Welcome home! Whether you have recently moved in with a new roommate or have moved into a new apartment or house, it’s time to celebrate this milestone moment by throwing a housewarming party. Here are eight tips to consider before hosting a housewarming party.
#1 Settle In To Your New Home
As tempting as it may be to invite family, friends and neighbors over right away, wait until you are all unpacked and settled in. (Furniture should be in place and boxes should be unpacked).
#2 Clean Your Home
Before and after the special event, you’ll want to clean your event space. The O-Cedar's home care cleaning essentials is great for that newly-moved in clean. A deep clean option is essential for clean up before and after the party while a quick clean and sweep clean options are perfect during the party to pick up any party foul spills or messes.
#3 Send Invitations
Email or send housewarming invitations a few weeks ahead of time. 2-3 weeks should be an ample amount of time for guests to plan accordingly. Don’t forget to invite your new neighbors! As with any party, ask guests to RSVP so you can plan for beverages and food accordingly.
Tip: If your square footage is too small to host your entire guest list at one time, host an open house so guests can drop by during a set period of time instead of showing up all at once.
#4 Make a Menu
Since some of your kitchen appliances and cookware may still be packed up in boxes, keep your menu simple. No need to prepare a Thanksgiving feast for families and friends. Instead, order bite-sized foods that can be kept at room temperature like crackers, fresh fruit, hummus, salsa, nuts and vegetable slices.
#5 Use Paper Products
Don’t worry about hunting down that appetizer platter and serving dishes. Instead, save yourself some time and use paper plates made from recyclable materials. They’re sturdy and completely appropriate for a casual event such as a housewarming party or open house event.
#6 Pick a Theme (Maybe a Clean Theme!?)
Most housewarming parties have a theme, so why not use this opportunity to stock up on cleaning products for your new home. Ask guests to bring their favorite cleaning tools like brooms, gloves, mops, sponges and scrubbers and their other favorite cleaning tools so you can keep every room in your house looking as clean as the day you first moved in.
Tip: Attending a housewarming party and looking for some gift ideas? You can’t go wrong giving the Scrunge® Non-Scratch Scrub Sponge perfect for all of those messy household cleaning tasks.
#7 Plan a Tour
Give guests what they came for and host a guided (or self-guided) tour of your new home. Don’t worry if you still have a few moving boxes scattered throughout your new home, it’s all part of the “just moved in” charm.
#8 Play Some Music and Games
Set the atmosphere with some upbeat tunes. We have a few Spotify playlists already created for you! If you’d like, plan some games as well. Make up a trivia game about your new home, city/state or even your habitat history. (How many apartments have I lived in before buying a house?) You can also group guests into teams and send them on a mini scavenger hunt throughout your new home or if you need help unpacking those last few boxes, see who can unpack the boxes the fastest - just be sure the boxes do not contain any breakable items!
No matter what type of housewarming party you plan, remember to be flexible. Just because you have a general plan doesn’t mean you have to stick to it. Go with the flow and remember to enjoy the event that you worked so hard to plan. Welcome home!
