Everyone loves a party. The jury is still out, however, on cleaning up the mess at the end of the night. Whether you’re an incorrigible neat freak or simply someone whose energy is spent before it’s time to scrub a single dinner plate, the decidedly less glamorous aftermath of hosting dinner parties and birthday parties dissuades many would-be hosts from the companionship, pride, and fun that come with hosting. With these ways to make post-party cleanup easy, however, picking up after the last guest has gone home won’t seem so bad.

Start Clean, Stay Clean, End Clean

Cleaning the kitchen right before you’re about to make a mess of it may seem a bit redundant or overly fastidious. After all, even with an open-concept floor plan, the kitchen is a workspace, and no one will judge you for a little bit of disorganization around the kitchen, right? Right. But don’t think of beginning with a thorough cleaning as a courtesy to your houseguests. Think of it as a courtesy to yourself. By giving yourself a clean slate—or a clean countertop, as the case may be—to work with, you’ll have less to do when the party’s over. Also, if you clean as you go, you’ll have less of a mess waiting for you at night’s end.

Use Tablecloths

Here’s a lifehack that’s not just about simplifying but beautifying as well: put down tablecloths for all the surfaces where your guests will be dining. This aids in clean-up by picking up all the crumbs, spills, and stains that would otherwise end up on your tables themselves. When it’s time to clean up, disposing of or laundering the tablecloth saves time and energy you otherwise would have spent on cleaning the furniture. And if you’re thinking of hosting a birthday party rather than a dinner party, tablecloths can really add to the theme.

Disposable Tableware

Few sights are more stressful than a sink overflowing with dirty dishes. Looking at the accumulated disorder is enough to raise your blood pressure, and that’s before you even start thinking about all the rinsing you’ll have to do before you can load the dishwasher. It’s too much to bear. Why not do the dishes in one fell swoop by sending them straight to the bin instead? Disposable dinner party plates, along with disposable flatware, are one of the best ways to make post-party cleanup easy. They provide a much simpler alternative to the daunting task of washing delicate dishes. Best of all, with Smarty Had a Party’s wide variety of disposable tableware options, you can coordinate your table settings to the event, season, or aesthetic you’ve really been digging lately.