10 Tips for designing a successful guest room

Designing your guest room can be an exciting chance to step out of the box with your usual tastes and preferences, and use different ideas. When designing a guest room, one can “think outside of the box” with their tastes and preferences because the guest room might not be used as often as the other rooms in the home. Are you considering designing or re-designing a guest room soon? Here are some helpful tips…

1. Be sure to select nightstands which have additional storage space (closets, drawers, shelves, etc.) so that your guests can use the it for storing their belongings.

2. If there is space in the room, try placing a bench, ottoman or luggage tray at the foot of the bed to provide your guests with a place to store their overnight bags.

3. Layer the bedding with multiple blanket options (duvet, quilt and throw blanket) because everyone has different sleep needs and preferences.

4. Select window coverings which have a “blackout” option. Everyone has different preferences with levels of lighting, and this will avoid your guest being disturbed with the sunrise.

5. Leave a basket on the bed which has a fresh bar of soap, toothpaste and toothbrush along with a fresh set of towels. Sometimes people forget these things, so providing them with these things just in case could be of help.

6. Try having four pillows on the bed (two synthetic and two natural down). Having different pillows shows your guests that you care about their comfort.

7. Keep the top of the nightstands clean and clear, maybe with just table lamps on them. This gives the guests space to put anything they brought with them over there.

8. For a fun selection of art, try pictures of the city where your home is (the city skyline, downtown, any tourist attractions, a vintage picture of the city, pictures from any previous decades). This can give your guests a fun history of where they are.

Old Los Angeles

Old Los Angeles

9. For a budget tip: instead of painting the entire room, try painting just the room’s ceiling in a contrasting color. This is an inexpensive way to make your guest bedroom stand out.

10. Lastly, on the day your guests arrive be sure to put a vase of fresh flowers in your guest bedroom. This will give your guests a sense of freshness and make them feel as if they are staying in a hotel.

ASD Interiors guest room design by Shirry Dolgin

ASD Interiors guest room design by Shirry Dolgin

Check out my latest bathroom remodel…

I just finished a lovely contemporary bathroom remodel in the heart of Hollywood. It was such a fun project!! It was the master bathroom of the house at a mini 4′-6″ W x 9′-0″L. Yes, MASTER BATH!! But, I was up for the challenge and I knew I could do something beautiful for my clients.

As I approached this design, I knew I needed to be smart about the materials I selected and also to use lighting in a way that would highlight the positive features of the bathroom. I chose to use a mixture of modern “spa like” materials such as the grey floor pebbles in the shower and walls, along with a “wave” style porcelain tile. Then I chose to combine a white Carerra Marble detail as a 4″ border that wrapped around the floor. I highlight this border with a floating vanity and accent light below it to give a nice glow. Here are some snapshots of what I designed.

A.S.D. Interiors Contemporary Master bathroom remodel...project snapshots!!

Along with mixing materials, I wanted to add a few features that you would normally find in a hotel. I chose a mirror with built in vanity lighting as opposed to have a light fixture sitting above the mirror and I also installed 2 LED mini wall sconces for the interior of the shower (take a look at the pictures with the teak bench). These are great accents and act as a wonderful night light!! Other details include a slim line toilet with a sleek shape, all the bells and whistles of a master bath shower, a floor to ceiling frameless glass enclosure, and a wall mounted vanity faucet to accompany the solid granite sink!

Lots of details in this small bathroom, but each one serving a purpose and something for my clients to enjoy at the end of every day!

A small part of our home’s “personality”

Everyone has different tastes for their homes, and how they would like to go about with the details of their homes. Have you ever wondered how people come up with some of those unique ideas for either that interesting bookshelf or that weird fireplace? How about the mailboxes and house numbers? An interesting mailbox can make our day, and a terrible mailbox can make us find a new route to work.

Architects now are becoming more contemporary with every detail of their design-including the mailbox and house number. House numbers are the final touch for the front exterior elevation of a home, and if they aren’t in synchornization with the rest of the design that can ruin the entire design. Designers are coming up with more and more ideas to make sure that there is access to elegant and appropriate house numbers which go with the times as well as the designs.

These mackintosh house numbers are elegant and suave.

These house numbers are clean and different for someone looking for something simple and unique.

These contemporary house numbers are modern and subtle.

Another detail which is crucial to homes is the mailbox. Sometimes, it’s great to be driving and to suddenly see a random pig or parrot perched in front of a house to greet the mail man every day. For those who might not be as into the “subjective” mailbox (the car, the parrot, the hand with the cigarette butt to put mail in…the list goes on…) there are fantastic contemporary mailboxes now available to add that final and complete touch to our homes.

This mailbox is the perfect finishing for a very unique design.

This modern mailbox looks clean and elegant, and it goes with the times.

This red mailbox is the perfect size and shape for today's designs

Would you prefer a contemporary mailbox or a unique mailbox? What about house numbers?

Everything has its own set of accessories…

Everything has its own set of accessories. Men have their wallets, watches and cufflinks. Women have their purses, sunglasses and shoes. Little girls have their dresses and dolls, and little boys have their sneakers and toy cars.

Chandeliers are like the earrings of a room-they hang from up top, they're pretty and they sparkle.

Earrings are like chandeliers-they hang from the top, they're pretty and they sparkle.

Have you ever wondered how the accessories in your room are so similar to the accessories you own for personal use? For example, rugs are like shoes…they give our feet protected surface to walk on, and shoes give our feet a protected, enclosed space to be in. Wall clocks are the wrist watches of bedrooms-you can glance at your wall clock when you’re at home, and you can glance at your wrist watch when you’re on the go. Chandeliers are like earrings-they’re hanging decorations (and both sometimes sparkle too!). Window blinds are like sunglasses-they allow us to control the amount of light entering the room based upon our level of comfort; sunglasses allow us to shield our eyes from the bright sun based on our level of discomfort or comfort. Bedside tables are like purses-they’re one place to hold all of our personal belongings like our purses are when we’re out and about. Blankets are like our coats-they keep us warm inside, while our coats keep us warm outside while we’re out and about. What makes this all even more awesome is how all personal accessories-the ones used in our homes and the ones we have for personal use-are accurate reflections of our personalities. What are your favorite accessories right now? Are they similar to anything in your bedroom?

Shoes are like bedroom rugs-they keep our feet protected.

Rugs are like the shoes of a bedroom-they keep our feet happy and protected.

Window blinds are like sunglasses-they allow us to control natural light.

Sunglasses are like blinds-they allow us to control our discomfort with natural light.

What goes around comes around…

We’re all familiar with that saying “what goes around comes around”-which is fitting for fashion, design, architecture, transportation and furniture. A lot of furniture styles from previous decades are now being revamped and modernized to fit today’s markets and tastes. Designers are referring to ideas from a long time ago and are figuring out how to fit old designs with a new taste.

Designs like the ‘Barcelona chair’ and the ‘Klismos chair’ are now starting to be reused and revamped to fit the taste of today’s market. Designers claim that as much as clients love to look at the modern styles and designs of furniture, sometimes those particular pieces might not fit the space it was intended to be used for. Older designs such as the Barcelona chair and the Klismos chair fit the taste of some clients better because of the traditional shape, which might fit the client’s purpose and use for the piece of furniture better.

The Barcelona chair was designed in 1929 by Mies van der Rohe. The chair is an icon of modernism, and the design was inspired by folding chairs of ancient times.

This Barcelona chair looks elegant and sleek in black.

This barcelona chair looks clean cut in white, with the matching ottoman.

The Klismos chair has a traditional shape to it, with a rounded back rest. The Klismos chair had a very simple and traditional look to it, which has been modified throughout time to fit current tastes and preferences of today’s market. The Klismos chair is an ancient Greek chair (Klismos signifies an armchair-but no specific description of it). Here are some pictures of an original, traditional Klismos chair, and then modified versions of the Klismos chair.

This is a original Klismos chair, with the original shape.

Through time, designers have altered certain aspects of the chair's original design.

Designers have managed to keep the traditional idea of the Klismos chair, and incorporate new and more modern ideas to improve the design to fit today's market.