Guest bedrooms can often be left as an afterthought when planning interiors, and are almost always the last room to be refreshed and updated through the seasons. You want a guest bedroom to be practical, inviting and a little luxurious - read on for our top tips on how to create the ultimate guest bedroom with minimal effort and expense.

Warmth from the ground up 

Adding a rug is a quick and easy win for making a guest bedroom feel warm and inviting - particularly in these colder months. In a space where your guests will typically be barefoot, you may want to opt for one with a deeper pile and softness for extra comfort, such as our Sheepswool Rug. Style your rug under the bed, particularly in rooms where your aim is to soften hardwood floors, so your guests can step out of bed and feel warmth underfoot first thing in the morning. 

As well as being practical, rugs are great for introducing colour and design, creating texture, and tying a scheme together. You might want to base a scheme around the colours that feature in a rug, carrying them through your soft furnishings, art and lampshades as a visual thread. Here, Birdie has used the tones in the Ziggurat Kilim Rug to create this fun scheme in her guest bedroom.

Alternatively, you may want to opt for a more neutral rug which gives more flexibility in updating your interiors throughout the seasons and over the years. The new Cucito Stitched Jute Rug is one of our favourite choices - with jute being a natural insulator that works for both summer and winter, it is the ultimate rug for a guest bedroom. Available in natural jute with a handwoven border, it suits any interior scheme and will add a stunning earthy texture to your space.

Sumptuous textiles 

When it comes to soft furnishings and textiles in a guest bedroom - we believe more is more! Fabrics are crucial in any room but they are particularly powerful in a bedroom setting - an abundance of cushions and coordinating throws are key to a room feeling inviting. As well as providing a cocooning effect, soft furnishings can also provide almost all the visual interest and impact you need in an interior. You could choose to keep the base of a room neutral, simply adding in cushions and throws to bring the room to life and make the scheme sing. 

In the winter months, you may opt for a bedspread - not only will this add another layer of warmth, but also texture and colour. You could even layer two bedspreads - one with a textural design and just a little colour and the other with a much bolder pattern in stronger tones. Doubling up bedspreads is an easy way to make beds feel more luxurious for your guests too! Our go-to for the base of a bed is the Trellis Embroidered Bedspread and then we love to layer with either Kantha, Suzani or wool throw in coordinating colours. 

We like to complete a bed with two pairs of matching cushions - use your strongest colour at the back and then the softer tone in front. Using a mixture of small scale prints, florals, geometrics and velvets prevents a theme from dominating yet provides just enough of a thread to tie the scheme together. 

Make sure to weave coordinating colours throughout your soft furnishings - use two main colours and introduce a third as an accent. These colours should naturally flow and feature across the scheme; in the furniture, the walls, textiles and artwork for an effortless and harmonious look.