You’re probably going to end up playing host at least once in your new home. Traveling can be stressful and staying in an unfamiliar place can be challenging. By making your guest room even more inviting, you can ensure a positive, happy trip. Here are some tips and must-haves for helping your guests feel at home in your guest room.

Closet Space with Extra Hangers

While most rooms include a closet, these spaces often get filled up with extra clothes, holiday decorations, or just junk that has nowhere else to go. Even guest room closets aren’t immune to this. Your guest room closet doesn’t have to stay empty all the time, but you better make room when people come over. Not only that but make sure you keep extra hangers in plain view. There’s nothing worse than ending up with wrinkled clothes because you’ve just got one hanger to use.

Extra Blankets and Pillows

Everybody sleeps differently, and everyone is equally picky about how they sleep. Some folks run hot while others shiver under the thickest comforter. Don’t leave your guests’ comfort up to chance. Keep plenty of extra blankets and pillows in your guest room to meet their needs.

Big, Fluffy Towels

Your guests are likely on vacation, so why not help them pamper themselves? Set aside fluffy, cozy towels for your guests. Here’s a hot tip: have you ever heard of bath sheets? If not, you’re really missing out. Unlike bath towels, which are fine for toweling off but often too small for adults, bath sheets are large enough to cover you completely. It’s a little comfort, but it can make all the difference.

Basic Toiletries

Everybody forgets a toothbrush, razor, toothpaste, or comb at least once while traveling. Save your guests from a trip to the store by keeping an extra set of toiletries in your guest room. After every visit, make sure you restock this set. This simple act can make you a hero to someone who realizes they forgot toothpaste at midnight.

Some items to include: toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo & conditioner, soap, lotion, disposable razor, and a hairdryer in plain view.

Switch Up Your Style

Since your guest room won’t necessarily be used year-round, you can take some design liberties with it. You don’t need to match this room’s décor with the rest of the house. Add personal touches, like fun throw pillows or a big, comfortable armchair. Choose a unique rug or hang eclectic art on the walls. Just be sure not to get too crazy with it and disarm your guests!

When guests are coming, there’s a lot to get ready. You’re doing laundry, washing sheets, cleaning the house, all that. It can be easy to overlook little things like clean towels or closet space. But with these little touches, you’ll make all the difference to your guests.

It’s a question interior designers get asked all the time. How do you create zones in an open floor plan? For homeowners without walls, this can be a real problem. How do you keep your home from feeling like one single room?

By learning a few design tricks, you can completely mitigate this issue. Instead of an expansive, flat room, you can transform your open floor plan into an elegant, bright space set apart by different zones.

Pros and Cons of an Open Floor Plan

There are many advantages to open floor plans. Without interior walls, sunlight travels throughout the entire level. It feels brighter and more open than other floor plans with walls separating rooms, which helps you flow from one area to another.

Without careful planning, however, the open floor plan can quickly lose its character and feel flat. Instead of separate areas – kitchen, dining area, and living room – it feels more like a giant room with different furniture and appliances on each well. That’s not what you’re going for.

Let Your Floor Guide You

But there’s an easy solution for this. You can separate each space, or zone, with different flooring to transition from one area to the next. By choosing different flooring materials, you can either set out a sharp contrast or make it more subtle. And you don’t have to break the bank with this either.

Creating Zones With Different Flooring

Make the separation between different zones clear with different flooring materials. If you have tile or hardwood floors in your kitchen, try adding carpet to your living area. These divisions help separate the open floor plan without the same oppressiveness of walls. It can also be fun to choose different colors or patterns from one zone to the next.

Subtle Transitions

Maybe you’re not looking for a sharp contrast between your kitchen and living room. Blending flooring from one tone to another is a subtle way to create zones in your home. For instance, you can use different stains or tones of wood or vinyl. This smooth transition from one area to another is more can also be reflected in your furniture. Play around with this idea by adding similar elements or accent colors from one area to the next.

Separate Spaces with Rugs

If your home has already been built with the same flooring throughout your open floor plan, don’t despair. Creating zones doesn’t have to break the budget. Instead of choosing different flooring materials or colors, add a rug. Your options are literally endless – with unique textures, colors, and patterns to add flair to your room. What’s great about rugs is that you can easily change them going forward. The same can’t be said about different flooring materials.

Open floor plans draw in beautiful sunlight and better airflow and can help bring unity to a space. Keep it from feeling like one giant room by using flooring to create distinct zones. Be as subtle or bold as you like!