While planning your holiday festivities, you're probably not thinking about things like the obstacles in your home that could possibly create a dangerous situation for your guests.  However, your next holiday gathering could quickly turn into a disaster if you have not done a little preparation in advance.  The first thing you need to do is to take a look around your home and anticipate anything and everything that could present a problem.  Here are a few tips to help get you started.

1.  Do you have any glass tables?  If so, you'll need to move them into a safe place where a guest that gets knocked over or has had a little too much to drink won't fall on the glass and hurt himself. 

2.  Do you have any decor that has sharp edges or could fall over and hit someone?  If so, these pieces need to be moved out of the party area until your event is over.

3.  Do you have any pets?  For the safety of your guests and your pets, they should be boarded or kept locked up in another room until after your party.  Pets that are not usually aggressive could easily get spooked and you don't want a possible dog bit lawsuit.  In addition, you don't want any of your guests innocently feeding your pets something that could harm them.  So for everyone's sake please make other arrangements for your pets on party day.

4.  Are any children going to be attending your party?  If so, and you're serving alcohol, you'll need to have someone monitor the alcoholic beverages so no minors gain access to them.  Minors can be very sneaky so make sure you don't skip this step.  Otherwise, you'll have a lot of explaining to do if a child becomes intoxicated, or worse, injured. 

5.  That leads to the last but yet the most important of all your holiday preparation tasks.  If you'll be serving alcohol at your party, it's your responsibility to make sure that someone who's had too much to drink, doesn't drive.  You should have the phone number for a taxi service next to your phone.  Or perhaps, you could have a designated driver available to assist your intoxicated guests.  It may be necessary for you to collect everyone's keys as they arrive in order to avoid anyone who's drunk from slipping out unnoticed. 

The holidays are supposed to be filled with fun, friends, family and lots of holiday festivities.  So do your best to keep it that way.  If you've prepared your home ahead of time to eliminate any possible disasters and you have a pre-determined plan for any intoxicated guests, than your holiday event will be a great memory that everyone will remember for years to come.

Winter can be a great time to buy a home.  If you would like a list of available homes in your area, please contact your realtor.  He would be happy to help you with all your real estate needs.