Christa Wagner

This article was published in the Vancouver Courier on January 29.  

The Winter Olympics are just days away and our city is about to experience a siege of activity.  Perhaps you are also about to experience an onslaught of guests in your home.   Whether the thought of friends and family camping out in your small Vancouver apartment brings excitement or anxiety, use our 7 Organizing Tips To Prepare Your Home For Olympic Visitors to make this once-in-a-lifetime experience amazing for everyone.  

1. Plan it out:  You may host several guests over the course of the games.  Map it out: who is coming and when, how many are in their party, where will they sleep, how are they getting to your home?  Think of your home as a hotel or bed-and-breakfast.  You don’t have to accommodate their every whim, but planning in advance will make this busy time fun for everyone. 
2. Where will your guests sleep?  Do you have enough sleeping space?  Do you need to get an air mattress?  Do you have a sufficient supply of bed linens, pillows, and blankets?   Does the bedroom need to be cleaned?  This is a great time to get the room organized, and to donate the items you no longer need, use, or love. 
3. Bathroom:   Launder towels and washcloths and make sure you have one for each guest.  Don’t forget about toiletries such as a fresh bar of soap, shampoo, and conditioner.  This is especially important with current airline security; let your guest to know they can leave these items at home. 
4. Getting around town:  It goes without saying that traffic is going to be interesting.  Encourage your guests to take public transit, providing them with transit maps and schedules.   Translink offers a Games Transit Pass that provides unlimited travel on the bus, SeaBus and SkyTrain (including to the airport.)  Go to www.translink.ca. 
5. Set the stage in your living room:   When you’re not going to an event, you will be watching it on TV, so make sure you have plenty of seating. Consider bringing in extra chairs or use pillows on the floor to give everyone a comfy seat.  
6. Stay energized:  With so many events and activities, guests may be coming and going all day long.  Get lots of snacks, energy bars, nuts and candy around so everyone can help themselves if they need a snack.  Also don’t forget about coffee, tea, and hot chocolate, since it may be cold on the mountains.  Providing your guests a list of recommended restaurants is always a great idea to help them decide where to dine. 
7. Dig out the extra winter gear:  It’s going to be chilly on the mountain, but winter clothes take up a lot of suitcase space.  You don’t have to go out shopping, but dig out the items you don’t use anymore.   Set aside gloves, hats, scarves and ski jackets so your guests can pack less and take home more souvenirs. 

What better way to celebrate the Olympics than to host guests and show them our fabulous city?  Use our 7 Organizing Tips To Prepare Your Home For Olympic Visitors and you’ll go down as a legendary host during this celebrated time. 

Christa Wagner is a local organizing diva; for more information on home and office efficiency, go to www.savvysolutionsorganiznig.com or contact author Christa Wagner at 778.839.5792.

Tags: Organizing Vancouver, professional organizer vancouver, Vancouver professional organizer

This entry was posted on Friday, January 29th, 2010 at 9:20 am and is filed under Home Organizing, Residential Organizing, Time Saving Tips, Vancouver. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.