Here's What Guests Notice Immediately About Your House

Having people over your house, whether it’s for a casual get-together or a fancy dinner party, can be stress-inducing — especially if you have anxious or perfectionist tendencies.

Perhaps you’re someone who obsesses over every detail of your home needing to be pristine. Maybe you find it hard to enjoy hosting because you’re preoccupied with what guests will think of your space. But there’s no sense wasting time and energy agonizing over stuff that isn’t going to be very meaningful — or even noticeable — to your guests.

That’s why we asked experts in all things homes and hosting to tell us what guests actually notice right away about your house — and what they’re probably not really paying attention to at all. Here’s what we learned:

1. The Scent

The smell of your home greets guests right as they walk in, said cleaning expert Becky Rapinchuk, the woman behind Clean Mama. And you want that first sensory impression to be a good one.

“We don’t always recognize the smell of our own homes so it’s important to open a window, turn on a diffuser or burn a candle if there’s a smell to cover up,” she told HuffPost. “If your house has a pet smell, change litter boxes, wash pet bedding, and do a quick vacuum.”

2. The Lighting

Good lighting helps create a welcoming ambiance in your home — and your guests will take note, said Los Angeles interior designer Megan Hersch, founder of Studio MG Interiors.

“This can be as easy as adding a few more table lamps around your spaces or increasing the wattage in some bulbs,” Hersch, who is also the founder of thee-design firm roomLift, told HuffPost. “But a dimly lit home is a turn-off. We all want to see each other and feel comfortable moving in and around the spaces in your home, so light