Our Top 5 Ways to Make the Most of Your Guest Suite

We’ve all been there: crashing at friend or relative’s place for the holidays where our accommodations include a leaky air mattress in an unfinished basement and sketchy privacy.

We deal with it, and we secretly promise ourselves that next time, we’re booking a hotel room. And not just any room: a suite.

That’s something that the guests of StyleCraft homeowners won’t have to deal with. And they’ll all quickly discover that a comfortable, welcoming Guest Suite can elevate a visit from family and friends in countless ways.

But here’s the deal — while your guest suite is getting 5-star reviews from your guests for maybe the two-ish weeks nights a year when the “no vacancy” light is lit, what about the other 350?

Exactly.

Don’t worry, as StyleCraft’s Guest Suites are designed to Live Up as more than comfy places for your family or friends. They’re designed to live dual lives as spaces that enhance your life every day.

Here are 5 ways to make the most from your Guest Suite:

#1: Assign Yourself Some Homework

Is your “home office” really just a chair at your kitchen table — with your work laptop fighting for real estate with a box of mini-chocolate donuts and a week’s worth of mail? It’s time for an upgrade. A home office staged in your Guest Suite gives you ample space, privacy, and could even be a choice spot for client meetings. Keep it minimalistic and open. Or add dividers to accommodate multiple work-from-home professionals by creating welcoming workstations (and not the kind with the aesthetic appeal of an ‘80s call center). With an included closest, nearby bathroom, and the ability to make progress on dishes and laundry during breaks, what’s not to love? And there’s one final bonus to consider: the tax write-off implications of housing your place of work in a designated area under your roof — complying with all IRS guidelines, of course.

#2: Light a Creative Spark

Don’t confine your home’s muse to those magnetic fridge letters and an out-of-tune piano. Instead, use your Guest Suite to pump up the creativity flowing through your walls. Try a new hobby, revisit an old pastime, or make it a place where the kiddos can experiment with art, music, chemistry, or simply play with the slime that’s not allowed anywhere else in the house since the “Antique Armoire Incident of 2022.” We’ve seen homeowners successfully repurpose guest suites into comfortable digs for acoustic guitar jam sessions, libraries lined with bookshelves, and even writing dens decked out with inspiring wall art, prickly cacti, and lighting that sets the mood for your first bestseller. Think of a Creative Room as a blank canvas to free your mind and inner interior decorator.

#3: Upgrade Playtime

Whether you’re plucking Legos from the bottom of your feet or fishing action figures out of the garbage disposal, your kids’ free-range play style — and lack of a designated play space — can create all sorts of deleted “Toy Story” scenes. But imagine a centralized, Mary Poppins-approved playroom where the toys live, the kids play, and the adults know to wear shoes and protective eyewear. Create fun spaces for board games, arts and crafts, and other rotating activities — and you can probably cut the screens out.

#4: Relax & Unwind Approach

Here’s an idea you could take in any number of directions, from a home gym to home spa, and a yoga studio to a pottery studio. We also love the idea of using a Guest Suite as a napping room, an inviting secondary retreat to rest and recharge that’s free of clutter and any hint of chores. Executed right, and it truly can be the oasis you need in a house sometimes overwhelmed with hustle and bustle.

#5: Provide a Little TLC

We started this article by suggesting you may only realistically need your Guest Suite to serve as a Guest Suite for a few weeks a year or fewer. But we’re also aware of a number of scenarios in which your guests may be there for an extended stay. Maybe you have a parent ready to make the move over and maintain their independence. Or perhaps you require live-in medical care to support a family member’s needs. No matter the circumstances, having the Guest Suite on a dedicated floor provides privacy while still making sure those who may need help or medical assistance are close to it when they need it most.

As you think about entertaining friends and family who travel a great distance — or even the 5 hrs. it can take to drive 90 miles down 95 South from the Beltway area to Central VA — having a welcoming Guest Suite may be at the top of your list of new home “must-haves.” Just remember, you get to benefit from the suite life even when no one’s staying over thanks to all the exciting ways you can stage this flexible space.