Make overnight guests fell at ease
It is common to stress out about hosting overnight visitors, but those living in a confined space seem to worry most. While everyone hopes their small space will provide the appeal of a charming bed and breakfast, if the accommodations are a sleeper sofa, the reality is far from perfect.
Make the most of available space and focus on specific elements you can control. No matter how small your home, you can always provide luscious bedding, luxurious bath towels and thoughtful details. This is precisely how small boutique hotels thrive, so why not you?
Anything your guest will touch can be lovely, from a cashmere throw to a super-soft bathrobe. Provide an over-the-door hook set for the robe and towels. Include a folding luggage rack even if the "bedroom" is the living room. Provide bottled water and a basket including personal sized toiletry items such as shampoo, conditioner and body lotion. Consider moving your Bose or radio into the guest area for the duration of the visit so that your guest might enjoy their favorite tunes or broadcasts.
These are simple and thoughtful things anyone can provide. I know of one hostess who provides silk pajamas in a range of sizes to all houseguests! The range of quality and expense is completely up to you.
Obviously, privacy is the challenge when your guest must sleep in an open household area such as a family room or large landing. Think about providing a folding screen to deliver the impression of a little more seclusion.
If your guest room is the home office, tidy up as best you can before the visit and stash away clutter. I always scoop up my husband's debris and store it in banker's boxes in his closet until guests leave. It's not a perfect solution, but it enables me to provide a clean surface for guests. I also move things off the bathroom counter for our guest.
One trick in a guest room is to placing a bed on a window wall. This can be the biggest way to enlarge a spare bedroom. In this photo, the headboard does extend into the windows and that is acceptable. By ignoring a window, you might be able to create a comfortable furniture layout. Go for it!
It is far more important to provide practical night stands with reading lamps than to assume the bed must fit on a plain wall. Especially in older homes, with more cut up space, achieving this is difficult.
Try to avoid uncomfortable cots. While many are offered for extremely reasonable prices, your guest may not be able to sleep on a rickety bed. It is better to invest in a good quality blowup bed or a chaise longue. I'd rather sleep on the floor than on a bad-quality cot.
Know that extra deep sofas with the back cushions removed make into a perfectly fine twin-size bed. You can tuck flat sheets over the seat cushions and make up a very adequate bed.
Finally, try to stick with a color scheme in your guest room. An inexpensive coat of paint might tie the entire room together. Start by matching your bed covers or selecting a color that will blend with the rest of your house. While you might not want to commit to color in the main part of your home, consider use of something fun in a guest room, bath or powder bathroom.
• 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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