Guide to the Perfect Guest Room

You don’t need a large, single family home with a designated guest bedroom to be an excellent host — with a little creativity, homes of virtually any size can accommodate guests (Graham Hill even managed to fit a guest bed in his 200-square-foot Soho apartment). Your home office, media room, or (finished) basement or attic can work as a guest room with transforming and multi-functional furniture, like storage beds, wall beds, or day beds. The Flex modular sofa, for instance, features movable backrests and reconfigurable sofa islands, so it can be used as a sofa, day bed, or chaise lounge.

For the truly space-starved entertainer, wall beds are an ideal solution. With lots of additional features like built-in sofa seating, desks, and dining tables, a wall bed provides the functionality of an extra room. The Swing, for example, features integrated sectional seating when closed, opening to reveal a queen-sized wall bed for guests. Similarly, the Adam Tavolo features a full-length, integrated writing desk when closed and a queen bed when open, allowing your guest room to seamlessly transition to a home office in seconds.

Because you aren’t resting there every night, it’s easy to overlook those small, finishing touches that make for an exceptionally comfortable guest bedroom — like high-quality bedding. Adding a variety of throw pillows, quilts and throw blankets will go a long way towards upping the comfort factor; they also allows guests to find their perfect sleeping temperatures — not to mention, they make for great décor.

Bedding is especially important if you’re furnishing your guest space for vacation rental income. High thread count sheets, attractive pillowcases, and a heavy down comforter will give your guest room a hotel-like quality that sets your space apart from other vacation rental units on the market.

Of course, even the most luxurious hotel bedding can’t disguise a squeaky bed-frame or an old, worn mattress. Invest in a quality, medium-firm, memory foam mattress, as they appeal to many different types of sleepers. All Resource wall beds are sold with Italian-made Magniflex mattresses that adapt to the sleeper’s body heat and weight, self-adjusting to your guests’ optimal comfort level. No more guess-work involved in guest mattress shopping!

If you’re hosting guests, it’s likely they’re visiting for a special occasion. A full-length mirror is an obvious essential for anyone dressing up for a big event. Bonus points if your mirror includes clothing hooks for hats, coats, bags, or ties. When guests are in town for a formal occasion, the more clothing storage, the better. The Betty storage mirror is an excellent piece for guest rooms with its removable coat hangers and built-in sliding drawers on the sides for jewelry and other accessories.

Take more cues from hotels: stock your guest space with essential amenities, like travel-sized toiletries and stacks of fresh towels. Even if your guest room doesn’t have an en suite, every traveler will appreciate the gesture — and providing a supply of toiletries means guests won’t have to go rummaging through your bathroom vanity and linen closets in search of a spare tube of toothpaste!

To go the extra mile, keep a small coffee station in your guest room. Stock a console table with a coffee maker or kettle and add some coffee pods, teabags, and mugs. Place a small stack of books and magazines nearby, and invite your guests to relax with a hot beverage and a good read. Note: when it comes to guest rooms, consoles are an invaluable piece of furniture — not only do they make for great beverages stations, but they’re a great place for your guests to unpack.

We’ve all been there: You finally arrive at your destination, crawl into your guest bed, and pull out your phone for some late-night scrolling when you realize — you’re without Wi-Fi! And where are those pesky power outlets, anyway? Be a super-host and relieve your guests of this small but all-too-common annoyance. Place a device station in your guest room, complete with a power strip, spare phone chargers, and your Wi-Fi password. For an added décor factor, take inspiration from Pinterest and display your Wi-Fi password on a lightbox, chalkboard, or bulletin board. Keep your device station on a bedside table; the sleek Hexa side table offers a deep inner shelf for discretely storing charging devices at night. Never again will your guests have to crawl around furniture on their hands and knees, hunting for outlets!