Guest Room Ready

In my quest to get everything done on my To-Do list by next week, I am trying to take my time and enjoy the process. I am working in slow-mode, listening to Christmas music and watching holiday movies while I work and get tasks checked off my list.  I don’t want the most wonderful time of the year to become the most stressful time of the year. I want to enjoy every detail.

Yesterday, in between baking cookies, I did a check of my guest room to make sure it was guest room ready for overnight guests. It was clean, I can thank Ed for that, but I like to add a few details to make sure the room looks and feels inviting and comfortable so that it meets the needs of guests who stay with us for a night or a week.

I have had a guest room in all the homes that I have lived in except one. Even without a separate room to accommodate guests in that house, it never stopped us from having guests, we just had to be creative and used a sleeper sofa in the living room. No one ever complained, but it is nice to have a room to give guests a place they can call their own while they visit.

Some of us are natural hostesses, but for some of us, overnight guests can lead to a bit of anxiety.  Below are my tried and true tips to keep guests comfortable and happy, while leaving me relaxed and able to enjoy the visit, too!

The bed:   I make sure there are fresh clean sheets, a warm blanket, and a few pillows of different firmness so every guest can choose the one they like. Since I have a strong preference for a flat pillow, I like to give guests options. I also make sure there is a light blanket at the foot of the bed or on a chair in the room for easy access if the night turns chilly.

Clear Out the Clutter:  I often use this room as a staging area or AKA…a dumping ground of stuff I don’t know what to do with when guests are not visiting.   I make sure the dresser top is cleared so whoever is staying with us can easily lay out their stuff.

• I posted about how I created the mirror gallery wall a few years ago. You can find the post here:  How to Create a 3D Mirror Gallery Wall.
• To learn how I transformed the dresser with gift wrap, click here.

I also clean out a few drawers in the dresser, a free section of the closet, and recently added this luggage stand.  Guests need a place — other than the floor to place their stuff.  Before I found this luggage stand, I used to use a piano bench. It was small and fit nicely at the end of the bed or in the closet.

Lighting:  I have swing-arm lamps on each side of the bed. I like using them since they don’t take up any table space.

I replaced the bulbs with new soft white LED’s by Cree. I was sent one to try out. I tried one in my family room a few weeks ago.  I didn’t think I was going to like the light it emitted, but I was pleasantly surprised by the color of the light, not grey and cold, but warm and incandescent-like.

Since they use less energy, last for 10 years, and for me most importantly, are dimmable, I bought a few more at Home Depot to add to all the rooms in my house as the old bulbs burn out.

When I placed the clip-on lamp shade back on after changing the bulb, I got a pleasant surprise. The bulb’s rubber safety coating helped hold and keep the shade straight. :-)  The shade would always tilt in one direction before.  No more fussing over tilted shades anymore :-)

For window light filtering, I have a roller shade and curtain panels on the window so that guests can filter the morning light as much as they desire.

Comforts of home:  I use a basket that was once a purse as a place to hold snacks.  I have found that many guests can be shy about asking for something to eat or searching the cabinets in the kitchen when they get the munchies. When some snacks are out ready and waiting in the guest room, they will know they are especially for them. It your guests are staying for a few days, make sure to restock it.

I used to have a clock in the room, but nowadays everyone uses their phones so I removed it. I did however add the free printable to display our WiFi password. It is one of the FAQ’s anyone who stays with us asks.

Bathroom:   It doesn’t take a lot of time to make it feel special so that your guests will feel pampered. I put travel size toiletries on the counter just like a hotel. This way if a guest forgets something, they won’t have to ask me for it. I found the little white tray at the thrift store. I tied two sprigs of fake greenery with ribbon to add holiday cheer.  I made a label for a basket that holds extra towels.

We added this… a Temp 2 0 Shower head made by Delta right before Thanksgiving. It was easy to install – it simply screws onto the existing shower plumbing pipe coming from the wall.  It has an LED digital display where the color indicators signal different temperatures: blue represents below 80 degrees, magenta is between 80 and 110, red is greater than 110 degrees but you can also read the degrees on the display. Plus it has 6 different spray modes so your guests will feel like they are at a spa. I  found the perfect temp for me is 109 degrees and like the rain shower effect that feels like you are getting a massage.

And one last thing that always becomes a problem when hosting overnight guests…what to do with wet towels.

When guests are sharing a bathroom with the family and other guests – wet towels and what to do with them can become a problem. Having a place to hang wet towels in the guest room opens up the towel racks in the bathroom. I used simple hooks on molding in the corner of the room as a place for guests to hang their towels. Having it clearly marked as a place to hang them keeps the multiple wet towel problem at bay.

Are you expecting overnight guests in your home for the holidays?  Do you have a guest room, a pull out sofa, use Aero Beds, or do something different?