We have guests regularly, but for about 18 months after we moved in, our guest room/office/magazine storage facility was in really bad shape (white walls, hardwood floors, unpacked moving boxes as a bedside table, roller shades that fell down if you tugged too hard). Finally this winter, after my stepmom had put up with our spartan accomodations more than she probably wanted, she suggested sincerely -- maybe you could get a reading lamp? Really, she assured us, that's all the room needs.
Fast forward, and although it is still not the ideal space, we're a little bit closer to creating a cozy spot for guests to relax, store their stuff and catch some zzz's (warm walls with art, rug, proper bedside table, functional and pretty curtains from previous post). So when I came across this great checklist from the May issue of House Beautiul, I did a quick scan to be sure I was covering all the bases:
Guest Room Essentials (from Tom Scheerer, Interior Designer)
- Bath and hand towels, washcloths
- Fresh soap
- Shampoo
- Bath oil or foam (hmm...I'd replace this suggestion with a tube of 30 spf sunscreen)
- A unisex XL terry robe
- A hair dryer
- A refillable water vessel and glass
- A pad and pencil
- An alarm clock
- A range of magazines (!)
- A range of hangers
- Luggage rack
- Bedside nosegay or single blossom
- An orange or apple
I love this list because it seems so, well, normal. I've seen lists like this before that include suggestions for city maps, a list of telephone numbers for services (dry cleaner, taxi), extra toothbrushes and other items that make it feel like we should be running one-room hotels rather than providing the essentials that make a guest feel at home.
Of course, there's one thing missing from Mr. Scheerer's list: a reading lamp.
For Tom's list and 15 other expert checklists of "The Essentials," ranging from Kitchen to Barware to Fashion, visit House Beautiful or pick up the May issue (or both!).
Image credit: Women's Lightweight Calf-length Terry Robe at Lands' End
Looking to replace your towels? We were this winter when we realized that the reason ours were looking so shabby was that they were over ten years old. We decided we could justify replacing them (we recycled our old ones as gym towels), but I couldn't quite fathom spending what most good quality towels cost (mostly because I would have rather spent that dough on sassy new heels). The problem? The quality of most "budget" towels stink. But I found the exception to that rule at the holy land of designer labels at reasonable prices (that would be Target, of course). The 
Last summer I was poking around a bookstore in Vermont and came across Mice, Morals & Monkey Business, an incredible children’s book filled with gorgeous block prints by artist Christopher Wormell. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have it – not for our kids’ library, but for my kitchen wall.
When we got home, I hit my fab local stationery shop and picked up decorative paper that coordinated with the prints in the book, along with several LP album frames (thin metal frames with plexiglass fronts meant to showcase vintage vinyl). Using the frame backer as a template, I cut the decorative paper to the exact size of the frame. Then I went to town on Mr. Wormell’s masterpiece. First, using a box cutter (an X-acto knife might be better, but I don’t have one on hand) and great caution, I nicked the seams throughout the inside of the book, loosening up most of the pages. Then I carefully took apart the binding of the book with the knife. I trimmed the rough edges of the pages I wanted to frame and using double stick tape, attached the pages to the decorative paper. After repeating the trimming and taping process with the rest of the pieces, I popped them all into the frames and hung them up.