How to upgrade your spare room into a haven for guests

Guest bedroom ideas: from junk room to hotel luxe

Lucky enough to have a spare bedroom? Whether your eldest has recently flown the nest, or your spare room has been gathering dust for the past few years, the time has come to give it a makeover. Don’t let unused space go to waste any longer, let’s help you transform it into a gorgeous guest room for visitors.

From the décor to the storage – there’s a lot to keep in mind when designing a guest room. You want your houseguests to feel comfortable and to have everything they need, be that enough storage space, a mirror, or a bedside lamp for reading. With just a few simple changes you can turn your spare room into a welcoming oasis.

Lighten up

Lighting has the power to manipulate the mood of a room. Use lighting to your advantage and create a warm and welcoming atmosphere in your guest room. There are so many different indoor lights to choose from, such as LED strips, wall lights, table lights, and stylish floor lamps. LED strips are great for giving your guest bedroom a contemporary hotel vibe. You could attach them on the bottom of the bed, or along the top of the wall for a five star feel.

Before your guests come to stay, check that all the light bulbs in the spare room work. Spare rooms go unused most of the year, so it’s easy to miss a dead bulb. We recommend adding a bedside table lamp or wall light beside the bed, so your guests don’t have the hassle of moving across the room to turn out the light before dozing off. A dimmer switch is always a good idea – giving your guests full control over the ambience in the room. Whether they like their lights bright or more subdued, they’ll be able to adjust the light level to their needs.

Colour refresh

A fresh lick of paint can make a world of difference. If your spare room has been used as a storage room for a while, chances are the walls will be scratched and scuffed. Bring your walls back to life with a fresh coat of colour. Our GoodHome Ultra Cover paint has made refreshing your room a whole lot easier with its fantastic new formula. It's our highest opacity paint, covering most surfaces in one coat, making it ideal for any interior walls and ceilings. Choose from a variety of relaxing hues for your guest room, from calming blues to relaxing greens.

If your walls are in need of some attention before slapping on the emulsion, check out our preparation guide before painting your walls.

B&Q Loves: bold wallpaper

Take your room from drab to fab in a matter of moments with our glorious selection of wallpaper. We’ve recently introduced some stunning Grandeco murals and Joules wallpaper to our range, choose from a selection of rich colours and elegant floral designs. You could create a feature wall by covering just the one wall with wallpaper and painting the other three walls in a complementary shade.

The great thing about a guest room is that you can be a lot more adventurous with how you decorate it. As you won’t be sleeping in the room yourself, you’re less likely to become tired of the décor. This is your opportunity to use a daring pattern or design that you’ve always had your eye on but been a bit nervous to try.

Storage ideas for your guest room

When there are more people in your home than usual, it can get cluttered really quickly with luggage, clothing, and all the extra toys for the kids. Make sure that guests have got enough storage in the room they are staying in with GoodHome Atomia modular storage. It is a range of cabinets and accessories designed to help you store and organise everyday items whilst making the most of your space. With Atomia you can create your storage furniture to fit your room, not the other way around.

You could also add a free-standing clothes rail so they can hang coats or outfits that they don’t want to crease. And be sure to leave them some hangers. Providing a freestanding towel rail like our GoodHome Koros towel rail will give guests somewhere to hang and dry their towels, helping you keep the bathroom clear.

B&Q Loves: fantastic flooring

Whatever new direction you want to take your room, we’ve got the flooring to match. Everything from solid wood to vinyl, herringbone, parquet effect and more. In fact, at B&Q we’ve got over 200 flooring options. Our new d-c-fix floor tiles and vinyl floor rolls are perfect for light use rooms, such as spare rooms, utility rooms, or cloakrooms. Take your pick from a variety of designs, from geometric tiles to traditional wood. They’re super easy to lay, so you can quickly switch up the flooring in your guest bedroom with little disruption to daily life.

Clear the clutter

We all use our spare rooms as makeshift storage spaces. Anything we’re not using – summer clothes, coats and extra bedding can all find their way into rooms that are not used every day. When guests are due, you’ll need somewhere to stash all the unwanted clutter quickly.

Compactor vacuum bags are a brilliant way to store away clothing and bedding. Simply place your stuff into the bags, suck all the air out with your vacuum cleaner and then pack them away. The size of your items will be greatly reduced and can then be stored away in the airing cupboard, under the bed or in the loft or attic space.

Plastic boxes are another way to hide away your belongings when you have guests. Place your items inside them and pop them on a shelf or under the bed. Our storage boxes are available in a variety of sizes and they're nestable and stackable so they can fit in your home neatly.

Finishing touches

Accessories and finishing touches will make your guests feel well taken care of. Adding a bin and a mirror will make your spare room feel more homely - it also means guests can get ready comfortably. If you’ve got the space, you could put a desk and chair in the corner, so your visitors have somewhere else to sit that on the bed. If you’ve got a hard floor, you could put down a rug to stop bare feet getting cold. For another nice touch, why not bring the outdoors in with a houseplant or vase full of fresh flowers?

There we have it, our top tips for creating a welcoming guest room for visitors to feel comfortable in. If you’d like more ideas and advice around home décor and design, be sure to check out our other Home & Furnishing articles.