and making a mess of the guest bathroom.

And don’t forget to leave room for the guest to be able to put their stuff. This is my biggest pet peeve about hotels where there isn’t room to put down a makeup bag or a brush! 

Did I miss anything? Let me know in a comment how you prep your bathroom for guests!

Looking for more houseguest inspiration and tips? Check out some of my other posts:

 
 

 

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