Preparing a cosy guest room

As you probably noticed from the post before,  I have had a lovely couple of weeks with a friend from America staying here with me for the past 2 weeks.  Our friendship began over 30 years ago and although we have always kept in touch we have not spent more than a long weekend with each other over the last 3 decades. That long weekend was when Mr NT and I went to Los Angeles 3 years ago for Thanksgiving (I wrote about this visit in my previous blog - Semi Expat in Oz).

Anyway, I digress.  This post is about how to (or how I) prepare for guests.

First and foremost - the bedroom.....  If you are lucky enough to have a designated guest room then that is wonderful (however, I would recommend trying out a night in the room though just to make sure all is comfy and as you would like it to be).  Our cottage is teeny weeny - I gave my friend my bedroom to use for her duration with me and for the 2 weeks I moved to my daughter's bedroom (she, is as you know, is away at University).

You need to give some thought as to what would suit your guest, male or female, old school or modern.  The bed is the obvious place to begin and you can make it comfortable with layers, (I use white linen and cotton sheets and a duvet) and a blanket at the end of the bed that can be pulled up in case of of falling temperatures. Key things in a guest bedroom I always think are plenty of pillows and a bedside lamp and of course a waste bin.  Reading material (magazines to suit the guest) and some books too are good... Little treats as well always go down well - a small box of chocolates or biscuits to ward off midnight munchies and a tiny vase of flowers always looks pretty.

Flowers for my guest

Goes without saying that plenty of towels are a necessity.  I like large white fluffy white ones and provide 2 -  a large bath towel a smaller one for hair and also a face flannel - also if you are sharing the bathroom with your guest giving them their own bath mat is a nice touch.

I  also like to set up a little basket of 'bits and bobs' in case they have forgotten any bathroom necessity or in the case of my friend from USA so that she did not have to take up valuable (shopping!) space in her suitcase.  In the basket I placed :

• Face wipes
• Moisturiser
• Tissues
• Shampoo and conditioner
• Bath gel
• Cotton wool
• Ear buds
• Tweezers
• Small tube toothpaste
• Body lotion
• Nail file
• Little scissors
• Headache tablets

Oh and I put out a spare hairdryer for her use too.

So, this is how I like to prepare a cosy room for guests staying with me....   I am sure you all have lots of little tips and tricks to share too.   Do tell all!