A Welcoming Guest Bathroom

Now we don’t always have a bathroom to spare or leave untouched just for guests but even if you don’t here are some nice touches to give it a welcoming touch for your guests.

• Bathroom Signs: How about a cute bathroom sign on the outside of the door that says where it is occupied or empty. A sign in French would be so nice. You can either purchase a bathroom sign already made or purchase some supplies from your local craft store and whip one up in no time. Some unfinished wood, paint and the utilities to hang it with.

• Scents: Upon entry to your bathroom try to have a soothing scent going in there always. A plug-in home fragrance or scented potpourri work here. Don't overwhelm though. If you can smell your bathroom scent down the hall it may be time to unplug it or move it to a larger room.

• Clean Bathroom: Clean is very important in a guest bathroom. Keep your guest bathroom clean. If this room only serves as the guest bathroom it might not be getting much use so an occasional cleaning such as after a guest visits or once a month should suffice. At least look at it weekly.

• Soaps: My favorite is to have some truly lovely scented soaps available for hand washing. Sometimes this is enough to scent your bathroom. Some people use little tiny scented bars. I love big moisturizing ones in all kinds of scents. If you go for the bigger bar of soap keep your soap dish tidy. Remove excess soap and standing water from it regularly. Better yet get one of those wooden drain type soap holders. And even better (and much more expensive) these great Provendi Revolving Soaps that mount to your wall and you roll them around to soap your hands. You can get refills for them too. I imagine they can look unsightly after a while so go with your own thoughts on soap. A bar soap regularly tidied up in soap dish is my preference.

• Nature: Add some greenery to your guest bathroom. It could be fake or it could be a real plant. Are you running out of bathroom counter space? A hanging plant is just as lovely.

• Linens: Lovely towels just for your guests. Since they will be just drying hands have a set of good quality towels for this. After many years and many frustrations I caved and bought some highly recommended bath towels. Here is Good Housekeeping's breakdown of best towels for the bath. Embellishments on the hem have a nice touch. You can buy them that way or if you’re handy with the crochet hook or tatting needle add the touch yourself. Or much easier use fusible webbing  and iron on some decorative ribbon. Have more than one towel ready. A use or two and they’re ready for the wash.

• Here is a small list of supplies to keep in your guest bathroom. Don't feel the need to use them all. The first 4 are the most important. Use baskets or decorative boxes to contain them.
  1. Extra towels in case the one hanging gets all used up. Bath towels for overnight guests.
  2. Extra guest soaps
  3. Extra toilet paper. Can even be kept in a cute basket
  4. Some sort of odor control (candles are not necessarily a good idea here)
  5. Hand Lotion
  6. Facial Tissues

• Here is a simple list for overnight guests
  1. Toothbrush and paste
  2. Bath towel
  3. Robe
  4. disposable slippers
  5. Mend kit (sewing)
  6. Pampering kit (if you feel like going all out)

It does not take much at all to provide a welcoming place in your guest bathroom.