Guest Room Decorating So Your Guest Won’t Want to Leave

There is no doubt about it—a guest room should make your guest feel right at home! Therefore, to achieve this goal, you have to decorate this room so inviting and comfortable that they will not want to leave it too soon.

There are two ways of approaching this design project. First, you can create a bedroom worthy of a Five Star hotel, which we have covered elsewhere . Another way is to simply make your guest room as comfy and “lived in” as part of your home only reserved for special visiting VIPs.

The vital design components of this ideal guest room include:

• Ample storage
• Comfortable furnishings and decor
• Snug bedding
• Books
• A few personal or unique items

Guest Room Ideas: Ample Storage

Often our house guests can quickly feel out of place when they open a dresser or closet and find someone else’s belongings there, particularly if there is not enough room to place anything they have brought with them. Even if your guest is only staying for a weekend, not providing adequate storage space can make your guest feel like they are invading someone else’s property and quickly feel uncomfortable.

If you are lacking for rooms, it is understandable that the kid’s room (whether they have left for college or not) might double as a guest room. It is even forgivable if the closets still contain some items. However, before your guest arrives, be sure to free up at least half the closet space for their use. What’s more, make sure to supply them with enough hangers as well.

On the other hand, you should certainly free up the dressers completely. It would be less intimidating if your guest open up the dresser drawers to discover all this space was set aside especially for them. It might actually make them feel more welcome.

A bedroom dresser like the Lea Deer Run 5 Cherry Drawer Chest , for example, has five generously sized drawers waiting to be filled up whether they are staying overnight or for the long haul like during the holidays.
Meanwhile, the Standard Mission Hills Triple Dresser along

with a matching Standard Mission Hills Bedroom Mirror has more than necessary yet very welcome nine pull drawers and central two-door and fixed shelf compartment. What’s more, the mirror will not only provide an extra vanity mirror apart from the bathroom (especially if your guest will be sharing a bathroom with others in the household), but even a small room will seem larger with this addition.
BUT if you are completely lacking in built-in closet space, try adding a wardrobe armoire like the Ameriwood Systembuild Oak Wardrobe Armoire that lets you provide space to hang clothes, a shoe rack, dressers, and even room for bedding in one completely practical furniture piece.

Meanwhile, the Young America by Stanley Serenity Wardrobe Armoire offers plenty of storage and a beautiful and useful oval mirror integrated into the door.

Guest Room Ideas: Comfortable Furnishing and Décor

Of course, the two main things you will need to furnish your guest room are a bed (preferably a comfy one) and a dresser. On the other hand, a more creative and even practical choice would be to use a daybed that can serve as cosy seating as well as a bed for one or more.
The stylishly simple Hillsdale Miko Daybed , for example, offers two individual mattresses as well as flip-up end tables and flip-out magazine racks as well.
While your guest might not be staying long, you should still provide them with day-to-day items we often take for granted. This includes a coat or garment rack and even a clock.
You can add the Prepac Sonoma Black Cubbie Shelf Wall Coat Rack not just in your entryway but also in your guest room. Why? It makes a great place for them to hang their coats, jackets, and even handbags, while also providing secure space to keep their keys, watches, glove, and other items all on a convenient wall fixture

.

A clock is also a functional yet decorative addition to your guest room. A wall clock like the Howard Miller Quartz Wall Clock, for example, is simple enough not to be intimidating yet play its intended role.

Guest Room Ideas: Snug Bedding

Even while staying with the best hosts, sleeping in an unfamiliar environment can be made significantly more hospitable with cosy, soft bedding. This should include plush pillows, a rich comforter, and soft sheets.
You cannot go wrong with classic feather pillows like the Daniadown Classic Bed Pillow. These pillows provide proper support and soothing softness all contributing to the most restful sleep.
Add to that the Nygard Home Serenity Cream Comforter and some matching throw pillows, neck pillows, and other bedding and your guest might not want to leave your home let alone your guest room.

Guest Room Ideas: Books

While avoiding placing a TV in your guest room might encourage your guest to join you and your household in the family room or living room as part of the family, you should nevertheless provide a small yet well-chosen selection of books and/or magazines in your guest room for them to read and relax before falling asleep.

You can store them in a space-friendly corner bookshelf like the OSP Designs Espresso 5 Shelf Corner Ladder Bookcase

or keep them on the nightstand like the elegantly subtle Black Winsome Nightstand . The latter can also be conveniently placed within arm’s reach from bed so they can throw their glasses on it safely as well.
Guest Room Ideas: A Few Personal or Unique Items

Finally, your guest room should be designed to be an organic extension of all your rooms. Therefore, you should add some personal items, but not too many as to be too personal and intimidating to your visitor. Therefore, some framed favourite family pictures, unique souvenirs from family trips, and other things that will make the room feel personalized and at home yet not so individualized as to seem that the room belongs to a specific person.

I hope these ideas help you with decorataing your guest room!

Nicolette Interior Design Diva

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 at 10:54 am and is filed under Bedroom Furniture & Design Ideas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.