How to Prepare a Guest Room
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When looking to buy a new house, we had to make sure that we would have a guest room. My sister and her husband live out of town so they only come in town a few times a year, and it’s for the holidays.
Other times of the year, this extra bedroom becomes a multipurpose room. I use it as my laundry room where I hang all of our clothes to dry since our current washer and dry is in a closet.
So there are two types of guest rooms out there.
One that is set up all year round and is ready to be used at a moment’s notice.
You have a multipurpose room that you can turn into a guest room with a few hours notice.
In this step-by-step tutorial, I’m showing you how you can flip any room you have into a functional and beautiful modern guest bedroom without spending any money.
1. Hang up room darkening curtains.
2. Make the bedding appropriate for the season.
3. Add nightstands and a floor lamp.
4. Add a clock.
6. Add decor that you have stored and aren’t currently using.
1. Hang up room darkening curtains
WHY?
When guests travel to your home from long distances, they are almost always physically and mentally drained. Traveling is exhausting, whether they drove into town or they flew.
To feel like their best selves, guests want a good night’s sleep before having to go to or participate in social gatherings.
Just like hotels, curtains are really important! To have the best night’s sleep, no one wants the sun shining in their eyes before their alarm goes off.
Guests want to sleep soundly in a place that isn’t their home and I believe that curtains are so valuable to help them get their sleep!
Depending on the height of your extra guest room, I would suggest getting curtains that go up to the ceiling and touch the floor. This way, when the blinds are closed, the amount of light coming into the room is minimal.
WHERE TO BUY THEM
Walmart and Target don’t sell very long curtains, so these 108-inch curtains I found at HomeGoods. Tuesday Morning is another store that usually has longer lengths that are affordable. I looked on Amazon but they are so much more expensive! Try looking at HomeGoods or Tuesday Morning before spending $80 on Amazon.
These navy blue curtains, I got two panels for $40 at HomeGoods.
2. Make the bedding appropriate for the season
My sister and her husband usually come in town for Thanksgiving and Christmas every year and stay at our house. Since we live in the Midwest, it can be pretty chilly in November and December.
So I switch out the guest sheets for flannel sheets and lay down the heavy winter comforter.
If you don’t have a winter comforter for guests, be sure to provide multiple blankets so that the guests can choose how many layers they add to their bed.
TIP: I like to buy king-sized duvet comforters and covers on a queen bed so that each person has plenty of blanket real estate.
*If you have an extra rug, add it to the guest bedroom to keep the guests’ feet warm.
We had this rug in our living room at our old house and it was too small for our current living room so we moved it up to the guest room. Plus it matches the gray color scheme perfectly.
3. Add nightstands and a floor lamp
Since we just moved, it is not in our budget to buy matching nightstands for the guest room, so I used what we had.
This industrial farmhouse wooden shelf was in my office and it had baskets with crafting supplies in them. Since I won’t be crafting when guests are in town, I thought I could sacrifice my small shelf for a couple of days.
I found this wifi sign at Hobby Lobby last year and it’s glass so you can use a dry erase marker to write down your wifi password for guests.
Leaving the last shelf empty allows the guest to put their personal items next to them, such as a book, medications, or glasses.
For the second nightstand, I used a side table from our living room.
I just recently rearranged the living room to create space for our Christmas tree, so I could part with this additional side table for a couple weeks.
As long as the side table is at a height that it is comfortable to charge your phone and place a cup of water on it, it will work as a nightstand.
I borrowed this floor lamp from the office as well. Again, I won’t be crafting in my office when guests are in town so it’s more important that they have the option to have softer lighting than it is for me to keep the light in the office when it’s not being used.
Moral of the story = rearrange your furniture!
Often, we have more furniture pieces in our home than we think. We don’t need to have the perfect Pinterest worthy guest bedroom when it is only used a few times a year. I believe that it’s important to make our guests welcome and comfortable but not at the expense of going into debt. Use what you have and when the guests leave, put your items back where they originally were. No one will know.
4. Add a clock
We already had this clock from our old house so I wanted to reuse it in this house.
If you don’t have a large clock, you can also find a small clock and place it on the wall in the guest room or even in the bathroom.
In our iPhone world, I don’t think it’s necessary to provide an alarm clock to guests. Everyone uses their phone so that isn’t needed.
5. Add a small table or desk
This entryway table was in our dining room in our old house. We don’t have a formal entryway in our current house so it was in the basement not being used.
I brought it up to the guest room and it fit perfectly! I wouldn’t choose this reddish-brown wood tone but it works in this nook in the guest bedroom.
I added a ceiling hook so that I could hang a pothos plant. (These plants are super easy to grow and are low maintenance!)
I added a small basket of three extra blankets in case my sister and her husband got cold at night and needed more warmth.
Lastly, I added a wooden serving tray to the top of the table. Here you can place a notepad with a pen, water bottles, snacks, a candle, or anything else that would make the guests feel at home.
I know that my sister loves to spread out her jewelry when she arrives so I created a little space with the serving tray so that she can use it for a specific purpose.
You can tailor your guest room to your guests.
If I had my brother spending my night, I wouldn’t need to add the same items.
Each person is a different type of traveler and once they’ve visited once, you will get a better idea of the things that they really enjoyed having.
6. Add decor that you have stored and aren’t currently using
When my husband and I first got married, we went to Hobby Lobby and bought this large neutral-toned world map. We loved it at the time and had it in our living room for years. As time went on, I realized that it didn’t really match the interior design style that I was going for.
Since the guest room is a really simple modern design, I decided that it could use a busier artwork. If the walls were busy, the world map would have created a cluttered look. With the walls being a soft offwhite, the busy artwork is the focus.
TIP: Use any artwork or decorations that you already have stored away or are thinking of getting rid of. They might be given new life when put in a new space.
Summary
COST: $0
SUPPLIES:
Bed + Bedding + Extra Blankets + Rug (optional)
Two furniture pieces that could double as nightstands.
A small lamp for one nightstand + a floor lamp (optional).
A sign with a wifi password.
Side Table
Clock + Plant + Artwork
SOURCES:
Gray Wood Wall Panels: Barn Gray Homesteader Wall Panel at Lowes
Wall Paint: Sherwin Williams Alabaster Satin
Wall Trim: Sherwin Williams Alabaster Eggshell
Rug: Home Depot (years ago)
Bedding: TJ Maxx
Industrial Modern Shelf: Bed Bath & Beyond (years ago)
Side Table: Big Lots
Floor Lamp: Target
Entryway Table: Bed Bath & Beyond (years ago)
Blanket Pouf Basket: Sam’s Club
Serving Tray: TJ Maxx
Clock: Marshalls
Plant Ceiling Hook: Lowes
Plant: Pothos
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