Visual Guest Book Shelf

When we designed our home, we planned for a spacious guest suite on the first floor for our friends and family all around the world.  Some loved ones may simply stay overnight as they are passing through town, but for those who consider the new and improved de Jong Resort and Spa as their final travel destination, we wanted to offer a comfy home away from home.

The room is actually a hair larger than our master bedroom, has a walk-in closet, fully accessible attached bathroom, a laundry room just outside the door, and has a slider out to the back porch. Because it's on the first floor, it's ideal for our parents, who will stay for longer periods of time, and in many, many years, will become our bedroom as our own mobility declines. (I'll post a tour of the entire space once it's finished).

We joke about our house being the de Jong Resort and Spa, but it is fun to add as many resort features as we can. We have a fully stocked bathroom with everything a forgetful traveler might need, a TV and DVR, we just added a luggage rack to the closet, and a basket full of tourist info. 

There's also a big blank wall. Inspiration hit when I found this vinyl art on a clearance rack.

I've toyed around with the idea of a guest book, and while I still like that idea, I also know that I'm visual (thank you, Facebook albums and Pinterest!) so I had the idea of a visual guestbook. The idea is to take (at least) one photo that helps me remember the gist of each visitor's stay. Hopefully, it will also remind me to take photos!

At our last trip to Ikea, we picked up a few Ribba Photo Shelves.

I found some cheap-but-cool copper frames at Ollies. They do a nice job blending the espresso finishes in the room with the black Ribba frame.

Then rounded up some frames and printed out photos from our first four overnight guests, with "reservation" frames for our next two sets of guests.

Our first visitor was Erin, so I put her photo in an 8x10. I added a sticker "1" to remember that she was the first to stay at the new and improved de Jong Resort & Spa.

Then I did the same thing with visitors #2, #3 and #4.

I've already reserved frames for our next visitors.

As one shelf fills up, we'll simply add another. We have plenty of space to expand!

I love this idea because it's such a visual reminder of the important relationships in our life. And because hospitality is a virtue we want to teach our son, it's another way to incorporate our values into our decor. I look forward to seeing this wall fill up with happy memories as the years go by.

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