With the holidays approaching and the inevitable visits from friends and family, most guest rooms could use a little extra polish to make them warm and welcoming.
Thinking through the details will pay off in how comfortable your guests feel, whether you are constructing a new home, remodeling, building a guest cottage or simply sprucing up an existing guest room.
One absolute essential on which both designers and contractors agree is quiet, luxurious details and comfort.
“I like to do all of my bedrooms like a five-star hotel,” Peachtree Hills interior designer Beth Webb said of the ambience she aims for when creating a guest room for one of her clients. When you outfit a guest room, what you are looking for is great hotel details such as neutral paint colors, sedate art, blackout drapes, a fantastically comfortable bed and a room that makes your guests want to come back again, not rue the day they arrived.
To make your guest room sensational, follow the advice of these experts.
Invest in luxury bedding
A great mattress (designer Beth Webb likes Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts mattresses available directly from the hotels), a selection of pillows in both down and synthetic of different weights and a cashmere blanket or throw for extra luxury are essentials, said Atlanta interior designers.
To offer a superior night's sleep, Webb recommends “super-decadent luxury linens” from Sferra, Pratesi and Leontine. Gainesville-based interior designer Jennifer Reynolds often uses linens from www.downlite.com and the line of Westin hotels bedding available from either Nordstrom or directly from the Westin Home Collection site at www.heavenlybed.com.
Details count
Stock a guest bath with the sorts of amenities you would find in a top hotel, plus special extras. “Don’t forget to include common things like Q-tips, cotton balls, Kleenex and an extra toothbrush as well as unexpected items such as luxury soaps, shampoos and bath beads, shower caps, loofahs, etc.,” said designer Reynolds.
For those who really want to pamper their guests, take Reynolds’ advice: “I love leaving a hospitality basket in the room with bottles of waters, fresh fruit, snacks, cushy slippers, the plushest robe, and even an eye mask. You can also include the latest shelter magazines, current newspapers and a reading light.”
Double up
Instead of the usual queen bed, more homeowners are opting for the flexibility of two double beds “if the room allows,” said Webb. Two beds offer sleeping options for different configurations of guests besides married couples, such as a mother and daughter or best friend guests. Bunk rooms for kids with a pair of bunk beds or twin beds with trundles are great when your visitors include multiple children.
Keep it private
Most contractors and designers prefer to locate a guest room apart from the main bedrooms of the house to create a private retreat.
“An ideal guest room offers proximity to the main living areas of the house but offers privacy from personal spaces of the owner's family. I find many homeowners desire their personal bedrooms on the second level and a guest room with private bath to be located on the main level of the house. This allows guests access to the kitchen or media room without interrupting the homeowners during odd hours,” said Heather Shuster, project development director at Renewal Design-Build in Decatur.
“Homeowners should also think carefully about adding guest bedrooms to a basement or attic space. Consider who is using this space. If it is intended for an aging parent, stairs or awkward spaces might prove too uncomfortable,” Shuster said.
Update on a budget
For homeowners on a budget, Roswell interior designer Ann Wisniewski, president of AJW Designs Inc., likes to add impact by moving art from another part of their home to the guest room, by creating an accent wall in a contrasting color or injecting a pop of color with decorative throw pillows.
Multi-task
If you are in a smaller home or downsizing and need a room to do double duty, a day bed in an office or study can easily transform it into a comfortable guest room. Wisniewski also has seen clients using Murphy beds from companies such as Spacemakers to quickly convert an office to a guest room when company arrives.
Provide options
A seating area for reading and relaxing, an empty chest of drawers and a luggage rack for storing clothes and baggage can all add convenience and keep too much mess out of your guest room.
Keep your guests connected
Both Reynolds and Webb recommend outfitting guests with an iPod docking station. Also helpful is a way for guests to charge their phone, as well as directions on how to use the television remote control, operate the motorized window shades and access the family’s Wi-Fi connection.
Convert a formal living room
With more and more families phasing out these spaces, a conversion to a guest room makes perfect sense, said Guy LaMarca, general manager at Atlanta Design and Build in Marietta. “Typically, most families don’t spend much time in the formal living room, so it is a relatively easy decision to use that room for a guest room ... simple conveniences such as window treatments and closet storage go a long way in helping a guest feel ‘at home’ while away from home,” said LaMarca.
Getting your guest room ready for the holidays
Nothing says “welcome” like thoughtful details that show you have gone the extra mile to make your guests comfortable. Interior designer Beth Webb, who blogs at aesthetically-thinking.blogspot.com, offers these tips of luxurious but easy-to-pull-off touches that herald your guests’ arrival:
- Try out your guest room ahead of time to make sure it is comfortable and all of your guests' needs have been anticipated.
- Tie a stack of fluffy towels with a gorgeous ribbon.
- If you can't have a carafe of water, a bottle of Perrier placed in a champagne bucket filled with ice and placed on a tray is an elegant and useful amenity, said Webb.
- Fresh flowers are a must, said Webb, who likes to choose one variety of flower for an arrangement, such as a tight bouquet of red or white roses, or for Christmas forced paperwhites or amaryllis.
- Switch out your regular sheets with warm and cozy flannel sheets for the holidays.
- Take a cue from some of the luxurious resorts Webb has visited. In the morning, leave a tray with a carafe of coffee, pitcher of cream, bowl of sugar and basket of pastries at your guests' door. "You'd be a really great hostess if you did that," said Webb.
- A robe and slippers for each guest in the closet add comfort to their stay.
- A scented candle with a book of matches is a lovely touch. Webb likes the Diptyque candles for their subtle scent.
