Little details make all the difference for guests
The tiniest details often are the things that matter the most. Once I attended a wedding reception where there was no toilet paper in the bathroom, but I think running out of butter on home-movie night is even worse. You certainly can miss the littlest things in a full-size way! Therefore, it follows in reverse that making very incremental improvements in a small home can make large differences.
No cabinet for storage in your guest bathroom for example? No problem! Invest in fine bathroom accessories, such as these hotel quality shelves, and suddenly you have room for linens and space for other items. You could use the narrow shelf for decorative items such as a thoughtful bouquet of fresh flowers or extra toilet paper and a basket of personal toiletries. If the sink in the room is a pedestal or wall-mounted basin, then the extra shelf might become a real lifesaver. Instead of a guest fumbling around and dropping items of the floor, there is space for them to work with their overnight kit on the shelf.
Hotels offer rather cool amenities for their overnight guests, so why not copy them? Install one of those retractable clotheslines in your guest bathroom. For less than $15, you can buy a single line like those used in hotels, or for $60-$120 you might install a multiline version that could serve the household for hand-washed items. Another very charming and cozy amenity for you and any guests in your place could be heated tile floors. There are very easy ways to accomplish this if you are considering new flooring in your home. An electrician will install the heating mat, which goes under the tile flooring. You can set these on a timer and treat your guests to warmth under their feet in the early mornings or chilly evenings. For less than $150, you can cover up to 15 square feet with a radiant electric heater.
Practical amenities in a small home often have to do with storage or finding a surface to place a laptop or iPad. Investigate furniture items that might offer a pullout surface, similar to an old-school breadboard. For example, if you need a sideboard in your dining room that would be near an electrical outlet, perhaps you can buy a design that also offers a little pullout shelf. That way, your laptop could be charging overnight. For that matter, your smartphone or Fitbit could charge in the same location. Alternatively, you might search for a flip-down docking station that attaches to the wall. There are many models on the market that offer spots for Mom and Dad's phones, kids' iPods and a tablet or a camera to charge. Again, including something for your guests might be another way to show that you are thinking of their needs.
Consider taking the hall closet or entry closet and coaxing it to function on a higher level. Get a quote to create optimum storage or consider a DIY approach with the Elfa System from The Container Store or Rubbermaid. Create lower pole hanging with maximum adjustable shelving above. Or, alternatively, include some pole hanging and customize the storage to suit your particular needs. For example, you could create a shallow drawer for wrapping paper and supplies. You could create cubby storage for each school-age child or a mail sorting station by the front door.
If you have an extra wide hallway in your house, why not install very shallow bookcases? On these shelves you might store paperback books, a collection of tiny art objects or family photographs. A narrow photo ledge is another idea, and on this you could display a school-age child's projects and artwork instead of plastering the refrigerator! Consider installing a section of a tack surface in your child's bedroom. This could be cork, vinyl wall covering or wall carpet. Then your kid can pin up posters, school art and photos to their heart's content without harming the walls.
• Christine Brun is a San Diego-based interior designer and the author of "Small Space Living." Send questions and comments to her by email at christinebrun@sbcglobal.net.
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