The Guest Room

The guest room in our home gets lots of use.  Not only do we enjoy entertaining, we love to host friends both old and new.  In our design work, the guest room is a place that we can focus our attention to detail to help our clients create lasting memories for their friends and family.  In a word, hospitality is the gift of making people feel as truly welcome and cared for as they do at home—and even more so. When family and friends come to visit for an overnight or longer, it is so nice to provide them with all the essentials for a happy, memorable stay, and some thoughtful luxuries too. The world’s great resorts and hotels do that as a matter of course, which is where I believe this crossover story starts.

Interior by Sharon Cleland

In a guest room, as elsewhere, thinking about how the space is meant to function helps me to determine what furnishings and accessories to include. Beside the bed, I always make sure to have a place to set a glass and a bottle or carafe of water. I want people to feel comfortable using it, so I’ll make sure there is a coaster or something comparable handy. When possible, a bedside table that is large enough to accommodate a reading lamp, a guest’s reading glasses, a book, and even a box of tissues makes the room feel homey. Optimally, the bottom of the lampshade or wall sconce should be 20 inches above the bedside table or mattress. The smallest of details all layer to create a welcoming experience.

Interior by Hannah Toney

Fabulous bed linens make all the difference to any guest’s feeling of being welcome and comfortable, whether in a home or a hotel. In fact, most of us have our first encounters with high-quality bedding and beautiful baths when we travel and experience the unique luxuries that the world’s fine hotels and resorts have to offer. After staying in these wonderful getaways, it feels only right to bring back some memento of our time there. those linens—the crisp white sheets and duvet covers, the wonderful towels—are what many of us translate easily into our homes. the beautiful materials used so elegantly in hotel baths—the marble and granite, the ceramic tiles and mosaics, the faucets and fittings—often inspire what my clients ask for when they’re planning a renovation, building an addition, or constructing a new home.

Excerpt from Southern Coastal Living by J. Banks Design Founder and President, Joni Vanderslice