If you are inviting guests to come and stay this Christmas (or New Year, or any other time of year, for that matter), don’t they deserve to stay in a really luxurious guest room? A home away from home. Better still, a guest room that’s more like staying in a 5 star hotel but cosier. All it takes is a little thought and planning, and you could have a guest room design that will really impress your guests. They might never want to leave. If you want to impress your guests this Christmas, you will need to get a move on.
Of course, there are the basics that every guest room design must have, so let’s start with those.
Impress the Guests with a Luxury Bed
We know that this will be a bed for occasional use but that doesn’t mean you can put any old bed in there and hope for the best. Like you, your guests will be used to a certain level of luxury and comfort. As you would expect, all of our luxury beds here at Juliettes Interiors are absolutely gorgeous. Each one is hand-crafted with an exceptional attention to detail. Whichever designer bed you choose, you know that it will be stunning and will definitely impress the guests and elevate your guest bedroom design.
For a perfect night’s sleep, you need the perfect mattress. We are proud to supply a range of British, hand-made Hypnos mattresses as we believe they are the finest, most comfortable luxury mattresses you can buy. As well as standard UK and US sizes, Hypnos mattresses can be customised to any size you require.
To make your guest room as versatile as possible, we would recommend twin beds with the option to zip and link into a magnificent superking. Our Hypnos beds and mattresses give you the flexibility to specify base, headboard and mattresses, with a choice of storage options and an extensive range of gorgeous colours and fabrics. This will mean that you need two different sets of bedding – but with inbuilt storage space underneath many Hypnos beds, at least you will have somewhere to keep it.
See all our Luxury Beds, Hypnos Beds and Mattresses
Luxury Bedside Tables
Everyone needs somewhere to put their phone, gadgets, watch, alarm clock, glass of water. It’s no fun leaning out of bed to reach things on the floor. So a bedside table is not only handy, it is a must. Depending on the length of time your visitors tend to stay, and how much clutter they bring with them, you could choose anything from a simple table to something more substantial with one, two or three drawers. The options, styles, colours and finishes are endless. Our advice is to choose something that will be as useful as possible, no matter who comes to stay. Oh, and it also needs to look beautiful.
See all our Luxury Bedside Tables
A Designer Chest of Drawers
All but the briefest of overnight stays requires luggage. Don’t make your guests live out of a suitcase. Make sure they have space to unpack and store their clothes during their stay. If your visitors only tend to come for short breaks, a wardrobe with both hanging and shelf space may suffice. If your mother-in-law comes for a month at a time, she will need a proper chest of drawers. We would suggest that you take a view when it comes to a chest of drawers. If you have enough drawer space elsewhere in the room, you can probably do without an extra piece of furniture taking up the space. If you have a vast guest suite, however, you have no such considerations and can go for a spectacular chest of drawers that really makes your heart sing. Think carefully before you start.
See all our Designer Chests of Drawers
A Designer Dressing Table or Desk
In a guest room, a dressing table and desk are pretty much interchangeable. The only difference is that a dressing table would traditionally have a mirror, whereas a desk would not. This is easily solved – just add a mirror to your desk, either free-standing on the desktop or on the wall behind. A dressing table with good lighting is essential for doing hair, make-up, preparing for the day or glamming up for a girls’ night out. If you have guests who are likely to work while they are with you, you might decide a designer desk is a better option. Browse our full range of dressing tables and desks for more inspiration.
See all our Designer Dressing Tables and Designer Desks
A Luxury Wardrobe
Lack of hanging space is one of our biggest bugbears when staying in hotels or other people’s houses – but you don’t always need a designer wardrobe. If you only have occasional, overnight guests, you may not need a wardrobe in your guest room. Perhaps you have a guest who brings half a dozen full length dresses every time she visits, you might consider adding some fancy hooks and good quality clothes hangers along one wall or behind the door. For longer term guests, a well-chosen wardrobe gives a combination of hanging space, shelving and maybe even drawers. Your choice of wardrobe will then have an impact on the other items of furniture in your guest room. Think carefully about the guests you expect to have, the type of clothes storage they need, the space you have and which pieces you really need.
See all our Luxury Wardrobes
A Luxury Bedroom Bench
You may not agree but we think this is an absolute necessity. It’s a place for your guests to put their suitcase while they unpack, a place to lay their clothes out whilst deciding what to wear, or a place to sit and put their socks on. You should never sit on the edge of your bed – in time it will damage your mattress. In our opinion a bench finishes off the end of the bed. An ottoman-style bench could also give extra storage for pillows, duvets, throws and guest room linens. So, never overlook a bedroom bench.
See all our Luxury Bedroom Benches
A Designer Armchair
No matter how close you are to your guests, everyone needs space, quiet time, and a comfortable place to sit and read or check social media. A truly comfortable, luxury armchair is, therefore, another necessity in any guest room. Choose a subtle, co-ordinating shade or use this as an excuse for a pop of contrasting colour. If the current mustard and ochre trend is too much for your overall look, this could be the perfect way to incorporate it into your décor. Remember, the guest room is an ideal place to test out ideas you’re not too sure about before committing yourself elsewhere in your home.
See all our Designer Armchairs
A Designer Chaise Longue
This is the ultimate in glamour and comfort – like a luxury armchair but more decadent. indulge your guests with a glorious chaise where they can relax with their feet up and take a break from the everyday. If you have a view worth looking at, place a luxury chaise longue beneath a window as a wonderful window seat. Again, this could be a subtle, co-ordinating piece or a splash of contrast in your colour scheme. Whichever you choose, your guests will really appreciate your attention to detail and the thought you have put into your guest room.
See all our Designer Chaise Longue
10 Things Every Guest Room Needs
When you’ve decided on your style, your colour scheme and the luxury furniture your new guest room will need, it’s time to think about those extra touches that bring your guest room design to life. These are the things that make a stay in your guest room truly memorable.
1: Lovely Linens
The whole purpose of a guest room is to provide a place to sleep. And luxury bed linens are a way of providing an extra level of comfort and indulgence. Look for quality as well as design. If you’re going for cotton, check the thread count. Decide whether you want something that looks crisp and perfect, such as a glazed cotton, or a more casual look. We love the informal, slightly crumpled look of these 100% linen covers from Secret Linen Store in blush pink and grey.
2: Throws and Blankets
Use as an integral part of your design by folding across the end of the bed, drape them casually across chairs, or keep them tucked away in an ottoman or the wardrobe. However you use them, luxurious throws and warm blankets are great for guests to snuggle into in cooler weather, making them feel comforted and at home. This faux fur throw is a real touch of decadence. Check out our other throws for more ideas.
3: Robes
Always provide a couple of lovely, oversized robes for your guests to use. It saves room in their luggage and means they have the option of popping down for an unhurried breakfast in a stylish robe – or simply relaxing after a long day’s travel. This unisex white waffle robe from White Company is perfect. Not too cool, not too warm and great to wrap yourself into.
4: Bedside Light
You would be surprised how often this is overlooked. Your guests need a good light to read by, one they can switch on and off easily whilst still in bed. Nobody wants to get out of a nice warm bed to switch the light off – or grope their way back to bed in the dark. We’ve chosen this beautifully quirky, Murano glass lamp as our favourite but check out our full range of luxury bedside lighting. You’ll be spoiled for choice.
5: Water Carafe and Glasses
Every guest room design should have a bedside table. And every bedside table should have a carafe and glass. Don’t make your guests get out of bed in the middle of the night and traipse to the bathroom. We love the simplicity of this carafe and glass from Such & Such, and the tumbler sits neatly upside down over the top to keep dust and debris out.
6: Luxury Toiletries
Another thing your guests shouldn’t need to pack. Always make sure your guest bathroom has a stock of quality toiletries. Test them out yourself to make sure they do the job. Remember, these are your friends so don’t skimp on something so essential. This gorgeous travel set from Aesop contains mini sizes of the things you always need, and it looks so stylish in any bathroom.
7: Hairdryer
We know that not every guest needs a hairdryer, but those who do will really appreciate the fact that they don’t need to pack one in their luggage. They are bulky and annoying to pack. Make sure it’s a good quality, powerful dryer with a choice of speeds and temperatures to cater for everyone’s hairdo. Tuck it away in a drawer or wardrobe but make sure it’s easy to find. And make sure there is a mirror within reach of a socket – it’s not easy drying your hair when you can’t see what you’re doing. The Babyliss Superpower Pro here is a good, mid-range product that we would be happy to put in our guest room (or use ourselves).
8: Coffee Machine
You may decide that this is going too far. After all, you want to spend time with your guests and one of the best ways of doing that is over a coffee in the kitchen. However, when everyone’s gone off to bed, there is something wonderfully indulgent about having a really good coffee in your room. There are now a great many mini machines that make great coffee. Read the reviews online and decide which one is best for you. We like the design of this Nespresso Vertuo by Krupps. The coffee capsules give your guests a choice and it’s an extra level of home comfort in your guest room design.
We realise that this ignores the tea drinkers out there but we have never found a really good tea machine – you need a proper kettle, a teapot and some good quality tea or teabags. And milk. If you can manage to provide these, we think you should.
9: Universal Docking Station
You’ve gone to all the effort of creating a beautiful, relaxing guest room. Why spoil it with cables running everywhere? A docking station with mini cables such as this one by Pritek means that guests can recharge phones and tablets quickly, easily and tidily.
10: Box of Tissues
Essential for make up, blowing noses and wiping up spills. It’s amazing just how often you need a tissue when you’re staying away from home. Tissues are such a simple thing to provide but so often overlooked when it comes to guest room design. You can buy a tissue box cover – and they come in all shapes, sizes and styles. We, however, love the fabulous, on-trend designs printed on even supermarket tissue boxes. If you are going for the current bold, botanical trend, this box of tissues from Tesco will fit right in. Once you’ve removed the perforated circle on the top, nobody would know where you bought them from. At only £1.75, you can change the design as often as you like.
We hope this have given you the inspiration to start your new guest room design. If you have ideas but don’t know how to put them into action, give our design team a call. We offer a range of interior design services to our customers and are happy to help with anything from a single item to the complete design of your entire home. Remember, if you have guests that you want to impress this Christmas, you must order by Friday 28th September 2018.
