If you are like most people, you probably use your guest room for storage more than anything else. It can be challenging to think of how to decorate a room that is only used occasionally. In this blog post, we will give you some ideas on how to make your guest room look inviting and comfortable!
1. Give a guest room a dual purpose
Since the guest room is a place that is planned to use just occasionally, it is good to give that room some other purpose than just welcoming guests.
One of the things you can do with it is to turn it into a home office. Add there a desk and a chair, and other elements you need for a successful work session. If your guests usually don’t stay for long periods of time you can even not put there a regular bed, but just use a day bed or a sofa bed. That way, when you are using the room as an office, it doesn’t feel that much like a bedroom.
The guest room can also be a gym or yoga studio. For this purpose just accommodate the furniture so you have enough space to move around. You can even put there an exercise machine, dumbbells’, and other workout equipment.
Another very common thing people use guest rooms for is storage. To not make a mess, it is best to install a lot of storage in the room firsthand. Have a big wardrobe, chest of drawers, storage under the bed, etc. Use every corner for a storage option, you will be thankful later!
When creating a guest room as a dual room just make sure you don’t have guests over very often, for example, every other day. If you have guests staying all the time, you just won’t be able to use the room for its other purpose and in that case, it is better to use a guest room just as a guest room or guest room/storage room.
2. Experiment with décor
The guest room is the place to experiment. You won’t have to stay there and guests will stay for a short period of time – it is perfect to try out all your wildest design fantasies. You can go for an eclectic style and mix different colors, patterns, textures, etc. in one room. Or you can try a monochromatic look and use only one color but in different shades.
You can also use different materials to create an interesting look. Use wood, metal, glass, plants, etc. You can even use these materials in different settings – choose a metal coffee table and wood handles or nobs, add glass decorations, or go for a concrete floor.
If you have been thinking about a statement wall of fun prints, this is the place where can try it out. You can go as bold as you like – big colorful objects or dark, small prints – it is up to you and your preferences. You can even create your own custom print for the wallpaper and put it up there. A good idea is to use removable wallpaper for the statement wall. That way you can change it up as often as you like with no or little fuss.
3. Pick a theme
Themes are always a good idea. A theme helps to bring all the décor together and keeps it consistent. To have more fun you can have a very visible theme. Instead of picking a theme “pink accents”, go for woodland animals or forest vibes. You can also have more out there themes like sci-fi or space.
The theme can also be something very creative, for example, things a dog like or words that start with “R”. These are just some examples of what you can do with a theme. Remember that you can have fun with it and make it whatever you like. It is also a fun exercise to ask guests to guess the theme.
To support a theme strongly, a perfect solution is printed wallpaper. It can be regular wallpaper or peel-and-stick wallpaper. You can even custom make your wallpaper print if your theme is so specific you can find a pre-made print that would fit. For example, if you have a woodland animal theme, you can have a wallpaper of big trees and animals hiding behind them – some squirrels, wolfs, foxes, hares, etc. You can make them realistic or animated. What better suits your taste.
If you are looking for custom-made wallpaper options, Printseekers.com is one of the print on demand suppliers that offer that. To learn more about their products and services, check their website!
As this is a room that won’t be used every day (if you don’t make it into a double-purpose room), have fun with it! You can bring the theme to the extreme and make the guest room a part of a different world. If you have the forest theme, make it feel like you have walked into a forest – hang some branches from the ceiling, add a carpet that resembles moss, make the bedding dark green, and add some woodland animal statuettes as decor. You will be amazed at how fun and easy it is to decorate on a theme!
Of course, if you don’t want to you can always go for a more subtle theme and it will still look great and will be easy to find the right pieces for your place, and will look coherent together!
4. Leave empty shelves for guests
This is a practical suggestion for décor – when decorating a guest room, think about your guests when they will come to stay. Where will they put their clothes, toiletries, and bags? Leave spaces for these things.
It is a good idea to have open shelving with nothing in it for your guests’ items. Open shelving is practical because it is less likely that your guests will forget something if it is visible all the time. If the storage for guests is behind doors, they can forget they put something there and just leave it. An exception is traveling bags because your guests will definitely need them, so they won’t be able to leave the bags behind.
5. House rules as wall décor
Your house, your rules. And guests need to be aware of that. A fun and cute way how to inform them about some rules you have at your house is to create a wall décor with those rules. You can custom print canvases or posters, frame them and add them to the wall or put them on the bedside table.
A great place where to order a custom canvas and customer posters are print on demand supplier printseekers.com! They have canvases made from different materials as well as they offer different sizes for canvas and posters. You can find whatever suits your taste and have a high-quality custom-made print made just for you.
The rules can be more serious, like where you leave the key, what they need to know about the bathroom or kitchen, or what time starts the bedtime if you have small kids.
The rules can also be more fun and whimsical that reflects your family habits or inside jokes, for example, if some of the kids say a bad word we all act like something stinks like poo, etc.
The rules can also be more suggestive or just a reminder of good manners, for example, “We always say thank you!” or “We talk it out”, or “We are not allowed to dine angry – always turn that frown upside down before anything goes down!”.
6. Add a mini-fridge or snack corner
This is a fun idea if you want to go the extra mile accommodating your guests. It is always great to explore the mini-fridge in hotels and then decide that anything in there is too overpriced and not even that delicious. But this time you can stuff the mini-fridge with things you know the person staying will enjoy, plus it will be free (for them at least). That is just a nice decor/a welcoming element to make your guests feel pampered and taken care of. They can also use the fridge to store their half-eaten sandwiches from the road, etc.
Additionally to the mini-fridge, you can add a snack corner. Just add a cute basket somewhere on the desk, and fill it with granola bars, candy bars, small packs of chips, etc. You can also make a fruit basket to add a healthy snack choice. If you are planning to have family dinners together with the guests, then definitely don’t go overboard with the extra food, just add a little and decorate it in a cute way.
Conclusion
Guest rooms are definitely the place where to experiment – they don’t have to be blank and just solely functional for sleepovers. Make the guest room a fun place where you won’t mind napping yourself. Add some over-the-top decors, and you got yourself an Instagramable room at your own home! But whatever you choose, make sure it serves the main purpose of accommodating guests and has a space for another purpose as well – is it storage, office, or gym, to make it more practical.
Nina Smith 
Kim Marks