A few things to consider when preparing your guest room:
1. Consider if the room can be multi-functional:
Earlier this year, we set up a lovely craft cabinet in our guest room which I absolutely loved! It was a great space in which to work and housed all my creative materials. However, as soon as we had guests to stay for a few weeks I had to move the cabinet out to fit in an extra bed. It was also not really possible to go in there and work while we had guests staying in the room. So in our case, having a multi-functional guest room just doesn't work.
2. Take out things that are not useful in the space:
When I decided that our guest room was only going to be used for guests to stay there, it was easier to keep just guest room essentials in the room as well as a few stored items. In between visitors it can become a bit of a junk deposit area, but after another few hours of having to clear the space again I have made a firm decision not to just stuff things into the guest room cupboard when I don't have time to deal with them.
If you are in a position to have a dedicated guest room, I think it is easier to keep it in a state that it is ready for guests rather than rushing around madly at the last minute like I sometimes do! That may mean having guest towels and linen clean and ready to use as well as a dedicated drawer or shelf with extra toiletries in a basket. We also have a hair drier set up and a music player that lives in the guest room. I like to add fresh flowers, a chocolate treat and water bottle at the last minute but everything else can be prepared in advance. If you would like to read my previous post, which has a list of guest room "essentials", click here.
I will also ask our guests what their experience of the guest room is like so that I can make adjustments and improvements in future.
Do you have a dedicated guest room? What are some of the essentials you feel are necessary for a pleasant stay?
