Welcome to Day 22 of 30 Spaces in 30 Days! I hope you’re feeling the weight of everything we’ve cleared and reset over the past three weeks, because it’s real and it’s significant and your home is genuinely different than it was 22 days ago.

Today we’re talking about the guest space — and I want to share how ours works, because it’s a little different from a traditional guest bedroom and I think the approach is worth knowing about.

A Loft Divided With Intention

Our guest space is a loft — and it does double duty. One half is Ollie’s playroom, with her bookcase, her playhouse, her books and toys and all the wonderful things that make it hers. The other half is our guest space — calm, clean, welcoming, and always ready for whoever comes to stay.

The guiding principle for the whole loft is the same on both sides: open, airy, and genuinely welcoming. Not one side pristine and the other chaotic. Not the guest side tidy only when someone is coming. Both halves treated with equal care and equal intentionality — because both sides serve people we love, and both deserve to reflect that.

That’s the thing about a shared space that I think is worth naming clearly: it only works when both sides have a clear identity and clear boundaries. When the guest side stays guest-side and the play side stays play-side, the whole loft feels generous and calm. When those boundaries blur — when the guest side starts accumulating things that don’t belong there, or when the play space overflows into the guest area — both sides suffer.

Today we’re making sure both sides are exactly what they’re meant to be.

The Guest Space as an Act of Hospitality

I want to say something about guest spaces specifically, because I think it gets to the heart of why this space matters.

Keeping a guest space genuinely welcoming year-round — not just when someone is coming — is an act of hospitality that happens before the guest even arrives. It says: we thought about you. We kept this space for you. You are welcome here at any time.

A guest space that doubles as a catch-all for everything without a home elsewhere sends a different message — even if unintentionally. It makes guests feel like an afterthought rather than an anticipated joy. And it creates a scramble every time someone is actually coming to stay, because the room has to be cleared and reset from scratch rather than simply refreshed.

The goal today is a guest space that’s always ready. Always calm. Always genuinely welcoming — for whoever walks through your door.

What a Well-Kept Guest Space Actually Needs

A guest space doesn’t need to be elaborate or expensively furnished to feel genuinely welcoming. It needs a few things done really well.

A comfortable place to sleep — a bed with clean, fresh linens that are changed regularly rather than only when someone is coming. Good lighting. A surface or two where a guest can set their things down and feel like they have a little space of their own. Access to what they might need — a spare towel, a place to hang clothes, a charger within reach. And one small, considered detail that makes the space feel intentional rather than incidental — a candle, a small plant, a book or two on the nightstand.

That’s genuinely it. Simplicity done well is far more welcoming than elaborate decoration done inconsistently.

How to Declutter Your Guest Space Today

Give yourself 30 to 45 minutes for this one and approach it with the same honesty and intention we’ve brought to every space in this challenge.

Step 1: Clear everything that doesn’t belong. Go through the guest side of your space and remove anything that has drifted in from other parts of the house or other categories of life. The guest space should hold only what serves a guest. Everything else finds a proper home today.

Step 2: Assess the sleep situation honestly. Are the linens fresh? Is the mattress or bed in good condition? Is the pillow actually comfortable? These are the details that matter most to a guest and the ones most often overlooked. Fresh, clean linens are one of the most welcoming things a guest space can offer — and they cost nothing beyond a little attention.

Step 3: Clean the space thoroughly. Dust the surfaces, vacuum the floor, wipe down the mirror or any glass surfaces. A clean guest space feels immediately more welcoming than a tidy-but-dusty one. Take the time to do this properly.

Step 4: Check the lighting. Good lighting is one of those details that makes a space feel genuinely considered. Is there a lamp within reach of the bed? Is the overhead light warm rather than harsh? Small adjustments here make a real difference in how the space feels.

Step 5: Add one considered detail. A candle, a small plant, a carafe of water and a glass on the nightstand, a book or two that a guest might enjoy. One small, intentional detail that says someone thought about this space and about the person who would be staying in it. That detail is what takes a guest space from functional to genuinely warm.

Step 6: For shared spaces — reestablish the boundaries. If your guest space shares a room with another purpose — a playroom, a home office, a hobby space — today is a good day to reestablish the boundaries between the two halves. Make sure the guest side is clearly the guest side, with its own identity and its own breathing room. And make sure the other side isn’t encroaching. A shared space works beautifully when both halves are equally intentional.

Step 7: Commit to keeping it ready. The habit that makes a guest space genuinely welcoming year-round is simple — treat it as if someone might arrive at any time. Change the linens regularly. Keep the surfaces clear. Don’t let things drift in that don’t belong. It takes very little maintenance once it’s set up well, and the peace of mind of always being ready is genuinely worth it.

A Space That Says Welcome

The most welcoming homes I’ve ever visited aren’t the most expensively furnished or the most perfectly decorated. They’re the ones where it’s clear that someone thought about you before you arrived. Where the guest space is calm and ready and feels like it was kept that way just for you. That’s what today is about. A space that says welcome.