Guest Room Design Ideas and Hosting Essentials: Making Guests Feel at Home

Pick a theme for the guest room design

Since a guest room will be used for a short period, you can have some fun with it. Create a nice theme for the room! From vintage to nautical, there’s lots to choose from. Just don’t go overboard with colors, it is still a room for relaxation.

ArtDeco

ArtDeco is a nice theme for the guest bedroom, especially if you like the luxurious vibe of the era. You don’t even need to have a historically accurate ArtDeco selection, modern ArtDeco is also something to explore.

Characteristics of ArtDeco style are:

• Use of glass and metal in the interior, for example, for tables.
• Bold geometric prints for walls, floor, and even ceiling.
• Contrasting colors, for example, gold and black, black and white.
• Luxurious materials – velvet, ivory, gold, silver, marble, etc.
• Simple lines in furniture and sleek designs.
• Symmetry – arrange the furniture and design elements in symmetry.

ArtDeco guest room wallpaper ideas

A great way how to easily express the style is to use wallpaper. Here is a nice selection of ArtDeco guest room wallpapers:

• Gatsby’s Party. Black and gold in the fan print has a nice ArtDeco touch.
• Give A Toast. Beige and gold make a nice wallpaper for a neutral room decor.
• Silent Film. Geometric rectangle-type shapes in black and gold have a very luxurious look.
• Blue Lodge. Light, dusty teal with gold details gives a little bit of color but still has the ArtDeco feel.
• Old Sport. For a brighter look – white and gold almost spirals.

Scandinavian

The Scandinavian design style is perfect for a guest bedroom because it is so tranquil and easy to the eye. It has a minimalistic and modern vibe to it and that works well for lots of people.

Characteristics of the Scandinavian design style are:

• Neutral colors – white, light gray, beige.
• Light woods – birch, beech, maple, and others.
• Minimalistic furniture – clean lines, no extra ornamentation.
• Function first – in furniture and anything else.
• Statement pendant lights.

Scandinavian guest room wallpaper ideas

Add a little bit of Scandinavian design to your guest room with these Scandinavian guest room wallpapers:

• White Brick. This wallpaper will add a little bit of texture to simple white walls.
• Unique Lines. This print is simple and minimalistic, perfect for Scandinavian design.
• Abstract Waves. To add some interest to the walls, choose this wavy-line wallpaper.

Bohemian design style

Bohemian design style is very cozy and calming. It features natural materials, light colors, and lots of layers that work very well for the guest room.

Characteristics of the Bohemian design style are:

• Lots of plants and greenery – real or fake.
• All tones of brown – from sandy and beige to copper and cappuccino.
• Lots of textiles and textures – crochet, knits, weaves, etc.
• A variety of patterns, mostly rooted in native cultures.

Bohemian guest room wallpaper ideas

To express the bohemian design style, add wallpaper to the walls! For example, you can use it as a statement wall behind the bed. Here are some Bohemian guest room wallpapers to choose from:

• Mandala Flowers. This Mandala wallpaper will give the ethnic and world travel vibes that boho design style is all about.
• Pampas Melody. Interested in something more subtle but still boho? This is it!
• Fly By Butterfly. Fly free and explore! Bohemian design style will look great with this butterfly design.
• Magnolias in the Sun. Something more bright and fun for the guest bedroom.
• Leopards in Emerald. If you want to bring out a little bit different color scheme, this green Leopard wallpaper could be it.
• Snakes in Garden. Wallpaper for brave guests. It goes well with the bohemian look, just make sure you don’t have anyone in your friends and family circle who is terrified of snakes.

Animals theme

Aside from design style, your guest room can have a distinct theme, for example, animals. You can choose one specific animal or go for animals in general. Some great animal theme ideas are:

• Woodland creatures
• Rabbits
• Birds
• Cats and Big cats
• Elephants

Animal guest room wallpaper ideas

To go all in the animal theme, consider adding wallpaper to at least one of the walls featuring the chosen animal! Here are some animal guest room wallpaper to get you started:

• Leopards in Labyrinth. Contemporary blue and orange wallpaper will give a fun twist to a guest room.
• Tropical Fish. Love sea creatures? This green and orange wallpaper with exotic fish is a nice touch to a Sea or Fish theme.
• Mystery Forest. Lots of woodland creatures in a fairytale-like wallpaper. It’s interesting and not overwhelming.
• Band of Cats. If your household loves cats, turning the guest bedroom into “the cat room” could be a fun idea!
• Hidden Tiger. A tiger looking through the green grass. It’s dramatic but at the same time calming.
• Doggie Portraits. For those who love dogs and want their guest room to be themed around dog things.

Other themes to explore

There are lots of other themes to explore for your guest room. Check this list and find out if something sparks your interest! As a bonus, we will add one wallpaper idea for every theme to get your imagination going.

• Nautical theme. Try it with this Blue Octopus Wallpaper.
• Vintage Theme. Damask Wallpaper is the way to go.
• Forest Theme. All the greens in this Midnight Tale wallpaper.
• Love Theme. Try this romantic Apple Sakura flower wallpaper.
• Nature Theme. Any wallpaper that has some greens or animals will be perfect. For example, Soft Lilies.
• Japanese theme. Cherry Blossom branches are the right fit for the Japanese theme.
• World-Travels theme. Italian Lemons will bring you straight to the sunny coasts of Europe’s South.
• Portuguese theme. Blue and white tiles wallpaper straight out of Lisbon.

Essentials for a guest bedroom to make guests feel welcome

Now that you have your guest room design picked out, it is time to decorate and set up the room so it is nice, cozy, and practical for your guests. When choosing decor and functional items, keep your room theme in mind!

Storage options for your guests

   When creating and decorating a guest bedroom remember that it is a room that will be used by someone who brings items into the room. So, make sure you leave some empty shelves in the closet and empty drawers in the dresser for your guests to use.

Another good option is to have some open shelves or a garment rack where guests can put their clothes. Open storage is useful for short-term visitors, it ensures that they won’t forget anything since all of their things are out in the open.

A closed closet might give the room a cleaner look while guests are staying, but it is much easier to forget something when you don’t see it. Especially if you also store some other things like extra linens or your winter clothes in the closet alongside your guests’ belongings.

That said, no matter the solution, guests will be thankful that you have thought about them and have found a place for them to unpack their luggage.

Extra blankets

As a rule of thumb, have some extra blankets lying in the guest room closet. You don’t know your guests’ sleeping temperature preferences, and it is just so easy to have some extra blankets on hand.

To make the blankets part of the room’s interior, you can decorate the bed or the armchair with them or stock them nicely in a basket or open shelves. For blankets as design elements, make sure they fit in the color scheme and have some fun texture, for example, are knitted in a chunky knit.

Full-length mirror

Guaranteed your guests will appreciate a full-length mirror in the guest room. It is nice to see oneself in full view before leaving the room and meeting everyone else in the house.

As a design element, a full-length mirror will make the room feel bigger and fill it with more light. You can also have it in different frames that suit your room’s style, making it a statement piece. For a neutral effect, choose a mirror with no frame in a minimalistic manner.

Lighting

Think of the guest room as another bedroom. What kind of light do you need during the evening and in the morning hours?

Overhead lighting is a must in every room, but make sure you also have some ambient lighting options. That can be a nightstand lamp, a floor lamp, or maybe some sconces or mood lamps that change color. If you are adding a vanity in the guest room make sure there is good lighting to do make-up.

No place for the guest room? Create a double-duty room!

Sometimes it is just not possible to dedicate a whole room just for guests. And that’s fine too! Especially if you have guests over just a few times a year. A solution for that is to create double-duty rooms. It means that a room most of its time serves one purpose but when guests come over, it turns into a guest bedroom.

A popular double-duty room is the living room. There is already the couch and often it is retractable, so it is easy to turn it into a bed. A downside of the living room doubling as a guest room is the fact that the living room doesn’t give much privacy for the guests. It is a good option if nothing else is available.

Sometimes home office is a room that people turn into a guest bedroom. This is a great option if you don’t use the home office very often and have other space to work from. If you need the office, while guests are staying over, this is not the best choice for you.

The basement, the attic, and even the garage (livable, of course!) are places in the house that can be turned into a cozy guest bedroom.

In Conclusion

The guest room is a great place where to express your love for decorating and interior design. Pick a theme and decorate the room accordingly! It can be a little bit more daring and fun than other rooms in the house because it is used less often. Nevertheless, when creating a guest room, think of your guests and their needs first, design comes second!