How To Create A Welcoming Guest Room On A Budget
Going away to visit family or friends can be stressful, especially when you are hauling around kids. The combination of packing suitcases, travelling, and finding accommodations can all add up to a big headache that leaves you wondering if it was really worthwhile. What helps though is having a welcoming place to rest your head.
That is the goal of a guest room is to make your company feel welcome
Inviting, Not Expensive
You don’t have to go broke to give your guest room the attention it needs to live up to its full potential. If you have the basics already, a comfy bed with good pillows, and don’t mind some
In The Beginning
This is is how my guest room looked when we moved in. The bed stayed behind when we bought my husband’s family home. The walls had been recently painted and the bed fit perfectly. There wasn’t a need for any major changes, I just needed to make the room inviting for our visitors. Being in the basement means it does get chilly and the room tends to be a little dark with its ground level window. This wasn’t anything a little creative decorating couldn’t take of though!
Home Away From Home
This is how it looks now! It is a cozy and welcoming space for our guests to rest their heads. Decor was added as I found them which helped keep costs down since I could take my time with purchases.Watching for sales and picking up second-hand items helps keep within set budgets too. I just made sure that as I decorated over time, the room stayed functional for any sudden company. And no matter the decorating stage it was in, I made sure the room felt welcoming.
Features of a Welcoming Room
When you are making a room specifically to be a guest room there are a few features that I find really take it up a notch!
Quality Bedding:
Does anything feel better than slipping between the covers of fresh clean, and silky sheets? As an alternative to silk that still feels amazing are bamboo microfibre bedsheets. The higher the thread count, the longer they will stand up too.
Spare Toiletries:
Everyone always forgets to pack something right? So I keep a basket of necessary toiletries in the room so that guests can use what they need. Forgot your toothbrush? I’ve got you covered. Makeup wipes? No problem. Contact solution? Been there! It’s a relief to have these items ready for guests in their room, instead of wondering what stores are still open when they are discovered missing at bedtime.
Spare Towels:
Our linen closet is located on the upper level so, for convenience sake, I keep guest towels in the guest room. This way visitors can freshen up whenever they feel like it instead of asking for towels and permission to take a shower.
Spare Blankets:
Having the guest room in the basement means that it can sometimes get chilly. While some people can and like to sleep in cooler rooms, I don’t like to assume. I use layers of blankets on the bed as well as having a few extra nearby to grab. This also helps for when kids are coming over too and more blankets are needed.
Space for Luggage:
I feel like it is a touch of luxury to have a designated spot for luggage. It’s nice to have a raised area for bags instead of stooping over to rifle through them on the floor. I wanted to provide that for my guests too. I got this foldable luggage rack off Amazon to keep in the room. It fits perfectly in the corner by the fireplace where it is out of the way. A bench or chair works great too!
Lighting:
A key design feature for any room is lighting. It is important to have multiple sources of light in a room. Ideally, eight is recommended. You can get away with less in smaller rooms. In this room, there are five light sources. There is the primary light from the overhead ceiling lamp. The secondary lighting comes from the two bedside table lamps. The fireplace provides ambient lighting. And the window offers some natural lighting. There can also be accent lighting with various (battery operated) candles around the room.
Wifi Password:
Everyone knows this is vital information now. It’s one of the first questions guests will ask about when they arrive, next to where is the washroom. For the longest time, the only place we had ours written down was in my husbands’ phone. Now I have this printable set up in the guest room for easy access. We just use a whiteboard marker to write down the current password on the front of the frame. Much simpler for everyone.
Where To Splurge and To Save
There are areas that are splurge worthy, and areas that can be saved. You may not agree with my assessment but these are the areas where I saved and splurged.
Splurge:
Bed:
Now, we really lucked out because my in-laws left a beautiful bed downstairs when they moved. They also included the bedding. Bamboo microfiber sheets feel amazing and don’t wrinkle as easily. They feel luxurious and come in all sorts of price ranges.
Flooring:
The floor is made of luxury vinyl plank from EzLay in the
Area Rug:
For extra warmth underfoot there is a large area rug which covers the main walking area. The area rug is by Lorena Canals in Biscuit Grey. The best part is that it is fully machine washable! This was a splurge item for the nursery but has since made
Window Covering:
The cellular shade in the window is dual purposed. It has a slight R-value to keep drafts out. But most importantly, it completely blackouts the room. This style of blind fits nice and flush against the window frame to minimize light coming through the side gaps, and the fabric is a blackout material. The fabric is a light color to match the walls so that it blends into the wall and lets the artwork stand out. This blind is from Habitat Blinds and Shading’s line Honeycomb in color Beechwood.
Fireplace:
The electric fireplace used to be in my living room before we moved. Our current house has a natural gas fireplace and instead of selling this one I moved it to the guest room. I love it here. It adds an extra touch of coziness to the room, and my guests usually turn it on. The fireplace works as both a space heater and low-lighting. It really adds to the feel of the room. Nothing welcomes guests to the room more than having the fire “roaring” in greeting. This electric fireplace came from Canadian Tire a few years ago.
Save
Bedframe:
There is a basic metal bed frame for this bed. A full wood-framed bed is not realistic for the room size. A footboard would take up too much room in this small space. The invisible metal bedframe works great and is less expensive than a full set.
Headboard:
This headboard is a super simple diy project. Anyone can tackle this! I made this headboard for under $15 using Dollarama vinyl decals that look like individual planks. Seriously! Be sure to cut the planks straight and line them up to get a nice crisp edge on the headboard. This headboard turned out better than I envisioned! I will be posting a tutorial for you soon.
Lamps:
I believe in the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. So I often shop the local buy and sells before heading to a department store. That is where I got these two lamps from. They were no longer fitting for someone else, but they are great for me! I paid $25 for the two lamps and they are in mint condition. They are the perfect size for my bedside tables.
Side Tables:
I wanted a pop of color for this room and what better way to do that than with accent furniture! These end tables are relatively inexpensive and are found in many hardware and department stores. This line is called Harbor View from Sauder. I decided they would stand up just fine for the little amount of use these tables get as bedside tables. They are actually quite solid for light end tables and I love this teal blue color!
Wall Art:
The wall art in the guest room is a mix of inherited pieces, store-bought prints, and my own
The canvas print is from Walmart, and while it’s not unique, I could not beat the price for this size of canvas! Believe me, my initial plan was to paint my own canvas using similar
I did DIY the graphic art above the fireplace. The frames are plain black frames from Dollarama and cost $3 each. I created the graphic art on my computer and printed it at home on regular computer paper. Just pay attention to your frame and image sizes. Then pop them into the picture frames and hang them where you want! I also made the matching Wifi password sign the same way and just used another Dollarama picture frame. Easy and effective!
Ps. Most of the fireplace decor came from Dollarama too or were repurposed from other areas in my home! This guest room was designed on a budget. The vases were even garage sales scores to keep the overall cost down. Seriously, don’t dismiss someone else’s treasures just because they are secondhand. It could be just what you are looking for. If something is looking a little too dated then I use spray paint to give it a second life.
If you like these graphic art signs, you can get the downloadable links to them FREE when you sign up for my mail list and newsletter! You will receive my newsletter with tips, post updates, and freebies directly to your inbox.
Guest Room Tour
There you have it! That is a detailed tour of the guest room in my home. Please feel free to use any of these ideas in your own home. And let me know in the
Stay creative my friend!
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Sara says
I can’t believe that headboard is just vinyl decals! Amazing!