Special Guests

Try these three ways to make your guests feel at home without sacrificing style. A pair of twin beds serves as the starting point for comfort and versatility created in each of these three guest bedrooms. Choose your approach, whether it's privacy, style, or comfort, and get started.

Privacy
Gracious guests never want to intrude, and with a self-contained retreat of their own, they never have to. With everything they need — refreshments, bathroom, media center, and extra seating — in one place, visitors can be assured of a private space. Designer Barbara Jordan took that concept to heart when she created this eclectic guest room in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“I wanted it to feel like an efficiency apartment,” she says. “It’s a guest suite over the garage, and the clients needed it to be a space for visitors to have to themselves because they entertain a lot.”
The most innovative feature of this guest room is the clever coffee station hidden in a built-in partition that also masks a television and storage drawers.

The station features a marble-top cabinet with snack storage inside and coffee machine and accessories on top. Taupe-painted shelves above subtly display decorative accessories.

Following a color palette of soft pastels and neutrals with a touch of coral red, Jordan opted for a slightly feminine look to give the room a sanctuary feel.

“I think bedrooms in general should be feminine,” she says. “I’m not talking about ruffles; I mean tailored feminine. It’s the one place you’re allowed to be in a soft environment. Even men don’t feel out of place in a feminine bedroom.”

Rather than shop for all new pieces to fill this separate guest suite, Jordan reused pieces from the clients’ prior home. For example, the overstuffed armchairs that offer plush seating in the reading nook came from the family room, and the oversize nightstand between the beds once functioned as a drop-leaf dining table.

Comfort
Comfortable accommodations put guests at ease. For Linda Knight Carr, who designed this Greensboro, North Carolina, guest room, that meant casual cottage style.

“We want guests to feel really relaxed,” Carr says, so nothing is “too precious or delicate. The influence of the wood [furniture] is critical in this space as it creates the personality and sense of ‘old shoe’ comfort desired to make guests feel cozy.”

While the guest room’s furnishings are French and English imports, they have simpler lines “with a country flair — not formal,” Carr says.
Bedcovers and window treatments follow suit in a simply patterned monochromatic color palette, with splashes of red for interest. “The fabrics are cottons and linens for a comfy, casual feel,” the designer explains. These natural fabrics also are washable, a practical feature for guests of all ages.

The monochromatic color shceme continues throughout the room using cream tones accented with soft yellow and persimmon hues pulled from an armoire the homeowners already had. Carr placed the armoire, formerly unnoticed in the living room, in the guest room so it could be a colorful — and dramatic — focal point.

Artwork was another key element of the room’s design. Rather than a traditional watercolor, Carr made use of the homeowners’ distinctive antique oil paintings depicting scenes of old-world Europe. The unexpected artworks take up relatively little room in the small space, yet pack a terrific decorating punch. Plus, the paintings reflect the homeowners’ personalities. “They love to collect art,” Carr says.