Guests can visit at any time of the year, but across the world, this happens most often during the holidays. For that reason, when winter comes it is a good time to think about preparing the guest room for imminent visits from loved ones. Of course, sometimes plans can happen last minute, which means you could end up having to seriously speed up your guest room decoration process. Instead of having a few weeks or months to get things done, you may have to pull a 24 hour makeover. Don’t worry, though, it is totally doable, especially with this step by step guide:
1. Assess
Take a look at your spare room and get an idea of what is in there. More often than not we all chuck things into the spare room without thinking too much about it, so you might be shocked by what you end up finding in there when you properly look. This initial assessment gives you an idea of how long clearing the space out will take and whether you need help from a friend or family member to do it.
During this stage you may need to add in an extra step – getting furniture for your guests. With such short notice, they won’t expect you to get a bed in for them and so, if you don’t have one, consider getting a good inflatable bed instead. If you do spot a bed for sale on Facebook marketplace, or you have a bed frame and mattress in your local self storage in London, it shouldn’t be too much trouble to take all the clutter from your spare room and bring back the bed frame and mattress (as long as you can arrange transport last minute).
It’s a short notice stay, so do be reassured that your guests will not expect you to have everything, but if you can get it, that will help with a better guest room result.
2. Plan The Clearance & Clean
Before you can do any decorating you’ll need to do a quick clearance and clean. Because this is such short notice, you don’t have any time to be messing around with decluttering processes – you need that stuff out of there! You can move it into your garage, or into an affordable self storage unit for the time being – you can compare self storage costs here. Just package everything up as best you can, leaving behind everything that will be useful for the spare room IE the bed, hanging rail etc.
Once the room is cleared of everything you can then give it a good clean. The deeper you clean, the fresher the room will feel for your guest, so it is worth putting the time in to going the extra mile. Cleaning the windows, vacuuming, wiping down furniture etc. Do also check the drawers and under the bed – you’ll want to be sure that your guest doesn’t come across any dirty clothes or embarrassing items when they stay with you – it’s so much harder to slip away and cringe when you have to live in a house with somebody!
3. Lay Everything Out
Now that you have the bare bones of the room sorted out, you can lay everything out so you have a proper guest bedroom. Could you add some more storage from your affordable self storage unit? Would it be helpful to add some blackout curtains? Consider what could be added, and even taken away, to create a useful space that your guests will be comfortable in. Think about the basics – somewhere to change, somewhere to put their clothes, somewhere nice to sleep.
Additionally, if they have an en-suite that should be tended to well, perhaps adding more storage if necessary, or at the very least ensuring everything in their works well. If they will be sharing a bathroom with you, some little bathroom baskets could be helpful so that they have somewhere to put their toiletries during their stay.
4. Finishing
You’re now at the stage where you should be able to add all the finishing touches. You can relax safe in the knowledge that if your guests turned up now, things would not be perfect, but they wouldn’t walk into the room and wonder where they were going to sleep!
To finish the overall look, put a clean set of sheets on the bed and consider getting a new quilt set if the current one is a bit old and bobbly. You’ll want to also add fresh flowers, perhaps a reed diffuser, open up the windows for ventilation and add some clean towels and maybe even a little welcome basket. Some art on the wall could also be a nice touch to add some personality and colour to the space overall.
This is the best part of the whole process because you can be a little creative and show how welcoming you are with your finishing touches.
5. Lastly…
For the guests you love the most, do consider popping out to grab some room snacks for your guests, as well as some breakfast items that cater to their needs. For example: if your guests are vegan you will want to get some dairy-free milk, spread and other bits for them so they feel welcome in your home. This is definitely an optional step, but one you may well want to take if somebody very special to you is coming to stay.
You’re Ready To Receive Your Guests!
In just 4-5 steps you have everything you need to welcome guests into your home! It’s certainly a push in just 24 hours, but it is possible with a lot of snacks and ideally, a little help from friends and family too. Before long, your guests will arrive and they will wonder at how you have managed to create such an amazing guest room at such short notice.
