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Decor Inspiration for the Room:
My dream guest bedroom design for our house probably would've looked similar to how I've styled the rest of our home; something colorful and coastal with touches of modern grandmillennial decor. But Ryan and I were generously handed down an older guest bedroom furniture set from my in-laws, so I knew I had to design the guest room more around that. We were gifted a Queen Ann style traditional dresser and mirror, an additional highboy dresser, and a nightstand and a table lamp. All of these items are a classic darker wood color with antique looking accents. No colorful coastal vibes in sight, so I knew this room needed to have a slightly different decor vibe than most other parts of our house.
After a weekend girls' trip to the historic Omni Homestead Resort last fall, I decided to base our guest room decor off of the guestroom that my friend Amanda and I stayed in at the Homestead! Lilac colored walls to offset the classic and darker wooden furniture, and crisp, white bedding. Below is a picture of the room we stayed in:
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| I printed and framed this photo of the Omni Homestead, which is now in our guest room inspired by it! |
5 Essentials Every Guest Room Should Have:
I love any type of hosting overnight guests, and I have since way before having my first house. During my senior year of college when I finally had my own solo dorm room, I had a permanent air mattress that stayed inflated on my floor, because I had girlfriends spending the night so often. What a treat it is to now finally had a dedicated guest room space!
I don't just want this room to be a place with an extra bed that people can spend the night on. I want the space to feel intentional and welcoming. A place that says "I'm so excited that YOU are our guest!" I thought long and hard about special touches I could add to our guest room to make it as cozy, special and memorable as I could. A couple of these were inspired by things friends have done in their own guests rooms when I've been the guest, and a couple I thought of myself or from social media inspiration.
1. A Luggage Rack - I think this is the #1 easiest way to elevate your guest room space, and giving it boutique hotel vibes. Give your guests a dedicated space for their overnight bag or suitcase! That way they don't have to put anything on the floor, or awkwardly make space for it. Having a luggage rack already out and ready shows how prepared you were for their stay, and how intentional your guest room space is!
I love the look of this coastal bamboo inspired luggage rack, but it is a splurge for this type of item. This acrylic one is under $100 and also has such a chic look. I ended up going with a very affordable under $35 gold luggage rack, as it coordinated well with the rest of the room, and it was quite a steal price-wise! The quality is great for the price.
2. Easily Displayed Wifi Information - Asking someone's wifi information when visiting their home can sometimes feel like such an imposition. Especially if they have whatever random password came with their router that they can never remember off the top of their head, and then they have to stop whatever they were doing to go dig up that information! One wait to totally avoid your guests feeling like they're imposing is the clearly display wifi information in the guest room already. I created a cute graphic with our wifi network information on Canva in a color scheme that matched the room, had it printed at my local CVS Photo on matte paper, and then easily framed it! Someday I'll replace it to a cuter frame (maybe something like this?), but this grey wooden frame that we had lying around has worked just fine for the time being.
3. Extra Toiletries - I picked up this lovely guest room hack from my college friend Michelle! She was one of my first friends to buy her own home, back in our mid 20s (such an accomplishment!). The first time that I came to visit and spend the night in her home, I was delighted by an assortment of toiletries that she provided in her guest bathroom, new and unopened! She was fully prepared for if I had forgotten anything at all, and it was such a thoughtful touch. I'm so glad to do that now in our guest room! For our first guest, I made sure that we had:
I just recently added a deodorant, and I'd still like to keep adding more useful toiletry items as well! Even if your guest doesn't forget or run out of any toiletries during their stay, this is still such a thoughtful and memorable touch.
4. Framed Photo of You and Your Guest(s) - This might be the easiest thing to add to your guest room on this whole list. Find an empty frame, send a picture of you and your guest(s) to print at your local CVS or Walgreens Photo, and voila! The most thoughtful and personal touch for your guest room. Our first overnight guest was my friend Cara, and I had fun finding a photo of us from my wedding to frame for her visit. It'll be so easy for me to change out photos for future guests.
5. Something For Guests To Leave Behind For You - Another idea that I picked up from being a guest at a friend's house! My best friend Ciera and her husband started keeping a polaroid camera in their guest room in Texas. Every time someone stays with them, a polaroid photo is taken during the visit, and added to their little display area! It's such a cute way to document and remember everyone that's been a guest in their home. Since our guest room feels very traditional, I wanted to go with something traditional for this aspect of the room. And what's more traditional than an old-fashioned guest book? I was delighted to find this exact one, which was not only affordably priced, but coordinated so well with the color scheme and vibe of our guest room as well!
A couple of other things that I'd like to add for future guest visits but didn't have yet: a vase of fresh flowers, and a spare phone charger and white noise machine, in case anyone forgot theirs.
Please let me know in the comments if you have any guest room essentials that you'd add to this list. Happy hosting!
Links:
Fabric on Headboard // White Bedding // Scalloped Curtains // Lamp on Nightstand // Brown Accent Pillows (exact ones not online, similar here) // Luggage Rack // In Our Home Guest Book
God Bless,
xoxo Annaliese
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