Guest room decor: 12 welcoming paintings for visitors
Rome in the sun, a London courtyard, Tahiti with Gauguin and a Swedish river with Carl Larsson: twelve travelling pictures that make a guest room feel like a small holiday.
A guest room should feel like a small holiday: calm, comfortable and a little bit special. Pictures do a lot of that work. Views of other places invite a guest to imagine a journey, quiet country scenes help them rest, and a well chosen picture makes even a box room feel considered.
Here are twelve, in three moods: city views, journeys by water, and country quiet. Each one is shown with its colour palette, and each can be ordered as a print.
A city break on the wall
Sunny streets and courtyards from Rome to London.
1. Via Sacra, Rome
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, Via Sacra, Rome, ca. 1814–15. Oil on canvas. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The Danish painter Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg spent three years in Rome and painted this corner of the Forum around 1814 to 1815, with ancient stones warm in the sun under a soft blue sky.
A sunny Italian view for a guest room in warm white, terracotta or olive.
2. Inside the Colosseum
Franz Ludwig Catel, Inside the Colosseum, c. 1823. Oil on canvas. Art Institute of Chicago.
Franz Ludwig Catel, a German painter who settled in Rome, painted the inside of the Colosseum around 1823. Tiny figures show the great scale of the ruin.
Warm ochres and browns for a guest room with wood and linen.
3. New Court, the Temple, London
William Henry Hunt, New Court, the Temple, London, ca. 1810-60. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
William Henry Hunt painted this quiet court in the Temple, the old legal quarter of London, in soft watercolour. It is a calm, sunny corner of the city.
A gentle picture for a traditional guest room in stone and sage.
4. Woman Passing a Roadside Shop Near Oji
Katsushika Hokusai, Woman Passing a Roadside Shop Near Oji, early 1800s. Color woodblock print. Cleveland Museum of Art.
Hokusai made this print in the early 1800s. A woman passes a shop at Oji, a place outside Edo that people visited for its tea houses and maple trees.
A small print for beside the door or above a chest of drawers.
Harbours and rivers
Water views that suggest a journey.
5. Takanawa
Utagawa Hiroshige II, Takawana (Tawanaka), 1862. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Utagawa Hiroshige II made this print of Takanawa, on the bay of Edo, in 1862. Boats rest in the blue dusk while one boatman tends his fire.
Deep blues for a calm guest room with white bedding and natural wood.
6. Homeward - Bound
Winslow Homer, Homeward - Bound, 1867. Wood engraving. Harvard Art Museums.
Winslow Homer drew Homeward Bound for Harper’s Weekly in 1867, after his year in France. Passengers crowd the deck of a steamer, heading home across the Atlantic.
A graphic black and cream picture, perfect for a guest room where people come and go.
7. Coastal View
Thomas Churchyard, Coastal View, c. 1818–65. Watercolor. Cleveland Museum of Art.
Thomas Churchyard of Woodbridge in Suffolk painted his coast in quick, fresh watercolours. Here a few figures look out at the sea and the clouds.
Soft grey and blue for a coastal guest room.
8. Lisbeth Angling. From A Home
Carl Larsson, Lisbeth Angling. From A Home, 1898. Watercolour. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm.
Carl Larsson painted his daughter Lisbeth fishing in the river at Sundborn in 1898, one of the watercolours of A Home. The river is wide and still under a soft sky.
A peaceful Scandinavian picture for a pale, airy guest room.
Country quiet
Gentle country scenes that help a guest rest.
9. The Timber Chute. From A Home
Carl Larsson, The Timber Chute. From A Home, 1899. Watercolour. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm.
In this watercolour of 1899, Larsson painted the river at Sundborn in winter: dark water, snowy banks and a timber chute curving toward red houses.
Soft white, grey and red for a calm winter guest room.
10. The Old Man and the New Grove
Carl Larsson, The Old Man and the New Grove, 1883. Oil on canvas. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm.
Larsson painted this calm scene in 1883 in France, years before Sundborn. An old gardener tends a new grove beside a mirror smooth pond.
Gentle greens and greys for a guest room in sage or stone.
11. A Rustic Court-Yard
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, A Rustic Court-Yard, c. 1850. Oil on canvas. Harvard Art Museums.
Camille Corot painted this rustic courtyard around 1850. Soft light through leaves, hanging laundry and pecking chickens make an unhurried country morning.
A quiet, homely picture for a cottage guest room.
12. The Large Tree
Paul Gauguin, The Large Tree, 1891. Oil on fabric. Cleveland Museum of Art.
Paul Gauguin painted The Large Tree in 1891, his first year in Tahiti. A huge trunk divides a landscape of green, ochre and rose, with two figures resting in its shade.
Warm greens and earthy rose for a guest room with rattan and linen.
Keep a guest room simple: one picture above the bed, a smaller one by the door or above a chest of drawers, and colours that are soft enough to sleep with. Pick one colour from the main picture for the bedding or a throw. And if your guests are travellers, a city or harbour view makes a thoughtful welcome. For more ideas see bedroom wall art.
Questions
How should I decorate a guest room?
Keep it calm and uncluttered: good bedding, a lamp, a place to put a suitcase, and one or two pictures in soft colours that make the room feel welcoming.
What art is good for a guest bedroom?
City views, harbours and gentle country scenes. They feel welcoming and restful, and suit guests of every taste.
How many pictures should a guest room have?
Usually one or two. A main picture above the bed and a smaller one elsewhere is enough to make the room feel finished.
What colours work in a guest room?
Soft, restful colours: warm whites, sage, pale blue, sand and stone. Take the accent colour from the picture.