Guest Room Bedding Approaches for Creating a Beautiful, Cozy Bed For Your Guests

Read the sizing notes before the shopping list. Scale is the part that is hard to return. Want to refresh your guest room bedding? I'm sharing my the preferred bedding pieces plus pointers for bed-making too!

There's nothing like a little bedding refresh to get your guest bedroom ready for friends and family! Today I'm sharing six guest room bedding approaches for creating a polished and super settled guest bed that your guests will love! (post includes commissionable links; for more information, see my full disclosure statement {here})

One. Dress Your Bed in Layers

Some people sleep cold and pile on the blankets (that's me!) while others run hot and want just a sheet with a light quilt or blanket. Dress your guest bed in layers so guests can choose how many layers they want to sleep with.

While I change up how I layer my bedding pieces, my guest room bedding always includes sheets, a quilt, and a duvet. I buy 100% cotton sheets because polyester sheets aren't breathable so can be miserable for hot sleepers. {These Egyptian cotton sheets} are a great mid-priced option while {these Company Store sheets} and {these Boll & Branch sheets} are excellent high-end options.

For a quilt, my go-to that The household has used for years is {this Belgian Flax Linen Diamond quilt}. It's the perfect not too heavy but not too lightweight bedding piece. A strong choice is that the quilting and linen texture add a rich look to the bed and that it wears and washes up so well. The colors The household has used include white, flax (a neutral light beige),

and flagstone (a midtone gray):

There are about 20 additional color options too, including some polished blues and greens. Also look at {this quilt} that's super similar but a bit lower in price!

I usually tuck the sides of the quilt under the mattress and then top it with a fluffy duvet (see my post on the best fluffy duvet inserts for info on my favorites!). Sometimes I cover the bed with duvet and fold it back at the top twice such as here:

Sources:Upholstered bed (Zuma white fabric) | Nightstands  |  Blush table lamps  |  Gray dragon pillow covers  | Other bedding – no longer available |  Chandelier  |  White drapes

While at other times I fold the duvet in thirds and drape it across the foot of the bed:

Sources:Mirror |  Upholstered Wingback Bed (Zuma White fabric) |  Quilt  |   White and beige check duvet (similar)  | 24″ Embroidered pillow covers | 20″ White tassel end pillow cover (similar) |  White lamp (similar) |  Round Wood Beaded Tray  |  Clock

When my guests first arrive, I make sure they know they're free to take the duvet off the bed if that's how they're most comfortable. Want more bed-making details? Look at my post with the step by step of how to make a bed.

Two. Mix Patterns and Solids

Using a combination of patterns and solid fabrics for your bedding and pillows will give you a higher-end, designer look! For example, in our current guest bedroom, I used {these patterned decorative pillows} as my jumping off point. I then chose {this solid-colored quilt}, {these solid-colored Euro shams and duvet cover} in blue frost, and {this texured cream and blue decorative pillow} with a subtle pattern:

You can get all of the other sources for this space in my post on our light blue bedroom.

Three. Make Bed Making Practical

Most guest beds are queen size so the length and width of the bedding only differ by a few inches. With bedding like quilts that have no clear top edge, it can be hard to tell which end goes at the top vs. one of the sides. I have a simple trick that I use for all of my queen linens (including fitted sheets) that's a total time-saver!

Use a needle and thread to tie a teeny knot on the underside of one of the bottom corners (I always do it on the bottom right):

Then every time you make the bed after washing your bedding, you'll know to put the knotted thread in that specific bottom corner and you'll have it going the right direction without wasting time trying to figure out which end is up!

Four. Provide a Variety of Sleeping Pillows

Make sure that you have at least four sleeping pillows for your guests, preferably with different fullness options, so they can find a pillow or pillow combination that's comfy for them. I usually place two sleeping pillows behind the Euro shams and then put another two pillows in the guest room closet in any easy-to-find spot. You could also put all four sleeping pillows on the bed, laying them down in stacks of two with the decorative pillows in front:

I also make sure that all of my guest room pillows have {these washable zippered pillow protectors} covering the pillows and then a cotton pillow cover on top of that:

Pillow protectors protect your pillows from both dust and drool (I know… gross!).

Five. Don't Overdo the Number of Decorative Pillows

As much as you and A strong choice is pillows, you really don't want to overdo the number of decorative pillows on the guest bed. It's totally fine for your own bed (I always have a zillion pillows on mine) but we decorating fanatics have to remember than 99% of people aren't pillow freaks like us and don't want to have to take off ten pillows every time they go to bed.

My typical arrangement for our guest bed is two Euro shams, two smaller 22-24″ pillows, and then one smaller square or lumbar pillow such as this:

Sources:  Queen beadboard bed (weathered white)  |  Blue & white quilted shams (similar) | Blue tasseled edge pillow covers are no longer available |  Navy embroidered lumbar pillow cover |  Navy border duvet cover (similar) |   Round mirror

See my post on how to arrange pillows on a queen bed for other winning decorative pillow combinations.

If you have a king bed in your guest room, my typical pillow arrangement is three Euro shams, two 22″ decorative pillows, and then a single decorative pillow in front:

Now that you've got your bed guest-ready, be sure to look at my post on guest bedroom approaches for tons of other approaches for making your guest room a welcoming, comfy place that family and friends will enjoy staying in.. You might also wish to look at my post on luggage racks for guest rooms (definitely a must-have!).

It would help if you all enjoyed today's post and got a few approaches for sprucing up your guest room bedding before your next visitors come into town!