Make Your Bathroom Party-Pretty

It's often the last place we think about decorating, but almost every guest will make a visit to your bathroom. Here's how to turn the family bathroom into a powder room you can be proud of.

1. Ban the personal: This is one room that should not show your personal touch. Banish all grooming and hygiene items, not only toothbrushes but also bathrobes, hair dryers, flip-flops. Sweep everything into a cardboard box and stash it in a closet for easy restaging when the party's over.

2. Nice toiletries: Replace that mushy bar of deodorant soap with fresh miniatures. Unwrap them so guests know it's okay to actually use them. Snag attractive hotel soaps or buy travel-sized bars at the drugstore. Pump soap is a less messy alternative; place a decorative pump right next to the faucets to make it obvious that it's soap. Also include mildly scented lotion and even a skin spritzer for guests who might need a little zing.

3. Handy towels: Guests may be perplexed by which towels to use to dry their hands. Make it obvious by removing any bath towels and wash cloths, leaving nothing that you don't want and expect people to wipe their hands on. Provide plenty of hand towels, so guests aren't left with something dampish. Fancy printed paper towels to be used once and thrown away may be the most sanitary option, but they're also expensive, wasteful and not great for the environment. You might keep your eye out for colorful and attractive dish towels on sale; buy 10 or so to use as hand towels for parties.

4. Mood lighting: What's worse than walking out of the golden light of the party and into the glare of a bathroom overhead fixture? While some guests may want to turn on a bright light to review their appearance, others will want to do their business without a reality check. Carry the party ambience into the powder room with soft lighting. You can replace bright light bulbs with pink or amber ones, leave on a bright nightlight, or plug in a pretty lamp. Candles add a lovely glow to the room and faces, but they can be a fire hazard, and they may burn out before the end of the affair. Battery-powered candles are a better choice.

5. Can the perfume: Bathroom odors have no place at a party, but hold the potpourri. Strong scents can be overwhelming in an enclosed space, and many people are allergic to these perfumes. Make sure the bathroom is as close to odorless as you can make it before the party starts by giving it a thorough cleaning and then a good airing. (Even a "clean" smell is not attractive for a party.) Leave the window open a tiny bit to allow for air circulation during the event, and provide a bottle of air freshener for guests who feel the need to use it.

6. Police the medicine cabinet: We shouldn't have to say this, but we do. If you're taking any medication that you wouldn't want to discuss with a stranger, remove it from the medicine cabinet. It's not just nosiness that might make a guest go through the cabinet; maybe he's looking for a Band-aid.