Original article featured in Cambridgeshire Agenda August 2010. Photography courtesy of Kate Forman and Vanessa Arbuthnott.

Making guests feel effortlessly welcome takes a little careful planning, and for your visitors, the results are worth the effort! Cate Burren of Angel and Blume reveals some insider tips to make your spare room not only welcoming for friends and family but also a room for you to be proud of.

Few of us have the luxury of having a range of bedrooms that are kept just for visitors, so when planning a guest room, you need to not only consider the different ages and requirements of your potential visitors but also how you may be able to make use of the room yourself when guests are not in residence. The room may be used as a study, for additional storage, to house books or other collections, or just as an escape from the bustle of daily life.

To make a guest room really welcoming, add a few of the details that visitors have, or would like to have, in their bedroom at home. Books and magazines, flowers, pictures or framed photos, cushions, an occasional chair and some luxurious bedlinen will all help to make your guests feel like royalty and they also instantly make the room look more stylish.

Top Tips for Guest Rooms

An classic daybed can be updated for younger visitors (and older guests who are still young at heart) with a patriotic flag and some timeless old toys.

A sofa bed allows a room to double up on usage, creating a welcoming room for guests and a study, library or TV room for the family when visitors are not in residence.

A small desk in a bedroom can be really useful for your guests and also doubles up very well as a bedside table.

An attic space can make a perfect haven for guests – even if the space is small, use lavish fabrics for curtains and bedding to create an elegant room that no-one will want to leave!

A guest room is the perfect place to be bold with a matching wallpaper and curtain fabric – it’s perhaps not the look you want to go to sleep with everyday but for a visitor, it creates an striking welcome.

For younger visitors, pretty pink and blue bedlinen creates a younger feel to a guest room and an old, well loved toy makes a home from home.