The ultimate guest room

The ultimate guest room is comfortable, comforting, and offers a visual voyage to a dreamy place.

 

(Photo: Isabel Parra)

(Photo: Isabel Parra)

Currently, I am pondering the design of a guest bedroom. This one is for me or rather my guests. So many possibilities, but there is only one spare bedroom in my house in which to try and create a special retreat. I needed clarity so am revisiting some of my favorite bedrooms in my attempt to create the ultimate guest room.

Color considerations.

(Photo: AD France)

(Photo: AD France)

The texture and neutral tobacco color seems to appeal to me as three photos share these characteristics. The top is a bedroom by Remy Renzullo. I love the human touch of the hand-blocked fabric stretched across the walls with the painted green trim. The combination of textiles creates a cozy cocoon within this simple room. The Moroccan bedroom of Pierre Berge is a wonderfully masculine bedroom with its largely restrained color palette, the thick texture of the woven wallcovering, and sturdy dark furniture.

(Photo: Simon Brown & Chris Horwood)

(Photo: Simon Brown & Chris Horwood)

Similarly Beata Heuman wrapped her guest room in raffia with a blanket and curtains of a similar color. The large single artwork, striped rug and pillow provide graphic interest.

One ultimate guest room in Portugal by John Stefanidis. (Photo: Miguel Flores Vianna)

One ultimate guest room in Portugal by John Stefanidis. (Photo: Miguel Flores Vianna)

John Stefanidis creates lovely bedrooms often with simple white bed hangings. Many of these bedrooms are in Greece so the thin white fabric provides a cooling effect.

Bounteous yardage creates comfort.

(Photo: Guido Taroni)

(Photo: Guido Taroni)

Veere Grenney draped this entire bedroom in brown and cream stripes creating the feel of a tent. Albeit a very chic tent.

A guest bedroom in Cathy Kincaid's home. (Photo: Cathy Kincaid Interiors, Ltd.)

A guest bedroom in Cathy Kincaid’s home. (Photo: Cathy Kincaid Interiors, Ltd.)

Cathy Kincaid creates luxurious bedrooms with her layers upon layers of pattern, pillows, and distinctive accessories.

(Photo: Cathy Kincaid Interiors, Ltd.)

(Photo: Cathy Kincaid Interiors, Ltd.)

 

A river house in Connecticut. (Photo: Cathy Kincaid Interiors, Ltd.)

A river house in Connecticut. (Photo: Cathy Kincaid Interiors, Ltd.)

Exotic bedrooms offer a thrill.

Dar Moulay Boubker. (Photo: Deidi von Schaewen)

Dar Moulay Boubker. (Photo: Deidi von Schaewen)

Exotic spaces that lean towards faraway romantic destinations are my favorite. A guest bedroom is the perfect space to indulge in this fantasy. The Moroccan bedroom above is a longtime favorite of mine for its brilliant yellow fabric, tiled floor, fantastic scale, and the turquoise tassel hanging from the pendant adds the finishing exclamation point.

Last month, I partnered with Tamam to create a room using their special finds. My first thought went to a guest bedroom as their exotic treasures are just right to transport the occupant to far away lands.

My picks from Tamam are shown above.

Show houses provide wonderful inspiration for creating the ultimate guest room.

(Photo: Stephen Karlisch for The Dallas Morning News)

(Photo: Stephen Karlisch for The Dallas Morning News)

Michelle Nussbaumer created this sensual bedroom/lounge in the Dallas Kips Bay Showhouse in 2020.

The walls were covered in various patterned wallpapers. Exotic flourishes abounded from Moroccan plates hung on the walls, to pierced metal lighting, and inlaid furniture.

(Photo: Stacey Bewkes for Quintessence)

(Photo: Stacey Bewkes for Quintessence)

The green of this Olasky & Sinsteden designed bedroom was the star feature in this upper floor space in a past Kips Bay Show House. A soothing enveloping color is especially important in New York where you want an escape from noise and crowds.

(Photo: Stacey Bewkes for Quintessence)

(Photo: Stacey Bewkes for Quintessence)

You can read more about this room here.

This list is just the beginning. Many more to consider before deciding on my own vision. Stay tuned.

Casa V Interiors can design the ultimate guest room for your special visitors.

The Chihuly Museum

The Chihuly Museum in Seattle displays a variety of the master’s colorful works that you might not have seen before.

 

We recently traveled to Seattle for a wedding. We used our free afternoon to visit the Chihuly museum. It showcases the various styles of the artist’s career in a beautiful setting.

Colorful creations hang from above. The singular colors make quite a statement.

Indigenous inspiration.

Dale Chihuly hails from Tacoma, Washington. One of his early inspirations was the work of the indigenous tribes of the Pacific Northwest.

Some of his glasswork shows similar patterns to that of basketry made by the tribes.

One room of the museum was dedicated to sea life. Wonderful colors seen above remind me of Venetian beads.

The Orlando Museum of Art has a similar piece in a gallery minus the orange sea creatures.

Preliminary sketches hang on the walls of the sea life room.

After suffering a shoulder injury and reduced sight, Chihuly drew his ideas. Artisans used them to fabricate the works.

Garden inspiration.

His mother’s garden inspired him frequently.

I would have loved to have seen a photo of her garden.

The artist has his own garden, however, with the museum. His creations seem to grow from the ground beneath.

The museum is located right next to the Space Needle. This pink sculpture looked a bit like rock candy.

Numerous gazing balls of different patterns nestle into the low plants.

This ground cover first appeared to be decorative and not real.

A flower garland floats overhead inside the atrium.

Chihuly’s Macchia Forest was inspired by stained glass and his desire to use a multitude of colors all in one work. Realizing that colors were intensified on a grey day versus a blue one, the artist begin using a white in between layer called a “cloud”. He added a colored rim as the final touch for an additional hue.

My favorite work was Winter Brilliance, 2015, commissioned by the now closed Barneys New York for their holiday windows. The artist said of this form which he began developing in 1996:

Ice is one of my favorite materials to work with because of the way it interacts with light. It inspired me to create the icicle form. 

-Dale Chihuly

Glassblowers are on site showing how pieces are made. Those are then sold in the Space Needle gift shop with proceeds donating back to the arts community. There are numerous activities when visiting Seattle. The Chihuly Museum is definitely worth a trip.

Casa V Interiors is an Orlando based interior design firm.