Welcome Guests with a Cozy Room

Welcome Guests with a Cozy Room

Welcome your holiday guests by creating a cozy room. Your guest may be your college kids or young adults. You can create a welcoming bedroom for them. Here’s how.

After many years of not having a guest room I converted my son’s room into a guest room and I thought I’d share some of my thoughts with you.

You want your adult kids to feel welcome and at home while they visit. Offering them all the amenities of the home will go a long way to making them feel comfortable. No one wants to ask where to toss trash and you don’t want to have to keep repeating your wifi password to them. So make sure you are ready with these lists of “guest ready” items.

You need to eliminate all clutter from the room. This is a big one for me, as I often work with clients who are using their guest room as a catch-all – The place where decisions are avoided. By using your guest room as a dumping ground you make a lot more work for yourself in order to have guests. Do the work. Get the space in order and then make it a practice not to leave anything in the room that doesn’t belong.

Don’t forget these essential items:

a waste bin

tissues

a clock

phone charger

pen and paper

a reading lamp

the wifi username and password

extra pillows and blankets

space in the closet (and hangers) and drawers for their things

Some luxury items you might want to add

fresh flowers

a luggage rack

a scented candle

a robe

magazines

snacks

How do you make an inviting guest space? Let us know your ideas.

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Janet Schiesl

Janet Schiesl

Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.

She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.

Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.

Janet Schiesl

Janet Schiesl

Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.

She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.

Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.

14 Comments

  1. Seana Turner on December 14, 2020 at 8:21 am

    This is so good! I have my adult children home with me through the turn of the New Year. Everyone is working from a different room in the house. So important to provide the wifi password!! This is a great tip because I auto login, and always have to look it up when someone comes to visit. Also, for sure on the trash can. Every room should have one:)

    • Janet Schiesl on December 14, 2020 at 1:45 pm

      We recently changed our router and password, so I have to look it up all the time. It’s written down in several places around the house!

  2. Kristin Zucaro on December 14, 2020 at 8:33 am

    I love the tips on adding luxury items! It almost makes the room feel like a hotel or B&B. I’m inspired to freshen up my OWN bedroom with these ideas. Thanks!

    • Janet Schiesl on December 14, 2020 at 1:43 pm

      Great idea to treat yourself. We all need a little inspiration these days.

  3. Linda Samuels on December 14, 2020 at 9:59 am

    We have a small home, so the extra bedroom WAS our daughter’s room. After they left for college, I converted it into a guest room. It’s a work in progress, although I have done most of the things you suggested. But you mentioned a few that I haven’t done that I’d like to incorporate, like the Wi-Fi password and robes. Completing this room will be a great goal for 2021. Thank you for the nudge.

    • Janet Schiesl on December 14, 2020 at 1:42 pm

      For when people can travel and visit you again. Great goal. I changed my son’s room into our guest room after he graduated from college and moved away.

  4. Sarah on December 14, 2020 at 11:17 am

    This is great advice! I’ve never thought to actually try to make the guest room more inviting. Typically I leave it a blank space for others to bring their stuff into. However, I adore the idea of the phone charger, the wifi information, the reading light, and many of the luxury items. Will for sure be doing this! Thanks 🙂

    • Janet Schiesl on December 14, 2020 at 1:40 pm

      Great Sarah. I love having a guest room always ready for someone to visit. Then I don’t end up running around at the last minute to prepare.

  5. Sabrina Quairoli on December 14, 2020 at 11:41 am

    Great tips, Janet!

    Since my kids are in college and are coming and going, while they were away, I decided to update my kids’ rooms to give them a welcoming place to be for them and guests- when I have them again. I found that lighting is important in the room. An overhead light may not be enough. Replacing a desk/seating area is nice, too, especially if you have a guest for a long period of time. I also like to have some hanging space for them with empty hangers to hang their stuff in the closet.

    • Janet Schiesl on December 14, 2020 at 1:39 pm

      A few years ago I made my son’s room into a guest room. Change just about everything except the furniture, so I know what you mean. I wanted to make it homey and warm, but not personal.

  6. Melanie Summers on December 14, 2020 at 5:44 pm

    I love this! I’m all about creating a welcome, special space for people who stay at our house. I just posted a tutorial on my YouTube channel with folding techniques for guest bath towels. I’m saving all your ideas for updating our guest room!

    • Janet Schiesl on December 16, 2020 at 7:27 am

      I’ll have to check out your youtube tutorial.

  7. Julie Bestry on December 15, 2020 at 4:04 pm

    Great advice, no matter the visitors, whether adult kids or in-laws. I can return to my childhood home knowing that 99% of everything is exactly the same (my room is a shrine!), but there is nothing more valuable than having that Wi-Fi password when you need it.

    • Janet Schiesl on December 16, 2020 at 7:30 am

      Great Julie. I turned my son’s room into a guest room after he had moved 1,000 miles away. He’s still welcome, but he doesn’t think of my home as his home anymore.

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