With the festive season just around the corner, if you have a guest bedroom there’s a good chance you’ll be playing host at some point. So now is the ideal time to go into that spare room and have a sort out, so it is thoroughly guest ready by Christmas.
Now I know that not everyone has the luxury of owning a guest room that doesn’t get used between stays – quite often the spare bedroom has to double up as a home office / gym / playroom / storage space. Which is ok as you can make it function perfectly well as a double duty room. For example, if you need a home office, why not get a desk which can also work as a dressing table for guests? If the room usually is a den for the teen or a playroom for little ones, a sofa bed may be a good compromise.
So here are some ideas your guests will undoubtedly appreciate:
Comfy bed
Lumpy or hard mattresses won’t make your guests feel particularly welcome, so if the guest bed has seen better days now may be the time to invest in a new one. Size up or size down as appropriate and consider an ottoman bed which will provide extra handy storage. Quite often the guest room isn’t the largest room in the house and so this will enable you to stow away little used items, extra bedding and pillows or the gym mats, work files and artists materials etc. that normally clutter up the spare bedroom, freeing up space for your guests.
Chest of drawers
It’s nice for guests not to have to ‘live out of their suitcase’ when they come to stay. If they can separate their clothes and fold them into drawers they will feel more relaxed, organised and at home. Make sure you remove any of your items before they arrive.
Chair
Your guests may like to go to their room to unwind and relax, so an armchair is a great addition – somewhere they can sit and read the paper or scroll through their phone in peace and comfort. If you don’t have space for an armchair, a dining chair would suffice.
Bedside Table and lamp
Guests may want to read before bed, have a drink of water or get up in the night so make them feel comfortable and at home by having a bedside table and lamp at their disposal. If you don’t have a bedside table, you could use a stool as a night stand and clip a lamp on a lead above the bed.
Mirror
Allow guests to check their appearance before they leave the guest room! A full length mirror would be appreciated by most guests, but even a mirror on a stand would do.
Extra pillows and blanket
Even if you think you have given them the plumpest, most perfect pillow and have the room temperature just right, don’t assume your guests will agree! Make sure you provide an extra blanket, whatever the time of year, and a couple of spare pillows to ensure maximum comfort.
Towels
Guests will often bring a towel with them, but it’s a nice touch to put a couple in their room just in case they forgot to pack one down or in case they are travelling light.
A charger and the Wifi code
In this day and age, people visiting will need to charge their phones and would certainly appreciate a charger being left in their room and you providing the wifi code without them needing to ask for it. You could print out the code and place in a perspex frame in the guest room for convenience.
Tray with snacks/drinks
No doubt you’d like your guests to feel perfectly at home and able to help themselves to food and drink in the kitchen, but its a nice gesture to leave a tray of tempting snacks such as cereal bars and fruit for when they get peckish. Some bottled water and a glass is a good idea, too.
Tissues, guest soap, spare toothbrush
If guests have arrived in a hurry or at short notice, they may have forgotten to pack the essentials like their toothbrush, so having a few new toiletries set aside for them shows you care.
Hooks/ hangers for clothes
Even if you don’t have space for a wardrobe in the guest room, you must ensure there are at least some coat hangers on a hook behind the bedroom door so coats and clothes can be hung up and kept crease free.
Reading material
Providing a few books, magazines and information about local visitor attractions would be a good idea, as well as a notepad and pen.
After all, it’s the thoughtful little touches like this that make all the difference during a stay and will ensure guests want to come again!
© Copyright 2017 Antonia, All rights Reserved. Written For: Tidylife
