How to style the perfect guest bedroom

Styling a guest bedroom perfectly is all about making sure your visitors don’t feel like they’ve been dumped in the most unloved part of your house. With a little bit of thought, a touch of creativity and a lot of care, you could create the perfect sanctuary that will wow your guests.

Read our tips on how going with a theme, being inspired by statement pieces and getting the most out of your space with flexible furnishings will help you create a room that your guests will never want to leave!

Go with a theme

Giving your guest bedroom a life of its own is done easily by choosing a theme. One way to do this is to tie the décor in with the theme of the rest of your house, creating a seamless blend from one room to another. Choosing similar splashes of colour, texture and statement pieces that are in other spaces means your guest will feel like they’re right at home.

If you’re feeling particularly creative, go bold and choose a completely different theme, giving your guests an experience when they visit. If you live near the seaside you could incorporate beige, blues and décor like this rope table lamp for a nautical theme. For sports fans, incorporate some of your best memorabilia or opt for the vintage look with retro decorative equipment.

Movie buffs, on the other hand, could tie in elements like dazzling lights, a clapper board and star on the door to make them feel like a celebrity. Whatever theme you choose, go all out with it!

Highlighting statement pieces

If you’re still not sure what theme you’d like to go for, matching the style to a statement piece in the room can help you create a unique vibe without it feeling out of place. To do this, start with the stand-out piece and work from there. If your statement piece is a painting or wallpaper, you can match the colours and tones in the artwork and combine them throughout the rest of the décor, bringing the room together.

You can do this with any statement piece – take a mirror, for example. If you have a tall rectangular mirror with a wooden border, match the style with a bed frame and bedside table that have hard edges, and use natural, earthy tones with hanging plants to add to the look. Or if it’s a round mirror with a gold frame, opt for décor that has softer edges, adding touches of gold throughout with simple things like lamp fixtures and chrome sockets to give it that extra bit of pizazz.

Practical, flexible space

If you only have guests staying occasionally, making the space work practically for you is important. After all, that’s a whole extra room of the house you could be using for things like an office space, gaming den, or somewhere to go for some zen!

The aim here should be to use flexible furnishings and décor. Furniture like sofa beds or a day bed are great space-savers and serve to transform the room effortlessly.

Hidden storage is also key, ensuring you can tuck away clutter from view. After all, you don’t want your guest to feel like they’re sleeping in your office! With handy storage, you can easily swap out your practical desk pieces with items like a mirror, lamp, or plants, ensuring your style and theme is on point for your guest’s arrival.

Mood lighting

Choosing lighting wisely can make a huge difference to a room’s ambience. Using warm lightbulbs is key to create a relaxed, cosy environment, perfect for when your guest is winding down. If there’s one piece of lighting your guest bedroom isn’t perfect without, it’s a bedside table lamp! Not only are they perfect for guests who like to read before bed, but it also means your visitors won’t have to make the awkward dash from the light switch to the bed, hoping they won’t crash into something in the inevitable darkness.

To take the atmosphere to the next level, place candles in the room to fill it with the perfect scent, which you can tie in with the room’s theme if it has one. For example, summery beach scents, or natural eucalyptus. Similarly, hanging warm fairy lights can also give the guest bedroom a cosy, feel-good aesthetic.

But remember, just as much as you should incorporate additional lighting into your guest bedroom, ensure it is also fit out with black-out curtains so they can sleep in to their hearts’ desire... or provide an eye mask at the very minimum!

Have you re-styled your guest bedroom recently? We want to see! Tag us in your pics on Instagram (@Avant_Homes), Facebook (@AvantNewHomes) or Twitter (@AvantHomes) and use #AvantHomes #MyAvantStyle, and you could be featured!