Stylish Seating for a Traditional Guest Room

Yesterday I shared some ideas on how to create Beautiful Guest Rooms in Traditional Style. That post focused on the essential furnishings that every guest needs for an overnight stay. Today I'm going to look at practical and stylish seating choices for a traditional guest room.

This guest room in Philadelphia is large enough for a separate seating area away from the bed. If you are lucky enough to have a generously proportioned guest room too, it is nice for your visitors to have a private corner to relax, read, or chat on the phone away from the main living area.

If you don't have the space for a whole seating area, then a cozy arm chair or other comfortable chair will still be much appreciated. At the very least, it's good to try to place an attractive traditional bench or ottoman at the foot of the bed. It helps the bed look more 'finished' as well as providing some seating. The old chest in this photo looks wonderful and it cleverly doubles as storage. The Antique French Baccarat crystal chandelier is also a stunning addition to make a visitor feel very special. Funnily enough, I'm pretty sure we have that charming wall bracket or one very similar in our selection of Chelsea House wall brackets and display shelves!

We have some nice storage seating in the gallery that would work very well at the foot of the bed.  For example, this handsome Sarreid leather trunk bench is one of the company's most popular pieces, and you can see why! The trunk is 18" high, so it's a good seating height similar to an ottoman, and it is crafted in buffalo leather, wood, iron and brass. The sturdy trunk bench has an antiqued finish and it's a fun addition to a guest room as it creates a traveler theme for your friends passing through on their journeys.

While a trunk bench is great to stash extra blankets, something like this handsome new bench with an antiqued finish provides a different kind of storage. Convenient baskets beneath the seat can be used for toiletries or your guests' bits and pieces. The versatile baskets are easy to pull out and use in many ways during a stay.

If you have ample storage and dressers already, then a sweet little bench at the foot of the bed still gives your guests a place to perch for a few peaceful moments. Or maybe it will serve as a tray or display surface sometimes, as in this photograph with a tea set on the bench. That would be a pleasant welcome after a long journey, wouldn't it?

This elegant walnut Jonathan Charles bench from the Country Farmhouse collection has a similar look. The high scrolling arms make a graceful silhouette to frame the bed.

So many choices! But whatever chair or bench style you like, your visitors will thank you for the time and thought you put into choosing seating for the guest room so they don't have to sit on the bed all the time!

If you've enjoyed this post on guest room seating, also get inspiration from the fabulous guest rooms featured in my post on Beautiful Guest Rooms in Traditional Style.