Summer Hosts Beware: Your Visitors Will Never Want to Leave a Guest Room Like These

By Marni Elyse Katz
August 5, 2011

Guest Room

New York City designer Sara Gilbane chose a crisp—not to mention patriotic—red, white, and blue color scheme for this beach house guest room. The string of starfish and the seahorse table lamp add nautical touches.

If you're not playing the part of houseguest this summer, then perhaps you're host to one. Folks fortunate enough to have a home near (or on!) a beach, farm, camp or shore have the pleasure of sharing their space with friends and family. (Admittedly, there's some pain, too, often in the form of piles of dirty linens and so many mouths to constantly feed. But that's a small price to pay to own a house everyone wants to visit.)

One of the best ways to make your guests feel at home is to provide them with a guest room of their own—if only for the weekend—that exudes comfort and luxury, and removes the stresses of everyday life.

According to Upper East Side Manhattan-based interior designers (and married couple) Mara Miller and Jesse Carrier of Carrier and Co., a guest bedroom should be “uncomplicated," with no clutter to contend with or piles or tchotchkes gathering dust.

Scroll through for more Gorgeous Guest Rooms

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Every up-to-date guest room should include an iPod dock. (Room designed by Mara Miller and Jesse Carrier of Carrier and Co.)
A desk allows those who need to check in to the office, or catch up on writing letters, to do so in comfort. (Room designed by Mara Miller and Jesse Carrier of Carrier and Co.)
This airy guest room in the Kennebunkport, ME home of designer Nicki Bongiorno is decorated in crisp palette of sea- and sky-inspired blues as well as white. The seascape above the bed is peaceful, and the sea grass rug is perfect for a beach locale.
A more casual guest room in Bongiorno's Kennebunkport, ME home has a cozy throw and low-hanging mod lamp for bedside reading.
Stacks of current paperbacks provide distraction; big pillows provide proper support for reading in bed on foggy afternoons. (Room designed by Mara Miller and Jesse Carrier of Carrier and Co.)

Nicki Bongiorno, owner of Spaces boutique and design firm in the New England resort town of Kennebunkport, ME, says it should be peaceful, helping the host to relay the message: "This is your room; unpack and relax."

Randi Williams of Randall Williams Design in Birmingham, MI, concurs, saying that a great guest room allows friends to feel like they are actually on vacation. A guest should feel welcome—even better, pampered.

Guest Room

The “Nantucket” room in Birmingham, Michigan-based designer Randi Williams’ "Happy Clam Cottage" in East Boothbay, ME pays homage to the time the family spent on Nantucket. The wood-paneled, red, white and blue room has a view of the ocean from all sides, and lots of antique wool blankets in anticipation of chilly nights. Williams says, “Every guest loves this room. I have slept there myself to see what the attraction is. It's completely peaceful . . . the waves echo. It's wonderful.” (photo by Jamie Salomon)

Boston-based interior designer Brenda Be, who has a claw-foot tub in her beach house guest bath, gives this advice: “Provide items that will give guests autonomy,” whether in the form of an alarm clock, iPod docking station or brochures for local attractions.

These interior designers helped us come up with the ultimate checklist of guest room amenities. One word of caution: Stocking a space with all of the items on this list may lead to the creation of a room your guests will never want to leave!

The Ultimate Guest Room Checklist

• Crisply laundered linens

• Cotton blanket in summer; down duvet in winter; additional lightweight ones for layering

• Assortment of pillows, feather and hypoallergenic, for sleeping and reading

• Good lighting on dimmers with switches within reach of the bed

• Blackout shades for late risers

• Comfortable chair

• Gorgeous artwork

• Luggage stand

• Dresser or shelves for clothing storage

• Dish for jewelry and change

• Carafe and glass or bottles of water