14 Guest Bedroom Ideas for the Hostess With the Most-est

In a Toronto 1880s row house, designers Tommy Smythe and Colin Baird paired up to create a guest room, among many spirited ones in the abode, that we’d honestly take permanent residence in if we could. The secret ingredient? A canopied 19th-century bed decked out in blue and green fabrics, which create a visually interesting place to rest your head.

Fashion designers Mark Badgley and James Mischka’s horse farm in Kentucky is the definition of “elevated equestrian.” Every stately room fits the bill, including this second guest room, which nails the theme via a vintage blanket by Ralph Lauren Home, steamer trunks used as a side table of sorts, prints with equestrian motifs, and splashes of brown and dark green throughout. The TL;DR to all this? Choose a theme for your guest bedroom redo and let your imagination run like wild horses.

If your guest bedroom isn’t lofty, don’t fret: Your overnight visitors will be happy with anything more than a couch. That being said, approach a small secondary bedroom space creatively, which is what Iñigo Aragón and Pablo López Navarro, cofounders of the design studio Casa Josephine, did in their own Madrid apartment. The bedroom here can only accommodate a twin bed, yes, but it’s a carved late-18th-century walnut one—catapulted into contemporaneity by its bright cushions and linens. You heard it here first: The best things come in small packages!

Want to ensure your guests feel like they’re wrapped in your embrace the whole time they’re staying over? Literally envelop them in a cocoon of color and pattern—exactly what interior designer Emma Jane Pilkington did in a Fifth Avenue guest bedroom she created for her mother. The walls, bedspread, and lampshades are all dolled up in a Fermoie splatter print. After spending a few nights in sleeping chambers like these, they’ll be seeing purple for daysss (and penning a thank-you card after).

If you frequently host couples (or else people who wouldn’t mind sharing a room with each other while they crash at your place), maximize the space with a two-bed situation. In the Ojai, California, vacation home of ELLE DECOR A-List designers Eric Hughes and Nathan Turner, the couple made sure to bypass dormitory vibes through side-by-side beds that are as fun-loving as they are upscale: boasting headboards in a Colefax and Fowler check and similarly checkered bedspreads by Schoolhouse. Are the beds matchy-matchy? Maybe, but in an ultimately endearing way tich we’re eager to replicate ASAP.

Thanks to the help of interior designer Jake Alexander Arnold, actress Sophia Bush renovated her midcentury Hollywood home to tip-top levels: A fact that’s clearly proven by this guest bedroom, which benefits from a certain kind of California-cool aesthetic. Want to achieve similar results? Take a page from Arnold’s inclusion of those vintage stools at the foot of the bed (from County Ltd.), pendants that sub in for bedside lamps (the one you see is by Gubi), and a sunny color palette.

Of course Pat McGann—a prominent L.A.-based furniture and textiles dealer—would curate a textured paradise in the guest room of her 1930s Spanish-style home in the Hollywood Hills. On the daybed (another space-saving hack for such spaces, btw), Pat McGann Workshop pillows in an Indian block print and a Guatemalan blanket come together to provide a pitch-perfect global look. That early-20th-century Mahal rug from Iran, however, is the real zinger.

Every guest, especially if they’re the kind to stay long-term, wants space at some point (from you, for their clothes, etc.). Give them just that in the form of an armoire flanking the bed, like the pictured one in the guest bedroom of this Veere Grenney–designed London townhouse. It comes in a pair and holds a secret—it’s got scooped-out cubbies that function as a nightstand! Absolutely genius.

In late author Julia Reed’s New Orleans dwelling, the guest room was clearly a spot her beagle, Henry, favored a lot. We’d favor it, too, if we got to hang out amid that sourced-from-Afghanistan suzani, sophisticated furniture, and mood-boosting walls (in Benjamin Moore’s Elephant Tusk, for the curious). What elevates the room to new heights, however, is the sculptural, voluminous plant arrangement on the bedside table. All this is to say: Don’t forget the flowers (or the branches!) when your guests move in.

Though this is technically not a guest room but the kids’ room in what was once ELLE DECOR’s Manhattan penthouse (designed by ELLE DECOR A-List firm Fox Nahem Associates), we chose to include it in this roundup for that headboard alone. Yes, the plush one in four distinct colors—made by Savoir and upholstered in Dedar velvet. It’s certainly bright, working in tandem with the room’s equally eye-catching nightstands, contemporary artworks, and blue-trimmed bed linens. Go ahead, upholster the guest room’s headboard in your own home. Your visitors will soon be telling everyone that you’re the best DIY designer, and friend, they’ve ever known.