apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I don't understand why you would want your home to look like a hotel, even a boutique hotel.

The rooms in a hotel are completely different (unless you have a lobby in your house) and are set up to function for visitors and staff. Also, hotel spaces are meant to be experienced for short periods of time, unlike your own living space.

Granted, you can take inspiration from colors, textures, etc., but you could do that anywhere.

"I don't understand why you would want your home to look like a hotel, even a boutique hotel."

Because great hotel rooms are professionally designed to be restful, welcoming spaces and often include thoughtful and comforting touches such as good lighting, plentiful storage and surfaces for your bedside items and quality bedding.

I think it is a great idea. A rocker just had his LA pad done as an upscale Vegas hotel room, 1400 square feet, one room basically. LOVED IT.

I am trying to do this now, but it requires serious editing of possessions, and de-cluttering to the max.

i'm with guerilla here. hotels serve a specific purpose at a specific point in your life/week/experience... and crossing those experiences seems weird to me. i'd prefer my home to feel like a home, not a hotel... homes can be professionally designed (storage, lighting, etc.) and still not feel like the W... funny that a rocker -- someone who's always on the road -- would want to replicate that experience in their home... but to each their own.

I've always wanted a heart shaped bed viva Madonna Inn
or
http://www.madonnainn.com/rooms/204.php

I'm with guerilla on this. I think the bedroom should be the most personalized room in the house.

i don't know. i like my bedroom to be an escape.

in other words, the rest of my house could be filthy, but my bedroom would be like stepping into a W hotel room..or at least that's the goal.

When I was younger, I worked at an old hotel in Ottawa. The photographer Karsh and his wife were living there at the time and had for a couple of decades.

I thought to be living in a hotel was so cool. Still do.

Another vote for guerilla.

I agree with guerilla too. Nice hotels are just that - made for short stays. Most aren't practical for long-term stays unless you really like the impersonal touch. Your bedroom is to be your retreat - not your last visit to a hotel.

Yes, hotel rooms are beautifully designed - but keep in mind, when designed, they were designed for someone to stay in a week or less or so, not months or years. It is also somewhat designed around the staff who has to clean it.

Many people who travel for work go back to the same hotels again and again. They become a home away from home. These rooms are designed to be efficient and luxurious at the same time. Everything you could need in a small space as well as ease of upkeep while surrounding you in high style. Those of us who live in smaller spaces or cities can learn how to enhance their living spaces from these well though out hotel rooms. I have. Inspiration is just that, not to copy but to build upon and personalize with your own ideas. Let's get inspired instead of being dismissive. That's too easy.

It's funny--the hotel rooms, while beautiful, ARE impersonal. I have moved away from having family photos and children's artwork all over my house and have now consolidated it in my bedroom, which as others here say should be THE most personalized room in the house. To make my bedroom more anonymous and hotel-like would mean re-personalizing the rest of the house with photos and kids' stuff. And then I'd be told in some other post that this was wrong. :)

@sally305--

I have friends and acquaintances who spend several weeks or even months every year at sea (and what's a cruiseship but a floating resort hotel with small rooms?)

All of us bring various items to personalize our spaces - such as framed family photos, books to read, favorite bed pillows, laptop computers, etc.

I think we all personalize our cabins and hotel rooms when we travel to a certain extent, even if it's just leaving our souvenirs on a table, our eyeglasses next to the bed, or our favorite bathrobe on an armchair.

"(Hotel rooms are) also somewhat designed around the staff who has to clean it."

Yes, that's quite true since maids and stewards have very little time each day to clean up after us - but IMO, that doesn't mean we should make our home environments difficult to maintain just for the sake of "hominess" or "personalization".

sally305 -- That is one thing I refuse to listen to - not being allowed any family photos displayed in a public area of a home. I go through my own family and my fiance's family and then our friends - and we all like photos out. I'm not one for impersonal spaces - I want it to feel homey and comfy.

bepsf -- I never said make it difficult. I was mentioning that part of the layout of a hotel room is only for the maid/steward/whomever who has to clean it - it's not about function to the person staying there.

Last few hotels I stayed in had an excessive amount of chairs and tables in it - let's take the one I found the craziest. This was everything in the room: two night stands, king bed, a dresser with the shallowest drawers I've ever seen, a vanity with chairs, a dining height table with two wing chairs, luggage rack, and I think about five lamps. If I tried to put that all in even the biggest bedroom I can think of (my father-in-law's master), it would be extremely crowded and most would not be used.

And I forgot about the armoire with the TV in it - so add another piece of furniture though it had the most use.

@Chrisgal--

I do agree with you to a certain extent.

I too have no need for a desk/vanity, a TV Armoire (much less a TV of any kind) a dining area, a sofa, or a luggage rack in my bedroom...
....any more than I need a wall of mirrors, space under the bed for my empty suitcases, an evacuation map posted on the back of the door, a keycard lock or a cabinet for lifejackets at home.

But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy touches that are important to us such as well-positioned reading lamps, a carafe of water next to the bed, spacious drawers in the nightstands on both sides of the bed, a comfy chair, simple & clean bedlinens and fluffy pillows on a bed that's made every day, blackout draperies, thick towels and good lighting in the bathroom...

One vote for bepsf

And another.

I still don't - and doubt I ever will - what is the big deal of having a carafe of water by the bed? Are we too damn lazy as a society to simply walk to the bathroom and get a drink - or just sit a normal glass of water by the bed (even better a bottle since it has a lid)?

I doubt anyone needed to read this post to realize where to put their lamps...or a few comfy things. I never understood having a chair in a bedroom after your leave your childhood home (since well you basically spent most of your free time in that space)...bedrooms are for sleeping, hint the name BEDroom.

Carafe of water vs walking to the bathroom:

Ever stub your toe on a piece of furniture in the dark while walking to the bathroom or kitchen? Why increase the chances?

Carafe of water vs Bottle of water:

Do you know how long those plastic bottles last in a landfill? A $12 glass carafe is reusable, convenient and lasts for years.

Chair/Stool in the bedroom:

It's nice to have an "away" space when you live with someone else and not necessarily be forced to sit in bed...
...or a place to sit to put on/remove your shoes that's not the bed - particularly if your bed is high...
...or a place for someone to sit for a while and look after you when you have a really bad flu or have returned home from a surgery...
...or a quiet place for a new mother to nurse a baby and rock them to sleep.

I don't think the point of this post is to encourage us to all set up ice buckets in our entryway, boxed shower caps in our bathrooms, and an abundance of chairs in our bedrooms, but rather to look to well designed hotels for inspiration in our own homes.

As opposed to a hotel feel, I went for a spa feel in our bathroom, by picking neutral colors, a wood bench, nicely folded towels, and keeping products hidden in a cabinet so that it feels calm and uncluttered.

bepsf -- To be honest, there is no furniture in the way of me walking from my bed to the bathroom (other than the skinny nightstand and if you count the door). So stubbing my toe isn't a problem and I'd rather have less clutter on my nightstand. You ignored another suggestion - just having a small glass of water by the bed instead of wasting the water to fill the carafe.

If I really needed away space, I'd go sit on the balcony or just go outside for a walk (wouldn't kill anyone to get some exercise). If it came down to it, I'd go sit in the bathroom - LOL - or in our den since it has a door to shut. There is lots of options here. We have a shoes off policy in the apt, so we tend to put on our shoes as we are walking out the door - so I tend to sit in my desk chair (the desk is in the living room, which happens to be where the front door is too) to do it.

I wouldn't ask someone to sit and look after me while I have the flu because mostly I wouldn't want to make someone else sick too. I can take care of myself, no prob. There is only two people I would ask to sit with me after a surgery (last surgery though I didn't want anyone to bug me to be honest) - and one also lives in this apartment. I would think they would want to make better use of their time and enjoy any other room in the apartment since they would still be within ringing a bell or a holler away.

I would think you would put the chair in the nursery if you had a baby - not in your room where you are more than likely to wake your spouse.

Can anyone identify that black/navy lamp in the second picture?

Thank you.

I think this first picture is absolutely beautiful and has exactly the feel I'd like my home to have eventually.

http://thebluepearlgirl.blogspot.com

I love the feel and look of a boutique hotel in my home, but would not want it to feel to over designed. But no clutter for me and hate having pictures and knick knacks all over the place.

I don't want everyone in my family watching me while I am getting dress and in bed LOL

I think there is a very practical way to make it work.

I love hotels. I've added a few things to my home based on my experiences in hotels: a deerskin bathrobe from the Loews Residency in New York; a long, round body pillow from the Westin in Seattle; and I'd love to have a chaise lounge in the bedroom like the Westin.

I tend to be very messy and have previously lived in one room spaces. A clean bedroom dedicated to sleeping and relaxation would be a nice change from trying to sleep 4' from a desk piled with work. Anything I can do to recreate a peaceful hotel environment is a plus.

As far as the water by the bed... try it. I drink about 2 liters a day now that I keep a 1L nalgene by my bed.