The holiday season is upon us and that means guests for anywhere from a few hours to a few days or even weeks. To help get your house in order, aspire design and home turned to our design community for tips on creating the perfect guest room. From the linens to the little luxuries, hear how these 18 designers set the stage when holiday guests are spending the night.
Meridith Baer | Meridith Baer Home
For the perfect guest suite, I always start with a nice upholstered bed, crisp plain white sheets and a fluffy duvet. Adding fresh-cut flowers and a water carafe on the bedside table helps make my guests feel welcomed. During the holidays, I like to have one of my Meridith Baer Home Blue Spruce candles burning for that special touch!
I always love to create a little work area for my guests to check emails and stay connected. In this serene guest suite, we were also able to incorporate a little seating area, perfect for reading or taking a call.
Elly P. Cooper | Elly Poston Interiors
I’m always channeling my mom, a consummate Southern hostess, when creating interiors that are as warm and gracious as she is. There is no better way than to make a guest feel more comfortably at home than remembering thoughtful touches in the guest room. In our clients’ guest rooms, we always take the approach of decorating the space like a favorite hotel room. The guest room should be well edited, but inspirational and perhaps even a touch more bold than your everyday living. If re-decorating is not top of mind, make sure there are empty drawers and hangers, a small something green or floral, and glass bottled water bedside. In a full house, especially with pets and young children, a noise machine is always greatly appreciated too!
Photography by Gordon Gregory (left) and Annie Schlechter.
Anne Hulcher Tollett | Hanover Avenue
Using a desk as a bedside table is a game changer in a guest bedroom. It serves so many functions, especially in a small room. It doubles as a bedside table; it makes room for a chair, which is a wonderful luxury if a guest room is too tight for an armchair; it’s a place for a guest to do computer work; and it serves as a makeup vanity. One simple piece of furniture makes your guest so comfortable, and suddenly a guest room becomes a little suite or home office for a few days. If you have family or friends coming for an extended stay, a desk will make them feel like their room is much more functional and inviting; it will give them a place to recharge and relax if they want a few hours to themselves.
Adding simple flowers is always a lovely gesture, but we also like to include a little card with the wifi network and password, an extra set of reading glasses because anyone over the age of 45 knows the thrill of misplacing those, and a bar of fresh soap atop a stack of fluffy, clean towels. These extra touches feel so thoughtful. Pro tip: If you love to stay in great hotels, bring home the small soaps and reuse those pretty wrapped gems for your guests.
Monica Santayana & Ronald Alvarez | Moniomi Design
Creating a perfect guest room for the holidays involves several key elements that prioritize comfort and warmth. Start with the bed, layering it with extra pillows, a cozy quilt, and a soft duvet at the foot to invite relaxation. Fresh flowers are an excellent addition, providing a touch of care and detail that brightens the space. Don’t forget to include a comfy chair or a desk, giving your guests a cozy spot to read, unwind, or jot down their thoughts.
Sally O’Connor | Hesellic Design
Use Luxury Linens — Keep a beautiful, soft set of linens specifically for guests. By storing them separately, you ensure they stay pristine and inviting, making your visitors feel pampered from the start!
Create an Essentials Hamper — Put together a welcome basket filled with essential miniatures — think about the toiletries your guests may have forgotten. Adding a cozy bathrobe and slippers will elevate their comfort and make them feel like they’re checking in to a hotel.
Meredith Heron | Meredith Heron Design
Tactile experiences are extremely important to our guest room designs. We almost always design a bespoke rug to be added to our Meredith Heron Collection, fine hand-knotted rugs. Occasionally, we’ll pull from our vast catalog of over 200 unique designs and customize them to suit the space. Exceptional rugs underfoot invite your guests to make themselves at home. Taking off one’s socks and shoes is essential to the act of unwinding, so an intimate connection to a sumptuous rug immediately conveys luxury to a guest.
The mattress for the bed is another great investment for a guest room and shouldn’t be a hand-me-down or an afterthought. This and the sheets that will dress it should not be areas of compromise.
Kevie Murphy | K.A. Murphy Interiors
A good guest room is more about what a guest does not have to think about, rather than what they do, hence “home away from home.” You have to take care of the basics to make people feel welcome: fresh linens and towels, good lighting and storage, and a yummy-smelling candle. But additionally, I love it when a room has a little personality – something memorable. Make sure the space is bright and airy, with a little something that will stick in the memories of every guest who stays there. The details go a long way!
Steve Kadlec | Kadlec Architecture & Design
We designed the guest bedrooms and bathrooms in this desert home to welcome holiday guests with a blend of function and atmosphere. Each bedroom offers thoughtful touches for weekend visitors: accessible storage for luggage and holiday gifts, convenient charging stations, and cozy spaces to unwind. Warm textures, inviting colors, and custom built-ins create uniquely welcoming bedrooms that avoid an overly thematic feel. En suite bathrooms are tailored for holiday travelers with ample space for toiletries, soft towels, and personal effects. Good lighting and refined finishes pamper lucky visitors making holiday guests feel truly at home.
Leah Bolger | Leah Bolger Design
Consider what you love most about your favorite hotel stay to provide inspiration and a starting point when thinking about what your guests might enjoy.
Sleep in your guest room for at least one night to immerse yourself in the experience and determine how the room feels or if any adjustments need to be made.
Word of caution: By providing a great guest room experience, your holiday guests may never want to leave!
Photography by Mark Mauldin.
Theresa Butler | Theresa Butler Interiors
Creating a cozy guest room for the holidays feels incredibly special. Every detail reflects the hosts’ warmth and style, offering a glimpse into how they live throughout their home. I love starting with soft, plush bedding layered for comfort, so guests can adjust to stay cozy. In the top drawer of the nightstand, I include the Wi-Fi password and some charging cords for convenience. Finally, I like to leave a small gift with a personal note — often a holiday candle or a small basket with snacks and bottled water, perfect for the season.
Liz Barbatelli | E. Braun Beverly Hills
As a fine linen stylist, linen designer, and owner of E. Braun & Co-Beverly Hills, I believe that an environment infused with luxurious linens and accessories creates transformative experiences and enriches our lives every day. My guest bedroom and bath are always ready for guests to drop in and stay any time. Creating an inviting room in which they can relax is uber-important. Indulging my guests with a pristine and sumptuous environment, that is possibly even more comfortable than their own home, is my goal.
Start by dressing the bed with the finest quality sheeting, soft down pillows, and a sumptuous duvet cover with comforter to make them feel like there is nothing more satisfying and indulgent than slipping into this freshly made bed. Add a cashmere throw on a chair or loveseat for them to snuggle under and take an afternoon nap.
Beth Webb | Beth Webb Interiors
The perfect guest room begins with carefully considering all the senses and creating a five-star hotel experience in one’s home. Freshly laundered and pressed sheets are a must, some of my favorites are Julia B linens, Leontine, and Peacock Alley. We also love Frette, Matouk and Sferra. I personally like a cotton sateen — the highest thread count possible! My favorite pillows are from Downtown Down and are the Princess Alexis or Sweet Dreams — they make for the perfect night’s sleep. An eiderdown comforter — the ultimate in luxury but at the very least the best down comforter one can afford. Freshly cut seasonal flowers or for the holidays maybe paperwhites or white cyclamen bedside, along with a carafe of water and a Cire Trudon diffuser (Abd El Kader).
Make sure your guests have all the creature comforts in the bath. I like to place Molton Brown products in the shower; a body wash, shampoo and conditioner with sea sponges; bath salts by the tub with robes; and fluffy toweling. Stock the bath cabinet with everything one would think necessary for a short stay: tips, cotton balls, hair dryer, toothpaste, toothbrush, and a small selection of lotions and potions.
Emily Summers | Emily Summers Design Associates
To create the perfect guest room, start with the bedding — layer it so your guests can adjust to their preferred level of warmth by using a soft duvet and a light blanket. Add a variety of pillows to allow for different sleep preferences. It’s important to include a comfortable place to sit or unwind other than the bed, such as a cozy reading chair or a small bench. Additionally, providing a convenient area for luggage, like a luggage rack or a bench where they can spread out their suitcase, helps keep the room organized and functional.
Marcus and Autumn Mohon | Mohon Interiors
Soft surfaces and an abundance of fabric — draperies, upholstered headboard, comfortable upholstery. You want the room to embrace you and remove light and noise for peaceful sleep. Soft surfaces make a room inviting, approachable, and emotionally soothing.
It’s always great to have small snacks, a beautiful carafe with water, and linen sheets to keep you cool even in a toasty bed.
Andrew Franz | Andrew Franz Architect
I love hosting guests and enjoy being one, but like fish, three days of guests is enough, so most of our clients subscribe to the theory, “Don’t make guest rooms so generous or so comfortable that guests don’t leave.”
For us, the perfect guest room starts with some autonomy. So if we are programming a new residence, we try to locate the guest rooms farther away from the host’s bedrooms, allowing both guests and hosts to have some privacy and stay on different schedules. The early morning host doesn’t want to hear the late-night guest or the guest who’s arrived from another time zone.
In terms of rooms, they should not be too generous — that suggests a long-term stay. We opt for rooms that comfortably accommodate a queen-size bed, a very comfortable chair or two with a reading lamp, and a desk or small table with a chair. We often forgo dressers or furnish only small ones because most guests don’t unpack and prefer a desk or small table for two instead. We like to furnish generously deep closets with broad ledges that act as luggage racks so guests can place their suitcases inside while placing a few items on shelves and hangers.
Amy Aidinis Hirsch | Amy Aidinis Hirsch Interior Design
Guest rooms provide an opportunity to be more playful and whimsical; they can be more daring. We love using wallpapers from Rule of Three because they are unusual. Crisp bedding with embroidery is always luscious. Our go-to is E. Braun & Co. mixed with the dream model blanket from Matuok for a heavenly, very soft-to-the-touch bedscape.
I am a big believer that florals brighten a space and are the simplest gesture of making one comfortable. For the holidays, I love magnolia leaves mixed with white berries on a night table in a great piece of pottery.
Adam Hunter | Adam Hunter Inc.
Lighting is everything! Make sure there’s a warm bedside lamp for winding down and perhaps a dimmer for softer evening ambiance. Candles are a wonderful addition as well. Our studio manager Kayleigh created a beautiful soy wax candle that lives in a textured vessel that we love.
Lastly, don’t forget the essentials — a chic set of bath products, robes, slippers, extra chargers, and maybe even a handwritten welcome note. It’s the little details that let guests know they are appreciated and welcome in your home.
Dustin Morris | Eyoh Design
A guest room is an important space because it is an opportunity for the homeowner to give insight into how they live and what they think is important. Since a custom home is a very personal expression of how that homeowner lives, their guest room is a chance for them to show that to their guests. Guest rooms don’t need much but we still like to make them special and add a little touch of luxury so that they enjoy their stay.
Views of nature, natural light, beautiful textures and colors are all design decisions we have considered to help clients articulate their values to the people they invite to stay with them in their home. Even specific furniture pieces are important — a bench is always a great idea for a guest room to make unpacking a bag easier.
See more holiday design tips from our panel of industry experts here.
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