“Hospitality is making your guests feel at home, even if you wish they were.”
~Author Unknown
What message does your guest room send to your friends and family when they come to visit? Is the room the collector of the cast offs from the rest of your home? The resting place for all the memorabilia from your kid’s school years?
If your goal is to make your guest feel out of place and eager to leave, no changes need be made, but if you want your guests to feel cherished and welcome, a few minor adjustments can take your guest space from shabby to sophisticated quickly and easily.
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| Before, this guest room was uninviting and lacked style. |
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| Guest room redone by Rivalee Design |
- Remove everything from the room that is not related to your guests - ironing boards, the goodwill pile, christmas decor... it all has to go.
- Repaint the walls. This is a wonderful first step for making over any room, and will instantly clean and freshen the space.
- Put new sheets on the bed and cover the old comforter with a new duvet cover. This doesn’t need to be expensive - a decent set of sheets and a clean white duvet cover from Target can go a long, long way. You can splurge as much as you want on thread counts and fine fabrics, but the point is to make the room feel fresh, clean, and prepared.
- Accessorize sparingly. The room should have enough art and accessories so as not to feel empty, but you want to leave lots of clear space on dressers and side tables for them to easily put their own belongings while they stay. Be sure they have a table surface next to the bed and adequate lighting should they wish to read in bed.
- Add in some extras. Set out fluffy white towels and a small basket with little things they might have forgotten - contact lens cases and solution, travel toothpaste, shampoo and soap, lotion, a razor... think of what a five star hotel might provide. Even a fluffy robe!
These changes can easily cost as little as a couple hundred dollars and can be done in a weekend. It's not too late to have your holiday guests feel welcome and appreciated.
