Design Dilemmas
Episode 34: Guest Bedrooms. How to create a cool, stylish guest bedroom which will have them queuing to stay, without spending loads of money and using what you've got.
When Joe announced to me in January 2013 that he had been offered a job in York that was too good to turn down, I actually cried. I was born in Hillingdon, brought up mostly in Greater London and had barely ever been North of Watford when it came to UK travelling. I once had a terrible experience that left me crying on the platform at Birmingham New Street involving a very drunk man, a small border terrier and three plastic bags when trying to get home from the NEC and this, coupled with my inability to tolerate the cold, had led me to stay in my safe zone for many years.
However, he managed to convince me that it was the perfect proposition at this stage in our lives. Our eldest was about to go to secondary school and the options in York were significantly better for us that what we were looking at in the South. We were unwilling to sacrifice all holidays, hairdressing and nail appointments (okay, this bit was me) and live on toast forever by putting all three through the private system so decent state schools were a big plus for us. The turning point came when we visited for a weekend and realised that a) North Yorkshire is bloody gorgeous, b) York is a bit like Henley On Thames, c) the people are (mostly) much friendlier, and finally, d) we could trade in our Edwardian semi in Caversham for the house of our dreams.
As you can imagine, our extended family were not really very happy with us deserting Berkshire and we realised that we would have to come up with some sort of provision for visitors, a guest room. So we halved the garage and turned it into a self contained annexe with a kitchenette and a shower room, plus a living space and a dining area. The whole shebang. A King amongst guest rooms, in fact. We called it The Barn and it has its own separate entrance, so there is no chance of bumping into anyone in their pants in the morning or having to mingle on the landing with towels at half mast. As a result, we now have a constant procession of family and friends from the South who pretend that they like seeing us but actually just want to drink Yorkshire Gold in Betty's Tea Rooms, visit the Minster and pretend they’re on a mini break.
The Barn has been - or so I like to tell Joe - one of my greatest ideas to date. Not only is it perfect for guests, but we can also multi task it as an Airbnb (you can rent it here, actually); in fact, it’s even been used for location shoots. But mostly, it’s used by our friends and family so when they stay, I try and make it as lovely as possible (and not just so that they don’t come into the main house, ha). I’m well aware that not everyone has so much space for their guests - however, it’s still perfectly easy to elevate the look of your own spare room if you too are subject to visitations on a regular basis. Here are my top six handy tips on making your guest room - whatever the size - special for your lucky visitors. On a budget. That goes without saying.
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