Which may or may not sound like a snide remark here, but yes, often there’s no attempt to refresh the bathroom when it’s just the area for the guests. Maybe the other bathrooms in the home, the ones that are used daily, are understandably getting renovated, but that guest bathroom deserves some love, too. It really shouldn’t have that boring builder-grade look forever. They’re your guests, so of course that bathroom deserves some love too, it should be welcoming even!
And this happens a lot with guest bathrooms, especially the ones attached to a spare bedroom, tucked into a finished attic space, or added during a loft or garage conversion. The bedroom gets the nice bedding, the lamp, and the little side table. The bathroom gets one towel, a half-used hand soap, and lighting that makes everyone look like they’re about to apologize for something. Not ideal.
Just Think About the Awkward Little Moments First
Well, if there are any, of course. But a guest bathroom doesn’t need to be fancy, but it does need to stop making people ask uncomfortable questions from the hallway. Maybe that should be a given, because nobody wants to call out, “Where’s the toilet paper?” while staying at someone’s house. It’s just weird, like they shouldn’t hunt for that. Nobody wants to realize there’s no hand towel after they’ve already washed their hands; it’s rude and feels uncomfortable having to wipe on their own clothes.
Plus, nobody wants to dig through a cabinet and accidentally discover old razors and expired medicine. Like, how long ago was this bathroom last used here? So yeah, the basics matter, but they need to be placed like a normal person is actually going to use the room. This should be obvious, but if you haven’t mastered the art of hosting, then maybe a bit of grace for you, especially if this is your first time having someone over.
But for example, here, the extra toilet paper should be visible or very easy to find. Towels should be clean, soft enough, and not hidden in some unrelated linen closet three rooms away. A small tray or basket with toothpaste, cotton swabs, shampoo, conditioner, and a spare toothbrush is honestly such a simple thing, but it instantly makes the room feel less like an afterthought (and they usually are).
It’s Not About the Hotel Experience
You don’t need to do what some of those content creators do online and stock up on fancy little brands that are travel size; that’s way too much money. Honestly, just the basics are enough here, plain and simple. But the point here is that it’s not about turning the bathroom into a hotel suite. Sure, sme people have a lot of fun making their guest bedroom and guest bathroom into something hotel-like, but you don’t need to. Really, it’s more about removing that awkward “I don’t know where anything is, and I don’t want to bother anyone” feeling.
How Useless is the Sink Area?
Well, the vanity, if there is one. Some guest bathrooms have the tiniest sink with absolutely nowhere to put anything, and that might be fine for washing hands during a quick visit, but overnight guests come with stuff. No, really, they do, at least when it’s a planned night over. So, they usually bring face wash, moisturizer, contacts, medication, makeup, a toothbrush, a razor, a hairbrush, and probably some other things too.
If there’s no counter space, no shelf, no drawer, and no stool nearby, everything ends up balanced around the sink, and it just doesn’t work out, and some stuff goes back in the toiletries bag. You get the whole idea at this point. If you have the money, you should swap out the sink and instead get a vanity. You could even look into oak vanity units if you want a more elegant and classic theme for the bathroom. But in general, if you have the chance and if there’s even enough room, it’s seriously a great choice to just change the vanity and maybe even the mirror too.
Is it Cold?
A guest bathroom can be spotless and still feel weirdly cold. Well, figuratively and literally speaking here, and so that usually happens when everything in it is hard, blank, and pale, with nothing softening the space. You can probably picture a cold and sad bathroom, right? Well, thinking of a shoptial one, so bad, so ugly. But yeah, usually it’s the white walls, white sink, white tile, chrome fixtures, bright overhead light, no texture, no warmth, no personality. Clean, sure, but also a little rental-ish, and especially hospital-ish.
Feature image by Lotus Design N Print on Unsplash.
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