Your Guest Room Ideas

Wow! Thank you friends! You all gave me a ton of ideas on how to make a guest room the best! I also scoured the web for some inspirational guest room photos. I want to share some of the photos and tips with you today.

Here are some inspirational guest rooms that I KNOW I'd LOVE to stay in:

Here are some of the guest room tips that you shared with me (I want to come and stay with you!):

1. Vase of flowers

2. Water glass

3. Extra pillows

4. Accessible outlets for guests' chargers

5. Guest Journal

6. Pretty stationary and pens

7. Scented candles

8. Dish of candy

9. The bed is most important.  You want it to be like sleeping on a cloud. Add the cushiest mattress pad and a feather bed under the mattress pad.  The linens are soft and in winter...flannel.  Lots of pillows so guests have a choice on what to sleep on.  Lots of bed pillows.  And most important of all....down comforter at end of bed, light weight in warmer areas.  It just adds so much.

10. Make sure the room is immaculate and free of dust under bed etc. In case of allergies, kind of important.

11.  Luxury bed linens that are only, only used for guests!!!  Splurge on these...so important

12.  A good reading light to allow reading in bed.

13. The choice and availability of having a fresh towel daily.

14. Consider having an extra bed in the room ( like they do in Ireland).  This allows for a family with a child to all share the same room.  Also, a great place to have the suitcase off the floor.  Needed:  a place to put the suitcase.

15. Fix a basket of spa like toiletries for all my girl guests.  Soaps, shampoos, lotions and a scruffy scrub for bathroom use.  Put these in a pretty basket on table.  They always comment on how nice this is.

16. Reading materials: books, magazines, etc.


Wow! That is some list! Thanks everyone! Did we forget anything!
Happy decorating & living-
Megan
megan@cottagebluedesigns.com

What does a guest room need?

Hi friends,

I need your help. Now that we've recently moved from Virginia to North Carolina, we been blessed to have had many guest visitors of friends and family.  I want our visitors to keep coming back and for more to come! Here's how I need your help. What makes a perfect guest room? Think to a time that you've stayed in someone's guest room. What made the room comfortable? I would love to hear from you.

Here's our guest room.....

Honestly, I am so happy to have a guest room. In our last house, we had one tiny room in our basement that served as our guest room, my husband's office, and my home office. So, now to have one room dedicated in our home as a guest room is awesome! I also love that our guest room is located on the first floor by itself whereas the other bedrooms are upstairs.

I think it gives our guests their own space. I want to share some of the comforts of our guest room that I purposely added to hopefully make this space more comfortable for our guests. But I want to hear ideas on how to make the room better.

Here, a bench holds towels for the adjoining guest bath:

 

One of my decorating philosophies is that every bedroom has a chair in it. It might be used for reading or relaxing or just a place to sit and put on your shoes:

The art work in this room is very special to us because we bought it on our honeymoon in St. Thomas and St. John. I smile every time I see it and I hope that it sets a relaxing, fun mode in the room:

In the closet an extra blanket on the top shelf plus hangers......

A basket that holds reading materials (things to do in Raleigh brochures and magazines) as well as a hair dryer:

I put a laundry basket in the guest room's closet so our guest can have a place to put used towels and linens:

After being our first official visitor, I asked my mom to tell me what she thought the room needed. She had a couple of suggestions. My mom said a full length mirror would be helpful. She also suggested that I add a hook in the guest bathroom which I did. Another thing she mentioned was adding a floor lamp near the chair which I haven't done yet (well, actually I did buy a floor lamp for this room but then I put it in the living room and it looked really good in there! So it stayed in there!)

Things to do for this room:

1. Change wall paint to a cool green or blue.

2. Add a floor lamp by the chair in the corner.

3. Possibly add a small garden table/stool by the chair so our guests have a spot to place their books/glasses/phones, etc.


Friends, what do think makes a guest room cozy???? I'd love to hear any ideas you've having to make this space more comfortable.

Come and stay at Casa Brewer!
Happy decorating & living-
Megan
megan@cottagebluedesigns.com

We have color!

Hi friends,
While I was away with the kids last week visiting my mom in Virginia, I left my awesome and amazing husband a killer of a 'Honey Do List'.

Not only did that awesome husband work all week but he also worked in our home. I can't wait to share the fruits of his labor with you this week. Seriously, I think I put at least 10 things on his list and I believe he completed almost all of them! He is amazing!

Project #1: We have color now in our master bedroom. Steve painted the room a grayish blue Valspar paint from Lowes called 'Shark Loop'. We LOVE it! You may remember that it was a large white box before. The new color on the walls adds so much warmth and personality to the room. It's a very peaceful and rejuvenating space. Let me share some picture with you.....

You might remember from another blog I shared that I was considering doing something special on this wall behind the bed. I was going to do something big for an inspiration wall. I was considering wallpaper or stenciling. I also considered vinyl designs. In the end, I decided to reuse artwork that we already had. The large rubbed white square tin pieces are from Pottery Barn. The 3 gray framed shell note cards (purchased on a beach vacation a few years ago) really worked for me above the bed. What do you think?

The look I was going for is something I call "Coastal Cottage Chic". I think painting the room is getting us there. Here's the Room Make-Over Plan that I created for this room:



Projects left to do:

-Get some warm bamboo blinds for the 3 windows- I am now thinking we might not need panel curtains- the bamboo blinds might be enough

-New bed quilt from Pottery Barn that matches that new shams should be delivered to us this month- that will add a little more color to the room

-I am rethinking the space where I was considering another piece of furniture for storage (to the left of the dresser)- now I thinking we need a chaise lounge for reading

-I wish I could talk my husband into getting rid of the ceiling fan and getting something pretty and a little sparkly in it's place like this:

What do you think so far?

I will share more of Steve's 'Honey Do List' projects this week. Thanks Honey!!!!

Happy decorating & living-
Megan
megan@cottagebluedesigns.com