Creating a home from home with a guest room in your house

An adaptable guest room is a vital consideration for those who regularly have visitors staying over. With a few simple ideas and touches, you can turn yours into a welcoming space, writes Rin Hamburg.

Sarah Lazarovic for The National
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Whether it’s the occasional friend who spends the night after a dinner party, or family members who stay for weeks, it’s important to have a welcoming guest room if you want to make visitors feel comfortable. But creating a space that can be enjoyed by so many people – with all their different tastes and requirements – needs a bit of thought and effort. Plus, you won’t have guests every day of the year, so you need to factor in ways to use the room when no one is visiting, to make the best use of your home.

Setting the scene

At the very start, you need to think about the overall decorating scheme. You may wonder whether it’s possible to cater for your very traditional great aunt and your funky best friend at the same, but take your inspiration from hotel decor and you can’t go wrong.

First, clear away any clutter, especially personal items. You want to create a sense of “home from home”, and photos of you and your family will only emphasise the fact that your guest isn’t on familiar turf. Hotels tend to stick to a few oversized accessories such as a wall clock, a statement vase or a restful piece of wall art to add interest.

As far as colours go, avoid anything too bright – vivid colours are stimulating, and you want your guest room to have a relaxing, calming vibe. A neutral palette is probably the safest and is very on trend right now; use a combination of warm and cool shades inspired by nature, such as chalk, stone, sand and slate. To avoid the look getting too bland, make sure there’s plenty of texture, both visual (for example, subtle patterning and layering) and tactile (materials like wood and raw fabrics such as linen are great for this).

Alternatively, you could spoil your guests by going for an uber-luxe vibe, with silk and satin fabrics, plenty of glass and metallics, sumptuous soft carpeting, chandelier lighting and so on. The main thing to remember is that comfort is key, as your guests need to feel at home in their temporary residence, and also as if they’re being valued and treated as the important visitors that they are.

Choosing the essentials

If there’s one thing that you need to think carefully about, it’s a guest bed. After all, your visitors are going to spend most of their time in this room asleep, so it’s essential that they’re comfortable once the lights go out. Spend as much as you can afford on a quality mattress, solid frame and good linen. If you have the space, make sure that the bed is at least a double, if not a king or super-king size. If space is an issue, or if your guests are few and far between, you might want to consider a decent sofa bed, an adaptable futon or a single bed with a pull-out option. These all allow you to keep as much of the room as possible free for other uses.

If you have space, your guests may appreciate extra items of furniture, such as a wardrobe, chest of drawers or dressing table. However, you don’t necessarily have to provide all of these, as long as there’s somewhere to store clothing and other items. A hook with a selection of hangers may be enough for a couple of outfits, for example, or you could provide a foldaway luggage rack, which will allow your guest to use their suitcase as a large drawer. Try to choose furniture that’s multifunctional to increase the amount that it can be used when there’s no one staying. For example, the right dressing table could double up as a desk for you to use, while a chest of drawers could act as extra storage for the rest of the family, so long as one drawer is left clear for visitors.

In addition to furniture, be sure that you provide the right accessories. Bedside lighting is key, as are fresh towels (large, medium and hand, plus a face cloth – and a free-standing towel rail is a nice touch too), and extra blankets and pillows, preferably of different weights and firmness. If there’s space, an armchair is a nice addition, as it allows your guest to relax outside of those times when they want to be in bed. Finally, a full-length mirror will help them feel confident before they leave their room and join the rest of the house.

Finishing touches

These are just the essentials – if you use your imagination, there are endless thoughtful touches that you can add. Fresh flowers are such a simple way to make a room come alive, and no one will be able to resist a hotel-style mint on their pillow. A carafe of water by the side of the bed will be welcomed by thirsty guests or you could invest in coffee-making facilities or even splash out on a mini-fridge.

For a bit of light evening entertainment, consider supplying your guest with one or two up-to-date magazines, a carefully stocked bookshelf or even a small TV. If your visitor is planning on staying a while and doing some sightseeing, a folder of brochures from local attractions, as well as maps and timetables or contact details for local transport, will always be appreciated. You could also include useful information, such as any alarm codes for the house or details about how to control the air conditioning.

When adding your final touches, think about the type of things that you like to have around you when you’re relaxing, which a guest might not think (or have room) to pack – a spare robe, perhaps. Save or buy in travel-sized toiletries so that your visitors are well provided for, and maybe add one or two luxuries such as an expensive bubble bath or a couple of scented candles.

Get it right and your guests will be so happy and relaxed that you might struggle to get rid of them.

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