How to Design a Warm, Welcoming Guest Room
Pamper Overnight Guests with a Bedroom That Rivals a High-end Hotel
Mar 15, 2009
If at all possible, make the room you choose for guests serve just that purpose. Clear clutter out of the room including the closet, or at least part of the closet, and move the extra desk and family mementos elsewhere.
The Essential Guest Bedroom Pieces
Start out with a fresh coat of paint. Have fun with the color, but choose a soft, soothing shade such as Benjamin Moore's "Linen White" or "Timothy Straw"or Farrow & Ball's "Parma Gray".
A good mattress is probably the most important feature of a comfortable guest room. Always opt for as large a bed as the room and your budget can handle. More important than size though is firmness, with a firmer bed preferred by most people. if your guest room is on the small side, opt for a twin-sized trundle bed, where one mattress slides on rollers under the other and stays concealed until needed.This configuration allows two twin mattresses to fit in the floor space of one bed.
Invest in cool, crisp breathable cotton sheets. (Be sure they are always laundered between guests.) And provide a variety of blankets in natural fibers, perhaps a light cotton waffle weave, a woolen blanket and a light down comforter. Offer several of the largest, fluffy towels you can find and perhaps a cozy robe and slippers to borrow. Provide several pillows, ideally in different sizes and shapes, some firm, some soft, so guests can find one that suits them.
If space allows include a comfortable reading chair and an ottoman or foot stool.
Bedroom Lighting is Important
Pay particular attention to the lighting in the room. Be sure the lighting is adequate for reading or perhaps sewing on a button or knitting. Arrange lamps in a triangle for even distribution of light around the room and include at least one lamp with an adjustable three-way bulb. Supply a small nightlight so guests can find their way around in unfamiliar surroundings. And tuck a small flashlight into the beside table drawer, just in case there is an emergency or a power failure.
Supply Some Bedroom Storage
Provide a luggage rack or a bench where your guests can open a suitcase and unpack. Offer them empty space in a closet that's supplied with plenty of hangers. And make sure they know there's an empty drawer or two in a bureau so they don't need to live out of suitcases.Tucking an iron and ironing board into the closet is an especially thoughtful touch.
Little Things Count in the Guest Room
Attention to the smallest details will add up to big comfort for your guests. One way to approach outfitting the guest space it to think about what you would like to find if you were the guest.
Provide some light reading material such as a book of short stories or essays or current issues of magazines on a favorite topic of the guests or with a regional focus for out-of-town guests. Other comforts of home you can provide include an alarm clock or clock radio and perhaps a small television.
Though not essential, incorporating the following items will go a long way toward ensuring that guests are comfortable and truly feel at home: a small pad of paper and a pen; a trash receptacle; an empty electrical outlet to recharge cell phones, without having to move furniture to find an outlet; a few pieces of ripe fruit or some trail mix or granola bars and some bottled water.
Test the New Guest Bedroom Design Out
Finally, spend a night in your own guest room and you'll soon see if anything is missing. Aim to spoil your guests with attention to the details and make the room a symbol of how important your guests are to you.
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