What Not To Store In Your Guest Room: 7 Items

With holiday hosting season right around the corner, now is the time to prep your guest room to ensure that the space is a welcoming respite for your overnight guests. We asked interior designers to chime in with the items that they believe have no place whatsoever in a guest room. Take their insights into account as you get ready for Granny’s Thanksgiving visit!

Family Photos

Even if you generally host relatives in your guest room, Rachel Cannon says to skip the family photos just in case, particularly if you want to be prepared when an acquaintance mentions that they’re stuck in your hometown.

“While personal touches make the rest of your home charming, guest rooms should feel like a boutique hotel experience,” says the founder of Rachel Cannon Limited in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. “Seeing your family’s beach vacation snapshots or children’s portraits can make guests feel like they’re intruding in someone else’s private space rather than settling into their own sanctuary.”

You can still allow these photos to shine in other areas of the home. Place them in your primary suite, basement hallway, family room, and beyond.

Clutter-Like Touches

Skip the clutter in the guest room and once again follow Cannon’s advice that a guest room should feel like a hotel.

“Things such as mismatched bedding, inadequate pillows, and excess clutter on the nightstands or drawers should be stored out of sight,” says Roz Murphy, the founder of Roz Murphy Design in Dallas. In other words, don’t use the space as a mini in-home storage unit.

“It’s easy for a guest room to become a catch-all for items that aren’t in everyday use, but this space should serve as a restful sanctuary for guests,” Murphy adds.

Exercise Equipment

Keep your spin bike and treadmill in a dedicated room of the home that isn’t where guests stay, and everyone will be happier.

“It takes up significant space that could be used to create a cozy seating area or storage for luggage,” Murphy says.

Poor Quality Lamps

Visitors may wish to read or work at night once the rest of the household has gone to bed, and they’ll want to be able to utilize the guest room to its full potential when doing so. Be mindful not to decorate the space with lamps that don’t work well or are difficult to turn on.

“Everyone loves a well-lit room,” says Margaret Moore, the founder of MPM Design in Austin. “Guests want to be able to turn on a lamp at the bedside for reading, or if they need to get up in the middle of the night, a working lamp is necessary to help your guest navigate the unfamiliar space.”

Off-Season Clothes

Again, your guest room isn’t one big storage unit that is home to anything and everything,

“The only clothes that should be in the closet would be a guest bathrobe and slippers,” Moore says, instructing homeowners to keep their own clothing elsewhere and allow plenty of hangers for their visitors.

Traditional Clocks

If most of your visitors will come equipped with a cell phone, you can consider forgoing illuminated alarm clocks in the guest room, says Tiffany Matthews, the founder of Motif Homes in Greensboro, North Carolina. After all, she says, these will take up outlet space that could be better used to charge guests’ own electronics.

Scented Accessories

You may think that placing a fragrant candle or air freshener in the guest room is a thoughtful touch, but doing so may actually upset visitors who are prone to allergies or simply don’t love scented items, Matthews says.