The holidays are upon us, which means soon a lot of us will have family and friends staying in our homes. It’s been a while since I’ve had any overnight guests, but I do my best to make them feel more at home when I do. This can be accomplished in a lot of different ways. Use this time to give your home a little upgrade and kill two birds with one stone. Make your guests more comfortable (and envious) and get a jump on making your next staycation more awesome.
What’s the best part of staying in a hotel – besides that whole not cleaning up after yourself thing? For me, it’s feeling like I’m living in a bit more luxury than I’m used to at home. What’s the worst thing about staying at someone’s house? Is it because it’s just like staying at your own home, but you can’t rummage in their cabinets, unless you’re staying with your mom? Yeah, I feel like that’s probably it. It’s not a hotel. Sure it’s homey, but it’s still kind of awkward. Do you want your holiday guests to feel like that? Of course you don’t!
You also don’t want to be more disappointed in your own house when you have to stay there because a getaway is out of the question. Sometimes, we just have to save our money for our big vacation and forgo the weekend trips we hoped to sneak in throughout the year. A staycation can be fun, even if you can’t spend money to stay in a hotel.
We’ve talked about how to make your backyard a fun space for summer, but weather doesn’t always cooperate, and you eventually need to go inside for showering and food prep. Why not amp up your indoor space a bit at a time, so the thought of staying home is a little more exciting?
I look at the spaces I use a lot and would like to be more lux in my own home. Last year we pretty much gutted our second bathroom – it was an addition before we moved in and the size of a closet – and put in all new fixtures. It makes me happy to go in there, since it’s basically a brand new space and more usable now. I can’t wait to do this to my master bath and, at some point, parts of my kitchen.
Visitors have walked into the “new” bathroom and said it was night and day from the old one. It has personality and room to move around and it’s much brighter. Wouldn’t you like to feel like that about at least one room in your house? In the past, the room that got the mini makeover was our bedroom. We sprung for a fancy, king-size hotel mattress and it’s made sleeping cozier and better.
So, how can you spend a little to make a big impact on your guests and your staycations? I’ll tell you how! You know how when you go to a nice hotel and get in the shower and it’s like the best thing that’s ever happened and you wish you could take it home with you? Well, why don’t you? I mean, don’t steal it from the hotel or anything, but you can definitely replace your old shower head that isn’t really the greatest with a new shower panel that is kind of like a spa and gets you excited for the day. It’s not a huge project, but it makes a huge difference.
Decoraport sells a variety of luxurious shower panels that may make it difficult to declare you’re done and actually get out and go on with your day. They run anywhere from $160 to the mid-$300 range, depending on what features you want out of your shower head. I have a mid-century house, so I often look for pieces that would go with the period. I love the look of this bamboo shower panel that has a rainfall head, a handheld shower head and massage jets. Previous customers have said these panels were really easy to install, which is a plus, especially if you’re trying to save some bucks by doing your upgrade yourself.
Maybe your dream is to have a soaking tub. I can certainly understand why that is some people’s most wanted feature in a hotel room. After a long day out, you need to come back and unwind. Throw in some bath salts or a bath bomb and soak your angry muscles. Skip the shower panel and put in a great new hotel-worthy tub instead. Decoraport offers sizes that fit most bathroom dimensions and make you feel like you’re staying somewhere other than your own house. Your guests won’t believe you have such a posh feature in their bathroom.
I’m sort of in love with this whirlpool tub that has 10 water jets, adjustable settings, a handheld shower head and a see-through side. It looks a bit like an aquarium, but it’s definitely a lot more awesome. Imagine coming home from a long day of being a tourist in your own city and climbing in this baby, turning on the jets and reading a magazine to decompress. Everyone’s going to fight over who gets to use it. Your holiday guests may like it so much that you don’t see them as much as you thought you would, especially if you stock your bathroom with some big, fluffy towels as well.
Just think, having guests will be a lot less stressful if you provide something extra like this that will get them out of your hair for a few extra minutes. They’ll enjoy their stay that much more and you’ve now got a reason to love your home just a little extra. A new tub may not be cheap, but it’s absolutely less than a vacation…even just two plane tickets can cost more. Those are only good for a few days out of the year, but your new amazing tub is there every day.
Decoraport offers all these things and more for your bathroom and the rest of your home. Slowly make your home feel more like the best parts of a hotel, so staying in is a treat rather than a disappointment. Their prices are fair, giving you more bang for your buck.
How do you make your home more comfortable for guests?
Disclaimer: This post was brought to you by me on behalf of Decoraport.
