A bedroom is a place where we relax. Depending upon the age group normally bedrooms are categorized as master bedroom,
teen bedroom, child/kid bedroom. But a home building may also have a provision for a guest bedroom in it. If the architect of the building has taken enough care while designing the building, a guest bedroom is located on the ground floor.
I have seen home designs where a guest bedroom is deliberately
located on ground floor and used as a income source by
giving the room o rent. This is common practice in crowded cities.
Because of its location on ground floor it is easy to give a separate access to the space without disturbing the privacy of the entire house.
Ideally a guest bedroom should have a good natural lighting and
ventilation. A good view of the surroundings from the window is
also appreciated. It is like treating the guest bedroom just like the master one.
Good quality furniture with easy access to attached toilet block is also strongly recommended. The most important aspect according
to me is cleanliness. Since a guest has a very limited time span to spend in his bedroom, it is extremely important to take care of hygiene. A room which is easy to clean and maintain is preferred. A bedroom, which is too small in area, will have restrictions as far as experimentations in design are considered. By experimentation I mean trying different furniture layouts or decorating ideas will be somewhat restricted.
A good example to study, is to start with bedrooms in large hotel.
All rooms in a hotel come under the category of “guest bedrooms”
The only difference is, we “pay” to stay there, which is not the case with a bedroom in our home. The architect of the hotel takes good care of providing natural sunlight and ventilation and a good view of the surroundings. Thought now a days most hotel rooms have air conditioners to artificially control the internal environment, a provision for natural control is a must.
Use of dark colors can be avoided. You can always try to be a little creative while designing the guest bedroom. The reason here is, the guest is there at your place probably to have a change in his daily routine life and if a room in YOUR home gives him such a nice feeling of “change” then he might visit again the next month. As mentioned before in most cases the guest bedroom is located on the ground floor. This can be used creatively to provide an access to the landscaped backyard or an open patio with informal seating. The space must have a provision for sliding or folding door shutters so that can be easily closed if required.
So the entire success of the guest bedroom design project lies in finding out how the guest feels when he/she lives there. Was she comfortable there. Did she find things easily. Even small things like light and fan switches, water taps in bathrooms, wardrobe shutters,
door and window hinges etc.. must be kept in well maintained and
proper working condition for the guest. Small thing add up and can become a reason for uncomfortable environment for the guest. That’s the meaning of the statement “easy to maintain” which I mentioned above in this article.
