Be Our Guest
Well hello, look at how wise and motivated you are, taking the time to listen to an interior design podcast! Maybe you’re looking to just relax and hear about design and style tips, or maybe you’re looking to learn a thing or two and help improve the quality of your space. Either way, you’re in the right place, and I can’t wait to talk to you about today’s topic. It’s always a little funny for me when I speak specially about what I consider the “extra” rooms in a house, whether it’s a laundry room, a home office, or storage spaces. Because I live in New York City, these rooms are not the standard here. Half the time with my clients that are local, we are working to prioritize what really needs to be in a space and Edit! Edit! Edit! down what does not serve a purpose. But for many people who have the luxury to spread out a little more, having an extra room or two isn’t the issue - for folks in that situation, it’s all about how to BEST utilize those extra rooms. And since so many of you are super generous with your space, the idea of a guest room gets brought up all the time. Whether it’s for family that visits often, or just the theoretical friend from out of town, having an extra room is a great boastworthy amenity. Some of us might even have an extra guest house or unit that could be used as a rental, either long term or for the type of website that rents to travelers and vacationers.
Either way, it is one thing to create a space for yourself, but making a beautiful place to stay for another person or persons, can be really challenging! But today we are going to break down where to send your focus to get a guest space that will be given five star reviews far and wide.
But first, we have to talk about the Color of the Week. HBO’s partying teen drama Euphoria has kicked off its second season, and if you love the moody lights that follow the characters wherever they go in downtown Los Angeles, you will love Pantone 7442. This dramatic warm purple borders on magenta, and can instantly make your space feel extra dramatic - try incorporating this color with a sleek LED Line lamp, like the one from Noxu Modern - illuminating your walls with an indirect glow in any color of the rainbow, but for that special Euphoria feel, just tap the remote on the magenta portion of the color wheel, and let your space transport you to a whole different reality.
I often see guest spaces treated as the opportunity to really have a little fun and introduce playfulness with color, materials, and furniture shapes. It’s not unusual to see a brighter, quirkier paint color or wallpaper in a guest room. There might even be a theme introduced. And if you’ve listened to this podcast before, you know I encourage all spaces in your home to be a reflection of your personality, it doesn’t have to be saved for the rooms that are tucked away and less used. And if you’re new to this podcast - welcome, and, I want you to take those adventurous, spirited ideas you have for your guest room, and think about applying them to the rest of your home as well.
When it comes to guest rooms, it’s important to think about who will be staying there, and how you can use interior design to infuse these users’ experience with meaning and enhance their time in the space. And listen, I’m not going to get into the granular nitty gritty of how to fold guest towels or what oil diffuser to put on the nightstand -we are talking about practical, strategic approaches to crafting a better guest experience. And to start, all you have to do is look at your favorite local hotel.
That being said, just like with any interior design project, we have to start by looking at who is using the space. And this can seem tricky, because the guests you have won’t always be the same, but we can start to categorize our potential visitors. There are really two types of guests - out of town visitors, and locals who might need a place to stay while their home is unavailable for any number of reasons. Each of these two categories has several subcategories of course, and understanding the potential mindset of these various scenarios help us to plan and create spaces that are welcoming, safe, and functional.
For the out-of-towners, there’s a bit of a sliding scale in terms of needs. On one end, there are guests that want to see the sites and play full-blown tourists, you may see them once or twice at most - but the rest of the time they’ll be hitting up every hotspot in town. On the opposite end there are the ones that have travelled specifically to hang out with you, because you are awesome! Most visiting guests end up being somewhere in the middle of this scale, but the important thing is to understand the level of independence your guests need. This applies to anyone renting out their spare space as a side hustle, even though it’s unlikely the guests will want to be spending a significant amount of time with you, it’s still helpful to identify how much interaction you intend to have with them, because this ultimately affects the flow of the space. It might even affect which room in your home you designate as the guest room - based on proximity to an entrance, the kitchen and other common spaces, and access to a private bathroom.
If your goal is to create a more communal, bed-and-breakfast feeling, then creating a separate suite may not be top priority. You may want to encourage your visitors to mingle with you and anyone else staying in your space. That is a decision only you can make. I personally have stayed at home shares all across the spectrum, from basically feeling like I was someone's roommate, to having an entire house to myself. If you have the type of personality that loves to entertain, meet new people, and host - then integrating the guest room into your main space is a great idea. If you tend to be more introverted or are just busy doing other things and don't want to spend the time hosting, then creating a distinct, separate, and secure section of your home for visitors will help you maintain healthy boundaries with your guests. Once you've identified where you want to have your guest room or guest area, the next thing you have to decide is how you want it to look and feel.
We're still talking about distinctly out-of-town guests right now, and when it comes to look and feel, because you're dealing with folks who presumably aren’t super familiar with your town, the best thing that you can offer them in terms of an aesthetic in any space is a celebration of your regional, local aesthetic. So for me, for example, that means celebrating all things New York, specifically Brooklyn, but that is true wherever you are. If you look at the newest hotel in your town (one that is not part of a chain), see how they chose to highlight what is a local. It's better to stay on the superficial side with this design aesthetic because really the goal is to figure out what is the first thing people think of when they think of your neck of the woods. It doesn't need to be representative of your personal experience of the town, because obviously if you live there - and your experience of the town or region is going to be richer and more layered then what a tourist may want to experience when they visit. So, it might be a specific time period when your town was thriving or an important part of the town’s origin. If your region is known for a specific type of food, time of year, holiday, natural wonder, or style of architecture, celebrating this will help enhance any out-of-town visitors experience.
And that doesn't mean you have to go full blown themed out. I like to say that the best inspiration for interior design and architecture is often interior design and architecture. For example, I live in New York and I could chose to create a guest room that is themed around pizza, because lots of people want to try New York Style Pizza when they visit. But a more sophisticated option would be to create a room using an architectural precedent like Art Deco, which is one of the more prevalent building styles in the city. Or the industrial loft look associated with Brooklyn, as played out as that feels to me, if this is someone’s first time in the city - that vibe may feel fresh to them. From there, it's all about mixing aesthetic touches that are derived from your concept with just practical functional, nice, comforts. Let the concept show up in color choices, lighting fixtures, and artwork. That’s what will make the space feel elegant but still unique. No need for a pizza shaped bed. On second thought, I think we all need pizza shaped beds right now.
On the other hand, if you intend to use your guest space primarily for local friends or family staying with you, the approach changes. Nearby loved ones can end up staying over for so many reasons - someone is having repairs done in their own home, maybe they aren’t getting along with their roommate or spouse, or there’s a wedding over the weekend and someone is crashing at your place from the next town over. Typically, the goal with this kind of guest is to provide normalcy, privacy, and neutrality. Think less about exciting and stimulating decor and more along the lines of a spa environment - clean, fresh, crisp. Lots of light colors, natural materials, and drawers or closet space for your guests to settle in. The need for privacy can be a lot greater in this situation, so this is a great room to add a white noise machine like the ones from Dohm. When you think about a hotel room, it isn’t just a bed - there’s often a small desk and chair, or a lounge seat and ottoman, a personal television, there might even be a small dining table. It’s less of a single bedroom and more of a micro studio apartment, and the more you can add to the space without crowding it, the more autonomy you provide your guest. This is what creates true comfort.
Do you have a guest space in your home? Who’s the most frequent visitor? Send me a note on instagram and let me know what topics you’d love to hear about on this podcast! I hope you have a great day and I will talk to you in the next episode!
