Having overnight guests in your home can be a double-edged sword. It can be fun to meet friends and relatives you have not seen for a long time. On the other hand, it can take a turn for the worse and be a nightmare.
In this article:
- The Impact of Overnight Guests No One Told You About
- The Rambunctious Brother
- The Disruptive Sister
- How to Deal with Having Overnight Guests
The Effects of Having Overstaying Overnight Guests
The Impact of Overnight Guests No One Told You About
I bought a house with spare rooms to make sure overnight guests can stay comfortably. My mom, though, used to joke I shouldn’t get a guest room. People will feel more than welcome to stay at my house. I thought it was mean, but now I understand. Having overstaying guests can put a strain on our relationship. It places us in a funky place.
I’ve never been one for entertaining for long periods of time in the first place. I used to live with my grandparents. There were several occasions when my grandpa (who loves to entertain) invited his relatives to stay at the house instead of the two perfectly capable hotels around the corner. I often had to give up my room to distant cousins, then I had to sleep on the pull-out bed in the couch in the living room.
However, having someone hog your bathroom and junk up your room isn’t the only way guests can get on your nerves.
The Rambunctious Brother
A couple of months ago, my husband found out he had a brother no one knew about. He came and met the family. He also stayed in our area for a couple weeks.
The brother had been staying with an uncle about an hour away. Then he decided to stay with the hubby’s parents. Later, the brother lived with me and my husband, who wanted to show hospitality by offering our guest room. He, though, brought his girlfriend along, and no one knew she was coming with him.
The overnight stay was quite the experience. The couple was loud, and they wanted to party. They ate a lot, and boy, did they eat. They stayed longer than we anticipated. They even tried to hang around longer! When they finally went home, we felt relief.
The Disruptive Sister
Later, we let another extended family stay overnight or two. We kept my 18-year-old sister while my dad was out of town. I thought it would be easier to have her as a visitor than my brother-in-law and his girlfriend.
No, it’s a different kind of difficult. She’s sort of thrown off our routine. We had another person to consider when we’re having a meal. Our dog was intrigued we had someone else in the house for more than a few hours. Our entertainment choices were different since we wanted to make her as comfortable as possible. It was less of our television choices and more of hers. Learning how to handle guests at home was stressful.
How to Deal with Having Overnight Guests
When you have overnight house guests staying with you, whether they’re staying on your couch or in your spare room, you have some added pressure. If you and your spouse aren’t on the same page, you don’t want to argue in front of company.
Depending on whose company it is, one may feel they’re a reflection of the person who invited them to stay. It can prove to be a financial hardship, especially if they’re using up all your groceries and utilities. To lessen the toll a visitor may have on your marriage, ask these questions first:
- Can you afford for them to stay with you?
- How long are they staying?
- Where exactly will they be sleeping?
- Is your spouse okay with having a guest?
- Are you okay with having a guest?
If you’re ready to welcome your overnight guests, here are some DIY storage solutions to help you out from Cityline:
There’s nothing wrong with offering your house to overnight guests. However, it should also not be worth the trouble or, worse, strain in the marriage. It’s essential both of you learn to agree to accept visitors or to compromise. Otherwise, get rid of the guest room.
Have you ever had an overnight guest who overstayed their welcome? How did you handle it? Share your experience in the comments section below.
Up Next: Money Monday Rewind: Should You Lend Money To Friends Or Relatives?
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on January 24, 2012, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.
We always have guests over and only recently have I said no guests in 2012. Our house is always the go-to house for frat brothers, cousins, other people’s kids, but um not in 2012. Hotel.com it is.
I hear you! Sure, we want to help people save money and enjoy the company, but we’ll catch them for dinner instead!
I totally feel you on this one. My husband and I moved into an apartment about 10 years ago and since we have been living here we have never been alone. Constante guest (family and nonfamily) I have had enough of it and said to him NO MORE GUEST for a year. I put up a sign tha said if you do not live here, pay bills here, you do not belong here GO AWAY. some people act like theu don’t understand but the are getting the picture.
My mother always told me, even as a child, that “no one wants to be bothered with guests for more than 2 days”. Family included. I still live by this idea today.
Agreed! By day 3, I’m packing your bags for you.
My theory is to not let the guest get too comfortable… heck, give them the pull out sofa in the living room and then get up early every day to make breakfast. Preferably something that requires a lot of pan banging in the kitchen. And it’s either our shows or we all grab books to read. Boom!
LOL! I like that approach. And suddenly become a morning person and insist all the blinds be open promptly at sunrise.
It’s easier having kids as guest. You tell them clean up… they do. Adults are different.
When we visit others, I try to be the guest they’d want to come back. I cook, buy food, (we have 5 kids), and make sure the space we use, is neat and clean. Before we leave we clean up, and leave their house as clean, or cleaner than when we arrived.
LaTonya, you’re the guest from heaven. When my cousin brought her 5 kids, there was NO help as far as feeding them or anything. I was shocked.
My husband had his 10 yr old cousin stay with us the WHOLE summer. After about a month of him being here, is 21 yr old sister along with a 4 yr old cousin came. After about 2 weeks, the 4 yr old went home and in his place came a 5 yr old girl. We already have 2 boys ages 3 and 1. The 21 year old was useless, she stayed in my son’s room on the phone and on my husband’s laptop. She came out late at night when we were asleep to get food.
The 10 yr old was disrespectful, I had to jack him up a few times, because I refuse to be disrespected in my house, where you are staying and eating food that I pay for. It was a struggle, and when they went home in August, no one even had the decency to say “thank you”. To make matters worse, the 5 year old is the daughter of an older cousin who stole money out of my son’s piggy bank when he was laid up in ICU on dialysis. They’ve been gone over 4 months and I swear I still can’t get their “smell” out the sheets that they slept on.
That sounds like hell on earth. I never understood people (kids, young adults) feeling a sense of entitlement to stay somewhere. I never felt that comfortable. And to steal? That’d be a #1 deal breaker. No remorse smh. I’m so sorry for that experience.
It is difficult to live with extended family. Currently, I am living with my aunt and her family, while I attend grad school. I am in the basement, I am not a loud person or a partier, I buy my own food and clean up. I even help out with her son. So I think its about having rules and boundaries so that your guest don’t take advantage of you. Also I am respectful of my aunt, but we’ve had many problems with her disrespecting me and trying to take advantage of me, in terms of babysitting. She’ll just leave her kids at the house and not even tell me she leaving. I appreciate her letting me stay with her, but she tries to overstep her bounds.
On the flipside if I had a relative live with me in the future, I would set really clear boundaries, no loud music, no house guest. Even though I am a very respectful guest, I know other folks will take advantage of you, if you let me.
That’s a different monster, having people take advantage of you and feeling like they have the “right”. Definitely stressful.
To be quite honest my main concern with guests is them messing up my sex routine. Even if you already have kids in the house, its somehow quite different when a grown person you don’t normally live with is in the next room….. C’mon I know I’m not the only one thinking this, lol
I’m with you there. Now I have to be quiet! if we get comfy enough to have it. Smh. I like walking around without a lot of thought on what Im wearing and I liked having my own space in the fridge/pantry. Speak truth.
LOL definitely another (huge) reason.
She really sounds selfish…sorry
I think offering my home to stay for days is the opposite of selfish. There are many people who would flat out say “no”.
AS my family would say, “Child please”, I have had every single one of my husband’s younger siblings live with us and every single one was a hot mess. It definitely affected our relationship as the more they disrespected our home, family rules and beliefs, and myself the more angry and hurt I felt. One brother snuck his girlfriend in my home and had the nerve to have sex on my daughter’s brand new bed and linens that she had not even slept in yet. They were a birthday gift she had yet to see !! and then the young hoochie had the nerve to come to the bedroom door naked when we knocked the next morning to ask her to leave, the brother got in legal troubles and the sister was just very “fast” and did not want to go to school. Needless to say I put them all out of my home and it cause a very big rift in our relationship becasue I felt outnumbered and overrun, unappreciated and disrespected by them and my husband. He felt that I “just didn’t like his family” We are still working to fix the wounds that were caused Now everytime someone wants to come over I get tense and distracted and we argue.
🙁 I’m so sorry to hear that. That has to be tough, especially if your husband is close to his siblings. I pray that everything works out for you guys. Has he had the same complaints, even just a few of them?
We’ve had guests now for what’s going on 5 months and it’s worked out fine. But we’re sorta used to having guests since my husband comes from a huge family.
I’m used to having them for a couple hours; I’m a great hostess in that arena. When it comes to overnight or more, I start getting a little thrown off. If it’s going on 5 months, you have a great guest LOL!
There’s a difference between live-ins and guests. My husband and I are also parents to a 2 and 4 year old. Our policy for guests is that they have an arrival date and departure date and they are treated as guests with the luxuries of a bed and bath, but no extended stays are welcome. They are provided with their own space, bathroom and amenities that do not impose upon the flow of our household. I guess I am fortunate to not have had any guest nightmares, but I suppose that’s because of our policy and mutual understanding as a couple. We once had my husband’s God Father stay for 2 months; but it was a pleasure because he was most helpful, kept the house clean and helped me with my newborn son when I needed help. Guest will only impose when they are allowed to. No such disrespect is happening under my roof.
I like that, an arrival and departure date. I’m definitely going to implement that. People only do to you what you let them, so we’ve got some work to do!
We love having guests… we have four children and will often have 3 or more over… the kids love extended sleep overs with their cousins. Summers will always find 7 plus children sleeping in two rooms at one of their aunts homes. We fight over who is going to have the kids in the summer. Adults… that’s good too… one long dinner party. I suppose it’s like someone said, you got to be on the same page, we’re both from big families and both our families love us as individuals and as a couple. I can’t imagine friends and family coming to our town and not staying with us.
I definitely enjoyed it as a kid. I guess it’s just been the adults that haven’t been the best. We’re from big families but admittedly we didn’t spend a lot of time with everyone in our family. Hopefully we can work on it.
I stayed with my brother and his girlfriend for two weeks while recovering from an illness. My brothers’ girlfriend and I hit it off well but my brother was angry he wanted his space, I didn’t even know it. I hung around them more than I wanted to because I didn’t want to be rude and I didn’t have money to go anywhere. I am a loner and would have preferred to be alone . One day he said , “After 3 dayz fish and company stink”. I wasn’t offended by the comment I was ticked because HE was the one who invited me to move from Houston to Cali to recover. If you know that you don’t like having company don’t have it. I don’t mind having company but I don’t like to entertain so when I say make YOURSELF at home I mean it! Couples also need to send consistant messages, my brothers’ girlfriend was the one engaging me and my brother was ready for me to go. I had not been around my brother so I misread his smiles and body language. Why can’t we just be honest in the end we end up being brutally honest causing all sorts of negative energy!
You make a great point. We have to be honest with people, something I have to work with. I’m surprised your brother offered and then was annoyed. You’re awesome for not getting offended by the comment, I think it would’ve hurt my feelings.
Grown adults are not bold enough to be honest with people if they don’t want them staying at their house. I totally agree with you; they do need to be more honest, whether it’s with family or friends. I don’t like people at my house and I don’t like entertaining company either, and just know when people stay with you they won’t leave your house the way you would leave it.
Thank you. My wife doesn’t quite understand what it’s like to have her best friend (and husband and kids) stay at our house for a week. We all like each other but they are truly best friends and I’m odd man out a lot of the time since the husband and I are just cordial. Hopefully this will help her understand that others feel the same. What’s the saying about fish and houseguests — starting to stink after 3 days?
That really makes things awkward, almost like the situation/friendship is being forced. Have you talked to her about it?
My father in law always overstays his time, it is so much worse because our house at the moment is sooo tiny and he is in the next room to us, he sleeps with the tv on and we share one bathroom. It drives me crazy! I don’t want DH to feel like i dont like his family but he suggested having his dad stay with us for 2 months and that’s when i had to put my foot down! I know i’d have to move out for those two months.
I AM SO GLAD FOR THIS ARTICLE BECAUSE I HAD OVER NIGHT GUEST THAT WANTED TO STAY ON THE WEEKENDS THAT MY HUSBAND AND I WORKED. I LET IT HAPPEN A COUPLE OF TIMES AGAINST MY BETTER JUDGEMENT AND BY THE THIRD TIME I WAS DONE. JUST NO REGARD FOR YOUR STUFF AND YOUR UTILITIES. THIS IS FAMILY OF COURSE. THEY HAD THE NERVE TO BE UPSET WHEN I FINALLY SAID NO. IF I AM NOT THERE MY HOUSE NEED TO REST TOO.
My husband and I don’t entertain guests overnight. We converted our extra bedroom into a media room to accommodate guests who want to watch movies, but we terminate the visit at bedtime. We have found that it just works easier for us if we can maintain the routine of our home, without the distraction of people who don’t live with us. In addition, both of our families share different values than our own, especially when it comes to raising kids. Maintaining good boundaries has helped us to maintain good relationships with family members. This would not be the case if we had guests over past the point where they are welcome.
Good for you! Boundaries are always needed!
My uncle used to say if you’re at his house more than 3 days you’re a resident.
We are married with 2 babies. My husband decide to let his friend stay with us without asking me 1st. Now, he want us to move in with him to a bigger house with 5rooms. I seriously dont wish to stay with anyone except my own family. Ive talked to him about this in a nice way & argued about this also but no point! I’ve even stop talking to his friend and showed some signs tat he should leave this house but its no use also. What should I do ? Cuz this is really killing me alive ! Diz guy slam de room dooe each time he in & out ! And have taken my son’s room. My current house is with 3 rooms. And we as a family sleeps on a king size bed and another room is my kids play room! How to end this ?? I clearly told my husband that he should move out with his friend to the new house and leave his family in this house !! Im really gping insane about this! My husband spend all this time with his friend. They both work together & there’s no privacy! What hurt me the most is he is not loving to my kids & he dont play with them! He have scolded my son who is still a toddler when he touch his things !! Now, im only praying to god to save my family & marriage cuz ever since this guy came in … we always argued ! My husband dont see all this !! He value his friend so much cuz this guy have helped him before in time of trouble!!! What should I do ??
One of my husbands acquaintances called asking if he and his wife could come stay with us, rather than a hotel, while they attended one of their family member’s wedding. They live out of state 8 hours from us. My husband agreed wholeheartedly. Only one problem. He didn’t tell me for 2 months that they were coming until about a week before. Mostly because he knew I’d say no. They are staying for 5 days! This is only day 3 and yes, as the one gentleman said, “Fish and houseguests start to stink after 3 days”. It’s put a huge strain on our marriage. I blame the fella for asking (and his wife should know better too) and I blame my husband for agreeing. The house is half mine. I should have a say. They could have stayed with actual family members and I’m still wondering why they aren’t.
If I were you I would have left his behind right at the house by himself with the friend and the friend’s wife. Once he saw that you were gone, he would’ve gotten the picture. Sometimes you have to make moves like that; I wouldn’t have stayed there with him knowing that he invited people to your house without talking to you, that was so wrong. He also has to understand he’s not a single man anymore he is a married to you, meaning that he has to consider you in EVERYTHING that he does, and that includes overnight guests! Pleaese don’t think he won’t do this again if you tolerate it!
I have a sis in law and her 3 kids at my house now…she was suppose to be moving into her own place meaning waiting on her apt to be ready…I agreed to keep kids only when she works. Now that she has moved she doesn’t have a place like she said she does. I let her stay one night..and that’s it. Do u think I need to tell her to leave? Plus when asked before she moved we asked her was she good with everything like moving and a place to stay she said yes. Now she is looking and asking for help.