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16 cosy guest bedroom ideas that make visitors feel at home
Your company might never want to leave
With spring – in other words, the start of entertaining season – in full swing, it’s time to prepare for the rush of weekend house guests. Whether you’re having family over for a long weekend or welcoming friends for an extended stay, creating a specific space in your home that makes visitors feel relaxed and cared for is imperative.
Much like the downstairs loo, the guest bedroom is an often-overlooked space, but we argue it deserves the same care and decorating attention as any other room in the house – perhaps even a little more when company is on the way.
Whether it’s freshening up the bedding to suit the longer, spring days, or going for a full-blown makeover with a fresh lick of paint, we've gathered some of the best guest room decorating ideas below.
By the time you finish preparing the space for guests, you might find yourself choosing their bed over yours...
Use pops of green
Green might be trending right now, but that doesn't mean it should be dismissed as a permanent decorating choice. This is a colour that simply always works, not least because it has a wonderfully calming effect.
Pepper pops of colour throughout the room – a green lamp shade here, a green cushion there – to create a seamless aesthetic.
Don't hold back
Guest bedrooms are an opportunity to indulge your decorating fantasies with a feature mural wallpaper that you might not want to live with on a daily basis. Keep your furniture classic – a buttoned headboard and scrolled details are about as classic as it gets – and you can introduce a picture rail to add a bit of breathing space above.
Pay attention to the fifth wall
Let guests know you were thinking about their experience at every level by paying special attention to the ceiling. While it might feel too daring to wallpaper a ceiling in a room you use everyday, in a guest bedroom it adds the perfect level of playfulness.
Interior design by Nate McBride and Kari McCabe
Inject character
Antiques and vintage finds are a great way to decorate an airy guest room. Here, a collection of vintage paintings in faded frames spruce up the walls of a guest bedroom with lilac hues.
Additional touches, like a vintage suitcase under the bed and wooden crates repurposed as a bedside table, make the space feel cosy and lived-in.
Hang oversized art
Instead of hanging up multiple smaller paintings and photos, settle for one large piece of art, which is as simple as it is impactful.
In this cottage guest room, a vintage artwork helps to anchor the room and colour scheme.
A large map or tapestry also make great focal points.
Go simple and soothing
If you're unsure about the style direction you should take your guest bedroom in, just keeping it simple can go a long way.
By sticking to a paired-back colour palette of natural hues and avoiding clashing patterns, you can create a spa-like space for your guests.
Pictured: 'Dartmouth' bed from Naturalmat
Bring the outside in
By now, we know that nature plays an important role for our wellbeing. Why not utilise this knowledge and turn your guest bedroom into a little nature-inspired oasis for your visiting family and friends?
Introduce soft hues like mustard yellow and forest green, bring in natural textures like wicker and rattan, and choose organic patterns for bedding, curtains and wallpapers.
Choose statement bedding
In this cosy, creamy bedroom, statement bedding steals the show.
Mix and match patterns – staying within a similar colour range – for the ultimate designed-but-not-designed look.
Lean into architectural quirks
If your guest room doesn’t have a conventional layout, lean into the unusual space.
Here, an awkward nook becomes the perfect guest perch thanks to scalloped wood trim and cosy bedding. Don’t forget to bring in a small nightstand.
Use vintage finds
In this guest room, an antique chest topped with a pharmacy-style reading lamp functions as a bedside table for two beds.
Select vintage finds can make a space feel that much more characterful and cosy.
Go wild with wallpaper
This guest bedroom’s botanical wallpaper fits right into the cottage’s nature setting. In combination with the patterned linens in a burnt-orange-and-denim colour palette, it makes the space feel stylish yet nostalgic.
Wallpaper by Andrew Martin
Choose a dresser over a side table
Using a dresser as a nightstand offers your guests more storage and space for their belongings.
Installing a wall light as opposed to using a table lamp also frees up space on top for books and little touches like a jewellery dish.
Pick crisp white bedding
Nothing says hotel experience quite like crisp, white bedding. And when the rest of the room is styled accordingly, white sheets are everything but boring.
Play with patterns
Love the idea of maximalism but aren't sure you can commit to seeing it every day? Try a fun pattern-clashing design in your guest bedroom, using wallpaper and bedding.
Not only is this a relatively low-stakes space, but also you can poll your guests and see what works.
Embrace mismatched bedding
To loosen up a traditional guest bedroom, add mismatched quilts to twin beds.
In this cottage, for example, century-old quilts in Pinwheel (left) and Bear’s Paw (right) patterns dress the antique iron beds.
Pile on the blankets
In Britain, even summer nights can get a little chilly, and there’s nothing worse than not having enough covers to keep you warm if you need it.
Style your guest's bed with an extra throw or a cosy blanket to give them a few options and make sure they stay comfortable throughout their stay.
Wanda Sachs is the Multiplatform Writer for Country Living and House Beautiful, exploring the latest in gardening, wildlife and sustainable living alongside interiors and property. She is particularly interested in human-interest stories, the intersection of design and pop culture, and the evolving relationship between urban and rural life. Previously, she served as Associate Editor at The Berliner in Berlin, where she reported on culture and fashion. Wanda studied English and German at the Goethe University Frankfurt and Exeter University.
Anna Logan is the Deputy Homes & Style Editor at Country Living, where she has been covering all things home design, including sharing exclusive looks at beautifully designed country kitchens, producing home features, writing everything from timely trend reports on the latest viral aesthetic to expert-driven explainers on must-read topics, and rounding up pretty much everything you’ve ever wanted to know about paint, since 2021. Anna has spent the last seven years covering every aspect of the design industry, previously having written for Traditional Home, One Kings Lane, House Beautiful, and Frederic. She holds a degree in journalism from the University of Georgia. When she’s not working, Anna can either be found digging around her flower garden or through the dusty shelves of an antique shop. Follow her adventures, or, more importantly, those of her three-year-old Maltese and official Country Living Pet Lab tester, Teddy, on Instagram.
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