While your guests don’t expect a hotel-like accommodation and amenities from your spare room, it’s always a good idea to make their stay as comfortable as possible. Here are some tips on how to make your guests feel at home:
Choose a Relaxing Color Palette
It’s always safer to use a gender-neutral and calming color scheme. You can easily achieve a relaxed look with any color, as long as your color palette features lighter and darker shades of your main color.
For example, creamy neutrals can be your base color complemented with pop of colors through pillows and other textiles to create a warm and serene scheme, or mix the color of the sea by using palette of blues and tans for a soothing bedroom palette. Eggshell hues, inspired by the colors of birds’ eggs with subdued blue walls and taupe accents (see photo below), are also a good choice.
Comfort Always Comes First
You want your guest to feel comfortable and welcome so choose fabrics and surfaces that make you feel good when you’re in the room. Are there enough pillows? Is the bedding fresh, clean and comfortable? These are some questions you need to remember before welcoming a guest.
If you have enough space, add a comfy chair so your guest can kick back and relax without sitting on the bed. If you’re working with a small space, you can try adding an upholstered bench at the end of the bed to achieve the same effect. You can also store all the little extras here like blankets, fresh towels, and toiletries so they know where to look.
Add a Special Something
Try to think ahead and try to think like a guest. You don’t exactly need a welcome basket (would be great if you do!) but make sure there’s a space where you can leave a bottled water and some snacks so your guest can help themselves with something to drink or eat anytime. You can keep it organized using open baskets or a tray as looking in someone else’s drawers seems intrusive, while items left out are clearly intended to be available to the guest.
You can also spruce up the space with some printables. It can be a simple message, or you can even go as far as printing the Wi-Fi password for their convenience.
Add Fresh Flowers or a Plant
Adding something fresh can make any room feel more comfortable. While the most obvious benefit to having plants around your home is the visual impact, plants are also good for your health. It can also remove volatile organic compounds like those that come from cigarette smoke, vinyl, and other common household items. However, if your guest is possibly scent sensitive, succulents are also a great option.
Don’t Forget About the Lighting
Layer lighting to create a warm and relaxed vibe. Ideally, there should be windows to provide good natural light during daylight. But if you don’t have windows in your guest room, make sure it’s properly lit. Lamps on the bedside tables are also essential for reading.
Consider providing blinds or curtains that’ll allow your guest to black out the room, too! Some people can’t sleep if there’s too much light and a simple roller blind can make all the difference.
