Designing with Deb
Creating the Ultimate Guest Room
I
love to entertain, and I love to have house guests— whether it is family, or friends that I want to wel- come as though they’re family. When creating that Shangri-La for your guests, think about what you expect at a luxury hotel. Better yet, spend the night in your own guest room(s) and see what is working and what isn’t work- ing for you. Depending on the budget—or lack of a budget—
When Teresa isn’t hosting guests, cooking delicious food or tending the B&B, she escapes to her art studio to make lovely ceramic pieces.
there are many things you can do to add that “something special” to each guest room and elevate your guests’ experience at your very own bed and breakfast. Clear out all the clutter. Make the bed the centerpiece of the room. Purchase the most comfortable mattress and most luxuri- ous linens and pillows you can, and if you can’t purchase new, just make sure they are all clean and fluffed! When selecting your bedding and adding all those wonderful decorative pillows, make sure you have a place to store those extra pillows when it comes time for guests to undress the bed at nighttime. It’s always a good idea to have multiple light sources: Bedside tables with lamps are great. They allow your guest to get into bed and still see where they are going or have the room softly lit leading them into their temporary lair. Dimmer switches on any and all overhead lighting are a very economical way to create ambiance with lighting. Make sure you have a place for your guests to store their clothes, even if it’s an overnight stay. Should you not have closet space or drawer space, you can purchase plush padded hangers (three for $10) and hang over a door. It may not seem like a lot to you, but it lets them know you were thinking about their comfort ahead of time. Make sure you have a pretty tray (it can be on the bed itself, on a side table, on a dresser or chest). This is where you can take an already wonderful room to the next level. Pick up a few brochures of what’s going on in your community during their stay, a one- cup K-cup coffee maker with an assortment of coffees and teas with a couple of awesome mugs, a few bottles of water, a small assortment of sugars and creamers, some chocolates, or a small sampling of their favorite snack. Don’t forget that the guest room experience doesn’t end there —remember the bathroom. Make sure it is stocked with all the essentials, fluffy towels, maybe a candle, and always a fresh bar of soap! This may be the least expensive and most important detail of the whole bathroom encounter. You can never go wrong with fresh flowers. Just make sure there
From the foyer, take the stairs to a landing (and find a window seat one simply cannot resist trying out) and up another short flight to the second floor: the guest rooms. There are three: The Murdock, The Mulkey, and The Summit—named for the original owner, the founder of the Westside neighborhood, and the main street in said neigh- borhood, respectively. The art, the décor, the furniture; every bit of
it is antique, and/or European, beautiful, and perfectly placed. The pocket doors in many of the rooms—again, a part of the original design, add even more character. Careful details can be seen all around—like a handmade towel rack, another creation from a friend (they have a lot of friends. It’s hard to find kindlier people). The Robinsons have coined what they call the Three Bs: good beds, good bathrooms (each guest suite has its own bathroom), and good breakfast. And they’ve got it down to an art. It’s this method that makes the Jefferson House B&B so successful—but you can’t discount the couple’s charm as a pretty big factor. The B&B attracts more and more patronage—at first, mostly only weekends, but now, being booked through the week as well— as their reputation and publicity grow. And last, the third and final floor. It’s where the Robinsons reside, but you won’t find any photos of that space—yet. It’s the final installment of the renovation project, and Teresa says it “will be fantastic ... eventually.” If the rest of the Jefferson House is any indication, we don’t doubt it. Heather Scanlon is a graduate of the University of Kansas in history and public policy. She is a freelance writer and editor now residing in Merriam, KS. Between her various odd jobs and spending time with her hubs and darling 1-year-old, Heather nurses severe addictions to strong cof- fee, genealogy, and The New York Times crossword puzzle. ^
are no allergies. It’s all about inviting those special people in your life into your home and creating that comfortable, inviting environment just for them.
-Deb
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Deb Vogler has been creating her own brand of Comfort by Design for more than 15 years. She deals with all aspects of design, from budgeting, to floor plans (renovation or new construction), to furniture, to color at her full-scale design firm. Have a designing question for Deb? Send it to debvogler@msn.com.
VintageKC / Winter 2014 25
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