Preparing your home for guests is what separates a correct review from an excellent one, and it has nothing to do with renovating or spending money. It has to do with anticipating what another family will need for two weeks in a place they do not know. These are the ten steps used by people who have been swapping homes for years.
The rule that covers everything
Leave your home as you would like to find theirs. If arriving somewhere to find a fridge full of leftovers and not a single free wardrobe would annoy you, do not do it yourself.
That single idea settles ninety per cent of the decisions.
The ten steps for preparing your home for guests
- Deep clean. Bathrooms, kitchen and floors. It is the first thing anyone notices on opening the door.
- Fresh bedding and towels for everyone arriving, plus a spare set.
- One empty wardrobe and one empty drawer per bedroom. Living out of a suitcase on the floor for two weeks is miserable.
- Space in the fridge and the cupboards. At least two clear shelves.
- Lock away the personal and the valuable. Documents, jewellery, anything with sentimental weight.
- Fix what is broken. Blown bulbs, dripping taps, jammed blinds.
- Basic cleaning products visible, so they can leave the place in good order.
- Toilet paper, soap and bin bags for the first few days.
- Instructions for temperamental appliances: the boiler, the hob, the washing machine, the air conditioning.
- The house guide, which deserves a section of its own.
The house guide: the document people thank you for
It is one or two sheets, printed and left on the table. It should carry the wifi password in large type, how the boiler and the hob behave, which day and which system the bins use, where the fuse box and the stopcock are, the phone number of a trusted neighbour and of a plumber.
And then the part nobody forgets: your recommendations. The good bakery, the market and its day, the place that does a proper lunch, the late pharmacy, the doctor, the park with swings, the beach the locals actually use.
That second block is what turns guests into friends.
The details that cost nothing and get remembered
- A handwritten welcome note.
- Milk, coffee, bread and fruit for the first breakfast.
- A paper map of the neighbourhood with four things marked.
- If children are coming, a few toys left accessible.
- A fan or an extra blanket depending on the season.
What not to do
You do not need to empty the house. A completely depersonalised home feels cold and, more to the point, contradicts the whole idea of an exchange: the appeal is staying somewhere real.
Nor do you need to buy new bedding or replace the crockery. What is valued is that everything works and everything is clean, not that it is new.
Safety, without paranoia
Lock away whatever is genuinely irreplaceable and tell a neighbour that people will be staying. Check that the smoke alarms work and that a fire blanket is accessible if you have one, in line with the basic home safety advice published by official fire safety guidance.
That is enough. The rest is trust, and it runs both ways: the other family is doing exactly the same thing in their own house.
How long it takes
The first time, a full weekend. From the second onwards, an afternoon. The house guide gets written once and reused forever, updating four details.
Frequently asked questions
Should I leave food? Not obligatory, but a basic breakfast after a long journey is enormously appreciated.
What if I want to keep some rooms closed? Entirely reasonable. State it in the listing and in the guide.
How are utilities handled? Agreed beforehand. The usual arrangement is that each family covers normal consumption in their own home.
Who cleans at the end? Each family leaves the home as they found it. Worth writing into the agreement.
Before you leave
Walk through the house one last time as though you were the person arriving. If something jars, fix it. And if you have not published your home yet, start there: it is covered in the guide to the home exchange listing and in the complete home exchange guide.
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