“May your home always be too small to hold all of your friends.”
Hospitality. Inviting others into our homes. Family, friends, neighbors, and those we barely know. We want homes that invite, we want homes that are cozy and comfortable, we want homes that welcome. We want to embrace imperfection so that we can embrace others.
Here are 3 ways we can curate a home we love through hospitality.
Make Hospitality A Part of Your Life ||
Inviting others into our home is a way of life. Those that do it well make if a part of their weekly or monthly schedule. They make time to invite others into their home. They have figured out a way to make it work with their family life and with their schedules.
We need to figure out what works best with our schedules. If inviting others into your home is something new, move forward planning just one simple event that you host. Pizza and a movie at your place or invite another family over for dessert while the kids play. Something simple with little prep work is the best to start off successfully. If you want to start something regular, planning something once a month is a great place to start. You could set a goal to invite a different person, family, group of people over every month, or if you are ambitious you could start a monthly book club or dinner group.
If you already welcome others into your home, finds ways to keep it simple and special. You don’t want to burn out, so actively try to find ways to make it easy. You can also find ways to make it special. You can plan a signature dessert or activity. You can find ways to make your guest feel extra welcome with a small gift or something special that you know their family would like.
Whatever works for you, wherever you are right now, set a goal for making hospitality a part of your life.
Embrace Imperfection ||
Inviting others into our homes can feel hard sometimes. We need to embrace imperfection. If we are worried about how clean our homes are or if they are perfectly decorated, it will be a lot harder to invite others into our homes. We need to tidy up that best we can, not going crazy with cleaning every last inch, but a quick tidy and invite others over.
Embrace your home right now. Realize how blessed you are to have the space that you have and invite someone in. When others do come in, try not to apologize for your home, just invite others in and focus on your time with them.
Have a Simple Hospitality Formula ||
We want to have a simple hospitality formula. WE can come up with simple ideas that we an repeat over and over again when we have a guests come to our home. Maybe that is having two or three meal ideas that we can choose from, meals that we know will work and are easy to prepare. Maybe thats a signature dessert or drink. It could be a couple games that work well with groups of people. It could just be the area of the house that we sit in.
If you recognize a stumbling block in having others over, figure out a simple solution to make it work. Think outside the box and make it work. I’m a huge believer in finding those simple solutions to overcoming what may seem like big problems.
As we move forward in our quest for hospitality, making hospitality a part of our lives, embracing imperfection, and having a simple hospitality formula will help us curate a home that welcomes others. Our homes are a sanctuary for our families during the storms of life and they can also be a sanctuary for others.
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