How to make your guests feel at home

While on a visit to a model flat, a realtor explained what he called 'guest accommodation'. The smallest of three bedrooms, the room had a table, an attached half-bath, and a dressing table. No cupboard space, but enough space on the carpeted floor to leave a huge suitcase fully opened out. He queries, "guests come for a short time, and usually live out of a suitcase. So why bother with a full-fledged cupboard?"

David Jonathan, a teacher who entertains houseguests regularly feels differently. "Guests need to be comfortable. It's painful living out of a suitcase, and whenever possible, hosts must provide enough temporary storage for them. I have a roomy wardrobe in my guest bedroom, that has only a few shelves," she says.

Porches, even tents that can be easily assembled at a moment's notice, may be great for visiting children, but in general, having a dedicated guest room can be quite useful. However, for those of us lucky enough to have a dedicated guest room, maintaining the room is a chore. Since it is used only occasionally, it tends to get musty and unlived.

Here are tips on how one can maintain guest rooms so that guests feel the warmth of your care and are also comfortable:

Take special care to see that the room reflects your true taste and sensibilities - guests form an opinion about you and your family while in the privacy of this room. Keep it clean, clutter-free and pleasant at all times. Avoid using it as dumping ground for fresh laundry, used work clothes and other temporary irritants.

To make the guest room lived-in during all times, make sure the furniture in that room does double duty. For instance, a home office easily converts to a guest room with the addition of a pullout sofa. An accompanying storage ottoman, that by day is extra seating, can open up to store sheets, blankets and pillows.

Look for pullout couches that provide a comfortable mattress for guests, yet fold away easily into a home-office sofa, or consider a daybed. Two single cots instead of a double cot allow you to move them easily when you need to clean the place. This also allows more variations in terms of bedding arrangements too.

Consider cabinets that can serve as a dresser for your guests but can hold your own 'holiday' things - family albums, board games, camping gear, hobby stuff, like paints and clay. The room will thus be used even when there are no guests at home.

Guests on holiday generally put in more bedtime reading. Be sure to get a wellstocked bookshelf, good lighting and a comfortable chair to tuck into a cosy corner. It will provide a quiet reading area for you and your guests.

How is the bathroom access from your guest room? Do guests have to walk down a long hall to get to the bathroom? A torch by the guest's bed is comforting for a person sleeping in a strange bed. And of course, do remember to take out the batteries after the guest has left.

If you have such a large house that you don't have to use the guest room at all, do spend a couple of hours there once a week to see things that your guests would see - cobwebs on the ceiling, dusty AC tops, precariously unhinged light fixtures - and take appropriate action.

Add family pictures and personal items. It will make your out-of-town guests feel even more welcome