Once upon a time, Lauren and Tyler were young DINKS living in Dallas. And living quite well, I might add. We spent a few nights of the week with out best friends, Anthony and Kellee. Now, the thing about not having kids is, you can do things like stay out way too late and then just sleep over at your friends’ house in their guest room. During these days of young adulthood, we would discuss the merits of homeownership with smug conversations like the importance of sleeping in your own guest room every few months. That way, we decided over many late meals, you could actually know how your guests would experience their stay at your house. Otherwise, you would never know if the bedding is too cold, the air vent too strong or what it feels like to try to fall asleep with the wonky fan blade.

So while I look back and laugh at many of the deep conversations we definitely had (and all the parenting critiques we made on others), I do still think this was a nugget of wisdom from those dinners. And so, at random times, we sleep in the guest room. That way, we know what needs to improve and what is comfortable for our guests.

And I have to say, we now have a guest bed that is REALLY comfortable. It’s big, it’s got great bedding (splurge on your company, guys, it’s money well spent), and now, it has a realllllly good mattress. Simba sent us a great new mattress and we have already taken to walking by the room and going to just lay across the bed and stare out the window. It’s so lush.

(Have you seen these mattresses? They come in a box! But after a little time out of the shrink-wrap, are full-size, normal mattresses. Its magic, I tell you! Find out more about Simba here, and you can use this link to save you £75 off your own mattress. Totally, highly recommend it if you’re looking for a new one. It sounds silly, but a great mattress makes your life better in a big way. No joke.)

I love knowing that our guests get a great place to sleep when they come to visit us. It makes me happy to think that they can actually sleep so well when they’re fresh off an economy-seat ticket to visit us and really get rested. Because let’s be honest, they’re gonna need a good nights sleep staying with us. Between running around London and having the Knight kids are hosts, they’re need all the energy they can get.

A few ways we love to keep our guest room extra cosy are:

A GREAT BED | Beyond just a great mattress, good bedding, and great pillows, we also make sure our bed isn’t wobbly and keep the bed frame tightened. It’s something small, but makes a big difference!

CLOSET SPACE | Make sure your guests have a plan in your closet to hang their clothes in. This is something that I had forgotten to do for a long time, and finally the lightbulb moment occurred when staying with a friend. She grabbed a chunk of her hanging clothes out of the wardrobe really quickly when we were getting settled so that we’d have a space. Brilliant and so thoughtful.

FRESH FLOWERS | Again, so simple and so obvious- but how welcoming and lovely is it to have a tiny bud vase and a hand-written note on the nightstand to welcome you?

PHONE CHARGER | This is especially for you expats! Leave an outlet plug in by the nightstand for your guests who might have (read: probably did because it always seems to happen) forgot they were traveling to a different country when they grabbed their charger and will be feeling a bit desperate to charge up before they hit the sights.

The proof will be in the pudding this week, though! We have some of our friends staying there while we are away for half-term. Hope the bed is comfy, Liz & Cory!!