Home Advice #3 - The best bedroom

Welcome your guests by making their sleeping space as nice as you can – even if it’s only a mattress behind the sofa

IF YOU’RE expecting guests over the holidays, it’s time to sort out where they’re going to sleep.

Whether you have a dedicated guest room or you’re putting your guests up on an inflatable mattress behind the sofa, you’ll need to make the space comfortable.

If you’re like most people, various items, such as the clothes horse and other odds and sods, tend to be dumped in the spare room. Put them away.

Have you ever slept on the spare room bed? I had a futon in the spare room and I slept on it one night. It was horrendously uncomfortable and it was soon replaced with a proper mattress.

Jessica Ann McCarthy, creative director of Decorist, has some advice for preparing your guests’ space.

• Give them somewhere to put their clothes. Clear a drawer or shelf and provide some hanging room for suits or dresses. Clear surfaces so they have somewhere to put their stuff.

• Make up the bed with your best linen. Provide a top sheet under the duvet so they can lie under that if the nights are warm.

• Don’t forget to put out bath towels, and, if necessary, swimming towels.

• Put a posy in a vase on the bedside table to add a welcoming touch, as well as a book or some magazines. Make sure there is a decent reading light and somewhere to plug in a phone charger and a hair dryer.

• If you’re putting your guests into your home office, tidy up your desk and remove your laptop. A decorative screen could divide a sleeping area from a work area.