guest room

Creating The Perfect Guest Room: A Home Away From Home

As most of you know, we are undergoing a basement renovation, also known as the ultimate test of a marriage. The basement will have a full bathroom, game room (sounds fancier than man cave) complete with a bar and all the other things men believe are necessary for a masculine abode. It will also have a guest bedroom and exercise room. Design negotiations are currently going down for most of the overall look of the basement but I’m giving myself complete control of the design of the guest bedroom.

*The Better Sleep Council sponsored this post, but all thoughts are my own. Thank you for your support!

When it comes to a guest bedroom, design, functionality and comfort are top priorities. What’s the point of a guest room if no one enjoys staying there?  Priority number one is the overall look and feel of the room. I want the room to have a mix of soft and dark colors. Keep in mind that, for now, this is a windowless room and it’s important for the room to have a light an airy feel. I immediately began to search for inspiration on Pinterest and Instagram and fell hard for my girl, Lissi’s, green and pink bedroom..

Photo: @oxfordone

Once I decided on the overall look and feel, I wrote out a list of “must haves” for my intended multi-functional room. Guests, or at least ours, are always looking for a little downtime. Let’s be honest, I’m a mom with young kids, I get it! You can only play basketball, baseball, soccer or hide and seek with my boys for so long.  I had our contractor build a little “nook” directly across from where the bed for a dresser that will serve as place to store things but also a place for the TV.  I love that it will be set back so it won’t immediately be obvious when you step into the room. I’m planning to use my white campaign dresser that currently lives in my closet, for the space. It will help add to the light and airy vibes of the overall room.

 The room isn’t huge so I wanted to make sure we had a good sized closet -- big enough for suitcases and plenty of room to hang clothing. The closet is the perfect place to add a fun color or pattern. My plan is to use the Opal House wallpaper I purchased last year! There should always be fun surprises for guests, right?

Finally, the most important part of the guest room, the bed. Dressing the bed pretty is easy.   Neutral colored linens with colorful throw pillows will work well against the whites and golds at play in the rest of the room. So what about what is under all these fabulous linens and decorations? The mattress! I want a mattress that our guests will love. Some like soft, some like firm, some like it hot, some like it cool – how to keep everyone happy is the challenge. We want our guests to come back again and again. Wait, let me rephrase, I want guests to come back again but my husband may feel differently. However, it’s a widely known fact that I like people more and I love to host!  I didn’t know where to start. After doing a little research, I found a quiz that simplifies the initial steps of mattress shopping, It really helped me to identify what I wanted and needed.. I’m taking those results and going to go shopping with my friend, who also happens to be a pro at choosing the right mattress, to pick the perfect mattress because what’s a pretty room without a comfortable bed? Oh and I did I also mention that she works for the Better Sleep Council – yeah, I am bringing in the pros!

 Stay tuned for the finished bedroom but for now I’ll leave you with my inspiration board I created after considering all my points above.  Who else is excited for that amazing velvet headboard? The lines are perfect; chic yet masculine, soft but edgy. Get excited!

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