Prepping for a visit from family and friends can be stressful, but proactive preparation is a great way to minimize any last-minute trips to the store. For example, stocking up on groceries and mapping out an itinerary are important steps – and so too is ensuring that your guest room’s bedroom furniture is complemented by the other “guest room essentials.”
Whether your guests drove a thousand miles or dropped in from the next town over, they’ll appreciate having a comfortable place to inhabit over the next several days. Soft bedding and clean, crisp sheets are key, as are extra blankets. If it’s the middle of summer and it isn’t practical to include blankets with your bedding arrangement, put them in the guest room closet and let your guests know they’re available.
Extra pillows are essential too, especially because pillow height and quantity are often a matter of personal preference. Some people like to sleep flat while others enjoy stacking several pillows together like flapjacks. Our interior design team suggests providing at least two extra pillows in case they’re needed.
Set out a bath towel, hand towel, and washcloth for each guest. You can put these on a side chair, at the foot of the bed, or just hang them in your guest bathroom. If these towels haven’t been used in a while, fluff them up in the dryer so they smell fresh and newly laundered. Regarding shampoo and conditioner, have a bottle of each on hand – especially if your guests flew in and didn’t pack their full-size bottles. The same goes for toothpaste and mouthwash, although you probably don’t need to go full-size with these items. Instead, a quick visit to the dollar store for travel-size toothpaste and mouth rinse should suffice.
Have plenty of toilet paper and Kleenex stored in the guest room or nearby and let your visitors know where they can find it. For the former item, this avoids potentially uncomfortable requests for assistance from guests who need a new roll of toilet paper.
Closet
One of the most important closet items to have on hand is a luggage rack. Something that’s just easy to set up for your guests’ use, and equally simple to fold and store after they depart. If your guest room has a walk-in closet with enough room for a luggage rack, great. Otherwise, set it up in an out-of-the-way corner of the room. On the subject of space, if you’re fond of using your guest room closet for extra storage, don’t forget to go through it before your guests arrive so you can move things around if necessary and ensure your visitors have plenty of room to hang up their clothes. For hangers, we suggest ditching any dry-cleaner wire hangers and instead of providing a dozen or so durable plastic hangers so clothing can be hung without worrying about suitcase wrinkles or hanger collapse.
With a little bit of foresight and initiative, you can create a guest room environment your family and friends will feel right at home. Contact Fairfield Galleries today for tips, inspiration, and the latest room designs and home furnishings.
