Guest room dressing

On Saturday I went to Selina Lake’s Vintage Fair in Guildford, fortunately the rain held off but only just.  The Guildhall was jam packed full of lovely vintage goodies, linen, crockery, fabrics, beautiful vintage crockery, as well as a few pieces of select clothing and the most gorgeous hats by GilFox.  So with lingering memories of all that lovely floral fabric and the rest of that lovely vintage stuff, I thought I’d do a post on creating a vintage style guest room.

The guest room is usually the most forgotten room in the house.  Left for last, it gets all the cheap bedlinen and the lumpy pillows…blehhhh!!! It’s time to jazz up that dull little room, get rid of all the junk that’s been plonked in the room and turn it into a vintage bedroom to dream in.

Guest rooms are ideal for using your creativity.  Because you don’t sleep in it yourself, you can really go to town with decorating it in your own personal style.  Whether you like vintage décor or industrial modern, the principle elements in ensuring your guests enjoy their stay remain the same.

It’s always a good thing to spend one night in your own guest room so you know how comfortable the bed is and whether the pillows are lumpy and if the bed needs an extra blanket.  I want my guests to feel so comfortable in my guest room, they want to move in!  So we have to start with a comfortable bed.  Add a mattress protector for extra comfort and for protecting your mattress, it will last years longer if you do.  I like my duvets to be goose down.  They plump up nicely, keep in the warmth in winter but are cool in summer.  DON’T go polyester in the guest room. Sleeping in Polyester feels like sleeping on sandpaper…don’t do it.   Make it special.  Dress the bed in good quality 100% cotton or linen.  Pretty up the pillows with some lovely floral pillow cases.  Use feather pillows for a good night’s sleep but keep a few allergy free ones in a cupboard in case your guests are allergic to feathers.  Drape the bed with a lovely wool blanket and a few interesting cushions or a vintage floral eiderdown. If you’ve got the space add a bedside table or chest of drawers and a reading lamp.  Leave a couple of your favourite books or magazines for any late night reading.  

Hang a mirror on the wall or propped on a chest of drawers.  Don’t leave the walls bare.   Add some pictures, photos or a mixture of both.  If you’re going the vintage route, you could even use washi tape to stick some unframed photos of whoever is visiting, so that they get a sense of feeling welcome and at home.  Always give your guests more towels than what you think they’ll need.  They’ll appreciate it.   Hang some floral curtains at the window.  If the window overlooks a busy street, it’s a good idea to have fairly heavy drapes lined with blackout lining or better still install some Purlfrost here   A vase with a few handpicked flowers from the garden always get a compliment and just before your guests arrive spritz the room with a fragrant room spray  or leave a bunch of freshly picked lavender on a shelf and close the door. 

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until next time!

Sharon

xxx